I really need to get this Cyclone and the Fairlane in my stash. I believe this is the first boxing of this particular model. AMT did both the Cyclone and Fairlane as annuals back in the sixties, but they were retooled in the early 90s. You can tell by the separate door panels and the exhaust and suspension is separate from the chassis. I think that is why many people don't like AMT because they haven't redone most of their molds since the 60s. The newer models or ones that have been tooled since the early 90s are great.
The AMT annual 66 Fairlane was more accurate than the Ertl tool, however. The Ertl Fairlane has too low of a windshield (and backglass height). And the A pillars are supposed to be fully bright metal, with no body color. Other than that, it's pretty nice.
I love amt kits. I also have the sister to this car, the 66 Fairlane. Maybe it's just me but the front wheels on both of these cars have the front wheels set to far back. I stopped building my 66 until I can figure how to solve this issue. Other than that I agree Matt I really like this kit. Nice body, parts and detail. Thanks for sharing.
Built that model 20 some years ago. Recently took it off the shelf and rebuilt it. Lowered the front tubbed the rear and used a boss 429 engine. The glue from back then sucked so it was easy to take apart.
The AMT/ERTL 57 Chrysler 300C, 60 Chev pick-up, and 66 Buick Riviera are also beautiful kits, cleanly molded with sharp detail, super nice compared to most of the older AMT kits
Thanks for sharing the tips for dealing with fisheyes in paint. As for AMT kits there are several more that come to mind. The 58 Plymouth Belvedere/fury 56 Ford Fairlane 500 57 Ford Crown Victoria and my holy grail kit the 69 Pontiac Firebird 400. That kit has the HOC straight 6 that I want to drop into the AMT 65 GTO and have a tempest convertible. The 65 GTO is another great kit. But having told everyone about my grail kit …. well I’ll never see it now lol. It’s my luck guys. Anyway thanks for all the hard work that goes into the production side of the videos, not to mention the work in building the kits for us. I join everyone one else in welcoming you back!!! Ellie and Ruthie did an outstanding job filling in for you. Thank you for all you do!!
I have built two Cyclones and two Fairlanes - these are very nice kits for beginners. It has the wipers and door handles molded into the body - so there fewer small parts.
Obviously, AMT did an excellent job with that kit. AMT really hit the mark with several of their kits the ‘66 Nova and ‘50 Chevy truck come to mind. My problem with AMT kits have been with large decals cracking, and this has been with newer kits. You did an excellent job unboxing the kit. An AMT kit with two transmissions, WOW! Thanks for talking about how to correct the fish eyes. Thanks for sharing.
Awesome Matt! My second favorite body style to the 68-9 Fairlane/Torino. I have a 68 Fairlane that my Mother bought new. It was our family cay and my first car in high school.
Sorry to ramble on but it's cool that you are using Burnt Amber on this car because my brother in law had a Burnt Amber 67 Fairlane 390 back in the day that he ran with great success at the LaPlace Dragway outside of NOLA back in the late 60s.
Great video and progress so far Matthew 👍 This is the kind of kits i like to build. A nicely detailed kit with everything separate. This kit reminds me of the AMT 66 Nova SS. The way you put it together is very similar with everything being separate.
The Cyclone kit and the Fairlanes of the same years are some of the best kids AMT ever did. The Fairlane GT / GTA and the Fairlane 427 are the same kit just different body.
If you get fish eyes, chances are there's mold release on the part and a 2nd coat won't resolve it. I found it best to scrub the parts with a toothbrush using warm water mixed with some dish detergent, let ' em air dry, then apply paint.
Looks like a winner. Want to see how the wet sand/repaint works out. Absolutely, patience is necessary with this hobby. Act in haste, regret in leisure. Was that Justin Johnson playing while you were painting? Distinctive sound!
