Let's See Some Glue Bombs!

[Snake45]

Sometimes it's a fine line between Glue Bomb and Survivor. This is an original annual JoHan '69 Road Runner I recently bought at the local Toy Show. If the paint were just a little better, I'd get behind the Original Builder's day two/racer concept and try to restore it, maybe make a couple little improvements here and there, but alas, I'd never be happy with the paint, so Glue Bomb this one is. It'll probably need new chrome from a reissue, but the body looks to be good under the paint, and the original correct interior is by itself worth the $11 (yes, eleven dollars) I paid for it. It will live a long, happy life in its new home.

[magicmustang]

Decided to toss in the tread one of my Ebay glue bombs that I converted. I knew what the first owner had tried to do but he missed. I will say the epoxy glue he used was nearly impossible to remove.    Before and after pics.

Edited October 20, 2016 by magicmustang

[FordRodnKustom]

What a cool thread! I love this stuff!

This one was barely worth saving, it was a lot worse that the photo shows.........

........but I liked the bubble top on so I spent way too much time and money on it.

[pack rat]

What a cool thread! I love this stuff!

This one was barely worth saving, it was a lot worse that the photo shows.........

........but I liked the bubble top on so I spent way too much time and money on it.

Now THAT'S nice!  Great save!

[ranma]

got this '71 Plymouth Satellite off ebay, The side markers, door handles and lock's were all removed and the body was painted flat black . The engine and Chassis were already built. I removed the Old paint and repainted it also added  some sidemarkers and door handles.

[Snake45]

Decided to toss in the tread one of my Ebay glue bombs that I converted. I knew what the first owner had tried to do but he missed. I will say the epoxy glue he used was nearly impossible to remove.    Before and after pics.

Great save!

[Snake45]

Now THAT'S nice!  Great save!

Agree completely! Great save! Well done!

[Mr Stock]

What a cool thread! I love this stuff!

This one was barely worth saving, it was a lot worse that the photo shows.........

........but I liked the bubble top on so I spent way too much time and money on it.

Wow that is beautiful !!

[Russell C]

I continue to be a sucker for cheap ebay gluebombs. The Ranchero one I snagged further above now has its own WIP restoration thread. This one will be different, a simple rebuild. The decals had been applied, but they easily peeled right off. No offense to the original Monogram models designer, but in near box-stock form, this particular kit version really lends itself to only one specific result. When I'm done adding a couple more lights and providing tires & wheels for it, you'll see what I mean.

[WizPorsche944]

Wow these really turn out great guys. What are you using to strip the paint ?? I would love to try to save a glue bomb. 

Edited February 13, 2017 by WizPorsche944

[Snake45]

Wow these really turn out great guys. What are you using to strip the paint ?? I would love to try to save a glue bomb.

I think there's a whole thread on paint stripping down in either the Questions or the Tips forum.

I usually use Easy-Off oven cleaner, but sometimes rubbing alcohol works, such as on old AMT lacquers.

[WizPorsche944]

I think there's a whole thread on paint stripping down in either the Questions or the Tips forum.

I usually use Easy-Off oven cleaner, but sometimes rubbing alcohol works, such as on old AMT lacquers.

great thank you, I'll look for that thread. 

[pack rat]

Nice to see this thread back from the dead.

I glue bomb (more like a "lacquer-bomb") I just finished.  This one looked like an easy restoration when i got it, but under that thick Testors yellow enamel was a severely crazed body that had been painted with green automotive lacquer (I should have taken pics).  I almost gave up on it, but I figured I might as well finish what I started...and I can't just go to the LHS and pick up another '66 Skylark.

[Snake45]

Nice to see this thread back from the dead.

I glue bomb (more like a "lacquer-bomb") I just finished.  This one looked like an easy restoration when i got it, but under that thick Testors yellow enamel was a severely crazed body that had been painted with green automotive lacquer (I should have taken pics).  I almost gave up on it, but I figured I might as well finish what I started...and I can't just go to the LHS and pick up another '66 Skylark.

