AMT Corvette 'Sock it to Me' ?

[AC Norton]

hi there bill, the decals are tricky to work with,,,as they are very thin, and as you said they dry up rather quickly. my build of this is in the drag cars section, and as I recall making sure that the car is soaked in warm water was how I moved the decals in place. sorry,,,hope this may help....the ace....

[Longbox55]

Thanks for the tip. I'll have to remember that.

[Ace-Garageguy]

I'm just now getting in to starting the kit i purchased last spring (2015). The plan is to build a pretty radical M/SP car, so taking liberties with the body shell is plenty OK.

Still, I CAN'T BELIEVE how bad the nose is on this poor thing, now that I really look at it. The changes made to the tooling look like they were done by a bunch of drunk chimps. Not only are the headlights and Moon tank so small as to apparently be a joke, but the leading edge of the hood has a curve going to the REAR of the car (in the center), completely unlike any (and I've seen a LOT up close and personal) of this vintage Vette body style. 

The nose is way beyond marginal, beyond bad, just about cut-it-off-and-use-something-else bad.

I've seen some guys lately refer to this mess as a "fun" vintage kit (I have too, based on what I expected to see on opening the inner bags and my recollection of other AMT C1 Corvettes that were acceptable), but this thing is downright awful.

It's going to take a lot of hacking and putty. Good thing I love a challenge. 

[AC Norton]

I'm just now getting in to starting the kit i purchased last spring (2015). The plan is to build a pretty radical M/SP car, so taking liberties with the body shell is plenty OK.

Still, I CAN'T BELIEVE how bad the nose is on this poor thing, now that I really look at it. The changes made to the tooling look like they were done by a bunch of drunk chimps. Not only are the headlights and Moon tank so small as to apparently be a joke, but the leading edge of the hood has a curve going to the REAR of the car (in the center), completely unlike any (and I've seen a LOT up close and personal) of this vintage Vette body style. 

The nose is way beyond marginal, beyond bad, just about cut-it-off-and-use-something-else bad.

I've seen some guys lately refer to this mess as a "fun" vintage kit (I have too, based on what I expected to see on opening the inner bags and my recollection of other AMT C1 Corvettes that were acceptable), but this thing is downright awful.

It's going to take a lot of hacking and putty. Good thing I love a challenge. 

.......why go to all the hassle...just use the Revell kit or kits, and build a  M/SP car from those, using whatever parts you may need from your part's stock. hacking and cutting up the AMT body may take the fun out of that project.......the Ace.......

[Ace-Garageguy]

.......why go to all the hassle...just use the Revell kit or kits, and build a  M/SP car from those, using whatever parts you may need from your part's stock. hacking and cutting up the AMT body may take the fun out of that project.......the Ace.......

The point is to make something cool out of the POS AMT kit body. 

I've got most of the nose off an AMT '59, and it's a LOT better.

A little slice-n-dice...I think I can probably handle it.  

Edited November 5, 2016 by Ace-Garageguy

[AC Norton]

The point is to make something cool out of the POS AMT kit body. 

I've got most of the nose off an AMT '59, and it's a LOT better.

A little slice-n-dice...I think I can probably handle it. 

....interesting idea, and I have never owned an AMT 59 Vette for some reason, however I was wondering.....does the 62 grille, bumpers and all fit in without too much problem,,,,I ask because for some reason the 59 kit always looked a bit larger, and a tad out of scale......again, I don't have one around to compare......the Ace.....

[gtx6970]

Anyone else having problems with the decals from this kit? I'm in the process of building it, having all kinds of issue with the decals "setting up" way too fast. The adhesive seems to set before I can get the decal in its final position. So far, I've only had the trunk decal completely fail on me. I had similar issues with the '76 Nova pro street as well.

Same here,

I had to keep the decals REALLY wet to move them. Even then it was a challenge. Fortunately I had them in just about the right place the 1st time

[Snake45]

The point is to make something cool out of the POS AMT kit body. 

I've got most of the nose off an AMT '59, and it's a LOT better.

A little slice-n-dice...I think I can probably handle it.  

Oh I get this completely, I assure you, and I share your insanity. Did you see my thread down in the questions section on trying to make a '61 out of it?

Here's another idea I'll give you, just 'cause I'll prolly never get around to doing it myself: graft on the fender tops and everything between them from the ill-fitting nose piece of the AMT/MPC flip-front '57 Vette gasser. This would give you a VERY cool 57-front/62-rear hybrid that I'll bet would make jaws hit the floor.

[Bob Ellis]

The original issue of the 61 and 62 Corvettes had separate headlight bezels and lenses that were much closer to correct (tho not perfect.) (See step D). When the 62 was re-issued, the opening trunk was molded shut, and some really poorly done headlight bezels were molded into the body.

