Neddy

Thanks @Spiny. I'm always open to alternative (and probably better!) methods so please feel free to comment - it's how I can learn and improve.

Blimey, I never thought I'd see one of those again. I don't remember mine looking anything like that good though! (unsurprising as I was in single figures when I built it).

Really cool! Lovely mild custom, beautiful deep paintwork and superb interior. Love the woodrim steering wheel!

FOUND IT! It was made by Kitmaster as part of a promotion for Zoom, a Lyons Maid ice lolly - remember them? See here...

Way way back when I were a lad in short trousers and single figures (probably early 1960s) I built one from a kit. It was fairly basic and I can't remember who produced it (possibly FROG but I can't swear to it) but it had a neat detachable nose-cone and was a pretty fair reproduction. I would guess it was about 10 inches long. Anyone here have any knowledge of it? Memories...

Shock absorbers fitted, custom wheels and axles added, rolling chassis now complete. It's been interesting to compare this 40+ year old kit with the previous AMT 1/16th scale build, the '57 Thunderbird which is a current re-release. So far the Mustang is coming across as a much better kit than the re-release in that moulding quality and parts fit is much better and details like the length of the metal axles (the T-bird's axles needed a good 6mm shortening) and the tubing supplied for ignition wiring - fairly near to scale on the Mustang whilst that supplied with the T-bird would have made good heater hoses! Having said that, there was no way the wheels would press onto the metal axles until the ends had been ground to smooth them down and a drill of the correct diameter hand-wound into the wheels to gently ream them out to a fairly tight interference fit. That and the necessity to sleeve the exhaust to headers joints have been the only problems encountered so far. Being an old f**t by nature I'm really enjoying getting to grips with such an old kit - long may it continue. To those following this build, thanks for watching. I hope you're finding it interesting, it's certainly enjoyable documenting it in this way. Now to tackle the bodyshell...

It certainly is a beautiful piece of work - great paintwork and exquisite detailing.

Oh, the more observant amongst you will note that the chrome custom oil pan has had to go, it was far too bright and looked ridiculous hanging from a 289 block. I've kept the Cobra badging on the sides of the oil pan but the rest I've reverted to the block colour.

Having spent quite a time preparing and painting parts it was time to start the chassis assembly. I'm choosing a mix of standard and custom parts and will identify the choices as I go... Starting with the bare chassis, painted in matte gunmetal with the fuel tank in metallic gunmetal... Front suspension and steering linkage fitted... Exhaust systems fitted - note asymmetrical lengths and curious waisted marks on both pipes... ...the purpose of which I only found out almost too late. Rear axle and springs fitted next, choosing standard setup as opposed to the custom option which would have jacked up the rear too much (some like that look, I don't even with custom wheels...) I had previously chosen to fit custom exhaust headers (manifolds to those East of the Big Pond) and on trial-fitting the engine into the chassis having fitted said headers I discovered what the instructions had failed to mention - the waisted marks on the exhaust pipes are where they needed to be cut to accept the longer and more complex multi-branch headers! The cuts were accordingly made and the resulting butt joints were found to be irretrievably ugly, so I did exactly what the old-time 1:1 scale car builders did when mating dissimilar exhaust parts - I sleeved them... Chassis now complete apart from rear shocks, metal axles and wheels.

Thanks, that tool will be well worth assembling. I've just treated myself to a new combi drill/driver which will be ideal for the job due to it's low speed control.

Dashed decent of the Cardinal Duke of Richelieu to have founded a park for the use of the Fete de la locomotion, don't you think? I wonder how he knew...

IMHO the SM was the most beautiful of the Citroens, even beating the DS series for sheer good looks and innovative styling. Great pictures CC.

Thank you!

I'm once again late to the party but I've honestly never seen anything remotely approaching the level of detail and craftsmanship displayed here. Even superlatives seem inadequate so 'm not going to try. Instead I'll just scroll back through the thread and enjoy again viewing the sort of build I can only dream of achieving.

Niiice! Lovely colour and finish. Did you scratch the tonneau, if so what did you use?

Done. Sorry for the confusion.

Noted and done, thanks. It seems to work fine. Now I know I'll repeat when I can. Do I need to notify you separately of my email address or is it picked up from the transaction entry?

I'd really like to donate as I'm getting so much from the forum but I don't do PayPal and am not likely to start now. If someone could PM me with bank account details I'd be happy to do a transfer straight in, or am open to any other suggestions. As an ex IT consultant (40+ years before I hung up my mouse and retired) I'm only too aware of the time and effort needed to maintain a site like this and would like to contribute if at all possible.

It's good to find others with the same mindset as me regarding airbrushes. Like both of you, my output is too small to consider investing in one, although I still have my trusty old Humbrol airbrush kit tucked away in the back of a cupboard somewhere. Meanwhile I'll continue with Tamiya's excellent rattle-cans until my skills and output improve, I think! I've long pondered building a 300SL Gullwing and may consider a large-scale one for a future build - there's just something about them that is "right". Beautiful car, it'll be great to see how this one turns out.

I'm only just catching up on this build and I've got to admire the gloriously manky bodywork. I've seen (and driven)so many of these old rattletraps back in the proverbial day and you've got it spot-on, the mixture of rust and red anti-rust primer in exactly the places that used to rust so often. Great work. As regards the rear floor area, as it's a homebrewed campervan what was most often seen was a patch of grubby mismatched old shagpile carpet. Not sure how you'd simulate that though!

I have to confess that was my first thought too! Welcome to the forum.

This is what you might call a "styling exercise" and comes from a later era when I was in my twenties, I think. I'd just settled down after several years of living in bedsits, marrying Mrs N and buying our first house which meant that finally I had somewhere I could model in. When the Triumph TR7 was launched in the 1970s it struck me what a bloody awful design it was and as soon as a kit became available I set about trying to improve it a bit, removing the roof panel to make a Targa top, grafting on a grille and nose from a Corvette Stingray kit and handcrafting the rear quarter fairings pinching the idea from a Ferrari. The end result I called the sTingRay 7 (sorry!) and doesn't bear too close an inspection but it looks OK from a distance. Honest... Again, the paint was Testors metallic, a mix of green and gold, applied with my trusty Humbrol airbrush. Close-up photography reveals all the imperfections but I was still a mere stripling!

Welcome aboard, youngster! Having hit 70 last year and discovered I'm also growing a nice set of cataracts I will no doubt have to have a bit of a pause soon myself so I know where you're coming from. Whilst I model cars, not aircraft, I still look forward to seeing your creations.

Me too! That was the first thing that occurred to me when I saw the pic. Beautiful piece of work by the way, the entire model - the interior in particular is really well detailed. Congrats!

Certainly the bodyshell needs considerable bracing before any major surgery - but I guess you're WAY ahead of us in that direction already!