AMT Customizing Boat 3'n1

[carrucha]

Just picked up one of these at Hobby Lobby.  Nice but simple kit.

[stavanzer]

Glad to hear they are making it to HL. I need another one.

[High octane]

I saw them at my LHS today, but I have one of the previous releases still unopened. One of these days I should build it.

[Eshaver]

Hott Diggity dogg! I have been scared to death to assemble the one I got years ago because I wanted sooooooo bad to do a "Customized " Ford Flathead powered inboard . I also want a purely stock Chris Craft if I can ever find enough resources to do this one as a stocker too

[W-409]

This looks like I might get one of these if I can find it with a reasonable price in here. Living here in "The Country of 1,000 Lakes" I also like driving boats... So building the Drag version from this kit would be fun. And great to see those Frontrunners used as tires! Once I replace them with something that fits a bit better for that use, I have one more pair of Frontrunners for a Drag Race project.

[Casey]

[Draggon]

Too bad these days the plastic is such that there's no such thing as interchangeable parts. 

[hpiguy]

You would be able to swap deck if you wanted to. There is no issue with styrene quality.

Swapping from drag boat to Chris Craft/speedboat would require some sort of paint job on the hull that would compliment both styles of course.

But the parts fit fine and could just be lifted off of you wanted, just don't glue down the stock engine inside. 

I only wanted a nice wood boat so I glued everything in place.

Best case I'd like to have seen, add a buck to the cost of the kit and throw in a second hull, now THAT would have been awesome.
 

[hpiguy]

 

[Eshaver]

I built one of these back in 1962 . Then , it really was a 1.49 and I was amused as to the simplicity of the kit . Years later , I was able to get the 1st reissue at a REAL hobby store and even the owner couldn't remember that this kit had it's origins in those halcyon days of 3 in 1 . That kit remains to this day in my office as I have yet to find any actual Chris Craft reference on the 1-1 . Yes, I want to do a model of an actual Chris Craft boat . Meanwhile , because Hobby Lobby will have this , I can do a Drag Boat and I plan on a Ford Flathead with Thickston heads and a few other scratch made goodies .

Chris Phillips is very RIGHT ON with his description of the boat and it truly was a joy to have back in the day . I'm sure this time will be no different !

[High octane]

  On 11/30/2017 at 9:14 PM, W-409 said:

This looks like I might get one of these if I can find it with a reasonable price in here. Living here in "The Country of 1,000 Lakes" I also like driving boats... So building the Drag version from this kit would be fun. And great to see those Frontrunners used as tires! Once I replace them with something that fits a bit better for that use, I have one more pair of Frontrunners for a Drag Race project.

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Don't know if I would call it a "drag version" as back-in-the-day they were called Cracker boxes and raced in circles if I'm not mistaken.

[unclescott58]

  On 12/14/2017 at 11:21 PM, hpiguy said:

 

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Another great review and build. 

[dimaxion]

  On 4/6/2017 at 3:44 AM, Casey said:

I think it was last issued as a stand alone kit in the late 90's.

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Yes , it was . the early '90's . I ended up with too many ..lol.. I don't buy duplicates . This one I did .. Thanx .. 

 

Edited December 15, 2017 by dimaxion
forgot pics ..

[Casey]

Here are some kit content pics I took of the reissue, starting with the box and chrome plated parts:

 

Chrome plated parts:

 

PRO-TRAC COMPETITION FRONT tires(!!)-- technically nowhere near correct for a boat trailer, but good to know the mold still exists. I'm guessing these specific tires were included to fit the wheel parts exactly:

[Casey]

More pics, this time of the parts molded in white and the instruction and decal sheets:

 

[Rusty92]

I should pick one of these up!

[Modelbuilder Mark]

  On 3/23/2020 at 4:49 PM, Casey said:

These two pictures illustrate perfectly what I wish the folks at Round 2 would fix.

While I DO appreciate the additions they have made to kits, (tampo printed tires, missing parts etc) I wish deeply someone would take the time to clean up those mold lines, and polish some surfaces. If one used these exhaust tips and hubcaps, they could easily distract from an otherwise meticulous job. So I would strip them, clean up the mold lines on the headers, polish the moon discs, or use some from another source. 

 

 

 

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[spike morelli]

  On 12/15/2017 at 5:06 AM, High octane said:

Don't know if I would call it a "drag version" as back-in-the-day they were called Cracker boxes and raced in circles if I'm not mistaken.

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You are correct......don't call this a "dragboat" because it's really not, regardless of what engine you put in it or put zoomie style exhausts. The kit is prototyped from a Chris-Craft styled pleasure boat , however, there is a circle racing class called "Jersey Speed Skiff," that this kit boat resembles, as well as a class called "Crakerbox".....again, a circle class, where the two ( 2 ) ! occupants sit way at the back of the hull with the engine in front of them. "Crackers" are a shorter hull and have a cavitation plate to adjust the ride and aid in turning . Both classes are APBA listed and you should be able to Google some images of them.

[High octane]

I did Google Cracker Box Racing and the APBA and they have a yearly schedule of races lined up, however due to the Covid 19 pandemic a lot of races are "pending." Also learned that a lot of these cracker box racers have small block Chevy engines for power. I sure would like to see some cracker box racing but it's a bit of a drive for me, so we'll see. I enjoyed watching hydroplane racing back-in-the-day and in the 90's I was following and seeing Unlimited Hydroplane races as well a drag boat racing. While I enjoyed them very much I think the LOUD noises contributed to my tinnitus. I also raced some R/C boats back then as well.

[64Comet404]

I did some research on this boat when it was first reissued, and found it was a reasonable copy of a Chris-Craft runabout, but never found a pic with the wrap-around windshield (most had a two-piece need windshield). The closest match I could find for the stock shield was the glass from the Revell '48 Ford convertible-trim away the gluing surface from the glass and add a reinforcing strap on each side, and it looks the part.