Modelhaus had the correct bezels but of course that is a moot point now.

[Bob Ellis]

I'm just now getting in to starting the kit i purchased last spring (2015). The plan is to build a pretty radical M/SP car, so taking liberties with the body shell is plenty OK.

Still, I CAN'T BELIEVE how bad the nose is on this poor thing, now that I really look at it. The changes made to the tooling look like they were done by a bunch of drunk chimps. Not only are the headlights and Moon tank so small as to apparently be a joke, but the leading edge of the hood has a curve going to the REAR of the car (in the center), completely unlike any (and I've seen a LOT up close and personal) of this vintage Vette body style. 

The nose is way beyond marginal, beyond bad, just about cut-it-off-and-use-something-else bad.

I've seen some guys lately refer to this mess as a "fun" vintage kit (I have too, based on what I expected to see on opening the inner bags and my recollection of other AMT C1 Corvettes that were acceptable), but this thing is downright awful.

It's going to take a lot of hacking and putty. Good thing I love a challenge. 

The chimps were drunk in 1967 when AMT made this kit part of the trophy series.

[Ace-Garageguy]

The chimps were drunk in 1967 when AMT made this kit part of the trophy series.

  I've been grafting the upper part of the front clip from an AMT '59 to the front of the '62, and it's working quite nicely...for what I want, anyway. Interestingly, the hoods are different sizes, which is odd, as the REAL hoods will swap around on all the 4-eyed body styles.

The old '59 had headlight bezels and headlights molded into one plated part, but at least the lenses themselves are kinda close to the standard 5.75" diameter of real 4-eye headlights. The itty bitty tiny joke things on the '62 Sockitome kit scale out at 4.5". No Corvette in the history of the universe ever came with 4.5" headlamps.

Drunk, math-challenged chimps at that.  

There's also enough meat on the front fenders and pan of the '59 to sculpt the corners of the parts into a more correct-appearing look than the unfortunate flat-faced visage many AMT Corvette models present because of the way the nose is molded, and the placement of the parting lines. It's the same thing that adversely affects the fender corners of the Galaxie '46 etc. Chevy kits, and that rarely gets corrected during the build process.

Unfortunately, the relationships of several parts of the front lower pan to the upper body are NOT correct (I have TWO 4-eyed Corvettes in the big-car shop at the moment, so I'm not making this up, and it's not opinion or hearsay) and they also need to be reworked in order to have the initial impression of the model be similar to that of the real one.

Edited November 6, 2016 by Ace-Garageguy

[gtx6970]

Keep the info coming. I just picked up 2 builder 1961 Vette kits this past weekend . Both have a damaged windshield frame . But between the 2 and my spare sock it to me corvette kit I can fix one of them.  Once I know i can make a complete 61 ,,,,, I'll probably off the 2nd one .

The worst one has some pretty heavy glue marks in the drivers side cove.

 

My sole purpose is to replicate Big John Mazmanians 1961 Vette gasser

Edited November 7, 2016 by gtx6970

[Bob Ellis]

The box art of the new release shows what looks like a partial hood scoop and a twin-blower setup...don't recall the Countdown Series issue or the '07 issue having those parts.

I have the Countdown and it has fewer parts

[Dave Darby]

If what you want to make is a 61 Vette, you could do what I started to do about 26 years ago, and hopefully one day will finish... This is the Revell 1960 (really a 59) multi piece body Corvette with the deck from the AMT 1962 kit.

The deck, from the AMT 62 is a great fit where the Revell piece would go. The Revell kits are very accurate bodywise, and available for a song. And as you can see, the AMT chassis and interior tub fit like a glove, if you are feeling lazy. And no, that isn't an original 62 body, I cut the trunk open. The interior tub is old though..

Edited November 10, 2016 by Dave Darby

[Ace-Garageguy]

This is the particular problem I have with the Sock it to Me kit, the white one:

The front shape of the hood is entirely wrong...

And the tiny headlight bezels are ridiculous. The old AMT '59 is on the right (red) and it's not right, but it's a lot closer than the SitM '61.

I had an extra upper nose from another old AMT '59, and grafted it to the front of the SitM '61. It's rough, it's not right, but it's getting there. That's the Revell kit on the left, in white, for comparison.

Top shot of the hybrid AMT '59 / '61, compared again to the fairly recent Revell kit. Though the Revell kit is really significantly different, we're kinda in the ballpark.

