DaveM

Nice kit. Any of the AMT kits tooled in the late '80s through the Millenium are going to feel pretty modern. AMT and Revell both stepped up their game during the big boom in car modeling. Most of the kits that were tooled after the Nova were pretty good in terms of fit and finish. Platform interiors and multipiece suspensions were the norm, Engine details got really nice. It was a pretty good stretch. The kits take a bit more patience and you need to test fit a bit more along the way, as the sheer number of part and the platform interior makes alignment and fit a bit more critical. It can be a bit more tricky to get all four wheels solidly on the ground, compared to the "floating" metal axles in older kits. Also, everything has to be fit together correctly for the chassis to completely get under the body. This is the main concern with both the Fairlane and Comet kits. Make sure you are flush and flat when you assemble the interior. Any gaps or thick glue lines between the side panels and floor will mean that things won't all fit cleanly under the body during final assembly. ( This is why Amy's first Fairlane ended up being fitted with sidepipes from the parts box!) The good side is that the fit and parts are excellent. With that little extra bit of care, these build up into really nice models. Enjoy.

I was just having major problems with this Yesterday. I couldn't get CTRL-V to work all of a sudden. Then later on in the day, it was working again. It just wouldn't let me copy to my message. Not sure if I had a setting messed up or what. Maybe something on the site hiccuped for a couple of hours.

What was wrong with the Blue Beetle?

I don't know how we could do a list of eligible kits, as it would cover the first half of modeling history. I would guess any kit with the exhaust, or suspension parts molded into the chassis would be automatically in. Other kits with lacking, or compromised detail would probably be fair game. Since the '69 Cougar is what started this whole convo, it should be included, but most of the kits I am talking about are a good bit worse than the Cougar. Several of the recent reissues from Round 2 would fit the bill, including the '55 Nomad, (or any AMT '55 Chevy car) '62 Buick, '49 Ford, '56 or AMT '57 Fords, Ranchero. '61 Galaxie, '40 Ford delivery, '62 Vette, '65 and '66 Galaxies, '53 Stude. Most of the AMT/MPC '32s, Revell's Roth '57 Chevy reissue and their '56 Ford Pickup, AMT's '58, '63 and '64 Impala kits, and tons of others. (I may be wrong about the lack of detail on some of these, as I am not at my stash to look at all of them right now) I'm pretty sure the '63 Vette is crude. I am debating whether or not I want to open mine and build it, or trade it off. Revell's '29 pickup and '31 Sedan are pretty crude by current standards, as are AMT's '25 "T" 2 kit specials. (Especially the stock version) Probably any kit made before 1970 would be found lacking by today's standards. Even a lot of the annuals made in the Mid '70s were pretty rough, like the Pacer and Gremlin. I think the Pacer might even have the leaf springs and rear molded into the chassis. Heck, the '61and '64 Fords and the old '64 Comet don't even have engines! I don't know what kits you have in your stash, but I would bet one of them has a pretty bland chassis or engine compartment. Any kit with the front seats molded into the interior bucket is a great candidate! (I think the '63 'Vette has this feature) I just discovered I can't post a photo to this site to save my life, so I'm going to have to fix that problem before I can get involved in a community build, but I can set one up on the page if it's okay with the bosses. It would be fun to see what we can all do with these classic kits. I plan on building mine pretty much straight from the box with a bit of foil, and using paints to pull out the details. I'm not looking to grind away and replace exhausts, suspensions etc. I will take my time, remove copyrights, parting lines, injector pin marks and the like, and I'll fill in sink holes and make the parts fit. My thought was to show that these old kits, even though they are not up to modern molding standards, can make some nice looking shelf models. They just take a slightly different set of skills than the 150 piece "shake the box" kits.

