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I finished the AMT 1955 Chevy Bel Air over the weekend. Although I am pretty happy with how it turned out, I feel like I coulda/shoulda been more patient and took more time with it to really knock it out of the park. I took some shortcuts with the engine swap and exhaust, front suspension mods, and rear suspension mods. It ended up with a little more rake to it than I'd like, and I also missed some details like disc brake rotors. Anyways, the color is Metallic White with a custom mix of craft paints for the Light Orange. I cleared it with Decoart Duraclear Gloss Varnish, wet-sanded and polished with Novus #2. The interior is a custom mix of craft paints for both tones, and I even made an attempt at a 5-ball shifter. Most of the engine is from the AMT Baldwin-Motion Camaro kit, with some parts box pieces to top it off. The wheels are Pegasus Chrome T's 19" and 23", the hood from Lex's Scale Modeling, and the coil from MAD Modeling. The trim is a combination of Green Stuff World Chrome airbrushed around the windows, and I used BMF for the side trim. All-in-all a fun project that I hope I learned some lessons from. I thought the second set of pics looked pretty cool with the way the sun came in through the window. Thanks for looking!!

Finished up another one of my stalled WIP builds. Decided to go triple black with this one. Not quite as good as the 62 I built years back. But im really happy how this one looks.. Usual Tamiya TS-14 Black, but this one is polished and waxed. Interior is Mr Hobby Finishing Surfacer 1500 black and Tamiya XF-1 flat black. Pegasus #1109 wheels, painted Tamiya X-1 black Got a bit slack and couldnt be bothered doing much paint work on the undercarriage, if it had a separate X-frame would have chromed that and all the suspension and running gear components. So went the easy way and left all 1500 surfacer black.

Thought it was time to start up "another" project, I introduce the "49 3W coupe. No real plans as of now, just trying to get the body mods done before I continue.. Thanks fer lookin.

I just finished this one before the end of the year! ‘78 Courier “Minivan” by AMT. I struggled with the body paint finish on this one and ended up stripping it twice. Still some issues but it looks good on camera at least, and I can call it done ?. There’s some final fitment issues with this kit, but considering the age of the molds and the multi-piece body, engine bay and front end, it comes out ok. If you have the patience I’m sure you can get this thing square. The body is Testors Extreme Lacquer Turquoise, with primer black interior and Tamiya TS-26 Pure White on the seat, wheels and bumpers. This kit comes with tons of custom and stock part options and three sets of stripe decals. I chose the custom camper shell/bed and the front fender flares, but I left off the goofy snow plow-like custom front air-dam so I had to trim the front flares to go with the stock fascia. All of the options make for a fun kit to design however you want! Thanks for looking!

This is my first restoration or rebuild project I’ve done, so I thought I might as well make it my first WIP documented build too! A little background: I was an avid model car builder back in my tween-teen years (early to mid/late ‘00s) but I gave it up once I hit college and started my career. About a year ago now I picked modeling back up as a pandemic hobby and I’ve been fully hooked! This AMT snap kit was one of the last kits I built as a kid. It must have been the 2007 re-issue because I only bought kits off the shelf from Walmart and HL back then, before I had a credit card to destroy on eBay. ? Today, I have a growing collection of classic 70s-90s SUV kits, so I decided to rebuild this one to go with them. Since it’s a snap kit, it’s a great candidate for rebuilding, plus these kits are kind of rare and expensive now.Back then, I was exclusively brush painting my builds with Testors enamels. I never used primer, I always used model cement and CA to glue painted, clear and chrome parts (with expected terrible results) and just did basic hand painted details. I’ve definitely come a long way today thanks to YouTube tutorials and model sites like this one! The body paint on my original build was surprisingly smooth and glossy for brush painting, but it definitely looks sloppy compared to my current adult builds. I apparently hastily “twisted” all of these parts from the sprue trees instead of using a knife so I’ll have to clean them up and probably putty the worst spots. So far, I have disassembled everything and the parts are soaking in Super Clean. I broke a few mounting pegs from the suspension and the driveshaft broke from the differential, nothing some model cement can’t fix. Unfortunately, the passenger side taillight lens is missing so I’ll have to come up with a fix for it. Thanks for reading, and I’ll try to keep updates coming regularly!

