Which kit is better?

[JerseeJerry55]

My son wants me to build a Camaro after I build the GSX. Which kit is more worry free? The AMT 1968 Camaro or the Revell/Monogram 1969 Camaro. Thoughts 

[Chuckyg1]

I'm not realfamiiar with the AMT '68, but heard it has inaccuracies. The Revell '69 has a relativly low parts count, but plenty of detail. If you're looking for a fisrt gen, Revell's recent '67 is a good choice.

[JerseeJerry55]

Thanks for the suggestion. If I may ask how about th AMT 1970 1/2 Baldwin Motion Camaro? 

[gasman]

Avoid the MPC 69 Camaro and original Monogram 69 Camaro, both have major proportion issues

for a 69 the Revell kit is the way too go, The AMT 68 kit is'nt bad, but if you want a 67-68 Camaro get the Revell version.

The AMT 70 1/2 Camaro is also very good. But make sure it's the new one, not the version from he early 90's. 

[Snake45]

I've built three of the AMT '68s and two of the Revell '69s. I can tell you that the AMT '68 kits are MUCH easier to assemble.

Revell also does a nice "snapper" '69 with a much simplified chassis and assembly. That might be the way to go.

[unclescott58]

The MPC/AMT '69 Camaro is very old school. Yet I still like it. The more recent AMT '70 Camaros are very nice kits. I really like those.

[JerseeJerry55]

The 1967 Camaro is not my favorite. 1968 through 1970 1/2 are my favorites. Prob 1969 Revell will be 1st choice.

[iBorg]

I know both kits fairly well.......REVELL by a ton. In almost every way, the Revell Camaro far exceeds the AMT kit. The AMT kit has its origins in the early 70's if not modified from an annual. The Revell is a mid 90's mold. 

 

You won't be disappointed with the Revell.

 

[Snake45]

I know both kits fairly well.......REVELL by a ton. In almost every way, the Revell Camaro far exceeds the AMT kit. The AMT kit has its origins in the early 70's if not modified from an annual. The Revell is a mid 90's mold.

 

You won't be disappointed with the Revell.

 

The AMT '67-'68 Camaros have NOTHING in common with their original '67 and '68 annuals, not one single part. The AMT '68 Camaro was an all-new kit around 1982 or 1983. Its 1967 variant followed several years later (1990s, maybe?). And it goes together MUCH easier than the Revell, though it does have some easily corrected accuracy issues if you're really anal about first-gen Camaros (which I just happen to be).

[dodgefever]

The Revell '69 is a great kit.  For a '67-'68, I'd take the AMT '68 over Revell's new '67.  The AMT might be a little inaccurate, but it can be fixed.  The Revell '67 just looks dumpy and the grille is hopeless.

[JerseeJerry55]

Thank you all for your commentary so far. Please see below my inspirations for the 1968, the 1969 and the 1970. Now which subject to choose is the question.

[Nova-ss]

Avoid the MPC 69 Camaro and original Monogram 69 Camaro, both have major proportion issues

for a 69 the Revell kit is the way too go, The AMT 68 kit is'nt bad, but if you want a 67-68 Camaro get the Revell version.

The AMT 70 1/2 Camaro is also very good. But make sure it's the new one, not the version from he early 90's. 

i see it the same.the mpc and monogram/revell that is in 24th scale has problems.tge revell 25th is a better way to go..so is revell 67 camaro......have a good day

[my80malibu]

Thanks for the suggestion. If I may ask how about th AMT 1970 1/2 Baldwin Motion Camaro? 

the wheels and tire are nice.

[1972coronet]

My vote is for the Revell 1969 Camaro . Many variants are available :

- Z/28 -RS , complete with the crossram induction and headers , along with the Chambered Exhaust .

- Baldwin-Motion 427 (again with the RS parts , and the exclusive Motion parts )

- SS/RS 396 Convertible (with Pace Car embellishments)

- COPO "ZL-1" . An L72 is ostensibly an option as well . This one features a nice 427 , headers , standard grille (with the typical Bowtie emblems that the COPO's had) ,and  bare wheels with hubcaps . This kit has "left-over" RS parts found in all of the other issues .

Mix & Match ideas are endless !

