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I've always been an avid Thunderbird fan. One of the earliest models I had was a friction '58 Thunderbird hardtop. Even though 1958 was the year AMT first introduced their series of 3-in1 kits based on their promo/friction tooling, for some reason they didn't include the Thunderbird. Consequently, other than the original promo/friction versions, the '58 T-Bird has never been available in 1/25th scale. And those original editions were subject to the usual warping seen in most promotional models made prior to 1961 or so. |
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 I was able to find a relatively decent friction version on eBay. The front bumper/grille assembly was damaged. |
 The warping isn't as bad as some, there is still enough to prevent building a good replica. |
 Other than front & rear grilles and bumpers, the differences between the '58 and '59 are minimal. The '58 has a small round emblem on the rear sail panel, while the '59 has a T-Bird emblem. The '58 has Thunderbird script on the front fender, and five ribbed trim pieces on the door spear. On the '59 fender script is moved to the spear, which doesn't have trim like the '58, but a chrome surround at the front tip. |
 I ordered replacement grille, bumpers and promo wheels from the Modelhaus before they ceased production. |
 AMT did include the '59 Thunderbird in their 3-in-1 kits, which were produced in non-warping styrene. I ordered a resin reproduction kit from the Star Models Web site. |
Between the resin kit and Modelhaus parts, I'll only need to use the friction model as a master to cast resin replicas of the side spear chrome trim, small emblem on the sail panel, and fender scripts. |
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