Here’s my build of the recently released AMT ‘78 VW GTI. Since this kit is molded in three colors (and since it’s too cold out to safely spray paint) I decided to see how far I could take it with just some Future and hand detail paint. It came out ok, definitely not an award winner ?. The yellow plastic is thin and slightly translucent so the color isn’t consistent. If I did it again I’d try some yellow craft paint inside the body shell first. Part fit and detail isn’t great but considering the age of the mold it’s acceptable. It’s WAY better than AMT’s ‘77 Pinto. I don’t think anyone in their right mind would have stuck fake wood on a 1:1 GTI, even in the ‘70s, but it’s a fun look for a model! Anyways this was an enjoyable quick build overall.

Here's the AMT 1968 Camaro Z28 that I finished over the weekend. It's painted in Model Master Nassau Blue Metallic, and cleared with Model Master Clear Gloss. I gave it the usual wet-sand, polish, and wax treatment. The interior is two different mixtures of craft paints, one for the seats, door panels and dashboard, and the other for the carpet area and rear shelf. The wheels are from MAD Modeling, and were airbrushed with Molotow Chrome from a refill pen, and the spokes were painted with Anita's Galvanized Tin. The air cleaner is a machined unit from Off The Sprue, the carburetor is from Fireball Modelworks. The trim was done with Bare Metal Foil, and I added valve stems, ignition wires, and heater hoses for extra detail. This was a typical older mold from AMT with a not-so detailed one piece interior tub, but it did go together really well and was a really fun build, so a definite thumbs-up from me. Thanks for looking!

Been working on this AMT Chevelle, got some paint on it, ain't perfect but I think I can work with it. I'll let it cure for a few days then rub it down with some Future.

I owned this 1969 Chevrolet C-10, got from a friend who needed the money, died last year, nephew bought it because it was sold new in Safford (still had the service plate with the manual) to a relative. It grew on me, found out why they are very coveted, much like the model kits! ? I nicknamed it The Green Barge because a friend owned a nice motorcycle named The Green Monster. Currently own a 1968 C-10, so can use for reference (which is the same blue this model was painted). Going to build for a future diorama idea, so not going to scratch-build an accurate chassis, but will grind off the left exhaust to replicate this truck (I wanted to put on twice pipes). Bought off Facebook Marketplace, it was built half decent, seller had stripped the body, I'm stripping and rebuilding the rest. The plan is to improve some things, and modify to resemble the trim specifications. The interior is going to be a major scratch-build: cut out the bucket seats and make a bench seat from Corian, dash will get gauges behind 'glass' (minus little auxiliary ones), add shift lever and turn signal, pedals, door panels were steel with simple arm rest. Exterior will have the upper trim removed, the raised wood grain needs to be removed from the lower trim, tailgate will be a major change, drill stakebed holes, modify the front bumper, sidelights need to be basic, and fix the horrible taillights. Scratch-build: the license plates, rear bumper, mirrors, toolbox, steps, driving lights (which came off my MINI). Aftermarket details: gauge faces, slotted mags, and the big deal item is the '69 grill! I took reference pictures with the tape measure in the picture when I sold it, will post them as I get to those parts. Start off with these photos to give an idea. Hauling flagstone: Hauling mountain bike: Replaced the perfectly bumper that I snagged on the fence post: Day that I said goodbye: Most of the parts, instructions with notes: The rest of the parts: Cleaning up parts of mold lines, and starting assembly. Puttying the massive ejection pin marks. Going to order Splash paint per paint chart, 503. The original owner had it repainted, including the interior! When I replaced the left headlight, discovered why. ?

Here's the AMT 1967 Chevrolet Impala SS427. It's done in Tamiya TS-87 Titanium Gold and cleared with Tamiya TS-13. I used Evergreen .010 x .030 styrene strips to trim in the vinyl top, and just used Apple Barrel Black craft paint airbrushed from a distance to get a bit of texture before moving in closer for the final cover coat. The interior is a mixture of craft paints as well, and so is the engine. I wasn't too keen on the tires from the kit, so I used the extra set from the AMT '68 Camaro Z28 kit. The trim is all Bare Metal Foil, and I added valve stems, door locks, and ignition wires for extra details. This seems like one of AMT's nicer kits, and it was a really fun build. Thanks for looking!

