1969 Pontiac GTO "The Judge", Testors/Lincoln Mint, 1/24

[Matt Bacon]

...couldn't resist this magazine "cover shot" to open...

No. the headlights don't work, but the interchangeable grilles are easily tacked in position...

Not sure what brought it on (might have been the @tim boyd Collecting Muscle Car Models book...), but I've been looking for a Judge to add to my collection for a few years. I never managed to find the Monogram 1/24 kit on this side of the pond, but a saved search on eBay threw up this Lincoln Mint kit a few months ago. It's definitely a kit... 100+ parts across almost a dozen trees... it just happens that the body and opening panels are diecast and pre-painted/printed. I don't know if it's ever been available as a ready-built, but it has a lot more parts than the average Welly diecast I've disassembled for rework. It's turned out to be very useful to have a kit that doesn't require a spray booth or too many tools so that I can build it indoors at the dining table on evenings when I'm dog-sitting or the workshop is too cold! The fit is very, err.... precise (read you have to clean everything up perfectly and there's some fettling to get everything in the right place, but when you get it right, it goes together very well). As ever with these things, it's a shame that they don't give you a few extra screws in the pack (four types in this one). I could have done with using longer ones in the boot hinge, which doesn't quite sit right because the short screw on one side isn't gripping tight enough. But I think it's a striking model, and captures the lines of the beast very well (I found a handy link with many useful pictures here: https://www.stlouiscarmuseum.com/vehicles/897/1969-pontiac-gto-judge-ram-air-iv). I'm not sure that the Monogram kit would have resulted in any better a model, and I couldn't have built that indoors!

best,

M.

[Jim B]

Beautiful GTO.  Really well done.

[karbuildr]

Very well done Matt. I remember when these kits first came out. I managed to snag one or two, the 69 Charger and one of the Street rods. They very much look like what Danbury Mint used to market.

[Hard_2_Handle_454]

nice

[rrb124@sbcglobal.net]

Good looking Goat. Like the hood mounted tach a lot!

[Yeah Nah]

Looks fantastic Matt. Thanks for showing!

[slusher]

Looks very sharp and good to know it’s enjoyed build!

[spencer1984]

Looks good! I have one of these as well, your comment on the fit is a very nice way of putting it!

[Rattlecan Dan]

Nice job. Great looking build.