1/25 AMT '69 Chevelle SS396 Hardtop

[Casey]

Looks like the 1/25 AMT '69 Chevelle SS 396 Hardtop kit is going to be reissued in a 1969 style box:

 

Looks pretty close to the original box:

[Bob Ellis]

That's a nice box

 

[Can-Con]

Now that's cool !!

[1972coronet]

No roll-bar this time around ? Well , I hope that the vintage 1969 custom parts are still included --- and that the Beaumont SD-396 conversion is ready soon .

[ChrisBcritter]

And I'm sure that they'll try to please their loyal customers by repairing those mangled taillights, right?

[Classicgas]

Speedway decals has a great fix for those.

[unclescott58]

I'm looking forward to this one. I love the box art. 

[Bob Ellis]

Missing link has the bumper and tail light fix; not expensive

[58 Impala]

I had a 1:1 69 Malibu (wish I still had it) and built the AMT kit. Rumor has it after Revell releases their new 68 Chevelle kit, down the road they'll do the 69. I can only hope.

[Motor City]

On ‎11‎/‎29‎/‎2018 at 10:13 AM, Bob Ellis said:

Missing link has the bumper and tail light fix; not expensive

What's wrong with the rear bumper?  Is the Missing Link bumper plated?  There isn't a photo on their website.

I see they offer red taillights.

[Junkman]

Could someone please explain that taillight thing to someone who never owned the kit?

[Classicgas]

For one thing the lenses in the kit are recessed while the real ones are not.

[Casey]

19 minutes ago, Classicgas said:

For one thing the lenses in the kit are recessed while the real ones are not.

Kind of a tricky area. The tail light bezels stand just a bit proud of the sheet metal, but the lens itself is recessed from the bezel, too, so the face of the lens is probably close to flush with the sheet metal when all is said and done. I don't think a flat, two-dimensional decal would be ideal, but the AMT tail light buckets/bezels are not ideal, either.

 

Eric's build of the AMT '69 Chevelle convertible, which shows how AMT didn't quite get the tail light bezels correct:

Edited December 2, 2018 by Casey

[Snake45]

The taillight bezels don't fit the openings in the body all that well, either. The whole taillight thing on this kit is just a hot mess. 

Here's what I did on a recent glue bomb I rescued. I filled in the lenses with several applications of Elmer's Carpenter's Wood Glue until they were flush, then just painted the lenses red. Nowhere close to perfect but still a huge improvement over what comes in the reissued kit. 

[Rodent]

Also, as you can see on the convertible, the bezels aren't mirror images of each other either. The driver's side is kind of blobular.

[Classicgas]

Speedways decals.

[drodg]

The other major issue of that kit and hopefully corrected is the molding on the side that is correct for 68 SS but not a 69 SS.  That is a major pain.  They did not correct it on the convertible so I assume the hardtop will not be fixed.  

[Deathgoblin]

Think I'm gonna try to scratchbuild mine.  There's some other correction on the rear end of this kit that needs fixing.

[Bob Ellis]

23 hours ago, drodg said:

The other major issue of that kit and hopefully corrected is the molding on the side that is correct for 68 SS but not a 69 SS.  That is a major pain.  They did not correct it on the convertible so I assume the hardtop will not be fixed.  

So, true. 69s had wheel lip moldings too

[Mark]

23 hours ago, drodg said:

The other major issue of that kit and hopefully corrected is the molding on the side that is correct for 68 SS but not a 69 SS.  That is a major pain.  They did not correct it on the convertible so I assume the hardtop will not be fixed.  

The same body side tooling is used for both the hardtop and convertible.  The original '69 El Camino (unrelated to the current '68) used different tooling for its body, so it didn't have that trim.

[drodg]

Is the 69 interior tub for the coupe the same as the convertible?   Thanks for pointing out those wheel opening molding Bob.  I forgot those.   

[Dave Darby]

2 hours ago, drodg said:

Is the 69 interior tub for the coupe the same as the convertible?   Thanks for pointing out those wheel opening molding Bob.  I forgot those.   

Sure is. Here's Tim Boyd's photo review of the convertible. https://public.fotki.com/funman1712/first-look-at-all-n/first-lookwhats-new-1/

[drodg]

25 minutes ago, Dave Darby said:

Sure is. Here's Tim Boyd's photo review of the convertible. https://public.fotki.com/funman1712/first-look-at-all-n/first-lookwhats-new-1/

Thanks!

[Casey]

This was one of the first models I ever purchased through the mail (yes, people did that before the internet existed) from The Model Shop in Onalaska, WI. Suffice it to say, I was quite disappointed when I opened the kit and saw the kit's contents.  I think we all know what to expect from the AMT kit at this point, so waiting on the eventual Revell kit seems like the prudent choice for those wanting a good 1/25 scale '69 Chevelle SS.

 

I'm not sure a worse set of flame decals has ever been offered on a kit(s), either. 

[Snake45]

2 hours ago, Casey said:

waiting on the eventual Revell kit seems like the prudent choice for those wanting a good 1/25 scale '69 Chevelle SS.

I dunno, could be quite a wait. I don't believe they've even announced a '69 Chevelle SS.