Tom Geiger

Wow! That seat came out wonderful. It was worth the work.

I believe it's a current product. I think I saw it at Michaels the last time I was there.

I haven't put it side by side so I can't say absolutely. My results from the spray can have been good enough that I wouldn't send chrome out again. If I was using Alclad with an air brush, I wouldn't go to the spray can, but I offer it up as advise to guys who want to use it but don't airbrush.

That is really cool! It's a model and it has a purpose!

Like this? The roof is black on this one. I love the colors on it.

This is the Duplicolor Cordova Brown. It is a bit darker than the car on your kit box, but a cool deep color. I think it's just great. Go for it! My secondary color is a Duplicolor GM color in the shorter can.

Nice work. You sold me one! And isn't it more fun to build as a gift than just for your shelf? I'm sure your dad will be very pleased!

Two great things here... A manufacturer who cares enough to hold off production until they get the product right, AND one who communicates with the community!

This can be done but the key is that when you put the BMF over the script, you need to trim the BMF off the entire outline of the script. The concept is that the paint will fill in the holes in the letters and between the letters. In the end it will look just like you dry brushed it with paint, only shinier. I've seen guys who think they can plop down a big piece of BMF and that the paint would cover the edges... nope.

That would be a whole lotta work. What I can say is that I've thought about doing larger areas like convertible windshield frames in the situations where the entire frame unit gets chrome. I use Alclad chrome in a spray can. One thing I will tell you is that I've sprayed a little in a paper cup and I've used it for tiny things like convertible boot latches, key holes and dry brushing scripts. It works dandy. I don't know how the air brush product would work since it may be a different viscosity than the spray can I use.

A-frickin-mazing!

To answer the original question, there is no definitive answer. Just like all manufacturers, AMT kits have been developed by different owners with different philosophies, and different and evolving technologies over the last 50 years. And kits sold under the AMT banner may have come from other sources such as rival MPC or even Johan. So basically it's best to ask the board here about a specific kit. Kits do have issues. And the folks here will guide you through the known issues and fixes. That's the difference between model building and assembling puzzles.

It's likely we'll see the Volare in the future. BUT, remember just like we're seeing a Pacer coming, it would be the last tooled version of the car. That's how the tool would be today. So if we get a Volare, it would no doubt be the 1980 car with the square headlights.

More progress. This week I got to sit down twice for an hour or two. I did get side tracked into painting a 2010 Mustang convertible body too. I'm easily distracted by bright shiny objects! This side was pretty much done the last time I posted. I added the sink from this part I found in my junk box. I have no idea what it really is, but it looked like a sink to me. I will drill a drain in it, the two existing holes will be covered. The faucet will sit in that lower edge in the back and probably have a bar of soap next to it. Once it's dull silver, you will think it's a sink. Same with the refrigerator. It may be the bottom of a tool box, the top of a gas tank, who knows.. but now it's a refrigerator. It will get a handle and a convincing paint scheme. Everything else is basswood held together with Bordens Wood Glue. The top is a piece of Evergreen. More view - Here's the perspective with the overhead bed. Mattress is again, a piece of basswood that will get a covering of tissue. I've gone thin since the height of the area is low. You aren't sitting up in bed, you are crawling in submarine style. I may have to do a thicker mattress, if so it will just be a double layer of the same wood. On the opposite side, I made another cabinet, this one with a lower cabinet but open shelves on the top. I did this just to add interest and make it different from the one across from it. It gives me an opportunity to make some shelf junk too. The bench seat will be upholstered. I'm not sure if it will have individual cushions just yet. There will be a table in the middle of it that will fold up into the wall between the two windows. And the view of it all. I think I want to take a wander around the country in it. I'm done with all the rough work at this point. So it's onward to starting to prime and finish pieces and parts. This is a fun project.

These came out of the old Ice Cream truck C Cab custom. I thought they were cool. The yellow lens is half an adhesive back jewel thingie from Michaels.

