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Fortunately someone in the past made a card board structure to protect the windshield frame. This is in remarkable condition for a 57 year old kit, just think about that, this has been around all that time and is still intact. The after market styling for the Custom version was a little funky even then.

This cleaned up really nice. The hood color doesn't look that far off depending on the viewing angle. When you do get to doing a full redo don't forget the black panted section of the tail gate.

Beautiful looking build. The paint work especially. Nice to see a build of one of these stately old cars.

Great looking Gasser Vette. I like the flames also. The fit and finish is really nice.

Great looking rebuild. I always liked the overdone Bass Boat style Metal Flake Gelcoat they used on the 1:1's. The white seats look good against the blue body.

Glad to see you're giving this AMC a little love. Somewhere on this forum there are builders groaning because they work so hard to create a paint finish like this.

I think they both were good looking 1:1 cars, but I'm a little different, I've been told, and I like the post two doors myself.

Nice looking paint. The chassis detailing looks great.

Great looking build. I remember following this as it came together. I'm sure that it will get moved to Under Glass very soon, but thank you for the viewing here.

Very cool. Glad you appreciate nature also.

Great looking build. I remember watching your build on this truck.

Several of these have been reissued thru the years. I have one of the Grumpy's Vega kit still in the box along with the 70 Pontiac that could be made into a pickup and the Monte Carlo Stock Car kit. That is being reissued right now by round 2. There're several others that I would like to have if they ever reissue them. A big part of the problem could be if the complete molds even still exists and the condition of them.

I always seem to have to do a lot of sanding and fitting to get the two halves of the engine block and transmission to line up before I can even think about adding the heads. I use NOBLNG's intake manifold method to get the heads properly mounted to the block. Model building companies devote a majority of their attention to the fit and finish of the body and interior parts but seem indifferent to the chassis and engine parts.

We call those type of people "Porch Pirates". One method to deal with such people is to leave a decoy box on your door step for them to steal. Perhaps there is a dog in your neighborhood that could provide you with a little treasure for them to find when they open the stolen box.

I think that would be an excellent idea. I have heard of others who have hung the decals in a window to allow the Sun to bleach the yellow out of the decals. The spray you mentioned also should give added protection for the decals to stay intact.

I saw where Amazon is being investigated for "price gauging" on household items like TP and others. Keep aneye out on the subject and you might be able to get a refund.

Great looking pictures. Most of my experience at that time frame and earlier was asphalt racing. I like seeing some body styles like the Mustangs and Camaros that I was used to seeing in SCCA type racing. A few even look like a Sprint Car with a passenger car body mounted on it. They all look very competitive, I'll bet those were some great races.

I always thought that the Studebaker line was really under appreciated. They were not always the most stylish but often offered some interesting designs. Their durability and engineering rivaled the "Big Three" back in the day. I still think that the purchase of the failing Packard was their undoing along with already being undercapitalized. Thank you for the pictures and a look at what might have been.

Great looking paint work. Without the clear coat the finish looks more correct to the 1:1. Very cleanly detailed trim and the engine.

Key word Metallic. The reason I mentioned this is that if you go thru the clear and into the color it could become very difficult to match the Metallic finish underneath. I have seen others do it but I think it would be beyond my skill set. I'm sure you will hear from others here later today and they might be better able to guide you with your problem. You might even post a picture or two as that might help others with suggestions. I wish you well on this.

Since it sound like you want to try sanding the drops out I would suggest starting with the highest # grit sand paper you have. You can always go to a courser grit if need be. I would try wet sanding with the very lightest of pressure and check your progress after about every other stroke. I hope this isn't some shade of Silver or another Metallic color or a Candy color.

I'm really not trying to pick on you, but. The decals look old and "Yellowed" and these can even sometimes come apart due to their age. If you haven't dealt with this problem in the past there are suggestions on the forum about just that problem. A lot of builders with far more skills than myself have offered information on how they have overcome this in the past. You might want to look at what others have done for suggestions. There maybe some decal makers that also offer reproductions. I just didn't want you to put all your energy in a great paint job and then have the decals ruin everything. This is a model of a unique car and it's relationship to a special event so I'm glad to see what you're doing here.

I like the colors and the finish looks great. I have one of these kits that I have threatened to build for years and like you I wanted to make a road car out of it.

Beautiful looking restoration.

Just saw this build. Looks like a nice rebuild. You mentioned earlier on the body work and especially the area over the head lights needed work. I noticed in the last picture after you had primed the body the headlight area was still in need of a like work.