The AMT '68 Camaro appeared around 1982 or so (an all-new kit, nothing in common with AMT's '67 and '68 annuals) and has been in almost continuous issue (or at least availability) ever since. It has come in three variants--a stock-only '68 Z/28, a nonstock '68 Z/28 "street machine" (how I hate that term!), and, later a stock '67 Z/28. While having different details and trim, all share the same basic body.
I've built several of these over the years and while it's a pretty nice kit overall, there have been a few areas of the body that have always bothered me. I've discovered a few ways you can greatly improve the looks of this body without two much trouble. There are four simple improvements you can make. None requires special tools, aftermarket parts, pieces from other kits, or even putty--they are all easily accomplished with your common modeling tools.
Last weekend I took an old '68 Z "street rat" I built in primer gray about 20 years ago and applied these four changes in just a couple hours. Reshot the primer yesterday afternoon, re-did the trim and reassembled the whole mess today, and it's already back on my shelf! Follow along and I'll show you how to improve any model you build using one of these kits.
PART 1: Belt Reveal Molding.
The first thing to be done is remove the so-called "belt reveal molding" which runs under the windows on both sides. AMT screwed this up badly. They were attempting to portray these moldings, which were part of the optional (and relatively rare) 1968 Z21 "Style Trim Group" (note that the "Style Trim Group" was also included in all Rally Sports and RS-equipped SS and Z/28 Camaro). This molding actually covers the door and quarter panel skin, but AMT portrays it as sitting on TOP of those edges. It has to GO! It has no place on ANY '67, and if you are doing a '68 that happens to be a Rally Sport or have the Style Trim Group, the molded molding should be removed and a new one scribed in (look at pics of real cars to see where it goes).
Here's the area I'm talking about, marked in Sharpie on an unpainted orange body:
If that's not clear enough, here's the other side, with the Sharpie marking the party of the body you want to keep--the orange strip ABOVE the Sharpie in this pic is what needs to go:
Cut, file, scrape, or sand this thing off and the sexy, curvy shape of the first-gen Camaro will appear as if by magic! If you've ever thought this kit looked a little "chunky" for some reason, this is the reason why. Get that crummy, incorrect "belt reveal" mess off of there! (If you're skilled and careful, you can even do this on an assembled model if you're condident that you can touch up the paint at the windowsill, though of course it's best to do this as you're building the model in the first place.)
On my exemplar model, I had already done this when I built it. Here's what the corrected lower window contour looks like.
See the difference? Big improvement in looks for just a few minutes' work.
Next: Fixing the rear window molding.
Source: http://cs.scaleautomag.com/SCACS/forums/thread/999350.aspx
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