AMT Styline Thunderbird

I was very pleased to have been invited to write an article for the 30th anniversary issue of Scale Auto. Three decades ago, I was honored when founder and editor Gary Schmidt featured a model of mine (a 1957 Ford Club Victoria) in that Premiere issue (along with my first Putty Thrower article), and it was great to have another model printed in another issue thirty-years later (and, then, on applying putty!). My thanks to Scale Auto editor Jim Haught for this bit of historical synchronicity – and his editorial was also great.

I've long been fascinated with AMT's historic Styline series. These kits were great with a styling booklet, customizing and restyling parts, and wonderful boxes (in two versions) invoking young men restyling cars in a styling studio. I built quite a few of these when I was a kid (always badly) and greatly enjoyed the experience.

In the last few years, I've acquired a couple of each of these kits, and I've decided to build them all (undoubtedly driving the kit collectors nuts) – the first as intended by AMT, and the second reflecting my styling ideas but still using most of the original kits. 

The Scale Auto article hinted at the second version of the venerable 1961 Thunderbird kit. Here are a few more images of the finished model followed by two photos of the second model. As this second model gets finished (it's about ready for paint), we'll upload more photos and then present a comparison between the two models. 

Thanks for checking in, and come back often to see more photos! (Please note that we present the cover of the Scale Auto anniversary issue here with the express permission of Kalmbach).

February 2009
Mark S. Gustavson
 

The AMT Styline kit started out as specially-boxed 1961 kits (Ranchero, Valiant, Thunderbird, Galaxie and Corvair Monza), in two different box designs. The "Styline" series continued into the 1962 and 1963 line of kits though special boxes were not created. 

Here's another image of the "first" model featured in Scale Auto (check out the glass "runners" on the underside of the roof – left there intentionally so this model would keep faith with the original kit. Compare this image to the photos numbers 6 and 15 in the article.

This shot points out the poor styling on the rear deck – note how the trunk falls virtually straight down to the lower rear pan, leaving the extended taillights pods (matched to the too-short fins) hanging out in the wind. Not a pleasant sight and we're going to fix this on the second version.

Check out this overhead shot of the model. I mixed a pearl burgundy acrylic lacquer (using DuPont toners and faux-"pearl" powder. It's a rich color nicely offset by the minimal chrome.

Before the trunk was extended, I extended the fins (in a length indicated by the pencil mark) and angled them forward at roughly the same angle as the factory fin, and also angled the taillight pods forward to integrate, sympathetically, with the fins. Compare this shot with photo 16 in the Scale Auto article. 

Here's a pic of the trunk after the second coat of primer was applied and sanded. Note that I decided to reduce the height of the trunk a bit – about a third of the way forward to the base of the backlight – to reduce the otherwise quite harsh transition between the flat trunk and the extension show in photo 16 of the Scale Auto article. Also, compare this image with photo 18 in the Scale Auto article.