SCALE MODEL NEWS

AT FIRST GLANCE this attractive model could be a reissue of the 1:25 scale Chevrolet Monte Carlo kit released by AMT in 1970. Mat Irvine:  Actually, this Chevrolet Monte Carlo is a newer kit, or at least, ‘newer’ as in it’s from the mid-1990s. The original kit from 1970 was available as a standard ‘annual’, with detailing parts and ‘build one of three ways’ - stock, custom or competition. There was also a ‘Motor City Stocker’ version, a series which were basically unassembled promotionals. But both had then-standard one-piece chassis, and limited underhood detail, so in later years some of these annuals were retooled to incorporate new levels of detail. This occurred with the 1962 Ford Thunderbird, particularly as the tooling for the original Annual kit had been updated to the later years, and now with this 1970 Monte Carlo. Now you get a fully detailed engine bay and a fully detailed chassis with separate parts for the front and rear axles, and twin exhaust system - all lacking in...

MAT IRVINE WEEKENDER: The ‘Annual’ car kits (sometimes called ‘Yearly’) produced by AMT have been mentioned a few times before in SMN. The Annuals featured the latest cars released by full-size auto companies which AMT, Jo-Han and MPC, and to a certain extent Revell, then matched in model-kit form. AMT started producing Annual kits in the late 1950s, though originally they were all packed in generic design one-for-all boxes, where the only indication of what kit lay inside was a label, sticker, or a small insert panel on the box-ends. Otherwise, the boxes looked identical. Generic to individual This generic approach stayed until 1963, and by then, although the box-top remained the same, at least each box-end was dedicated to a particular car. Then in 1964, individual box-art came in, although an overall style or theme for the particular year was retained. Confused and bewildered? Here’s just an indication of the confusing box designs of early AMT Annual kits, shown by six examples, dat...