I don't know why everyone is so hard on AMT I have a lot of them and I have been through every one of them and I don't see any thing bad yes some flesh and mold lines and that's about it I'm just saying if you all don't want a little work or a challenge go spend 60 to a 100 dollars on some shake and bake kits thank you for sharing Matthew
Always a super cool car! Buddy of mine has a 65 Comet, really want to do the model of that one!!! This looks like a super cool kit! Also, I'm huge fan of the Pontiac kit, very nice kit!!
Check out Moebius releases of the '65 Comet Cyclone. One is a stock build and the other is the Dyno Don Nicholson A/FX Cyclone with a SOHC 427, Cragar S/S mags, racing interior, susp,etc. Very nice kits.
I agree with you, awesome kit. I got 2 and the 427 Fairlane as well as the 390 GT- GTA Fairlane - the 427 has a special hood with a wide air scoop. Their '67 and '69 Oldsmobile kits are great as well as the '62 409 Bel Aire and '62 Pontiac 421 SD, also their '60 Fairlane and '58 Edsel. All these were released in the late 80s and early 90s. I believe lots of folks dis the retread kits from the 60s with the hole in the engine block and suspension/ exhaust moded into the chassis. They did release some great engine options, though. I adapted the dual Judson superchargers from the re- popped '64 Oldsmobile convertible to the 394 Olds engine from Revell's '51 Anglia cameout user cool...
That looks like they tooled it off the 66 Fairlane kit. I remember back in the early 2000's I had bought a couple of the F150 kits and they were amazing and it made me not able to believe the problem parts that I get often in their kits now. The flash isn't anything I get bent out of shape over, it happens, but when 2 or 3 major parts are warped and twisted beyond belief, that irks me a bit.
FYI, the C4 was generally a light duty transmission and rarely put behind a 390, noted to have been very few 390/C4 combos and if then they would be in the full sized car. Generally they were FMX transmissions or C6 in the later 60’s behind a 390. Of note, my 1967 LTD 2-door 390-2V had an FMX, while my 1968 Country Squire 390-2V had a C6, as station wagons generally came with more robust drivetrains, brakes, and suspensions. The LTD was the lighter 2-door and had manual drum brakes, hence the FMX. If it had been a 390-4V, or with disc brakes, the C6 would generally be automatically included. In the Fairlane/ Comet intermediates, it would have been a C4 behind small blocks, and an FMX behind the lower HP 351s and 390s, all 390-4V and up and all 428s would receive the C6? So in other words, a C4 behind a 390 was never behind a performance oriented 390, which this model does appear to be.
This is a cool car. My dad had a 66 cyclone in the 70s. My problem is that I am missing the front grille and headlight piece and have been trying to source that but to no avail.
Those 90's AMT kits were as good as it gets. No kits are perfect even at higher prices and these were still inexpensive when they came out. These are great for box stock classes as there is little to tempt you to modify for the sake of realism.
great laid back vid my friend, i am in italy, but appreciate your work, as there was no internet when i started building car models, a ferrari for christmas in 1967, in cork, ireland,, one word of advice, to turn off your phone, as its too distracting. but i am returning to kit building as i am getting old and need to just enjoy. i was building from scratch , in the late 1990s, and thank you cheers from a yank in italy, robert,,,,,
I have never herd all this stuff about one kit being better than another. Monogram or AMT. I just built what i wanted to build. You have to adapt to whatever your building. Your only as good as the person doing the kit.
I would like to have that C- 6 transmission, I have the Fairlane kit, but it doesn't have any details on the shock towers, the bracket for the shocks, dose that kit? That Pontiac kit is one I been wonting to get they look nice with a lot of extras
Very nice kit and it's the red badge. This is one I may have to get, of course the subject matter helps a lot. The Cyclone was an iconic car. Great choice in color. What kind of respirator do you use?
This was the peak era for AMT IMHO. Round2 has run the name into the ground and stomped it even further into the dirt. I have some 60's/70's releases and they're not quite as nice. The ERTL era so many old heads love to bawl about was the best AMT ever offered their customers.
I open that kit to mash it up with the fuse truck. When I opened it up and saw the details I said no way. So put it aside and I'm really gonna take my time building it stook.
