AMT '65 GTO--Attempted Improvement

[Snake45]

This built reissue (molded in tan, so I assume it’s the ‘80s boxing) ’65 GTO followed me home from the local toy show last month. Seemed to be a good candidate for one of my quickie “rescue” jobs.

If it had been almost any other kit, I’d have reworked it and had it back on the shelf in just a few hours. But the more I looked at it, the more I simply couldn’t live with the kit’s taillight treatment. Here’s what the kit rear end looks like, which bears little resemblance to a real ’65 GTO.

Even Welly’s cheap diecast got this area right—or at least a lot closer than AMT.

At first I thought I could fix the problem by filling the gaps between the too-small taillights and their trim with Elmers Sandable Carpenter’s Glue, applied in several stages over several evenings. The plan was to sand everything to shape (and I was hoping to avoid even that) and then paint the taillights and fill glue with Stop Light Red paint.

However, when I got that all done, I still didn’t like the shape. So I just puttied up the whole outer peaks of the taillights with Sikkens (tan/khaki color) and worked that down to a satisfactory shape. At first I was trying to do all this with the rear panel still attached to the rear bumper, but finally broke down and razor-sawed the rear panel free. This was a LOT easier to work with.

When I got the taillights where I wanted them, I taped the panel to the body and worked down the fender tips of the body to a more correct shape. Out of the box, the contour is more ’64 GTO than ’65. The tan body shows where/how I recontoured the mess.

As always, comments welcome. More to come....

[THarrison351]

Look forward to seeing how you rework the bulging headlights.

[ChrisBcritter]

Big improvement - and x2 on the headlights (did Missing Link ever do the original headlights/bumper, to go with their '65 GTO promo body?).

[Oldcarfan27]

I've wanted to correct the problems in this kit for years, but I haven't figured out how to deal with the headlight issue first and foremost. I'll be watching to see how you do it.

Have you seen if the Welly bumpers fit the plastic kit? If they do, that might be the easiest way to go, or at least cast them to use as a base.

[Snake45]

10 hours ago, THarrison351 said:

Look forward to seeing how you rework the bulging headlights.

I've got the Modelhaus repop of the original promo front bumper/headlights, which is correct. Was saving it for a "good" build of a new kit, but frankly, who knows when I'll get around to THAT. So I think I'm gonna go ahead and stick it on this one until the time comes (if in fact it ever does) that I build my own. This will hold down the '65 GTO slot on my shelf until that happens. 

I could even scrounge up a set of Rally Is and take this model back to factory stock, but I'm gonna leave it as a late '60s-early '70s street fighter. Its sit and attitude were what attracted me to it in the first place. OB sure got the stance right! 

Edited July 4, 2018 by Snake45

[Snake45]

6 hours ago, Oldcarfan27 said:

Have you seen if the Welly bumpers fit the plastic kit? If they do, that might be the easiest way to go, or at least cast them to use as a base.

I thought of that too. The Welly diecast is a little bit narrower than the AMT body. I think it might actually be 1/26. 

If I ever do another one of these, I think it would be easier to make a couple solid styrene "billets" to fit the taillight spaces, and then work those down into the taillights. Couldn't be much more work than all this putty jive I've done. And I might even be able to take molds off those pieces to make copies, who knows. 

Attention, World: We NEED an all new kit of this iconic musclecar!!! And I say that not even being a particular fan of the thing. (I prefer the '66s and '68s.) 

[Can-Con]

Snake, maybe you could cut the headlights and surrounding trim from the Welly and do the same with the lot front bumper and just swap the headlight sections? 

I was thinking about those tail lights and the poor fit.

I wonder if you could just glue a thin peice of plastic to the top and bottom of the red lens and paint the strips black. Remember that black strip around the whole section of the tail lights and the peice between them? Wish I had thought of it when I was doing mine.

[Oldcarfan27]

6 hours ago, Snake45 said:

The Welly diecast is a little bit narrower than the AMT body. I think it might actually be 1/26. 

