Ford Mustang 1964 1/2 Convertible 1/16 from the Coupe AMT kit: the Indy 500 Pace Car

[Totally Mad Olivier]

Before coming into details, it was important to consider the general dimensions of the windscreen frame. Good new, they are quite good, was doesn't mean that a long job will not be necessary to get faithful arms and top, much too thin and wrong in shape (especially the latter, what is normal as the AMT kit is a Coupe, not a Convertible)

 

 

Cheers, O

[Pouln]

Judged from your previous work, I’m sure you will get this job done. You’ll probably finish it, revisit it and then revisit it again😏, but then it will be perfect.

[Totally Mad Olivier]

Thanks a lot Poul, Jeroen and all!

Perfect, I am afraid no, but I will do my best, for sure!

Your kind words are the best encouragement for me to go on...

I have a lot of fun with this project and build, anyway!

 

Cheers, O

[Totally Mad Olivier]

Hello to all,

 

As I said above, getting right (or nearly right) shapes and dimensions of the windscreen frame will be a challenge. I begin to study the problem: 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cheers, O

[Totally Mad Olivier]

Hello chaps,

 

Representing this frame, and especially the up rod, will definitely be a big challenge, and I am afraid it's above my pay grade. Indeed, this frame has a complex shape, and following the view angle, the perception may be different (see the pics 2 and 3 below). I am probably going to try the other option (add and then carve), because the tube, that may be good for the medial 3/4 lenght of this up rod, is inadequate imho on both sides:

 

 

A mix of the 2 options (keep the cut tube for the medial portion and sculpt the sides ones) could also possibly be an option, we shall see...

 

 

 

I admit having such a different shape following the angle of view is a mystery to me. It is though the same car! How to represent it if I am unable to figure it?

This car is magic, definitely!

 

Edit a bit later: I decided to try the add/ carve option. I thought that the first thing to do, after removing the wrong bulge on the AMT top part of the frame and cutting the lateral arms, was to get a much thicker rod:

 

 

 

[Pouln]

I see this one is not going to be easy, but you seem to be on the right track to get it done.

[Totally Mad Olivier]

12 hours ago, Pouln said:

you seem to be on the right track to get it done

Thanks Poul for your encouragements, I really need them...

I thought that the idea to place the 2,2 mm thickness post outside the clear windscreen was not a good one, as I get so a much too big offset post/ glass. This post could so finally be the internal wall, while I could use the 2nd kit to get the outside potion of the frame. In any case, a delicate and long job will be necessary to get a convincing and faithful windscreen frame...

 

 

More soon...

 

P.S: I could have a new contact with the owner of a Mustang Convertible, very close to my home! I hope it will be as good as I expect...

[Totally Mad Olivier]

I don't know for now if I will use the 1st or 2nd kit frame underside (it seems more logical to use the latter), but, working on the 2nd kit frame, I focus now on this lower frame bottom:

 

 

 

 

 

[Totally Mad Olivier]

 

[mustang1989]

Off the charts man. Just alot of  awesome and meticulous work going on with this build.

[Totally Mad Olivier]

Thanks a lot mustang1989!

I should have nearly all precisions about the sun visor. I measured its thickness, about 0,4 mm at 1/16, and I ever posted pics with measures in the post# 1034. So time for execution now:

 

 

 

If it was not a problem to get measures for the sun visor, it is nearly impossible to get them for the handle that was placed passenger side. One more time, I will have to extrapolate them from a period pic, with an error margin:

 

 

 

Notice that the restored RK Motors Indy 500 is equipped with this handle. It is faithful to the original from this point of view:

 

 

Let's recall that such a handle (same model imho) is present for the rear passengers (specific to the Pace car too):

 

 

It would be tempting to get these 3 handles by using the 3D approach, especially if we consider that they are probably the same (sure at least for the 2 backseat ones), and because scratch building such a complex shape identically is a challenge... Suggestions guys?

 

[Pouln]

Sure, try to draw the designs using F360 or any other CAD package. Should not be too difficult.

on the other end, you should be able to create from brass but then the difficulty lies in getting them the same.