I use Zap-A-Gap on almost everything. It's a thicker slow drying CA glue. I like the slower drying since it gives you a chance to position things before it's set for life. You can get it at the hobby shop or Michaels for about $4.50. I even used my 50% off coupon the last time. For clear plastic windows, I'll use a white glue or two sided scrap book tape. I never put CA near clear.

Here's an old original that was brush painted back when the kit first came out in the early 1960s. It was filthy and the paint job had highs and lows as well as a lot of lumps and other imperfections. So I washed it and sanded down some of the biggest issues. Then I just polished it. I am amazed at how good it looks now. For the record, I don't brush anything. I even spray small parts. The only brush painting I do is detail painting and minor touch ups.

Here's mine. Go rusty! There's enough of us here that use varying techniques that will be happy to coach you along!

I agree with Harry. I have models eons old with no issues what so ever. I cleared over one once and the clear dried as a crackle finish over the BMF, so I never did that again. Besides, you want the paint and the BMF to have their own different levels of shine, just like on a real car. Clearing over it all defeats that. I'd say the longevity is all in the application. I've found that guys who try to cut pieces too small, then place / lift / re-position it are the ones who have the most issues. And the part of the back where you've touched it with your fingers also needs to be cut off.

It's interesting that these saw limited distribution and disappeared. There are a lot of diecast that seem to have one run to Walmart and it's over. There was a 1970 Ford van I have that I only saw there once. If I had known that I would have bought the shelf full! It's cool that they decided to do the obscure 80s cars. I want both the Horizon and Omni 4 doors, the T&C wagon and the Diplomat sedans. And of course the Reliants... someone said they also did a Reliant wagon but I've never seen even a picture of one. I have kept my eye open at flea market and model shows, but I guess I'll have to bite the bullet and place a sizable diecast order to one of those eBay store vendors.

Wow! That's like almost daring Round 2 to reissue the Volare kit!

Here's a couple of Rancheros. They mention 'custom parts' in the new release. In the last issue they had the roof treatment, but not the front or rear custom extensions you see on my purple one here. Nor have we seen the custom camper piece, although I believe that was in a later release but not the most recent ones. Maybe they could open up a few gates on the tool and find these. The differences going from the first issues, were that the early Craftsman and Customizing Series trucks were curbsides. The chassis had the engine detail on the underside, and only had a single exhaust. Later on, they opened the hood and added the CBB engine that last was seen in the '66 full size Chevy kit. They modified the chassis and added dual exhausts. Another change is that my primer gray vehicle above has the original 2 piece tail lights. That was a chrome bezel with a clear red lens. The original kit also had a few extra custom clear red lenses. It would be cool to find all those parts in the new release. For most of us, we'll buy a new one just to see the new '60 grille. The purple car is an old custom in my collection that was built by someone in the day. The primer gray car is one I built from a broken old built up.

Back when I ran the demo at Wall Stadium in NJ back in the 1980s, rules were no station wagons, no commercial chassis and no Chrysler Imperials! I liked full size Chevys, here's my 70 4 door sedan. A friend gave my partner and I this one because he bought it to use as transportation and had one issue after another. He had the water pump go, had that replaced, then the radiator went. He replaced that and the trans started to slip so he had enough. He said it wouldn't go into high (2 speed auto). As I was prepping the car I noticed the trans fluid was very low so I filled it up. As I headed down into the demo pit I felt it shift! This is an example of how to bring back a demo car. Note the rear is packed perfectly flat. Can still see out the back and once it gets to a certain point, you can't do much more damage to it. Also note that the hood is completely clean. Always protect your nose. My cars were always pink and we called ourself the Pink E-Racer Team. The "Russia Stay Home" was when Russia was boycotting the Olympics. I did buy an F&F 4 door hardtop to build this one someday.

I might have had the only 1960 Ranchero until now! This one was built from the crusty remains of original issue kits. The grill was all that was left from a child tortured '60 Falcon 2 door sedan. I would have liked the six too!

This is one of my favorite kits to build for that reason. I've done two so far, and I have a '58 or '59 pickup resin body to build another!