OK, I give up. This stupid board software doesn't want to work with any hosting site I have access to, so forget I posted this... I've tried 3 different browsers on 2 machines... It's not going to give you anything other than a red X. It used to work, but somebody must have moved an electron or two around since I posted last. Sorry

When I got serious about the hobby in college, one of the first skills I had to learn was grinding out molded in exhausts and filling in the chassis. I remember when the '66 Nova was released, and how much it changed the future of the hobby. I can almost imagine what a shock it would be for a younger (under 35) builder who has been raised on platform interiors, separate suspension components and exhausts and the like to be faced with one of these older kits for the first time. It would be like transitioning from a cushy SUV with auto everything to driving a Model T. (" whaddya mean I have to adjust my ignition while I'm driving?!?") With that said, I think the reissues are great as we get to build some of the older styles without having to break the bank and rip up old collectible kits. I think every model builder should try his hand at building at least one kit that was tooled up before he was born. The bodies on these older kits are usually pretty accurate, due to the involvement of the auto companies in the promo business. There is usually a bit more cleanup than we are used to due to the age of the tooling (flash) and the design limitations of the older tools. (sink marks) The bodies on the older kits really POP when they are nicely painted and foiled, too, as the emblems are usually a bit deeper (Designed so that they could still be read after being brush painted) and the trim is a bit more prominent. As for the chassis, engines and interiors, they really need to be picked out with the paint brush. The challenge in these older kits is to paint the molded in parts really cleanly so they look like separate pieces, and to give the details a bit more life through different shades and finishes. It would almost be a fun challenge to have a community build where we all built a kit from one of these old tools. Most of the really early ones with holes in the blocks and the like have been retired or retooled, but there are some pretty neat old kits out there that are not up to modern standards. It would be fun to have as many people as possible build different kits. Some just lack details, like the Cougar, some have molded in details like the AMT '64 Impala and many others have really tricky fit, like the Revell Willys Pickups, but they can all be great projects. I think I might build one of My Cougars after seeing the pictures in this thread. Or, if I'm really feeling the desire, I have a few older tools, like the '61 Ford Styleline, the Ranchero, or a '63 Vette. I need a good fun, build for Spring!

Actually I just googled and found an unboxing video on Youtube. I haven't watched much of it, but you can look at the sprues and see what parts are there.

Much newer tool than the Cougar. I think it was in the late eighties or early nineties. AMT and Revell did Chevelles at almost the exact same time. Then they both did Pro Sreets. The Revell Pro Street version had a custom rear fascia with funny taillights, so that kind if messed up the look. I don't think the AMT got so carried away with the custom stuff. I built the stock AMT '67 Chevelle and it was a pretty nice kit. Nothing about the body bothered me too much. Both companies were tooling up some pretty nice stuff back in those days.

We used to use the drive thru because with a dozen haulers and another dozen cars and vans, we would fill up a restaurant and its parking lot pretty quickly. We also had open trailers and hated to leave them alone, lest kids climb up to touch the cars etc... When we hit a "Gas and Gulp" stop, about half of us would go to a gas station first, and the other half would hit the fast food first. That way, we split up and didn't have to wait so long in line. The day of the wing crunch, we were heading from Indiana up to Martin Michigan. It was a Fourth of July weekend, and we stopped in a little town with one McDonald's. I had filled up the tank first, and was getting in line at the drive thru just in time to see John mash the wing. Luckily, there was a steel girder bridge just before the overhang to protect it from just such a thing. We never could have parked all of those rigs at once with the Holiday traffic. The main object was to get food and fly back onto the road. Usually, we had to be at the track hours ahead of the race for Wheel packing and practice, so the concession stands wouldn't be open. That food we grabbed at the last town before the race track was usually all we would eat until we were heading home. I had a lot of one meal days while playing with the sprints, but it was worth it, just for the people we ran with.

Still pretty vibrant downtown, but you need to stay on the main drags between the downtown area and the freeways in and out. Some parts of the City are total wastelands, while many of the suburbs are really booming. Not a good place to go exploring, though. Know where you are going and the best way to get there. The Police don't control the whole City.

I know that it is not feasible to re engineer or make major tooling changes to these kits, I do wish AMT would make the effort to clean up the exterior parts of the kits. Most of these oldies will be built and displayed on a shelf, not done to contest standards with heavily detailed chassis and engines. If I am paying these top prices for reissues, I would like to be able to build it OOB and have it look right. The Cougar has been pretty good on that account. (I have several copies of the older issues, so I have not bought the latest one) The '65 Galaxie and '69 Chevelle both need taillights and a chrome bit or two to make them passable. If either of those issues had been fixed, I would have probably made more purchases. (I did buy a Galaxie, but passed on another Chevelle. I would have bought a couple of each if they didn't need Modelhaus parts just to look okay on a shelf. At the top prices AMT is now charging for the old reissues, I am getting more selective about my purchases. (It helps that I have about a 40 year stash of kits and don't NEED anything to build.)

