I’m not much of a Ford fan, so they’re rare in my collection. Still, I had this AMT Cougar kit and decided to build it. This kit is from the ERTL era and carries a 1991 copyright, but I believe it’s a selective reissue of the original kit with a different engine and the correct decals for a 302 Eliminator.

Unfortunately, the kit was a letdown. It had several fit problems, and the chassis looked as though it had been molded from 120-grit sandpaper slurry. It also omitted and misrepresented several details of the real car. Some flaws were subtle, like the missing staggered rear shocks and the absent door and trunk locks. Others were more obvious, including the lack of a fan shroud and an inaccurate engine bay.

Even so, I chose to make the best of it and aim for a factory-stock build with a high-quality finish. To get there, I added a Model Car Garage photo-etch set, Ray’s Decals, and the correct paint from Splash Paints.

Because the chassis quality was so poor, I kept the detailing simple. I added valve stems to the kit wheels, painted the areas outside the center caps and trim rings in argent, and swapped the kit tires for AMT Parts Pack Polyglas GT white-letter tires to give it a more period-correct look.

Beyond detailing the engine, I made only a few changes to the engine bay, adding the missing vacuum lines to the air cleaner, a fan shroud, and decals.

I put more effort into the interior. A large sink mark on top of the dashboard needed filling, and Ray’s decal sheet provided excellent interior details that improved the look. I finished it with aftermarket seat belts and insect mounting pins used as door lock buttons.

Painting the body was straightforward. Splash Paints sprays well through my Iwata airbrush. After it dried, I applied Ray’s decals for the stripe, door locks, and Cougar emblems, then sealed everything with Mr. Hobby Gloss Clear UV Cut. I finished by applying BMF to the trim and adapting Fireball Modelworks Ford door handles to replace the blobs molded into the body.

Final assembly took some effort because of minor fit issues. I used Ray’s decals on the front grille after washing it with Tamiya Panel Black and applied more of Ray’s decals to the taillight panel along with the Model Car Garage grille grid.

Overall, it builds into a decent model. One can hope AMT addressed some of the fit issues in the latest Hot Wheels-branded reissue, though I doubt it corrected the inaccuracies.