Reviews : AMT 1962 Ford Thunderbird

There are good points on this kit - and bad. Good - ejector pin marks are well thought out (for the most part), being under other parts. Body mold lines are all but nonexistent; the mold apparently separates at the high chrome strips (to be painted or BMF) running the ridges of the body. Dash has NICE moldings that are easy to detail. The chrome, especially the bumpers and front grill, have the sprue mounting points on the BOTTOM of the items, instead of the usual highly visible spots. It does build up to be a beautiful car. BUT. The bad. Instructions are a mere suggestion, with no notes as to exact locations or mounting points. One note - the windshield is to be mounted UNDER the body trim (with the vents), not on top of it - as I discovered after gluing the interior to the body and the body to the frame! Lots of carving to get it in place ... The interior doesn't line up well with the body. The tonneau cover doesn't line up well with the body. The body is difficult to line up with the frame/bottom pan. The windshield wipers are GARBAGE, as are the mirrors. As I said, it does build up to a beautiful car, but the journey is PAINFUL. The detail of the moldings, the thought into mold lines and ejector pin locations, and so forth, are a solid 5 stars. The actual build is 2 stars. The instructions are 1 star (or less!) - they are BAD, even for AMT. overall, I would give it 3 stars. Would I recommend? Only to more experienced modelers, because of some of the fitment issues that demands some experience in handling these - I can easily see a newcomer to the hobby getting frustrated with it and chucking the kit AND the hobby in the trash.

The product description states Age 10 and up/ skill level 2. I am in the process of assembling this kit now. It has been one of the more difficult builds that I have done. The main problem is the engine to chassis mounts. It would be like trying to glue the ends of two needles together. Not the pinheads, the sharp ends. I didn't even entertain this notion. The mounting points on both engine and chassis were removed, two 5/32 inch holes were drilled into the engine block, and similar size sprue remnants were inserted as customized mounts. Repairs are not my fave and these mounts will never break. The engine, dual exhaust, and front suspension are fairly detailed. It took all fifteen of my fingers to fit the pieces during final assembly. With the time spent on the chassis the rest of the assembly should go smoothly. I see this as a moderate to very experienced skill level.

I was excited about building this car but very disappointed in the result. Lots of small parts detail was good. Top and tonneau were a nice touch. Custom decals are okay but stock decals were non-existent. Build went down hill fast trying to get chassis with interior bucket into body. No clearance between dash and windshield frame. After much filing and adjusting, front end never aligned properly. Very frustrating if you're not an expert builder. (I'm not!) Front and back bumpers/grill were not a clean fit. Maybe the customizations would have worked a lot better but that isn't what I wanted.

This was a well thought out kit. Molded in white, everything went together really well. I actually built this in one week. This was the first time that I built a kit box stock. It reminded me of the Starliner kit which uses most of the same parts.

No flash has some warped parts nothing bad. Options on body style many custom parts. Wheels, tires interior and engine.

MUCH MORE THAN I EXPECTED. GREAT FITTING PARTS. A BEAUTIFUL KIT.