If you look closely you'll notice that the roofline on the Fairlane is "swoopier", and overall it's just a little cleaner than the Comet Cyclone. The biggest reason for this is the Fairlane was Ford Motor Companies entrance into NASCAR for that time period and if you can take a few minutes and do a search for Junior Johnson's '66 Fairlane " Yellow Banana " you can see how much they let Ford get away with that year because that was when Ford boycotted NASCAR over the Hemi being allowed and the SOHC, and the 429 Shotgun engine being disallowed that season. Oh q, that Yellow Banana monstrosity was one of those one time only deals where Big Bill France made it clear to Junior that was the ONLY time it would be allowed to race.
Hi there! If you ever find a 1969 Fairlane which I once had for real, PLEASE let me know! I cannot find one anywhere! Thanks, Judy in Nova Scotia, Canada
Not sure when AMT supposedly became a name for bad quality; as a kid in the 70's and early 80's it was always AMT and Monogram I went for. I despised Revell in most cases and MPC was usually pretty bad, too.
Could some please tag me in the link to your 3d printed stuff Matt I m really interested in the carbide big block ford engines for a up coming Torino built I have planned
Boy oh boy that color is gonna be really nice on that car!!
I really need to get this Cyclone and the Fairlane in my stash. I believe this is the first boxing of this particular model. AMT did both the Cyclone and Fairlane as annuals back in the sixties, but they were retooled in the early 90s. You can tell by the separate door panels and the exhaust and suspension is separate from the chassis. I think that is why many people don't like AMT because they haven't redone most of their molds since the 60s. The newer models or ones that have been tooled since the early 90s are great.
The AMT annual 66 Fairlane was more accurate than the Ertl tool, however. The Ertl Fairlane has too low of a windshield (and backglass height). And the A pillars are supposed to be fully bright metal, with no body color. Other than that, it's pretty nice.
Check out AMT's '60 Ford Starliner. Top Notch !
I built one when I was a kid. I still have it. Def want to do another :)
Very cool!
The 1970 Duster 340 is another really good AMT kit. It has got some really good engine detail. Heater hoses and Air conditioning compressor.
The Catalina is another 90's tool from AMT. Built it back then. Easiest model I ever put together and just as nice as the Comet and Fairlane.
I love amt kits. I also have the sister to this car, the 66 Fairlane. Maybe it's just me but the front wheels on both of these cars have the front wheels set to far back. I stopped building my 66 until I can figure how to solve this issue. Other than that I agree Matt I really like this kit. Nice body, parts and detail. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks for that. Never realized how similar it is to the '66 Ford. & Don't worry, the '66 Ford will be/is a great kit, it's a classic.!
Good to see you up and around
After watching this it made me take mine out of the stash and add it to this years build list
Thats a nice kit! Looking forward to see it finished. I like that color too!
Built that model 20 some years ago. Recently took it off the shelf and rebuilt it. Lowered the front tubbed the rear and used a boss 429 engine. The glue from back then sucked so it was easy to take apart.
The AMT/ERTL 57 Chrysler 300C, 60 Chev pick-up, and 66 Buick Riviera are also beautiful kits, cleanly molded with sharp detail, super nice compared to most of the older AMT kits
Thanks for sharing the tips for dealing with fisheyes in paint. As for AMT kits there are several more that come to mind. The 58 Plymouth Belvedere/fury 56 Ford Fairlane 500 57 Ford Crown Victoria and my holy grail kit the 69 Pontiac Firebird 400. That kit has the HOC straight 6 that I want to drop into the AMT 65 GTO and have a tempest convertible. The 65 GTO is another great kit. But having told everyone about my grail kit …. well I’ll never see it now lol. It’s my luck guys. Anyway thanks for all the hard work that goes into the production side of the videos, not to mention the work in building the kits for us. I join everyone one else in welcoming you back!!! Ellie and Ruthie did an outstanding job filling in for you. Thank you for all you do!!