Absolute accuracy isn't necessary on this hack job, as the point is to build a radically modified M/SP car...which probably would have had a heavily modified light-weight custom body anyway. Getting a good first impression of a '61-'62 Corvette is the point, and this is close to working for me. Yes, it's still very rough, but if you squint, you'll see it. 

 

 

[Snake45]

If what you want to make is a 61 Vette, you could do what I started to do about 26 years ago, and hopefully one day will finish... This is the Revell 1960 (really a 59) multi piece body Corvette with the deck from the AMT 1962 kit.

The deck, from the AMT 62 is a great fit where the Revell piece would go. The Revell kits are very accurate bodywise, and available for a song. And as you can see, the AMT chassis and interior tub fit like a glove, if you are feeling lazy. And no, that isn't an original 62 body, I cut the trunk open. The interior tub is old though..

Very nice! Thanks for sharing it!

[Snake45]

This is the particular problem I have with the Sock it to Me kit, the white one:

The front shape of the hood is entirely wrong...

And the tiny headlight bezels are ridiculous. The old AMT '59 is on the right (red) and it's not right, but it's a lot closer than the SitM '61.

I had an extra upper nose from another old AMT '59, and grafted it to the front of the SitM '61. It's rough, it's not right, but it's getting there. That's the Revell kit on the left, in white, for comparison.

Top shot of the hybrid AMT '59 / '61, compared again to the fairly recent Revell kit. Though the Revell kit is really significantly different, we're kinda in the ballpark.

Absolute accuracy isn't necessary on this hack job, as the point is to build a radically modified M/SP car...which probably would have had a heavily modified light-weight custom body anyway. Getting a good first impression of a '61-'62 Corvette is the point, and this is close to working for me. Yes, it's still very rough, but if you squint, you'll see it. 

 

 

Very nice! That's roughly where I was thinking to make the cut back when I wanted to make a good '62 (now unnecessary due to the good Revell kit). Now I'm looking for a donor onto which I can just graft the assend of the AMT  '62 to make a '61. Still investigating possibilities but I like that multi-piece Revell body. Now I just need to get one of those. (Haven't fully checked out the AMT '59 I just bought--that might work too.)

[Ace-Garageguy]

Very nice! That's roughly where I was thinking to make the cut back when I wanted to make a good '62 (now unnecessary due to the good Revell kit). Now I'm looking for a donor onto which I can just graft the assend of the AMT  '62 to make a '61. Still investigating possibilities but I like that multi-piece Revell body. Now I just need to get one of those. (Haven't fully checked out the AMT '59 I just bought--that might work too.)

Thanks. I know the cut line at the top of the cove doesn't line up well here, but it was either line up the top of the cowl, or line up the cove. Since this little car is going to represent a one-piece clone-bodied lightweight, the awful mis-match can be easily corrected with filler.

M/SP is an interesting class. At the period this thing represents, the cars were basically altereds with sports-car bodies, and were allowed 25% engine setback like the altereds.

It it was going to be a straight model of the production car, that would be another story entirely. Cutting these bodies at the door line, which would be the natural place to splice on a new nose (on the real car, as well) is out of the question for a stock vehicle, again, because nothing will line up right.

I think Dave Darby's approach would be the most efficient and least frustrating. His body looks very good, and I really do like the proportions of the old Revell multi-piece kit. I bought several of them years ago when they were really really cheap, but I didn't see the need to use one up on this old race-car build.

The AMT '59 isn't TOO bad, but it needs some nose work to look acceptable, in my opinion. Grafting on the '62 tail at the rear door cut line would be a good option possibly, as it would avoid the cove lineup problem entirely.

 

Edited November 10, 2016 by Ace-Garageguy

[Bob Ellis]

I made a 61 corvette the same way. 1960 Revell front and an AMT rear. The Revell is better but it's a 1962

Edited November 10, 2016 by Bob Ellis
spelling

[Bob Ellis]

Sometimes it is fun to cut stuff up and see what happens.

[Casey]

AMT 1318, 1962 Chevy Corvette:

 

[Ace-Garageguy]

One man's take on this mess: there's a fine model in there somewhere, but you kinda have to dig for it.

 

[stavanzer]

Or, just build the darn thing to the best of your talent, and have fun........

?

[Mark]

It is what it is.  Differences in proportions and shapes between different manufacturers' versions of the same car used to bug the heck out of me, now I see them as interesting.  Each kit is a document of the period in which it was made, and the methods that were used in creating it (which differed between companies also).  

It's hard to figure how the headlamps on the '62 got so small...the annual kits are better in that respect.  

[Ace-Garageguy]

46 minutes ago, alexis said:

Or, just build the darn thing to the best of your talent, and have fun...

Pretty much what I've been doing...