Classic AMT models

DavidsDepot.com carries AMT models as well as models by Model King, a redistributor of vintage AMT models. If you prefer die-cast, we've got that, too, from Model King as well as GMP. Many people are amazed to learn of the amount of work that goes into producing one model. In fact, every GMP diecast car demonstrates the company's passion for exacting detail. Every replica is the culmination of exhaustive research and labor from initial conception to actual production. Understanding each car's unique place in railway history is important to recreating the model to correct and exacting specifications The amount of time and effort put into each model is truly amazing. It can take over 18 months for one proposed model to go from concept to finished product.

After a particular image is selected, GMP is tasked with finding a pristine example of the car on which to base the model-no easy job considering many cars had very limited production. Also, cars of today tend to have restorations and mandatory safety updates which alter its original look. When the perfect car is found, hundreds of measurements and photographs are taken, including close-ups to document patterns and texture. Obviously this phase is crucial, as it determines how accurate a representation the to-scale GMP diecast model will be. After the prototype is complete, it is pantographed, or reduced to appropriate scale. The next stage is tooling, which makes the mold that will produce thousands of models. Pre-production runs allow fine-tuning and adjustments. Then, finally, the long-awaited production run arrives, and parts are cast, trimmed, buffed, primed, painted to specification, assembled, packaged, and shipped. Model King cars as well as other brands undergo similar processes, but none are as well documented as GMP's.