Happy friday,,lookin at the leaves changing colors in my back yard,,and I see Mr Woodchuck crawling out from under my tool shed in back yard,,Im thinkin,,,pest control company named "Fir Fighters" ,,if they had a drag race car ,,this would be it. Its the AMT 66 Chevy Nova PS kit. Cool kit,,nice tires,,tubbed chassis,,wheelie bars,,no roll bar though,,I had to make one from the leftovers bx. Also replaced stock seat w/race seat. And added the rear trunk deck wing. {all cars should have a wing on them} Also opened up wheel wells to view rims+tires better. Sprayed rattlecan testors purplelicious quikdry,,hand bottle painted rest of it. Kit went together well,,and looks decent on the shelf,,guess thats all I can ask for! Enjoy everybodys work here! Build on!

I have a few questions about the AMT White Freightliner cabovers (DD with sleeper) 1. What year of Freightliner is the kit based off of? What confuses me is the steps. Most early 70s Freightliner cabovers I've seen just have a looped strap for a step under the door and behind the front wheels. It appears that 1975 the style of steps on the kit came out, but if I remember correctly White Freightliner split and just became Freightliner. 2. How common was the Detroit 8v71T in Freightliner cabovers? I have a resin 8v71T/8v92 that has been sitting around for a while that I want to use in place of the stock Cummins. If anyone can help, it will be greatly appreciated. Top picture is a 1975, bottom picture is a 1970. Notice the difference in the steps leading into the door.

Bought this AMT Olds kit at a swap meet 10 years back and started to build it out of the box for a Nascar group challenge. Did not realize the problems I would encounter so lost interest and it had set unfinished on the shelf since that time. Was at a recent contest where somebody had finished one of the Lumina kits of this same vintage. Was inspired to give my Olds a go one more time and here it is! Mostly box stock, kit decals with some extras from Powerslide and other Nascar kits. Paint is CraftSmart Acrylic Neon Yellow with Rustoleum 2k Clear and a finish coat of Pledge (Future) to protect the decals. Build has some flaws but I am happy with how it finished out!

does anyone know when the original amt modified stockers series,,,64 ford, 66 skylark, 65 olds 88, etc, hit the stores back in the day. I built 3 of the original issues in late 1977, but found some of them hard to find in most stores around here back then. also, does anybody remember if all 9 came out at once, or were they issued 2 or 3 at a time. I am building the 64 ford re issue at present and have always had a soft spot for them,,,just thought I would ask. thanks, a.c.

G'morn,,hope your summer has been a good one. Ive been visiting Hobby Lobby these days,,every other week they a 40% off on kits. So,,for 13$ you can get quite a few cool kits,,maybe not the latest releases but still some fun kits to do. And here is the "Ol Pro" Nova everyone has seen for many years,,a cool kit,,aside from the separate front fenders that have to attached before painting{really?} But the motor and the rest of the features that come in the kit are great,,the decal sheet has many product brands to choose from,,very nice. I did the 70's version,,"jacked,,Stacked,,shackled up rear" Some basic wiring ect,,pretty much what I do to all my builds,,not a contest car,,just a nice one for the shelf! Rattle can sprayed hardware store paint,,testors bottle paint for everything else. Enjoy whatever you may have on the build bench! Cheers! SS

Hi All. I've spent a fair amount of time lurking around this forum admiring all of the great models and getting some fantastic tips and ideas and now I'm finally getting around to posting pics of my completed models to, maybe, inspire someone else. The enjoyment of modeling, for me, is 'kit bashing', taking whatever parts, kits or previously completed models that I have laying around, to make something new and different. My latest effort could best be described as a Competition Coupe dragster but since NHRA doesn't have that class anymore this model would now run in something like the Good-Guys Nostalgia Eliminator class. I built this racecar by combining AMT's Willys Van with AMT's Tommy Ivo rear-engine fueler. I piecut chopped the body and layed the windshield back. I raised and moved forward the fenders. I also layed the grill back and then merged the Ivo rail body in between. Then I had to swap the roll cage and the engine location (remember, I'm trying to use what's available). After completing bodywork I made my own inkjet decals and tried doing an airbrush paintjob. All of my previous models were painted with spray cans. I definitely need more practice to get proficient with an airbrush and learning how to use the various kinds of paints. I'm looking forward to seeing other heavily modified/customized models by others.

Hi All. New member and new to posting. As you will see as I post more pictures of the models that I have built during the Pandemic, I like all kinds of car models but I definitely lean more to vintage hot rods and race cars. But, since I'm cheap, I concentrate on what I can build with the models and parts that I already have from when I was a kid. This van started out as an AMT Rescue Van that I had previously built as a hippie van (anyone remember the van craze from the '70s?). And, since I also had a built German tank model, what would make more since than to build a post-apocalypse, junk-yard built, zombie hunting van/machine/half-track? All of the components came from my parts stash, plus a little styrene and weathering and then we're ready to hit the road. Enjoy.

