Finally finished the AMT GMC Jimmy kit

Back in September I decided to take the Jimmy off the shelf and finish it. Long time readers may recall building up the chassis was giving me fits, and I shelved the project before it could cause long term psychological damage :-)

Why the change of heart? In late August and early September last year I was getting all sentimental as the first magazine I bought dealing with plastic model construction was the September '72 issue of Car Model. It had been 50 years since getting into model building. The young me was enthralled by the cover story: how to build the 'Desert Dodge' from MPC's Baja-Brute, a kit of a Dodge Adventurer SE pickup. 

I was lucky to find the kit used in the story for sale in the toy department at a local Simpsons store. I saved up my allowance, bought one, and did the best I could to build that truck. Well, I didn't come close to reproducing the model in the magazine, but had great fun trying.

So, last September I started thinking, I could get the Jimmy off the shelf and build it up to resemble the Desert Dodge. Remembering how frustrating this kit was I gave up on that idea before it got too far and decided instead to use the Jimmy to practice my painting skills. It had lots of molded on trim and it seemed like that would be fun to paint. I had already sprayed the body during my first attempt at the kit, so after close to 2 years on the shelf, it was cured enough for detail painting :-)

Painting was indeed pleasant, and it was satisfying to see the model come to life with each new item painted, but a few steps before finishing the model I shelved it again to devote myself to the ELM book. I didn't want anything potentially distracting me from making progress on the manuscript.

Ok, this time the shelf was metaphorical. The model was actually pushed to a corner of my workbench and ignored. A few days ago I noticed it had acquired a few stray paint flecks and a lot of dust. There were only a few steps left, so I cleaned up the model and finished it.

I had hopes of adding more interior detail and a bit of light weathering, but I thought too much time had passed and just glued on and painted up the pieces left - and some pieces I had lost during the long period of neglect, like the rearview mirror.

Overall, although the painting part was fun, I found this a tough kit to build because it seemed there were many part fit issues and often the parts weren't too well molded, which I assume was because the mold was quite old by now as this a repop of an old kit.