Note: the right and left side windshield vents were left out: it gives the car more of a roadster look, and the vents were too short to reach the door. I glued the front grill (dark gray pastel wash added), rear bumper, windshield wipers, and mirrors and the mildly custom T-bird is complete!!! Make sure to dry fit the front and rear bumpers as some sanding of the body was needed otherwise a gap may ensue. The front to rear trim on both sides, along with the front edge of the hood were BMF’ed. All decals are opaque and thin, and very easy to apply!! The ‘T-bird for Two’ decal was applied to the tonneau cover. I added the excellent pin stripe decals to the hood, rear deck and rear sides. Then I squeezed the inside interior panels, and the front half was also set in place, with no glue needed in the entire process! But before the front half is completely in place, I attached the front windshield to the tabs under the body in front of the dashboard. The body was attached to rear tabs in the chassis and the rear half of body was then slowly eased in. I added several drops of Future to each gauge. The instrument panel details and door knobs were dry brushed with chrome enamel paint, and the instrument gauge decals went on without a hitch. I sprayed all parts with Testors Exhaust metallic lacquer, and over-coated with the Pepper Grey Metallic, creating a nice contrast with the body color. The floor is actually the top of the chassis, so I needed to mask off the chassis bottom before painting the floor. The interior comes with separate side panels, making it easy to paint and accessorize. All 4 tires on the ground and the low profile is superb!! Interior I checked the fit of the rear suspension to the body, and there were no issues, even with the rear skirts. I ran into trouble with the sombrero wheel sprue attachment points, and took a chunk out of 2 wheels while removing them! I opted instead to use the chrome wheel/tire combination from AMT’s ‘67 Comet, which look quite cool on a custom ‘T-Bird’. There’s good detail on the bottom, the exhaust system fits well to exhaust manifolds, and the lowered suspension was easy to assemble. Everything does fit very well in the very busy space engine compartment. The engine compartment is fully loaded, you get the a/c compressor, radiator expansion tank, and 2 strands of a/c and heater hoses extending from the firewall to the engine front. Engine color is black: Ford went to the blue oval color in the mid 1960’s. I opted for the well detailed 6 pack carburetor, with the classic early sixties Ford oval air cleaner (hint: need Thunderbird decal) and nicely chromed valve covers with “Thunderbird” in raised letters. All of these pieces were left off until the final assembly. Likewise, small chrome parts such as the rear view mirrors, antennae, and wipers needed clean up and re-chroming with BMF.
I repaired the chrome with BMF, and it looked satisfactory. The front grill and rear bumper, as well as the windshield frame have some flash in the chrome, as well as some waviness. I misted the final coats on, leaving a nice smooth, semi-gloss finish. The hood, tonneau cover, and body were primed with Tamiya fine gray primer, airbrushed with Cobra Colors’ Pepper Grey metallic lacquer, and lightly sanded between coats (5). The trim on the top edge of both sides of the body extending from front to rear was left in place to be bare metal foiled (“BMF”). Note: all non-chrome parts are molded in white.īeing a custom, all scripts and side trim were sanded off, and the rear fender skirts were glued inside the wheel wells. The body is well proportioned and cleanly molded with minimal seam removal needed. I elected to make a mild custom version, here are my construction notes: Body The kit is accurate, well detailed, and for the most part fits well. To top off the custom look, choose the soft top, convertible, or tonneau cover. The decals are a customizer’s dream: scallops for the hood, rear deck and sides, pinstripes, and “T-bird for Two” logos in black and white.
The customizing features include ride lowering suspension with rear skirts, low profile whitewall tires and sombrero wheels, Lucas style headlights and sombrero taillights, and a 4 barrel engine option with separate manifold and air cleaner. The 1962 Ford Thunderbird, known to aficionados as the “Bullet Bird”, was the 3 rd generation of the 3 most classic and beloved Thunderbird designs: “Square Bird” 1958-1960, “Bullet Bird” 1961-1963, and “Flair Bird” 1964-1966.
Round 2 has reissued the AMT 1962 Thunderbird with both stock and custom parts, not offered in the original release.
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