Fiberfab Avenger GT-12

[Scale-Master]

This is an IMC kit from almost 50 years ago (1976?). It builds a 1970 and later version of the Avenger, (not the original version that started in 1966). I bought this when it was a fairly new kit. My intent is to build it essentially out of the box but with some minor upgrades like new decals.

The body has some serious sink marks especially on the left side and rear deck. (I marked most of them with a Sharpie prior to the first round of sanding.) Way too deep to just sand out, they will have to be filled too.

There were also two chunks taken out on the right door from the fill points. They have been filled and rough sanded to shape. There are some serious ejector marks inside being addressed as well.

[Scale-Master]

The front valance does not fit well nor does it have enough material to reach the wheel wells. I centered the front openings with the headlight buckets on the body and filled the short areas with .040 sheet styrene sanded to match the contours on the body and wheel openings. The left side needed more material as the openings are not centered to the valance.

[Scale-Master]

The rear body panel was missing in my kit so I started fabricating a new from .040 sheet plastic. I'll keep the look of the original part. There was a bit of a warp to the body too so this was used to shore up and straighten out that issue after using a hairdryer on the body.

[Scale-Master]

The kit access door was recontoured (and thinned out) to match the shape of the fabricated rear panel. A lip was added to the top of the opening so it has a hard stop to close.

It has new hinges, but now I'm still not sure if there is really anything to see in there as the engine is very simplistic.

[Scale-Master]

The taillight bezels are brass. They will be body colored.

More dry fitting. The kit taillights will be used, but since they are not molded an even shade of transparent red they will need to be painted.

[Scale-Master]

The tires that had been feasting on both sides of the windshield turned out to be only one at this point. There must have been four, but there's only one left at this point.
For a step by step tutorial on how to salvage windows with this type on damage check this out:
https://finescale.com/how-to/article...amaged-windows

Also in the box there were two AMT tires and two inner walls of the IMC slicks. (I vaguely recall throwing the AMT tires in when I considered building it back in the 90's.) The correct tires for the kit are represented by the one in the upper right.

[willimo]

Long road ahead of you. What made you take on this old, difficult kit of a fairly obscure reference?

[Scale-Master]

Despite the missing and damaged parts it's not that problematic of a kit. It's just old and needs a little extra attention. I've been meaning to build it since I got it, and almost started on it in the '90s. It looked like nice simple project after the Lola T70 so I went for it.


The wipers are nicely molded, but I don't like the look of molded in wipers… I'll probably either machine some posts and leave the wipers off or maybe source a set from the leftovers bin.

The window frames were scribed in too.

[Scale-Master]

I found a pair of wipers in the Tamiya Renault Re5 Turbo that looked about right. (Being a VW based car I checked the Tamiya Beetle wipers, but they are way too small. The windshields on the real cars were sourced from Corvairs but the wipers are molded into the body on the AMT kit I have so they weren't an option either.) I made resin copies and dyed them black when I cast them.

[Scale-Master]

I found a set of Pirelli tires in my stash from some Tamiya kit that looked like a good fit and upgrade. The mags from the kit fit OK in them too. But the plating on the wheels was spotty and splotchy.

[Scale-Master]

It turned out the spotty chrome on the wheels was deeper than just the plating after I stripped them. I made a mold and cast new copies of the best one after I machined it to work with the 7075 aluminum outer rims I milled to fit the tires.

These are the new wheels and tires.

[Scale-Master]

After I built up the engine I realized there really was no reason to make the rear hatch operational.

But now I can finish the forming the rear panel. I added material to the bottom of the rear end while I blended the brass taillight bezels into the rear panel. I thought it would look better if the lenses were set in deeper so I cut out the openings.

[Scale-Master]

Turns out the taillights were not molded in clear red but factory painted by IMC and the paint was coming off. This is actually a good thing. A little 91% alcohol did a nice job of removing the paint (from both sides).

[Scale-Master]

While I was making the decals for the dash I also made Cragar S/S decals for the center caps too.

[Scale-Master]

The interior is actually pretty nice in this kit especially considering its age. The seats are well done as is the engraving on the door panels and the floor. But the steering wheels included are on the weak side. One is a stock 60's VW wheel and the other is a cheesy "dragster" wheel. Since the real cars use a little bit of Mustang, I swapped in a 1970 Mach I wheel. I made an adaptor to fit it to the stock steering shaft.

I added aluminum tips to the exhaust, but left the engine as it builds.