Thanks William! I know a guy with 2 of those firebird 400 kits with the OHC 6's. Wink Wink
Def gonna snag one of these off ebay when I can. I built the Fairlane version not too long ago so it’ll sit nicely next to it. Great video.
Matthew The 330-352 360 390 427 428 engine have a unique bolt pattern for the bellhousing / transmission no outher ford engine hadit..
It looks great
I have built two Cyclones and two Fairlanes - these are very nice kits for beginners. It has the wipers and door handles molded into the body - so there fewer small parts.
Obviously, AMT did an excellent job with that kit. AMT really hit the mark with several of their kits the ‘66 Nova and ‘50 Chevy truck come to mind. My problem with AMT kits have been with large decals cracking, and this has been with newer kits. You did an excellent job unboxing the kit. An AMT kit with two transmissions, WOW! Thanks for talking about how to correct the fish eyes. Thanks for sharing.
Great video. The 62 Catalina is also a awsome kit! You want to build it also.
That is the first issue of that kit. Amt tooled kits in the 90's are nice
That's a real nice kit to build
I agree, great kit. Really like the color you chose. Looking forward to the finished car!
Thanks!
It is a great looking kit, looking forward to seeing the finished build.......have a great weekend buddy
Thanks Jeff!!
Matthew , that kit is the first fun with that tooling. That is according to Scalemates
The old amt kits were excellent kits. I dont know where or when they went to crap, but I always loved the amt/ertl & earlier amt kits.
Awesome Matt! My second favorite body style to the 68-9 Fairlane/Torino. I have a 68 Fairlane that my Mother bought new. It was our family cay and my first car in high school.
The '62 Chevy Bel Air bubble top from this era of AMT Ertl is fantastic too.
Super cool kit, I just got three of these myself, nice color choice, I hate when a paint job goes sideways... Looking forward to see it done..
Sorry to ramble on but it's cool that you are using Burnt Amber on this car because my brother in law had a Burnt Amber 67 Fairlane 390 back in the day that he ran with great success at the LaPlace Dragway outside of NOLA back in the late 60s.
That's cool!!
It's missing the bar code because in the mid 90's I think AMT was offering a free kit if you sent in enough UPCs.
That is a sweet kit.
I'm kinda impressed with the last couple AMT kits I've got.
Great video and progress so far Matthew 👍 This is the kind of kits i like to build. A nicely detailed kit with everything separate. This kit reminds me of the AMT 66 Nova SS. The way you put it together is very similar with everything being separate.
I saw the box art and thought " man, that looks cheesy", but looking at the parts laid out, I'm impressed!
The Cyclone kit and the Fairlanes of the same years are some of the best kids AMT ever did. The Fairlane GT / GTA and the Fairlane 427 are the same kit just different body.
If you get fish eyes, chances are there's mold release on the part and a 2nd coat won't resolve it. I found it best to scrub the parts with a toothbrush using warm water mixed with some dish detergent, let ' em air dry, then apply paint.
Looking good Matt. Thanks for sharing. 😎🇨🇦
I did the AMT 66 427 Fairlane a couple weeks ago.... You'll love that one too!!
Those kits are great! Nice thing about those kits is they come out nice no matter builds them. If you could see mine. LOL
LOL
I've got that same model in my stash. I'll get to it sometime.
If you want to pro street one, the '66 nova kit fits like it was made for it, and they look awesome as a pro street!!!
The 67 Chevelle pro street would be the better option since it's the larger A body.
Looks like a winner. Want to see how the wet sand/repaint works out. Absolutely, patience is necessary with this hobby. Act in haste, regret in leisure.
Was that Justin Johnson playing while you were painting? Distinctive sound!
I don't know why everyone is so hard on AMT I have a lot of them and I have been through every one of them and I don't see any thing bad yes some flesh and mold lines and that's about it I'm just saying if you all don't want a little work or a challenge go spend 60 to a 100 dollars on some shake and bake kits thank you for sharing Matthew
Well yes, but actually no. Just try a Tamiya kit, even an old and pretty cheap one, and the difference is astonishing.
