jjsipes Posted March 20 Share Posted March 20 Has anybody built one of these? I remember building one in my youth but do not remember how badly molded the body was. Trying to work on it to getit to look better. The window side looked to big, the window sill looked to low, the quarter window wrong shape, the body line through the door appears to low ( should align with the same line in front bumper and behind the rear wheel opening). I grabbed my razor saw and started to cut. I moved the window sill up and recontoured the flow into the quarter panels. Reshaped the quarter window. I still need to look at the body line through the door. Would like to do something with the bulging front fenders but not sure about the front track width yet. First picture is what is in the box. The second picture is what I have done so far. Thinking it looks better to my eye. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkJ Posted March 21 Share Posted March 21 Jason, I'm sure you can do whatever is necessary to make this build a winner. Who is the team and driver? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dwc43 Posted March 21 Share Posted March 21 WOW, that window looks ten times better now. Surprised they shipped that body as screwed up as it is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jjsipes Posted March 21 Author Share Posted March 21 1 hour ago, MarkJ said: Jason, I'm sure you can do whatever is necessary to make this build a winner. Who is the team and driver? I have decals for kit decals for the 7-Eleven Kyle Petty, kit decals for Cale Yarbough Hardees and an aftermarket set of Bill Elliott Coors from MPR. Not sure which I will build first. I have 2 of these Thunderbird kits that I picked up locally at my Hobby Shop that bought them from a collection. I think he still has the 85 Richard petty Grand Prix kit but, I already have one of those in my stash. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkJ Posted March 21 Share Posted March 21 I'm rooting for the Hardees car but whatever it is, it will be awesome. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jjsipes Posted April 3 Author Share Posted April 3 I've studying what to do with the bulging front fenders. Looked at the front track width and determined that I could not narrow up the front fenders without alot of suspension work. Started measuring the body and found the the width from driver side to the passenger side in front of the rear wheel opening was wider that the width right behind the front wheel openings. That means the body pinches in from rear to front in the door area. Just determined that maybe the best avenue to take would be to try and blend the front fender bulge into the doors. The body is looking better to me. Need to finish up cleaning up both sides and to see about whether I need that body line back in through the doors or not. I feel like it's hard to get a picture to illustrate what I have done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
magicmustang Posted April 4 Share Posted April 4 (edited) You have a lot of work ahead of you. AMT's attempt at NASCAR stockers in those days was poor. Here's a pic of their 1/25th curbside 1983 Earnhardt Thunderbird stock car one piece chassis. LOL. The 1.25th body is fair but the glass was a joke and the interior was toyish. I kept the 1/25th body, wheels and tires, the rest went in the trash. Edited April 6 by magicmustang 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sledsel Posted April 4 Share Posted April 4 5 hours ago, magicmustang said: You have a lot of work ahead of you. AMT's attempt at NASCAR stockers in those days was poor. Here's a pic of their 1/25th curbside 1983 Earnhardt Thunderbird stock car one piece chassis. LOL. The 1.25th body is better but the glass was a joke and the interior was toyish. I kept the 1/25th body, wheels and tires, the rest went in the trash. From what I have seen in box art pics the body was not that great. I personally liked this body style and actually have 2 1:1 82 Thunderbirds. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sledsel Posted April 4 Share Posted April 4 The 85 is looking so much better!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jjsipes Posted April 11 Author Share Posted April 11 Took a minute before the rain and storms hit today and sprayed some primer to see what I had and what I need to work on yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkJ Posted April 11 Share Posted April 11 Man, that's really looking good Jason. Never worked in 1/18 before. What's the main thing different you notice about it pro and con wise? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jjsipes Posted April 12 Author Share Posted April 12 14 hours ago, MarkJ said: Man, that's really looking good Jason. Never worked in 1/18 before. What's the main thing different you notice about it pro and con wise? Mark, haven't really gotten into much other than the body. The way the body was molded sucked! Not saying mine is perfect but I feel it looks closer to the actual car. What little rollcage I have looked at, it is different than the old Monogram TBird. The passenger side door bars have padding molded on them, I did take time and cut them out and replaced them. The firewall looks to be a little narrow. Will let you know the other stuff as I move forward. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkJ Posted April 12 Share Posted April 12 Thanks for the reply Jason. You have done a wonderful job so far fixing the glaring errors this model has. I'm sure the final build will be spectacular. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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