A big part of my model building in recent years has been to recreate the various cars I had once owned in my life. Way back in 1973 I saw the James Bond movie with the orange 1973 AMC Hornet. I loved the look of the hatchback and decided to buy one. It was too late to order a '73 model but I went to the local AMC dealer here in January 1974 and ordered a new Hornet Hatchback with the X option. I picked out the medium metallic blue color with the gold X stripes, the black vinyl interior, and the 304 V8, along with a few other options. This was the first (and only car) that I have ever ordered from the factory.......with the options I wanted. Waited over 3 months for it to come in. It arrived finally, but they were out of the slot style wheels and subbed the standard steel wheels. I forgave that as I was so anxious to take delivery of the car. I owned this car for over 12 years and wish I still had one. The next best thing was to build a plastic model of this, but I discovered that none of the model mfrs ever made this vehicle, with one single exception. JoHann was still actively making promo models for the dealers to hand out, and the 1974 Hornet was one of the models offered. I found a nearly perfect sample on Ebay recently and snapped it up. This may be heresy to some, but I took this promo model apart and repainted it to match my old car. The Testors color was a nearly perfect match. We found some printable gold contact paper for the X stripes. Taking a side view photo from the internet, we were able to copy the striping profile, resize it to the correct length for the model, and print the dark area in the center of the stripe. Trimming it out was not easy and took several tries, but I think it looks better than anything I had hoped to do to recreate that stripe. The pics will show the original promo as I received it. There is no motor, no opening hood or doors, and a fairly basic interior and underbody. These were meant to show the body more than anything. The first pic is my actual car back in 1974. The rest of the pics are the model. Here are the models........................
^ Nice story. I always thought that the fastback Hornet was a great looking car. All it needed was a little lowering and some fatter tires, it was AMC's pony car to me. Gary
In 1979 we ordered a 1979 Concord hatchback in the Spring. Same roof line as the older Hornet, but the front had changed a lot. After 6 weeks we were told the order was too late to get built. Ended up getting a loaded up 2 dr hardtop off a lot. One of the best cars I ever owned and I also kept it over 12 years. But I never got over not getting the hatchback I wanted.
Get this... Hornet wise very timely! This would make a great model. See the link below for the whole James Bond Story - and it's for sale! Gary https://www.hemmings.com/blog/2017/...imated-to-bring-250000-at-auction/?refer=news
The Hornet actually has a great look. This one gets a "like" with an asterisk...you never put whitewalls on a Cragar S/S. By the way, interesting article.
I agree on the whitewalls.....mine had the raised white letter tires. The Hornet actually did take the road pretty damn well and cornered nicely. The power steering was a mandatory option with the 304 V8 but I liked that.
MPC '57 Corvette built with a nod towards two Corvettes that ran around our small town of Lemont, Illinois in the early '70s. There was the black straight axled '57 with fenderwell headers and a faded silver '61.
Here's a couple of pictures of an old model I built about thirty years ago. I found it when I was digging out some stuff for the diecast Tuesday thread. If I remember correctly, it's a 1/32 scale Dalpol kit and was described as a 'hotrod'. It needs a bit of TLC, but I think I may find some time to sort it out.
Well not alot of progress on the Chopped up 36 ,once a roaster, project....it was almost scaped , I manage to sand threw the body while bringing the roof line in to shape ...but a little epoxy to the back side got it going again.... I'm currently working on some headlights that will be flush mounted in the finders and getting the peeks in the fenders correct and flow with the body contour......then on to the hood and grill it's still in the head rolling around just got to get it from there to the car....more later... Sorry for the crappy pic I'm having some device, not vice, issues.... Sent from my QTASUN1 using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
Oops ...looks like some spelling issues also....... Sent from my QTASUN1 using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
A new Sunday (the 13th), I hope you guys have a model or two to post. Here is my new project. View attachment 3622695
Fantastic start, Justin! Cool! That is identical to the "Hot Rod" kit first sold in the early '50s in the U.S. by Gowland & Gowland then Revell. An alternate version with a crude looking roof was called the "Jalopy" or "jalopy Racer." Keep it going, Stude, this thing is too cool to give up on! Love a '40 Coupe! The Lindberg kit has lots of potential. Yay, more '40 Coupes!
Spent more than a few hours over the last month reshaping the roof and window openings for accuracy and detail, including replacing the roof edge molding and drip rail and adding the missing side window channel and "flipper" characteristic the '58 Ford Club Vicky. Extra hours required 'cause I did it twice! Also rehaped the top of the front fenders. First 5 pics are the "Before!"
The first two are new builds,the next two are 5o year's old that I glued back together and cleaned up, the next 3 are 10,20,and 30 years old that I redid.
What a great look, the photo really enhances the car. Other than rarity, there's no reason that the '57 & '58 Fords shouldn't have the popularity of a '57 Chevy. This is coming along beautifully. (Uh, you're not really human, are you?). Seriously, this doesn't need to be finished. As it sits, it shows what can be done with time, talent and a love for the hobby.
....here's an old Hubley Model A I saw at a steam show flea market, I'm still kickin myself for not grabbing it...
I started building models again, and I am really enjoying it. I never was really good at it,but I keep trying. I must say that there are many amazing builds on this thread, keep it up guys I love it.
Got a bit more done. Suspension is figured out. Changed wheels and tires. Painted the front end and chassis.
The Jalopy Journal