Maybe so, but that tail panel looks right on! I'm going to try to find one of those diecasts to use for parts. I'll try to mix and match the best parts to make a correct 65. You've inspired me.

[Snake45]

47 minutes ago, Can-Con said:

I wonder if you could just glue a thin peice of plastic to the top and bottom of the red lens and paint the strips black. Remember that black strip around the whole section of the tail lights and the peice between them? Wish I had thought of it when I was doing mine.

 

They're also a bit too shallow. Though it might be possible to glue plastic on backside, too. But you've given me something to think about. 

[Snake45]

4 minutes ago, Oldcarfan27 said:

Maybe so, but that tail panel looks right on! I'm going to try to find one of those diecasts to use for parts. I'll try to mix and match the best parts to make a correct 65. You've inspired me.

I'm going to fix the roof on that Welly, and then I think it will look as good as any reissue AMT ever built. 

[Bob Ellis]

2 hours ago, Snake45 said:

I'm going to fix the roof on that Welly, and then I think it will look as good as any reissue AMT ever built. 

I got my Welly GTO at Rite Aide pharmacy

[Oldcarfan27]

5 hours ago, Snake45 said:

I'm going to fix the roof on that Welly, and then I think it will look as good as any reissue AMT ever built. 

I can see the roof issue you're talking about. It looks like the C pillar is more triangle shaped on the diecast and should be closer to parallel shaped as on the kit and the real car. Easy fix with a Dremel and a file.

However, I simply don't like diecast models because of the door gaps you could put your scale arm into and that potmetal is harder to modify and work with than plastic. They also seem to have more detail limitations because of casting thicknesses and operating features - they always look more toylike to me. But, when they're the only game in town...

[Snake45]

46 minutes ago, Oldcarfan27 said:

I can see the roof issue you're talking about. It looks like the C pillar is more triangle shaped on the diecast and should be closer to parallel shaped as on the kit and the real car.

Yup. Same error as on the Polar Lights '64 kit. I made a pair of masking tape templates from the sides of an AMT roof and stuck them on. Will be filing the window line back to match it, hopefully in the next few day. 

[Snake45]

So here's what I ended up with. I covered my work (the taillight area) with Walmart aluminum tape, and then covered that with red cellophane from a Valentines Day candy box. I was gonna cut the red away at top and bottom for the trim strips, but got lazy and just drew the trim on with my beloved Silver Sharpie. This is a Glue Bomb Rescue, after all, not one of my "A" builds. I'll do it right when I build MINE.  No, it's not perfect, but I think it looks 100% better than the kit parts. 

 

Meanwhile, back at that Welly, I put masking tape on the sides of a spare AMT roof and cut templates, and then stuck them on the Welly roof to show how and where the shape of the C-pillars is wrong. I can't explain the difference between the two sides. I've now filed this roof back and finished the fix, and should be finishing up my Snake-Fu treatment on the thing soon. Will post pics in the Diecast section when it's done--stay tuned. 

 

[Oldcarfan27]

2 hours ago, Snake45 said:

 

Double check your masking tape templates, I don't think they are mirror images of each other. The passenger side tape looks more correct to me.

Edited July 18, 2018 by Oldcarfan27

[PARTSMARTY]

Very cool project Snake !!!

[Snake45]

7 hours ago, Oldcarfan27 said:

Double check your masking tape templates, I don't think they are mirror images of each other. The passenger side tape looks more correct to me.

As I said, I can't explain it. Each was made directly off a loose AMT roof and they seem to be identical. That would have to mean that the Welly C-pillars are not identical.

At any rate, I've now done the filework and didn't match either template exactly. I did file to the exact angle on the forward edge, but not to the template depth. I went about .030" past the roof drip rail on each side, so I could work a piece of .030 styrene onto the edge and make a new drip rail out of it. Will show how I did it all when I start the thread on this car in Diecast, soon.