[Totally Mad Olivier]

3 hours ago, Pouln said:

Sure, try to draw the designs using F360 or any other CAD package. Should not be too difficult.

on the other end, you should be able to create from brass but then the difficulty lies in getting them the same.

You are right, Poul, both options are possible. Notice that, finally, the passenger handle is imho different from the 2 rear ones, as the below close-ups show (for the rear ones, I rely on the restored version as, pity, I have no period pic).

1) passenger handle:

 

 

 

 

2) rear handles on the restored version:

 

Notice too that the passenger handle is imho not really faithful to the original:

 

Ok, let's leave the rear handles for now, and focus on the passenger one. I will first try to represent it using for the handle itself stretched plastic or an epoxy resin such Brown or Green Stuff, or more probably the Tamiya one.

The round supports could be made using the Rivet Maker to get a 3 mm round pad, in which a 2 mm hole (for the handle to come through) would be drilled.

I first try to draw it on a paper (sorry, not nice drawing):

 

 

Edit a bit later: I was wrong thinking round pads could represent the handle supports, as the below close-up shows:

 

 

 

 

 

[harveyb258]

Meticulous research and execution, as ever, Olivier. I'm sure the finished model will be stunning.

 

For the handles, I would probably cut them from a bar of alu or nickel and file to shape, then polish.... but that's just me

Keep up the good work.

 

 

[Totally Mad Olivier]

Thanks a lot, Harvey, for the kind encouragements as for the suggestion.

Pity, I haven't got alu or nickel bar (I should, in fact, and will try to order that for a further need), only alu tubes, that imho won't be a good option. That's why I chose to make the handle from polystyren. I found in my stash box a part (coming from the Fiat 806, I think) that could be a base for this scratch job:

 

 

 

As I have to wait several hours the setting time for the Tamiya epoxy Putty is about 12 hours), I will come-back in the meantime on the windscreen frame.

 

Cheers, O

[Totally Mad Olivier]

First thanks again to all, and especially to Hamden and Poul, for their "likes"!

In the post# 1055 above, I said that the angle between the vertical arms and the upper post was a mystery to me, despite the pics I have, because it could give a right angle on a pic while it has a rounded shape!

I decided to come-back 2 years ago, when I found out the 1/24 Monogram kit of the Pace Car:

 

 

I should soon be able to check again this complex area on the real car, with complementary measures. Pity, the owner of the Mustang who lives close to me (a neighbour, so to speak) has in fact a 67 Convertible (I love this version too), but the windscreen frame seems to be exactly the same than the 65 (I checked on internet). He should contact me soon...

 

Waiting for these necessary precisions, I try to go on with my frame:

 

 

 

I precise (it is important) that the windscreen is also higher than necessary, and that, unlike for the vertical arms, I don't need to increase the posts...

But will I be able to assemble the whole frame, in which the windscreen takes place, while I would glue only at the end the latter? Imho, the only way to be able to do so is to also cut the excess in height. The windscreen would need to have the right dimensions in height as in width.

I will sleep on it, definitely, and will take a (difficult) decision tomorrow...

 

Suggestions?

 

Cheers, thanks for watching and encouraging anyway

 

Olivier

 

[johnlambert]

2 hours ago, Totally Mad Olivier said:

 

I decided to come-back 2 years ago, when I found out the 1/24 Monogram kit of the Pace Car:

 

I was wondering if there was a 1/24 kit of the 1964 1/2 Mustang, as I'd quite like to have one in my collection at some point.  Now I know that it is out there although they don't seem to be easy to find.

 

Anyway, please keep up the good work on your 1/16 build, Olivier, as I really enjoy your updates.

[Totally Mad Olivier]

7 minutes ago, johnlambert said:

I was wondering if there was a 1/24 kit of the 1964 1/2 Mustang, as I'd quite like to have one in my collection at some point.  Now I know that it is out there although they don't seem to be easy to find.

There is, John, indeed, this kit, and it is not very easy to find (I think I bought mine on ebay). Take also in consideration that the decal sheet is very old and that you will certainly have to make custom decals. That said, it is not a bad kit imho (better quality than the 1/16 AMT) and, using this thread, you may get a very convincing 1/24 64 1/2 Mustang (Pace Car or not)...

