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

[Totally Mad Olivier]

Hello chaps,

The body finally acceptable, I will focus now on 2 aspects:

- the strips on the rear trunk

- the rear seat

 

For the latter, some of you probably remember that I tried to deeply modify them, and that was not really successful. I decide to accept a compromise, using the 2nd kit rear seat, improving it but without trying to be totally faithful. Btw, the Pace Car restored version rear seat itself is not necessary totally faithful to the original.

For these words to be more understandable, here is the Pace Car version (pic ever posted):

 

 

and another rear seat, more flat, imho more faithful, on a Coupe:

 

 

Thanks to Roy, I also have another pic (a screen capture of his video in YouTube in fact):

 

 

N.B: Impossible to be sure the original seats had such an embossed appearance on the beads, especially as it is the only version on which I could see them. Maybe the seats were restored so. Anyway, it is not my intention to represent this embossed look, but it is just that I would like to know what kind of shape was present on the Pace Car, more or less flat...

 

I begun to improve this 2nd kit rear seat, erasing the round mark on the sides and giving a better angulation to the lower portion of the rear seat (much too vertical on the AMT version):

 

 

 

 

N.B: when I worked for the first time on this rear seat, I used BS as putty. It is a good material but its very dark color is a big drawback, while the seats are Off White. This time, I will use light putty materials, such the Tamiya epoxy Putty, that I didn't know at the time.

 

To be followed...

 

[Totally Mad Olivier]

I must come-back on the previous post, to precise that it is because the seat of the bench is too short (about 18,7 instead of 23,75 mm!) that I have such an offset. In other words, it would be a big error (I was about to make it with the BS adding under the seat- I just removed it completely-) to move forward the whole AMT part, as it would lead to a too short inner portion:

 

 

Furthermore, working on my docs, I also found this pic of a Convertible I saw at St Tropez:

 

 

If I refer to this doc, the AMT design of the rear seat is not so wrong, with rather flat beads on the bench seat (much less than the seat back ones). OK, this car is far from being brand new, but this leads me to reconsider the necessity to increase them on the seat, while I ever began to do it on the back where it clearly had to be done. This pic also shows that maybe I exaggerated a bit the angulation of the lower portion, that, without being as vertical as on the AMT part, is finally not so angulated.

 

 

 

To be followed...

 

[Totally Mad Olivier]

I thought I could make a kind of graft to extend the seat portion:

 

 

 

 

 

N.B: my new LC CA was great to assemble the different parts. Having a light cure CA is to me a revolution in model making. It allows to have all advantages of light curing: possible to adjust as you want (under condition you don't work under a strong light) the parts, very fast setting (5s. with a good LC lamp). The only problem is that ideally, it is someone else who puts the light on, while you hold the 2 parts (we have only 2 hands, in general). But if no one can help you, a tip is to approach the 2 parts under a quite strong light (ideally blue) to initiate the curing. Then, while the parts are lightly glued, you check and if it is OK, you complete the curing with the LC lamp display.

Since I got this new glue, I use it 95% of the time...

For the new carpet to come, the dsa will be a better option, definitely.

 

To be followed...

[Totally Mad Olivier]

 

N.B: these alpha abrasive pads are an Albion Alloys product. Curiously, the advantage of being stickers is not mentioned in the AA catalog:

 

 

 

Thanks for watching, TMO

[Totally Mad Olivier]

[Hamden]

 

Interior looking good Oliver as is the rest of your replica!

Looking forward to the next update and a better 2021

 

 Stay safe and best wishes for the New Year          Roger 

[Totally Mad Olivier]

1000 thanks, Roger!

I expect my Mustang will be over within a few months...

Have a very nice New Year’s Eve evening

Stay safe too

 

Cheers, Olivier 

[JeroenS]

Great work Olivier. Santa gave me some of that light curing CA, I am curious to see how it works. 

 

All the best for 2021!

[Totally Mad Olivier]

Thanks a lot Jeroen!

I am sure you will enjoy using this LC CA like me.

Best wishes to you chap for this New Year...

 

Cheers, Olivier 

[Totally Mad Olivier]

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL!

I began 2021 with the adding of the Tam epoxy Putty on the bench:

 

 

N.B: I have 3 sizes of Rosie the Riveter (0,5, 0,6 and 0,75 mm). I used the 0,5 mm for this purpose.

 

A bit later:

 

 

N.B: TS 72= Clear Blue in the Tamiya range. Of course, like the TS 14, it will be sprayed with my airbrush...

