GMC’s sibling to the Chevrolet K5 Blazer was known as the Jimmy. Available in both two- and, after 1970, four-wheel drive (4WD) models, AMT’s model kit depicts a 4WD Jimmy that can be built stock or as a drag truck sporting the optional 350 ci V8 engine with a Hilborn fuel-injection system and a free-flow, non-stock header exhaust.
Inside the box, all the sprues are individually sorted into their own plastic baggies, which seems to have become the norm these days. The Jimmy is a reissue, and as such, the parts show their age and require a fair amount of cleanup to remove mold lines and misaligned castings. Of course, this results in a loss of detail on various parts, but the drivetrain components in particular.
Deciding to build the unusual drag truck, the 27-piece race version 350 engine builds up as a decent representation of GM’s small-block. My only gripe is the injection stacks are connected together at the top lip, which leaves bare plastic around their edges that requires touch-ups with Bare-Metal Foil or a chrome pen. Note, the headers are installed in Step 3 of the instructions because they will not fit through the chassis from the top.
You are given five tires and parts for four wheels for the stock Jimmy, or four deep-dish chrome steelies with really nice pad-printed M/H Racemaster drag slicks. I toned down the chrome on the steelies with a little with Dupli-Color Matte Wheel Coat (No. HWP106) for a less toy-like appearance. I painted the chassis Dupli-Color Cast Iron (No. 8010) and sprayed the drivetrain Dupli-Color Low Gloss Black (No. De1634). The 18-piece chassis assembled well but left me wondering if the driveline components were too small to hold up to a quarter-mile pass. They just didn’t seem beefy enough to convince me they would scale up to proportionate to full-size drag-racing counterparts. When assembled, I mounted the wheels to the driveline with metal axles and everything sat flat and square with no tweaking whatsoever.
Interior options are left up to you with a rear seat and spare tire mount along with additional off-road goodies for the stock version. For the drag vehicle, the rear seat and additional parts are left out to save weight. AMT also supplies to gauge face options that allows for some variation from build to build. Deviating from the box art, I painted the interior and roof Krylon Camo Tan (No. MAP4291-6) to accent the green body and prevent the interior from disappearing in a sea of black.
I finished the body with House of Kolor Organic Green (No. HK09) is closely proportioned to the actual 1/1 version and represents well the Jimmy’s body lines.
The body, interior, and chassis went together without a hitch, and the bumpers, grille, and top all fit well. However, the side wing windows do not fully fill the openings. When I build the stock version, I’ll remove them from the windshield and use clear styrene sheet to fill the openings.
The decal sheet comes with well-printed markings, including contingency stickers, logos, driver options, and license plates. The decals laid flat and smooth and conformed to the door lines with no need for setting solution.
Overall, the AMT’s reissued GMC Jimmy builds into a fun, fairly simple model. While not on par with modern kits because of older tooling, but it can if you want a jimmy on your shelf this is a very nice looking model. I would recommend this to someone who has a little building knowledge as clean up of parts is essential for assemblies to fit together.