WOW, you did a FANTASTIC resto job on this one! One of my favorite kits of all time, I've scraped up enough parts to make maybe two or three of them, though maybe not completely stock.

Looks like you correctly did the side trim as a double white pinstripe, not as a strip of chrome as so many erroneously do. Am I right?

[pack rat]

Looks like you correctly did the side trim as a double white pinstripe, not as a strip of chrome as so many erroneously do. Am I right?

Right you are, Snake.

I love the way AMT molded the pinstripe just high enough that you can scrape the paint away for a nice fine white pinstripe.  It almost didn't work on this one due to the crazed body, and how deep I had to go smoothing it out.  The "BUICK" lettering on the hood and decklid are just about gone. 

,

[Snake45]

Right you are, Snake.

I love the way AMT molded the pinstripe just high enough that you can scrape the paint away for a nice fine white pinstripe.  It almost didn't work on this one due to the crazed body, and how deep I had to go smoothing it out.  The "BUICK" lettering on the hood and decklid are just about gone.

,

Hella cool! I was able to do the same think on this one, which I built in 1969 or so. And I can relate to your crazing problem. I have one that way now. The Skylark emblem on the right rear fender is almost gone, and I don't even remember if the pinstripe is savable on that one or not--haven't looked at it for several years.

And then I have this one, an absolutely perfect mint body which someone, for some unfathomable reason, cut off the lower front fenders. I'll fix that someday and drive on with it.

[pack rat]

Hella cool! I was able to do the same think on this one, which I built in 1969 or so. And I can relate to your crazing problem. I have one that way now. The Skylark emblem on the right rear fender is almost gone, and I don't even remember if the pinstripe is savable on that one or not--haven't looked at it for several years.

And then I have this one, an absolutely perfect mint body which someone, for some unfathomable reason, cut off the lower front fenders. I'll fix that someday and drive on with it.

They both look like good restoration candidates....although I hope you keep the blue one as-is.  It's a well-preserved example of the way we all did them back then.

I'm sure you already know this,,,,the Ertl reissue of the Skylark Modified Stocker has a few extra parts in the box left over from the annual, including a set of the stock five spoke wheels.  They're the only 1/25 scale Special/Skylark/Century five spokes out there (yes, non-Buick folks, the Wildcat/Riv wheels are different). 

[Snake45]

They both look like good restoration candidates....although I hope you keep the blue one as-is.  It's a well-preserved example of the way we all did them back then.

I'm sure you already know this,,,,the Ertl reissue of the Skylark Modified Stocker has a few extra parts in the box left over from the annual, including a set of the stock five spoke wheels.  They're the only 1/25 scale Special/Skylark/Century five spokes out there (yes, non-Buick folks, the Wildcat/Riv wheels are different). 

Don't worry, the blue one stays as-is. I've cleaned and freshened it up at least twice over the years, and it's about due for another one of those treatments, but I'll always keep it that way. I have another glue bomb that I might rebuild exactly the same way--a "then and now" thing highlighting my improved model-fu skills.

I have several of the dirt-tracker kits, and I'm planning to do one as a full custom with the leftover original '66 kit parts. Thinking of doing another one as a 4WD funny car a la Hurst Hairy Olds, too, maybe. I've noticed that only two of the four stock wheels are usable, but I have several of them. Didn't know about the difference between Skylark and Riv wheels, though--I'll have to take a close look at that. Thanks!

[Russell C]

I get various weird ideas for altering cars (some I 'sketch' out but probably won't build). What bugs me about some of my ideas is that after I get them all planned out in my mind, then I go searching for the kits I need, only to discover they are a form of Unobtanium costing between $70 and $150. I lucked out here after lengthy waiting and found this within my +/- $20 budget. Too bad about that 'demolition dent' on the front passenger side, but no worries, I already have a parts pack AMT grille to fix it, and the ground-off hood/fender is easy to fix.