[1972coronet]

The AMT 1968 is a Z/28 . The latest issue has 4 sets of tyres ( !! ) , and is a '2-in-1'  . I'm yet to get to building the one I bought , so I can't opine on its ease-of-assembly , nor of its inaccuracies (if any) .

The AMT 1970 1/2 comes in two flavours : Z/28 (again , avoid the early 90's issue !) and Baldwin-Motion Phase III ; both are of the RS version . That is one really nice kit ! Sure it has its issues ( mounting points on the runners for the front bumperettes are less-than-ideal ; and the headers-to-sidepipes junction is an 'exercise' ) , but it is nice !

[Harry P.]

Thank you all for your commentary so far. Please see below my inspirations for the 1968, the 1969 and the 1970. Now which subject to choose is the question.

That is by far the best looking model year Camaro ever.

[slusher]

The AMT 68 Camaro is a good kit. I like it...

[fractalign]

I have the "Motor City Muscle" Revell 1969 Z/28 2'n1. My opinion is that this is an excellent kit with a choice of two build options, two sets of wheels and two grills. Like all Revell kits the finish and detail is superb. Even the small things like having separate clear styrene windscreens and rear windows add to the realism.

[Bob Ellis]

The old AMT and MPC kits are promo based which means they lack in chassis details.Most of the AMT 1970s kits (Camaro, Mustang TBIrd, Torino LTD/Galaxie) were more like promo design than kit design

[Chuck Kourouklis]

EXCEPT that as Steve pointed out very correctly above, the AMT '68 Camaro recently reissued and generally available now was a new tool for around 1983.  Not so sharp as Revell's '69 but considerably advanced over standard '60s-early '70s promo chassis plate/metal axle practice.

Haven't been thru an AMT '68 but would not be at all surprised if it were easier to get together.  Loved my Revell Yenko '69, but getting it down on all fours was a pain and a half.

[Kmb0319]

Here Jerry... I know you've probably gotten more advice than you want at this point, but maybe this will help, as I've built all 4 of your "contenders"....

The Revell 69 Camaro is a great kit.. one of the best out there.  It's a 1990s era tool... which means it's very detailed, but somewhat simplified compared to new toolings.  That's not a bad thing, as it assures that it will go together very nicely.  The kits are very detailed, but more of the detail is molded in that separate pieces. There are also so many versions out there, you can build it with almost any option (grill, wheels, etc) 

The AMT 68 Camaro makes a nice shelf model, and fits together nicely, but I've complained on this board before that it is one of the worst models I have ever built.  There is a terrible lack of detail in the engine and it's worse in the interior, where they barely bothered to mold in door handles, window cranks and other necessary components, and didn't bother with armrests at all.  It looks good from outside, but it looks like a toy... not realistic.

The Revell 67 Camaro is one of my favorite kits ever.  Highly detailed, lots of parts, and goes together beautifully.  I saw a lot of complaints on the board about the shape of the rear end, and it does seem to have a little more slant than it should, but not enough to take away from anything in my opinion.  I love it.. I've built 2 of them

The AMT 70 Camaro is one of AMT's best... lots of detail throughout, goes together very nicely.  Maybe you'd want to do 2 Camaros... one first gen and one second gen...  but you won't go wrong with either Revell or this kit.  Here are a few pics of my builds of each to help you decide:

Revell 69 Camaro (I built the COPO version, wired the engine and added some hoses, seatbelts, etc)

AMT 68 Camaro (box stock)

Revell 67 Camaro SS (wired, seatbelts, etc.. I also used aftermarket wheels and tires.  The kit tires are very skinny and wheels are small)

AMT 70 Camaro

Sorry for overloading with pics... but if you're like me, you don't really know if a kit is really one you want to get your hands on unless you see it built.

 

[JerseeJerry55]

Here Jerry... I know you've probably gotten more advice than you want at this point, but maybe this will help, as I've built all 4 of your "contenders"....

The Revell 69 Camaro is a great kit.. one of the best out there.  It's a 1990s era tool... which means it's very detailed, but somewhat simplified compared to new toolings.  That's not a bad thing, as it assures that it will go together very nicely.  The kits are very detailed, but more of the detail is molded in that separate pieces. There are also so many versions out there, you can build it with almost any option (grill, wheels, etc) 

The AMT 68 Camaro makes a nice shelf model, and fits together nicely, but I've complained on this board before that it is one of the worst models I have ever built.  There is a terrible lack of detail in the engine and it's worse in the interior, where they barely bothered to mold in door handles, window cranks and other necessary components, and didn't bother with armrests at all.  It looks good from outside, but it looks like a toy... not realistic.

