Three AMT 1941 Plymouths built from first run original tooling....

[tim boyd]

Noting the multiple threads and very impressive work by several of our Forum members on the Round 2/AMT-Ertl reissues of their '41 Plymouth, I wanted to share images of three of them built from original tooling for two, and from prototype tooling for the third. 

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First up is this one.  I don't have my original model to photograph for you because I built it under contract with AMT for the box art photography of their first release of the street rod version of the kit.  AMT gave me the factory stock kit, a set of blueprints, and the Richard Petty Kit Car release and commissioned me to kitbash how the street rod version would finally appear when factory produced later that year.  They told me to pick the color scheme (I used Pactra Candy Green over silver with beige interior and Tempo brand 1/1 scale 1972 Plymouth Basin Street Blue for the running gear).   The original blueprints showed the wheels as AMT's generic plated steelies with smoothy hubcaps.  I put a strong sell on them to change the wheels to the Fentons that at that point had only been included in the 1974 reissue of the 1959 Elky, and surprise of surprises, they actually agreed to do it!  After I turned over the completed kitbash, they added the orange pinstripe flame decals from some of their other street rod series kits (or more accurately, may have airbrushed them onto the finished photography).  The result was pictured on the box top/side and end panels of the original issue box art as seen here (sorry for the not-so-great picture...) 

  

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After building the box art model, I liked the project enough to do a second version for my own collection. 

The body was cleaned up with frenched headlights and a rear roll pan, contrasted with added hood top louvers. frenched headlamps, and two sets of 1941 Chevy taillamps from AMT's 1933 Willys Gasser kits. The paint was 1/1 scale automotive touchup lacquer, thinned and airbrushed according to Dennis Doty's detailed instructions.

The Kelsay-style wheels were sourced from AMT's 1932 Ford Trophy Series kits, with smoothy style hub caps from AMT's Kenworth cabover kit. The hand-drawn pinstriping was done with a fine brush using the same Testors Bright Green as appeared on the wheels. The engine was a 454 Rat motor, assembled by combining the best engine parts from both the AMT and MPC 1974 Corvette kits. You'll also surely recognize the header/side pipe layout from the same kit source.

The finished result was entered in the 1977 and/or 1978 MPC Customizing Contests and won several trophies, and later made print in my first-ever article for Scale Auto Magazine, appearing in SAE #4, the November/December 1979 issue. 

 

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The last one was another kitbash...

This model was also pictured in my first-ever article in Scale Auto Enthusiast. The body was a semi-accurate convertible conversion of AMT's 1941 Plymouth that I built it with a Dodge Slant Six engine (from the AMT Deora kit).  Note that the windshield area is not factory correct...finding reference photography of a 1/1 scale '41 'vert was not within my capabilities in the late 1970s, so I winged it.  I dropped the suspension front and back and finished it with Metalflake Brand paints. In this case, I used their Candy Orange for the hand-masked flames, painted over a basecoat of Metalflake Snow White Pearl lightly tinted with some more Candy Orange. (Airbrushed Metalflake brand paints were popular back then with 1/1 scale Chopper builders and with contestants in the annual MPC Model Car Championships of the 1970's).

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Looking at these, it appears that the original tooling diid not present as many of the problems as you guys are showing us are present in the reissue tooling being used on these projects.  I would never claim that the '41 Plymouth was among AMT's better efforts, but back in the day it was an appreciated diversion from all the pre WW-II Ford model kits out there.  I don't know how it sold for AMT, but it certainly has seen a whole number of reissues over the years, if that means anything.  

You can see more pics of the brown coupe here, and the convert here. 

Thanks for looking, and good luck to all of you working on your current '41 Plymouth projects!   Tim 

Edited February 29, 2024 by tim boyd

[NOBLNG]

Thank

 for showing us them Tim! They both look superb.??

[LennyB]

Tim, thanks for sharing. Particularly like the convertible, correct windshield or not. ?

[alan barton]

Tim, that convertible ahs been stuck in my head ever since I saw it years ago in Street Rodder. I have a vision of a deep purple pearl version but still with the chromed wires.  I Googled 41 plymouth convert today and the accuracy of the wo=indshield opening looked pretty good to me. Is perhaps the radius of the top corners sharper on the real thing? I know it is common for closed cars and open cars of the era to have different shaped windshield openings but the difference on the Plymouth seems to be very subtle. Would be interested to hear your thoughts.

Cheers

Alan