AMTronic ‘track’

The AMTronic kit comes with a cardboard display stand for showing off your finished model: it's a section of the dedicated roadway that a real life AMTronic would need when it’s in full cruise mode. Forward propulsion is provided by what look like some sort of jet thrusters on the back of the AMTronic; it’s lifted off the ground by two fans on the bottom of its fuselage; guidance is by those rails, or ‘track’, which use magnetic repulsion to hold the AMTronic in the centre of the lane. Well, that’s the story. Whether it could have worked in reality is an open question, but in the right light, this low-tech display stand doesn’t look too bad.

Progress on the AMTronic itself has been pretty slow. I’m finding that every piece needs some sort of special handling to get things to fit together. The manufacturer wasn’t kidding when they rated this build a ‘3’. I’m figuring it got the ‘3’ rating not because it’s overly complex or sophisticated, but possibly because the old molds don’t produce high quality parts. I’m taking the easy way out and gluing it up in its full-flight configuration and foregoing wrestling with all the opening and closing doors and other position-able pieces. Hopefully I’ll post some more detailed build photos soon.