It's been years since I've attempted a lowrider or any type of custom. This one didn't start out that way, but took on a life of its own.

I finished the AMT 1970 Chevelle SS454 yesterday. I know, same old--same old, everybody does them in red, but to me the most iconic Muscle Car is a Red Chevelle SS454. So the color is Tamiya TS-49 Bright Red. I left the interior primer black and brushed satin clear over the dash, door panels, and parts of the seats. I added valve stems, ignition wires, heater hoses, and an Accel Supercoil from MAD for extra details. The trim is Bare Metal Foil and the door handles came from Fireball Modelworks and were painted with Molotow Chrome. The final fit was pretty finicky, but after 4 tries I finally got it to look right, although I'm not happy with the gap between the hood and grille. I also sanded down the door window trim on each side, as it was almost non-existent, and used some .010" x .030" styrene strip for the trim. It's a pretty basic but familiar AMT kit with low parts count, lacking details, and showing it's age, but it turned out pretty good and felt nicely nostalgic.

I’m not normally into ‘50s or earlier cars but I figured every modeler needs to do at least one ‘57 Chevy in their lifetime! This is my first attempt at using bare metal foil and may be my last ? The trim turned out ok but boy is the process tedious. I painted the interior Krylon Colormaxx flat black with Tamiya XF-16 Aluminum as the accent color. The body is Testors Extreme Lacquer Turquoise and the roof is Tamiya TS-45 Pearl White. This kit has a decent amount of detail to it for such a cheap kit, but the final fit of the hood, bumpers, headlight and taillight trims isn’t great. Overall I’m pleased with the results for my shelf, but I’ll probably stick to my usual 60s-90s cars with less chrome trim!

Just finished up this little ‘66 Mustang from AMT. As many have said here before, this kit is definitely lacking in detail and accuracy under the hood and on the chassis, but the body and interior detail out nicely. The fit is actually not bad considering the kit’s age but there was a ton of flash in my example. I accidentally glued the radiator support in backwards so the battery is on the wrong side. But again it isn’t accurate under the hood anyway so I let it go. I was shooting for the ‘66 factory Ivy Green body color so I painted it Tamiya’s TS2 Dark Green. It looks closer to Bullitt’s Highland Green to me, which is not a bad thing! I cleared it with three coats of Pledge floor gloss and lightly polished that out with Tamiya finish compound. Trim is silver sharpie that was applied and left to dry for several days before I did the Pledge Gloss. I painted the interior Tamiya XF-17 Sea Blue, with two coats of Pledge Gloss on the seats, dash, console and door cards. Sea blue is an interesting color that looks like a dark charcoal on its own, but looks more blue next to blue objects and more green next to green objects. So I think it looks great next to this dark green body. I’m slowly building one Mustang from every major generation/ redesign/ facelift and am pleased to have this one as my O.G. example!

Out in February 2021, six new 1000 piece puzzles based on recent AMT box art, priced at $14.00 each:

Okay, after seeing all the great Munsters builds, and considering the time of the year, i decided; whats one more build on the bench? -20 is a nice even number! I dont really know what level of details these will be, but i'm pretty sure they will evolve rather quickly....lets see what i do to them!

My gosh,,Im stuck on these late 60's Ford cars recently,,here I took the AMT Shelby GT500 kit and did a drag version,,additions not included in kit : Headrests,,seatbelts,,rollbar,,drag slicks,, cragar mags,,,opened up rear wheel wells,,drag headers instead of stock exhaust,,lower radiator hose,,decals from leftovers from my stash. Rattle can sprayed W/ Testors Mystic emerald green. Hand painted 2 tone interior w/custom mixed paints. Hand painted window trim{s} w/custom mixed paints. Dremmel cut+ removed engine bay wheel wells. {so drag headers would clear} I did have to dremmel the top of gearbox down to get interior bucket to lay level so the entire assembly w/body on chassis was level,,but other than that it went together well. It will make a nice addition to the shelf display next to the Lawton stang. Wishing all a happy spring and hope its warming up where you are!

To me the 1941 Willys is the best looking gasser. I have seen a ton of pics online and just love the way they look. I plan on getting one down the road to build and I'm looking at the Reveal Big John Mazmanian 1941 Willys. Show me what you have, what brand, and what year.