[Mike999]

Here's the classic glue-bomb many of us built as kids - yes, I want to use ALL of the customizing AND competition parts, thank you very much!  The clear hardtop is glued very firmly UNDER the sun visors.  That may not matter; the glue was so old, parts were just falling off, like those fender skirts.

This was part of a 4-kit lot I found at a flea market.  I sold this Vette but plan to keep the other 3: a '60 Corvair, T-Bird hardtop, and Ford pickup/trailer.  All are built similar to this one.  I thought the pickup was missing its stock tail-lights.  But they were glued to the trailer!  Nothing was glued into the pickup bed, which made me happy.

 

[Foxer]

Here's the classic glue-bomb many of us built as kids - yes, I want to use ALL of the customizing AND competition parts, thank you very much!  The clear hardtop is glued very firmly UNDER the sun visors.  That may not matter; the glue was so old, parts were just falling off, like those fender skirts.

This was part of a 4-kit lot I found at a flea market.  I sold this Vette but plan to keep the other 3: a '60 Corvair, T-Bird hardtop, and Ford pickup/trailer.  All are built similar to this one.  I thought the pickup was missing its stock tail-lights.  But they were glued to the trailer!  Nothing was glued into the pickup bed, which made me happy.

 

That just SCREAMS!  

[junkyardjeff]

I picked this up at a model show for 3 dollars,not sure what I will do with it since its not 1/25,

[gtx6970]

This is about as close as I get to a 'Glue Bomb'  I traded a car I was in fairly reasonable cash wise for it. So its not something I would buy or bid on unless it was cheap enough to take the chance all this 'stuff' would come off easily. ( this one sure looks like it will clean up pretty well with a reasonable effort )

Edited December 9, 2017 by gtx6970

[W-409]

Jo-Han '71 Barracuda Pro Stock. This was fairly easy to rebuild, even though bunch of modifications was done.

 

Monogram '69 Camaro that has bunch of errors as far as the body shapes go. This was far from an easy rebuild, the body was very rough after some of the previous owners had removed paint with too strong liquids. The body had cracks all over and the plastic was hard to work with. Well, I rebuilt it anyway.

This AMT '70 Super Bee was actually pretty good starting point. All parts were there and it was built pretty cleanly.

AMT '66 Nova Pro Street. Same thing with this, fairly easy rebuild as it came with almost all parts and it was built pretty nicely.

'67 Corvette '70s style Hot Rod. This was built just like most of the US cars were here back in the day. The body was rough and most of the parts were missing.... This was a "Parts Box Special".

Monogram 1/32 '55 Chevy Snap Kit. This was easy as the original builder didn't use glue at all, but some parts had pretty thick coat of paint on them.

There are some of my Glue Bombs that have been rebuilt. I have more that are under construction or waiting to be built...More on them a bit later.

 

[W-409]

... Here are some more Glue Bombs!

Revell Hot Rod Series '56 Chevy. The previous owner had chopped this '56 Chevy and I continued from where he had stalled. The plan was to build a nasty Street & Race car, but this has been as a back burner for several years now...

Monogram '56 Bel Air. Otherwise the body was looking pretty good but lots of parts (Including the roof ) were missing. So a perfect starting point for a Lead Sled.

Very rough '79 Mustang. It had some misc interior and chassis pieces, but they were even worse than the body... I started building it as an Outlaw Street Drag Racer but nothing has happened in a long time...

 

Another Fox Mustang. The body wasn't good on this one either, but a lot better than the other one. I started turning it into a C/Street Drag Racer...

Revell '67 Chevelle. I wouldn't consider this as a Glue Bomb, rather just an old "builtup" or something as the previous owner had built it pretty nicely. Anyway, it will be a Sleeper with a Twin Turbo BBC some day...

Another a bit cleaner "Glue Bomb", a '59 Edsel Corsair. Gonna be a Mild Custom some day...

This crashed '51 Chevy will be used as parts. I think I already know a good use for it.....

Another a bit cleaner one, SMP '61 Chevy Pickup. Another Mild Custom starting point...