model memories

[mistermodel]

When I was 8 or so in1973, I seem to remember my friends older brother opening what I think was a willys panel that had upholstery included.Later on when I was 15 or so my neghbour had a bunch of kits with boxes from when he was a kid.A few of them that stick in my mind were ones that came with clay so you could mold your own custom fenders or what ever.

Am I correct with my memories about these old kits?

[Casey]

Some of the AMT '80s "Customizing Series" kits included a two-part putty, as I recall chopping the top on the '49 Mercury and wondering how well the putty was going to fill in the gaps...not very well I found out later.

[slusher]

I was building in the 70's but l didn't have any of those kits not saying your wrong. l miss all those pintos,vegas,dodge trucks, that will more then likely never be repoped..

[southpier]

some early 60's AMT Styline kits had a tube of putty. it was about as useful as Plastic Wood and was usually hardened in the tube when you bought the kit.

[jbwelda]

every styline kit i bought as a kid at the time they were released had a usable tube of putty in it. usable for what, i never figured out because like said above it worked about as well as plastic wood or something, but it was pliable and soft. so i can say i am old enough to remember when those tubes of putty werent hardened!

[Mercman]

The original release of the 63 Ford Galaxie kit had a black sheet that was flocked. On the rear of it was patterns for guiding you to cut inserts for the seats.

I also remember the tubes of putty in the old 3-1 kits from AMT.

The Crusin' USA kits had a 2 part putty that came with them.

Also a lot of the kits back then came with press on white wall tire rings on a sheet.

[Junkman]

I'm astonished what you guys can remember.

I couldn't tell you what weather we had yesterday if this wasn't England.

[Deathgoblin]

The original release of the 63 Ford Galaxie kit had a black sheet that was flocked. On the rear of it was patterns for guiding you to cut inserts for the seats.

I also remember the tubes of putty in the old 3-1 kits from AMT.

The Crusin' USA kits had a 2 part putty that came with them.

Also a lot of the kits back then came with press on white wall tire rings on a sheet.

I've got one of the Testors/IMC 48 Fords, and the whitewalls are press on stickers. They actually came out really well and have stayed put so far.

[ZTony8]

The Styline kits had the putty in them and they had the thin sheets of sticky backed flocking or,in the case of the '62 Buick Special Wagon,sticky backed vinyl, either of which would be darn near impossible to pull up and reposition if you got it incorrectly placed the first time.

[Foxer]

some early 60's AMT Styline kits had a tube of putty. it was about as useful as Plastic Wood and was usually hardened in the tube when you bought the kit.

Yes, I remember the putty, but the kits were new when I bought them and the putty was quite good considering the other options available at the time .. like wood putty! .. I used that a lot!

[Ben]

Ahh memories. I remember when the wood parts actually came with the bark removed and the rock wheels were almost round. Everything was preweathered and they gave you some buffalo blood to detail paint things. I couldn't wait to tear the animal carcass off to look at all the pieces! The instructions were a bit confusing though as they were just symbols.

[Art Anderson]

The 2-part putty in those AMT/Ertl Customizing kits of about 1986-87 was A+B Epoxy Putty, which is/was a 2-part epoxy putty intended for sealing plumbing pipe joints. The stuff actually worked very well at the time, in fact, a number of modelers (including Chris Etzel of Etzel's Speed Classics and Medallion Models (1/48 scale aircraft transkits) swore by the stuff. However, it's almost always been a difficult product to find in stores.

That old AMT body putty was actually pretty cool--lots of us kids back in the day used it. Not only was it introduced in the Styline Kits of 1961-62, but it was also sold separately, in a tube the size of Testors or Revell Type 'S' plastic model glue. What most of us didn't realize at the time, until someone else showed us, was that AMT's putty needed to be sealed after shaping and sanding, otherwise the paint just soaked into it, at least enough to let us know there was putty and not solid plastic underneath.

Art

[Monte's Motors]

Remember going in Ben Franklin store and buying kits for $1.75.

Glue and bottles of paint were $.15.

Kits that came out every year on certain cars. Like the Dodge Power Wagon, Ford pick-ups,Chevy Caprice, Dodge Charger, etc..etc..

We could look at the new model year in model size.

[Junkman]

Remember when there were stock clearance sales of Jo-Han models?

[bbowser]

Remember going in Ben Franklin store and buying kits for $1.75.

Glue and bottles of paint were $.15.

Kits that came out every year on certain cars. Like the Dodge Power Wagon, Ford pick-ups,Chevy Caprice, Dodge Charger, etc..etc..

We could look at the new model year in model size.

At the time I was capable of saving exactly $2.06 (3% sales tax) before rushing down to the drugstore to buy a kit.

[cobraman]

I remember buying my kits at a store called Zayers. The models that listed for 1.50 were sole there for 1.11. I recall when I finished my models I would put them on a shelf. Sometime when my dad got mad at me he would come in my room and slam the first couple of models on the floor. I soon started keeping my good ones towards the far side of the shelf and the crappy ones and repaired ones closer so he would grab them. He was a good but stange man. Normally within a couple of hours he would be driving me to the store to get me another kit. And no, I never made him mad on purpose in case it was a belt day and not a break a model day. Rest in peace pops.

[Art Anderson]

Remember when there were stock clearance sales of Jo-Han models?

Yeah, hard as it may be to believe today, those JoHan kits of the 1960's were pretty much at the bottom of the barrel for popularity. I mean, back in those days, very few kids were enamored with Ramblers, Cadillacs, 1st generation (1961-63 Oldsmobile F85's, and most Mopars. Sure, JoHan did have some pretty cool Dodges and Plymouths, but it took until 1963 or so for Chrysler to come up with cars from those marques that excited the kids who built them.

At Weber's, we always laid in a stock of those JoHans for our downtown's annual Sidewalk Sale Days, every year, 3rd week in July.

Art

[Mercman]

We had a store called the Toy Chest. When they went out of business they had a sale on the Revell double drag kits. Basically the parts packs in a kit box. Two cars per box. The wall from the front door into the building was stacked floor to ceiling with them. Only $0.50 yes fifty cents each. Oh to have knowledge then as I think I have now.

Also I remember going to Kresge's, (now K-Mart). For 2 bucks you got a model, paint brush,glue, and paints.

Anyone remember this one. The old Monogram 49'ers.