1969 AMC AMX, Big Bad Orange, LE, (Ertl)

Red and orange 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. All this car has received at the moment is a round of chrome trim and a few painted details. I'll have to do a little chassis detailing research before I get into that.

The paint and stripe application on these cars is almost flawless. I've always liked the look of a car with body color bumpers. 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.

Very nice detail under the hood. Of course this is the LE so it may have more details than the REs will have. Regardless, it is well done with nice doses of color on the air cleaner, battery and master cylinder. I especially like the safety warnings on the shock tower and by the battery. I haven't added any details here so there is still some room for work to be done but not a whole lot. Ertl is getting real good at making my job easy! (I really prefer to do chrome detailing, not the painted stuff.)

Once again, Ertl doesn't leave that much for a detailer to do. I could paint a few knobs and such, but the steering wheel, shifter and door panels are all nicely done. I really like the detail they've put into the C-pillar AMX badge. It would have looked pretty boring as a tampo or decal. It is an actual molded piece that has been chromed and painted body color on the background section. Excellent. And to think this thing retails for under $35!