Black cars always take well
to chrome detailing and of course this great new Ertl product
is no exception. This car has great lines and just enough chrome
trim to really take well to the detailing. It is so nice to work
with a car out of a fresh mold. The edges of the body are always
more smooth and crisp on a new-mold car. The grill has also been
detailed with some satin gray metallic paint on the grill surround.
The paint and stripe application
on these cars is almost flawless. I've always liked the look of
a black car with a red interior. Even though the AMX doesn't have
a rear seat, there does seem to be a fair amount of room back
there. Not much head room though! The tail pipe tips got a little
flat black paint and the chrome is pretty obvious. If I could
change two things, I'd have Ertl add clear red plastic tail lights
and molded in front fender side marker lights so they could be
properly chromed.
The
wheels got a little paint to the lug nuts and the side pipes got
some flat black to the background which helps the ribs to show
up like they should. The door handles got some satin foil so they
would look like the brushed metal look the door handles on the
1:1s have. Unfortunately that doesn't show up well in the picture.
It is a subtle detail, but does improve the look of the door handles.
The fit and finish on these models is superb.
I
found through my research that the air cleaner lid, valve covers
and oil spout cap should be chrome on the AMX 390. It was quite
a bit of work, but I've added chrome to all these items. While
I was at it I also detailed the power steering cap wing nut, hose
clamps and firewall motors. Ertl did a nice detailing job and
I especially like the safety warnings on the shock tower and by
the battery but I can't believe Ertl missed the chrome on the
air cleaner and valve covers. You can also see here the detailing
added to the grill.
Ertl
can just continue adding trunks to their cars as far as I'm concerned.
This car has a nice space saver spare with a rapid fill air bottle
and a nicely painted trunk mat. There are even instructions for
inflation of the spare on the underside of the trunk lid which
you can really read if you try! You can also see here the effects
of blacking out the tail pipe tips. Not much left for me to do
here but maybe throw in a 1:18 scale set of golf clubs!
I
found in my research that there are some big details missing on
the interior. The seat hinge/latch assemblies are supposed to
be chrome. Ertl already did a nice job on the steering wheel,
shifter and dash. The chrome on the seats really helps finish
off the overall look. Ertl also did a nice job on the door panels.
If I can ever come up with the correct shade of red I'll paint
those screw nubs to finish it all off. According to the pictures
I used for reference, the dash doesn't seem to have any chrome
knobs at all.
I've
detailed the chassis with a painted gas tank, springs, front struts,
steering link and anti-sway bar. You can also see the detailing
I've added to the fuel pump, starter, oil filter and drive shaft.
I'm not 100% sure on the chassis details, but this is my best
guess from what I've been able to learn. Being a unibody car I'll
bet the undercarriage is either body color or primer but being
a black car leaving the chassis black seems to work either way.