AMT '65 Mustang HT Glue Bomb Rescue (-ish)

[Snake45]

This is not my normal “rescue” or restoration or rebuild. This was a quick, easy “let’s see if I can fix it up a little” job. It was inspired by the Lee Iacocca Memorial build down in the CB section. I realized that I’d recently acquired a black original AMT ’65 Mustang HT that might make a good candidate for this community build.

Far and away the “gluiest” and “bombiest” glue bomb I've ever done a “rescue” on, the model has what I call “good bones” for a complete rebuild, which means all the major parts are here and intact, no major glue or paint damage, no emblems removed or other body alterations. It’ll make a beautiful rebuild job someday, but wasn’t in the mood to do that at this particular time.

I disassembled the thing and was delighted to discover that most of the glue didn’t penetrate very far; a good deal of it could be picked off with a fingernail or the tip of an Xacto. A two-day swim in Lake Purple removed 99% of the gold paint from the interior parts, and I was able to carefully pick and scrape the last bits of it off with the Xacto. I painted the carpet black, along with the dash pad and dashboard details and let the rest of the natural white plastic stand in all its naked glory. It’ll make a great base for the eventual full rebuild.

My usual “rescue” job involves polishing out and touching up paint that’s in fairly decent shape, but that wasn’t the case here.  Not sure what this black is, but it overall looked horrible—not suitable for rubbing out. I just touched up the flaked-off areas and sharp edges with black Sharpies and a black paint pen. It still looks horrible  (even worse than it appears in the pictures), although at least now it’s all black.

The rest was standard Snake-Fu, much of it involving my beloved Silver Sharpie. I polished out the glass, hit the never-painted chassis underside with Walmart Flat Black Primer, and trimmed and rebuilt the taillights. Also hit the grille and wheel covers with a black wash. 

Someday I’ll do a nice full rebuild on this one. In the meantime, it’s on my shelf representing a Cleaned-Up Barn Find, or mid-'70s Winter Beater, or something. 

Here's a Sneak Preview of Coming Attractions of it with what will probably be my next full, serious Rescue project, an original AMT '66 Mustang GT fastback I just got. As always, comments welcome. 

[Hmann68]

Looks a lot better now! With a full Snake job on it down the road it’ll look great 

[Lordmodelbuilder]

Amazing what a lil elbow grease can do. Car looks much better. I also have an AMT 65 that is going to get rebuilt.

[vamach1]

Nice to see some models with some road wear and not always shiny ann new.  Nice save.

[Gramps46]

Looking good and certainly worth the effort.

[Ralph Henderson]

Nice save. I love the AMT early Mustangs. I will be checking out the 2+2..

[slusher]

Super nice looking Mustang, Snake!!!

[randyc]

Nice rescue and repair.   

[ewetwo]

Looks 100 percent better.

[Tom Geiger]

Here's a Mustang project that I need to finish one day!  It has the more detailed '67 Mustang chassis under it.

I also have all the parts in one box to build my friend Mark's '66 from back in the day.  His was a plain white car with a six and three speed on the floor, power nothing!  But we loved that car!  I have a resin six all built and wired for another project that I didn't use.

 

Edited July 30, 2019 by Tom Geiger

[Snake45]

10 hours ago, Tom Geiger said:

Here's a Mustang project that I need to finish one day!  It has the more detailed '67 Mustang chassis under it.

I also have all the parts in one box to build my friend Mark's '66 from back in the day.  His was a plain white car with a six and three speed on the floor, power nothing!  But we loved that car!  I have a resin six all built and wired for another project that I didn't use.

 

Thanks for your kind comment about my model, Tom. 

Oh, wait. Never mind......

[michelle]

looks nice  for a barn find car 

[Snake45]

Thanks for all the kind comments, everyone. 

I've already started on the gray fastback and hope to have it posted soon. It should come out MUCH better. 

[zakdoggi]

Nice save!

[oldscool]

I like this one Snake. It has the look of a well worn 1:1. My uncle had one of the AMT original issues when I was a kid. that fastback looks to be in really good shape.

[carrucha]

Good job on the clean up.  It looks nice in black.