Reviews : AMT Scorpion Mid-Engine Drag Coupe

Really wanted to do something different and decided to build the Scorpion model. Fair warning, this model tooling is over 50 years old, so you have to be prepared for a lot of prep work. I am still building this kit, but felt it necessary to write this review as there are issues that I think needs to be discussed. So the kit looked fairly simple and straight forward, however looks are deceiving. The parts did need some flashing prep, and some sanding,and using exacto knife, after all toolin is old. I started the kit assembling the engine first, but noticed the body just did not appear to be an easy assembly, and instructions lack how to assemble the body. So my first recommendation would be to build the BODY first. You will learn quickly it requires time, patience and engineering creativity. The lower panels are almost impossible to glue properly in place without some type of back or inside brace or support and you better replenish your supply of putty you will need it. GAPS all over the place. More time is spent applying puttying gaps, and sanding then painting and gluing. Why would AMT let this go without making the parts stable. So there are several parts the are used to build the entire body. Problem parts the left and right lower panels and the actual rear section of the car lining everything up and you will get large gaps. The hood nose and bottom of the nose line up and you will need putty for some of the gaping. The lower side panels (right and left) are extremely difficult to attach to the upper hood section. I tried taping and letting dry, but there was not real support and eventually they fell off. So I too a very small strip of stryn plastic cut in about a 3/4 inch strip, cut to length of the hood half of strip on upper hood and let it dry, then simply attached the lower panels to it letting it drive. Now after you let it dry, recommend at least 8 hours, you start patching up the gaps with putty. Recommend a good coat of putty, sand and do second coat and continue until you have no gaps or bumps. I have been focusing the past two days on the body, and have not assembled the tube framing but did do the seat adding four point constraint belts and the engine, adding distributing with wirings. Will update as I continue, but felt this was important enough that I should let you know what to expect.