Al's Kit Corner

by Al Superczynski

Welcome to Internet Modeler's newest monthly feature! I've been around this great hobby of ours for over forty years (hence my sig line on RMS) and our publisher thought it would be fun to take a look at some of the old kits in my stash. I have mostly cars and aircraft along with some armor and a few ships, so there'll eventually be something for almost everybody. It's probably the only way most of them will get to see the light of day so let's get right to it.

I'm starting out this month with an oldie but goodie for the car modelers - AMT's 1/25 scale 1966 Corvair Corsa hardtop, kit number 5726-150. For the youngsters among you, that "150" at the end means the retail price of this jewel was a whole buck and a half!

Comparing this kit to any of AMT's original 3-in-1 kits shows just how far they had come in eight short years. All of those 1958 models were essentially unassembled promos with no opening hood or engine detail, and extremely shallow interior buckets with molded-in seats. Optional custom and racing parts consisted of a generic (and cheesy) decal sheet and J.C. Whitney style add-ons.

This kit is an entirely different story and was one of the better-detailed AMT models for 1966. The body is crisp, with sharply defined trim details and little flash. The interior is the typical tub style of the era with very little relief showing in the side panel detail, but separate front seats with both stock and custom/racing options. The chassis is very nice, having only the front suspension molded in place, with a fairly well detailed engine and rear suspension. No metal axle through the engine block here! The kit also has full window glass, including the side windows, and transparent red taillights.

The headlights are unfortunately molded integrally with the chrome bezels - AMT actually can't be faulted for that; it was the norm in the '60's and is still fairly common practice in current kits. On the plus side, the plated parts are still shiny and smooth even after 39 years.

Four building options are provided: factory stock, two different custom treatments (supposedly designed by none other than Gene Winfield), and "Sprint", with plenty of optional parts for the body, engine, and interior.

Rounding out the kit are a good decal sheet (mine still looks usable!) and a piece of white self-adhesive vinyl. AMT touts their own customizing putty in the instructions and their "Custom Spray" lacquers on the box. I don't care much for the putty but would sure love to see them start selling those paints again!

On balance this kit was a more than adequate effort that could hold its own with many current releases. A little TLC and some aftermarket doodads would result in a killer model of a unique car in American automobile history.

Something for the airplane buffs next month. Till then, "Build what YOU like, the way YOU want to, and the critics will flame you every time."