You and Kreg must want me to build one of these. Both og you a raving about it!
Yes sir Matt I agree with you I love that kit
Always a super cool car! Buddy of mine has a 65 Comet, really want to do the model of that one!!! This looks like a super cool kit! Also, I'm huge fan of the Pontiac kit, very nice kit!!
👍🏻👍🏻
Check out Moebius releases of the '65 Comet Cyclone. One is a stock build and the other is the Dyno Don Nicholson A/FX Cyclone with a SOHC 427, Cragar S/S mags, racing interior, susp,etc. Very nice kits.
I'm building this kit now. It is a fine kit.
Bear in mind it's an AMT/ERTL kit, and ERTL was at one time the pinnacle of plastic models. Chances are, that's originally an ERTL molding.
Looks like she's coming along nicely!!
I agree with you, awesome kit. I got 2 and the 427 Fairlane as well as the 390 GT- GTA Fairlane - the 427 has a special hood with a wide air scoop. Their '67 and '69 Oldsmobile kits are great as well as the '62 409 Bel Aire and '62 Pontiac 421 SD, also their '60 Fairlane and '58 Edsel. All these were released in the late 80s and early 90s. I believe lots of folks dis the retread kits from the 60s with the hole in the engine block and suspension/ exhaust moded into the chassis. They did release some great engine options, though. I adapted the dual Judson superchargers from the re- popped '64 Oldsmobile convertible to the 394 Olds engine from Revell's '51 Anglia cameout user cool...
I'll have to put this one on my wish list!!
That looks like they tooled it off the 66 Fairlane kit. I remember back in the early 2000's I had bought a couple of the F150 kits and they were amazing and it made me not able to believe the problem parts that I get often in their kits now. The flash isn't anything I get bent out of shape over, it happens, but when 2 or 3 major parts are warped and twisted beyond belief, that irks me a bit.
The Cyclone & the Ford Fairlane GT are sister kits. They share about 90 % of the Same parts.
Awesome im now building all scales 1/25 1/16th 1/20th and 1/8th scale talk about hobby bench chaos im almost lost in parts lol
FYI, the C4 was generally a light duty transmission and rarely put behind a 390, noted to have been very few 390/C4 combos and if then they would be in the full sized car. Generally they were FMX transmissions or C6 in the later 60’s behind a 390. Of note, my 1967 LTD 2-door 390-2V had an FMX, while my 1968 Country Squire 390-2V had a C6, as station wagons generally came with more robust drivetrains, brakes, and suspensions. The LTD was the lighter 2-door and had manual drum brakes, hence the FMX. If it had been a 390-4V, or with disc brakes, the C6 would generally be automatically included. In the Fairlane/ Comet intermediates, it would have been a C4 behind small blocks, and an FMX behind the lower HP 351s and 390s, all 390-4V and up and all 428s would receive the C6? So in other words, a C4 behind a 390 was never behind a performance oriented 390, which this model does appear to be.
Cool! Thanks
This is a cool car. My dad had a 66 cyclone in the 70s. My problem is that I am missing the front grille and headlight piece and have been trying to source that but to no avail.
Yeah most of the mid 90s AMT kits were killer
That 427 Fairlane is an awesome kit as well
The last few AMT kits Ive done have had severe flash and body warpage! I had to work hard to make them look good!
Nice looking kit! I want one someday!!
I may pick this kit up since I have a Ricky Smith pro stock chassis from the thunderbird
👍🏻👍🏻
Those 90's AMT kits were as good as it gets. No kits are perfect even at higher prices and these were still inexpensive when they came out. These are great for box stock classes as there is little to tempt you to modify for the sake of realism.