Thanks for your kind words, pleased you enjoy the updates.

 

ATB, O

[Totally Mad Olivier]

Hello to all,

 

Sleeping on it worked, and I decided to remove the 2 bars, because it was imho a big challenge to get exactly the right windscreen frame dimensions, even if I ever cut it successfully to decrease the height of a few mm.

But this decision means another challenge: glueing the windscreen and mask it for the many steps still to come, with no room for error, the clear polystyren once scratched or affected by any filler or paint can't be rendered clean as it must of course be. In the night, I thought about an option, go and see a glazier and get a glass replica of the windscreen, but this part is complex, curved. A 3D file would be mandatory, and I wonder if such a glazier would agree to manufacture such a small part. Indeed, a real glass would change many things, allowing a great transparency but above all, would be much more tolerant than clear polystyren... I would be ready to pay a certain price (up to 70 €) to get such a piece, so important for my build on which I spend so many hours, but under condition I get exactly what I want. Notice that the AMT windscreen is quite thick, about 1,35 mm. And to end this matter, I lost incomprehensibly my windscreen clear part, with which I made the pic of the post# 1055). Happily, I had the 2nd kit's one. I looked everywhere in my bench but couldn't find it. And it is, from that moment, on the 2nd kit 's windscreen that I work (it is the one I cut to reduce the height).

Sorry for this long and probably boring explanation, but I wanted to share with you all the problems met...

 

More soon...

[JeroenS]

A glass windshield, now that would be something... 

[Totally Mad Olivier]

2 hours ago, JeroenS said:

A glass windshield, now that would be something... 

Yes, Jeroen, for sure, but I think I will have to do without (with regrets).

A little update with my polystyren AMT part, so:

 

 

 

 

 

I must say that the AMT windscreen part is really good and matches really well with the frame. So, not too many regrets up to now. But the challenge will be, I repeat, to keep this good glass effect up to the end. And the first thing for that, is to bring a good protection with masks...

The first thing? really? No, I think I first have to finish the outside portion of my "sandwich" (the windscreen being the ham), by increasing the vertical arms width...

 

N.B: more than 12 hours later, my handle is not yet hard enough to be sanded. It is true that we had a very wet weather last night, with a violent storm. I will be far from my bench today (another family meeting).

 

Cheers, TMO

[Totally Mad Olivier]

 

 

Another aspect seems to require a correction imho: the upper post seems to me too height, especially if I compare it to the Monogram one (I ever had the intuition it was). I tried to find an upward front view on the net, to confirm this very important point. I recall I based myself, for this height, on Bernard's measure below:

 

 

8,5: 16 = 5,3 mm.

In my memory, I had cut to the right height this upper post, but it appears that no, as it is about 6 mm! I have to remove at least 0,7 mm...

 

Edit Monday morning:

 

 

About the other problem, the conflict windscreen/ lower post, my decision is taken: I will remove the "old" lower post. A solution will be found to get a strong assembly of the windscreen frame on the body...

 

Cheers, thanks for watching despite the many hassles (I am a hard worker man who tries to move step by step towards the truth)

 

Olivier

 

[Hamden]

 

Your engineering skills are second to none Oliver.

Such attention to detail will result in an outstanding replica, keep up the good work

 

       Roger

[Totally Mad Olivier]

Thanks a lot, Roger, very kind!

 

Cheers, Olivier 

[Totally Mad Olivier]

Hello to all,

this windshield requires a painstaking job to get something acceptable (and it is just the beginning):

 

 

 

I felt that I could probably decrease this gap just by removing the lowest portion of the clear part glued on the lower post. This required to remove completely the windscreen (I will have to redo the assembly job with dsa...):

 

 

 

At 11:00 this morning, I am gonna go seeing my happy next door owner of a 67 Convertible. I will do complementary measures and pics...

 

Furthermore, if up to now, I considered the windshield and the deflectors as 2 different parts that would be assembled individually. But the more I think about it, the more I think they could be conveniently assembled together before glueing them on the body. A good way to ease the windshield assembly and insure the angle windshield/ body (about 42° see below) is correct on side view, as the contact with the body is very narrow...

 

 

Cheers, O