RoR SnapShot Review 20120110* – 1962 Ford Thunderbird Convertible AMT #30081 Review
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Review and Photos by Marty and Stephanie Oberman 
 AMT/ERTL’s ’62 Ford Thunderbird convertible kit (#30081) is part of a class of newly-tooled kits of previously unavailable subjects issued around 2000 by AMT, of which included the ’71 Plymouth Duster and ’58 Belvedere. By all respects, they were well-engineered and designed kits that satisfied modelers’ cravings for new subject matter. They were immediately successful and enjoyed a wave of prosperity while issuing these new kits.
Overall, the ’62 T-Bird was a complete joy to build…the 390c.i. V-8 engine was realistic-looking, the chassis included poseable steering, and the majority of the kit pretty much fell together. I had a lot of fun building it. There were only two negative issues with this kit; one was complaints from some folks about the windshield glass being too small to fit inside the frame properly. I tested a trick I learned with other convertible kits: I first installed the windshield frame into the body (which secures it under the cowl as opposed to above it), then glued the interior tub into the body. Once done, I carefully slid the glass between the dashboard and frame and glued it into place. Voila! It worked like a charm! Any gaps are barely noticeable.
The other issue is the center console piece, which should flow from the bottom of the dashboard as if it were one complete unit. Unfortunately, the contact points for the console in the interior floor leave it a good 1/4″ away from the bottom of the dashboard when everything is assembled. My advice to the modeler is to cut off the contact points on the console, and dry-fit it with the dashboard installed until it lines up properly, then glue in place.
Other than the console issue, I had a great time building this beautiful vehicle, and would do so again in a heartbeat, especially now that I’m 
aware of the console issue. What rating would I give it? An easy 4 stars out of five! Yes, that’s how nice the rest of this well-detailed kit was to build. I’m already planning the color scheme for the next one I build, now that I’ve finished this one in DupliColor Hampstead Green with DupliColor “Vinyl and Fabric” gray interior. I highly recommend this kit to everyone.
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RoR Step-by-Step Review 20120106* – Soviet Aerosan RF-8/GAZ-98 1/35 Trumpeter #02322 Review
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See the Step-by-Step Review by Pat Ackerson 
The Soviet Aerosan RF-8/GAZ-98 was a propeller-powered snowmobile used by the Soviet Union during the Second World War. Running on skis and powered by an automotive engine, this unusual vehicle carried a crew of two soldiers and was armed with a 7.62mm machine gun. The Aerosan was primarily used for communications, mail deliveries, medical aid, emergency recovery and border patrolling in northern Russia. Combat loaded, the Aerosan weighed 0.892 tons and was capable of speeds up to 30 mph. The GAZ-98K was a version with a more powerful GAZ M-11 110-hp aviation engine in place of the standard automotive engine.
For the Modeler: – Trumpeter’s 1/35 scale Aerosan RF-8/GAZ-98 consists of 77 light gray injection molded pieces, two clear parts and two photo etched machine gun sights. Additionally included are the kit instructions, color painting guide and one set of water slide decals. Generally, Trumpeter has done a fine job with this kit. Parts are finely cast with little to no molding flash, seam lines or defects but the decals will need some special preparation. By and large, parts fit together well enough throughout the entire build with the exception of the crew figures. The figures and machine gun mount required special attention in order to get them to seat right in the vehicle for a convincing, natural appearance.
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RoR SnapShot Review 20120104* – The Munster Koach 1/25 AMT #647 Review
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SnapShot Review and Photos by Michael Garrett 
I followed the adventures of the Munster family as a small boy back in the 60’s and when my daughter discovered the show she quickly became a fan of the ghoulish family too. So I decided it would make a great Christmas gift to give her a Munster Koach of her own. Thanks to AMY this classic model has returned to the shelves for a whole new generation to enjoy!
For The Modeler: Tamiya gloss black was used for the main color with semi gloss black applied to the fabric areas on the top. The curtains were then brush painted and covered with a black wash
to bring out the details. BMF was used for the bright trim. The inside is rather basic with only 5 parts including the interior tub. I painted the seats and inner panels Testors red and then covered them with a layer of flocking. The floor is painted flat black. All the chrome was covered with a layer “The Detailer” wash to tone it down a bit and bring out the details. This was a rather simple, but still fun build with only about 60 pieces in the kit. There was actually very little flash to clean-up considering that the molds are 40 plus years old now, however I did replace the kit supplied plastic tires with rubber ones from my parts box.
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