They make great Super Stock drag cars as well...
great laid back vid my friend, i am in italy, but appreciate your work, as there was no internet when i started building car models, a ferrari for christmas in 1967, in cork, ireland,, one word of advice, to turn off your phone, as its too distracting. but i am returning to kit building as i am getting old and need to just enjoy. i was building from scratch , in the late 1990s, and thank you cheers from a yank in italy, robert,,,,,
*Ooooo I love that model :))*
I have never herd all this stuff about one kit being better than another. Monogram or AMT. I just built what i wanted to build. You have to adapt to whatever your building. Your only as good as the person doing the kit.
I would like to have that C- 6 transmission,
I have the Fairlane kit, but it doesn't have any details on the shock towers, the bracket for the shocks, dose that kit?
That Pontiac kit is one I been wonting to get they look nice with a lot of extras
The 66 Fairlane and 67 Cyclone share the same basic tooling
The Catalina is the same quality 😊
Back in the day AMT was boss. And in the 90's they came back for senior model- builders. Look it up.
Memphis Dan LeLoLai
👍🏻👍🏻✌️
I'm in the middle of building the AMT 66 Fairlane. The parts are about the same. But, the body are different.
I always thought the Cyclone and the Galaxy were the body with little differences here and there. But don't take my word for it.
Very nice kit and it's the red badge. This is one I may have to get, of course the subject matter helps a lot. The Cyclone was an iconic car. Great choice in color. What kind of respirator do you use?
This was the peak era for AMT IMHO. Round2 has run the name into the ground and stomped it even further into the dirt. I have some 60's/70's releases and they're not quite as nice. The ERTL era so many old heads love to bawl about was the best AMT ever offered their customers.
I kinda agree with you
AMT from the 90s rule
Cool kit ,try the 65 Mercury comet by Mobius it's almost the same chassis
Have one in the stash, mines molded in puke green
Fish- eyes are result of oil on the surface.
The Fairlane/Comet are built on the same platform. Outer skins differ!
- Chucho Agrelot
👍🏻👍🏻
So if I may ask what would cause a fisheye in your paint job?
Not 100% sure myself.
Hello, Mr. Matt. Just watched a video on top fuel, and fuel costs 27.00 a gallon. And it is 12,000 horsepower.
Fish Eyes Suck 🤬🤬Too Bad For The Lost Batch Of Paint. Hope You STILL Have Enough To Finish The Job. Have a Blessed Healing Wknd Buddy 🤗 Gary.
I made sure before I started that I would have plenty!
My favorite part is sanding the seam lines and cleaning the flash… is that weird? 🤔🤔 lol
I open that kit to mash it up with the fuse truck. When I opened it up and saw the details I said no way. So put it aside and I'm really gonna take my time building it stook.
Absolutely!!
If you look closely you'll notice that the roofline on the Fairlane is "swoopier", and overall it's just a little cleaner than the Comet Cyclone. The biggest reason for this is the Fairlane was Ford Motor Companies entrance into NASCAR for that time period and if you can take a few minutes and do a search for Junior Johnson's '66 Fairlane " Yellow Banana " you can see how much they let Ford get away with that year because that was when Ford boycotted NASCAR over the Hemi being allowed and the SOHC, and the 429 Shotgun engine being disallowed that season. Oh q, that Yellow Banana monstrosity was one of those one time only deals where Big Bill France made it clear to Junior that was the ONLY time it would be allowed to race.
Awesome info! Thanks
Nice Ford kits, bummer regarding the fish eyes. Of course it would happen on the roof☹️
Tell me about it
Hi there! If you ever find a 1969 Fairlane which I once had for real, PLEASE let me know! I cannot find one anywhere! Thanks, Judy in Nova Scotia, Canada
Not sure when AMT supposedly became a name for bad quality; as a kid in the 70's and early 80's it was always AMT and Monogram I went for. I despised Revell in most cases and MPC was usually pretty bad, too.
Man! What psi are you spraying?
20
Could some please tag me in the link to your 3d printed stuff Matt I m really interested in the carbide big block ford engines for a up coming Torino built I have planned
Thanks!! www.mcvproducts.net