It looks, to me, like he backed up after he got stuck. The columns are tipping back. Unless he hit the bases of both columns with something, it looks like he has pulled the whole building roof backwards a few inches. The fascia and soffit on the far side of the roof look straight, so he didn't back through.

Back in the day when sprint cars still traveled in caravans behind ratty old pickups, I watched a competitor crunch up his wing going through a McDonald's drive thru. No damage to the building, and , after having a pretty good laugh at the pickup driver's expense, we were able to pound the wing back into shape and they made the "A" main with it that night. For the rest of the season, we couldn't walk by them in the pits without somebody saying, "You want fries with that?" The only reason I never did that was because I had the world's cheapest single axle trailer with lousy shocks. I had to strap my wing to the bed of the truck, or the trailer would start steering the truck in a crosswind!

On any reissue of an older kit, I pretty much know I'm going to get a bucket interior. With a couple of exceptions, the bucket interiors were the only type until 1988 when the '66 Nova came out. Revell even hung on to the bucket through the '64 Thunderbolt a few years later. (Even their '69 Camaro kits have a hybrid bucket interior with panel inserts) I also know I am going to get a simplified chassis and engine compartment. The chassis from the '67 Mustang combined with a few bits from various Revell Mustang and Torino kits can make a very nice contest quality Cougar chassis. I have not done it myself, but I have seen the results at a contest and talked to the modeler who built it. The engine in this kit is pretty nice, and the kit builds into a very nice shelf model. The body is pretty crisp and accurate, and the chrome and trim are all nicely done for their time. I am glad for the reissues, as they increase the selection of subjects to build. The Cougar is several steps ahead of the '64 Impala that is coming out, and way ahead of the '64 Ford which doesn't even have an engine, but that doesn't stop me from building those kits and making nice shelf models from them. The front suspension was pretty good back in the day, considering that some kits had the front suspension molded into the chassis, and a metal axle running through it. You also don't have to deal with molded in exhaust and molded in rear end with this chassis. I do agree that the texture is a touch overdone, but that was also back in the day of undercoating, where people use to order their cars with a thick coating of a weird tar like substance spayed all over the bottom of the car. The trickiest part is dealing with the injector pin marks and matching your fill work to the texture of the chassis. All in all, it is a workable kit that can build up really nicely. Vintage is as vintage does... When I drive my 45 year old car, I don't complain about the heavy steering, stiff brakes, unheated seats, AM only radio, lack of air conditioning, outdated pushrod motor, carbs, choke, manual seats, window cranks and the fact that it doesn't have cupholders. I appreciate it for what it is and enjoy the rumbling of the motor and the fact that I have the coolest taillights in automotive history. Try to get into that Zen like "Vintage mode" when you build it, and it should end up being a fun build. After all, it's the only Cougar out there.

Did they seize the truck as concrete evidence of who was at fault?

Thanks for posting this. I am unable to go this year, so the pics are much appreciated. Looks like a great show.

Have you heard about the new church for vegetables? Every Sunday the Pastor says, "Lettuce pray."

What did the drummer get on his IQ test? Drool

That Fleetline looks sweet too! I am going to have to get building.

Great version of one of my favorite tunes. As long as we're talking about my favorite musician, Here's another Zappa gem This version starts out with a piano solo, and features some serious Jazz Violin work and extended jamming. There is also a tight, focused version of this song on the Fillmore album, but linking to that album might cause some other problems... The song is clean, but the rest of the album deteriorates quickly.

Fantastic model. I am not an expert on Lowriders, but I can appreciate a well done car of any type. Great paint and interior colors. The amount of work that goes into a project like that is astounding. It's almost as involved as a scratchbuild. I am glad you showed it here. Maybe a couple of us will be inspired to try building a Lowrider someday. (I have several sets of Daytons from buying lowrider kits to make other things from them) I have always wanted to do an older style "Bomb" with a '51 Fleetline, and scratchbuild all of the accessories for it. Again, really ambitious build and great job making the whole look come together. Well planned and executed build.

How many coats of the clear glue do you use? I might try this with some Micro Kristal Kleer. The headlights on that GTO look great!

I would love to get another River Rat. I have a glue bomb that I got for Christmas when it first came out, but I would like anther shot at this one. The boat was too cool!