The Revell 67 Camaro is one of my favorite kits ever.  Highly detailed, lots of parts, and goes together beautifully.  I saw a lot of complaints on the board about the shape of the rear end, and it does seem to have a little more slant than it should, but not enough to take away from anything in my opinion.  I love it.. I've built 2 of them

The AMT 70 Camaro is one of AMT's best... lots of detail throughout, goes together very nicely.  Maybe you'd want to do 2 Camaros... one first gen and one second gen...  but you won't go wrong with either Revell or this kit. 

Nah never get tired of any help I can get. Those are really awesome Camaro's you built. All of them really really nice. Now back to my son. We were in our local Ollie's Bargain Outlet and they had some models left over. In looking at them he liked this Lindberg 1971 Mustang Fastback kit. It was complete garbage if you ask me. And an AMT 2011 Camaro drop top. Of the two obviously the Camaro is the better choice. However have you ever built this kit. It seemed pretty nice but still like to know pro's and con's on kits. Thanks again for posting your kits.

[Kmb0319]

I've not built the AMT 2011 kit, only the 2010/2011 (don't remember) Revell kit.

Somebody else will have to chime in on the AMT kit.  But, from what I've been told when I was complaining about the 68 AMT kit, the more modern the tooling with AMT, the better off you are.  So, it's probably a nice one.

[charlie8575]

Nah never get tired of any help I can get. Those are really awesome Camaro's you built. All of them really really nice. Now back to my son. We were in our local Ollie's Bargain Outlet and they had some models left over. In looking at them he liked this Lindberg 1971 Mustang Fastback kit. It was complete garbage if you ask me. And an AMT 2011 Camaro drop top. Of the two obviously the Camaro is the better choice. However have you ever built this kit. It seemed pretty nice but still like to know pro's and con's on kits. Thanks again for posting your kits.

I haven't built it yet, but I do have the AMT 2011.

It's a simplified glue kit, but very comprehensive. From one or two I've seen together, they look great done.

The seats are soft vinyl- don't use regular cement on them; I'd go with Testors clear parts cement. It still has some solvent, but a lot less, and won't damage the soft plastic. 

Charlie Larkin

[Force]

I think I have read somewhere that the Revell 1969 Camaro tooling is based on the Monogram big scale 1:12 Camaro and scaled down to 1:25th scale when they did these kits.
In my opinion the Revell 69 Camaro kits are very good and with the versions released you can do almost what ever you want with them.

The versions from this tooling so far are:
Z/28: both RS and standard grille, small block with cross ram option and headers, cowl induction hood, rally wheels.
Yenko SC: standard grille, big block, headers, one snorkel open element cowl induction air cleaner, cowl induction hood, American Racing Torque Thrust wheels.
Baldwin Motion: RS grille, big block, headers, Motion fly eye air cleaner, L88 scoop hood, side pipes, rally wheels.
Convertible Indy Pace Car: RS grille, big block, headers, same air cleaner as the Yenko, cowl induction hood, rally wheels Indy Pace Car decals, flags.
Convertible: Same as the above except for the Pace Car decals, the flags are still there and decal sheet has hounds tooth insert decals for the seats.
COPO ZL-1: standard grille, big block with headers, same ari cleaner as the Yenko, cowl induction hood, steel wheels with dog dish hub caps.

The 69 Convertible and Z/28 have also been done in 2 'n 1 versions with larger wheels.


The newer AMT 1970 Camaro kits came in two versions, the Z/28 and the Baldwin Motion and both has the small bumper RS front.
The Z/28 has small block, front spoiler, low one piece rear spoiler, Z/28 wheels, flat hood
The Baldwin Motion has big block, headers that goes into side pipes, Motion fly eye air cleaner, L88 Scoop hood, front spoiler, tall 3-piece rear spoiler, Cragar SS wheels and good Mickey Thompson tires, Lakewood "slapper bars", the early kits doesn't have the Motion Spear decals but the recent Round 2 release does.

The AMT 67 and 68 kits are decent but not up to todays standard, but they are for sure buildable.

Edited May 14, 2016 by Force