 

And still a bit later:

 

 

Cheers, Olivier

[JeroenS]

Happy New Year Olivier, and that we may see your Mustang in RFI this year 🙂 

[Totally Mad Olivier]

On 01/01/2021 at 16:29, JeroenS said:

and that we may see your Mustang in RFI this year 🙂 

I hope so, my friend, I hope so, but I think it should.

I go on working on the rear bench, focusing now also on the side panels, that have to be totally scratch built, as the AMT kit is a Coupe, not a Convertible. New measures (made or extrapolated):

 

 

 

 

Furthermore, notice that on the Convertible, the top of the bench is very short vs on the Coupe:

 

 

 

Here is where I am now:

 

 

 

N.B: the pic shows that the left bench end is a bit too wide, while the right one is OK, I am gonna do the correction all now...

 

 

 

N.B: an isolation material such silicone oil will be used to avoid the adhesion of the alu in the epoxy resin.

 

Cheers, Olivier

[Pouln]

Happy New Year, Olivier.

I see lots of work again for this year. 

[Totally Mad Olivier]

Thanks a lot, Poul, happy New Year to you too!

And yes, as you say, still a lot of work...

 

Cheers, Olivier 

[Totally Mad Olivier]

 

N.B: the TEP hides quite well the BS

 

Cheers, Olivier 

[Totally Mad Olivier]

Hello chaps,

 

A little update:

 

 

Even if many corrections are still necessary on the bench itself, I begin to think about the soft top to come. I have 2 options to represent it:

 

1) apparently the simplest: represent the latter with a hard material such the TEP, trying to suggest a soft one and the presence of the top mechanism. It is the one I chose fe on my 1/24 Chevy Bel Air Convertible, creating folds on the Revell plastic top:

 

 

 

I could take inspiration on the not bad at all Monogram "soft top" of the 1/24 Pace Car:

 

 

 

2) represent even simplified the mechanism and the top as they are really on the car, and add a real soft top, with a soft material to choose. I am quite scared by this 2nd option, that would represent a big challenge for me, but I admit that, for a scale such 1/16, it could be the best. 

 

Let's show these elements on Bernard's Mustang:

1) the soft top, as it will appear on my build:

 

2) the mechanism and the top (to scratchbuild or to suggest, following the option chosen):

 

 

Cheers, Olivier

[Totally Mad Olivier]

Hello chaps,                            

 

I know the situation is becoming very difficult in the United Kingdom, and I just want here, very simply, before going on further with my build, express all my sympathy, on this english forum, to the UK people (I know London is particularly affected), hoping that none of Brit modelers will be affected by this f... virus.

I know the situation is also very bad in USA, a big thought to the American people too...

I hope that, thanks to the vaccine, we shall soon overcome...

 

All the best, Olivier

[Hamden]

 

Thanks for your thoughts Oliver, may I just wish the same to all modellers where ever they are in the world

 

 Stay safe everyone         Roger

[CrazyCrank]

The same word than Olivier for all everybody, not only modelers, all over the world ...

[Totally Mad Olivier]

 

I have not yet decided what option (see above) I will choose for the soft top. I would prefer the soft tissue (leather?) option*, but I am not sure my skills are good enough to get a convincing result with the latter...

 

 

Thanks for watching, 

 

Olivier

 

* a suggestion?

[Totally Mad Olivier]

Very merciless comparison (to be honest, I hesitated a bit before posting it 😉😞

 

 

A bit later:

 

 

To be followed...

[Totally Mad Olivier]

Hello chaps, 

 

While I was working hard to get a more convincing result with my bench, I got from Bernard these measures that I had asked him 5 days ago:

 

 

Here are below the same measures on my build after adding the 0,8 mm thickness sheet on the side panel:

1: 2,7 mm right side, 3 mm left side (instead of 3,12 mm) meaning that I was right adding the 0,8 mm sheet.

2: 5,94 mm right side, 5,33 mm left side (instead of 7,5 mm). This Bernard measure is a surprise for me, I expected about 5,5 mm...

2 bis: 6,2 mm right side, 6,1 left side (instead of 8,12 mm). Same surprise than for the measure 2

3: 4,11 mm right side, 3,3 mm left side (instead of 5 mm). Logically, same surprise, I thought my left side was closer from truth than the right one, it is the contrary. Now if you compare the pic just above (Bernard) with the Pace Car of the previous post (on which I based myself), you will understand this difference. Do you feel this portion with the ashtray has the same measure on both pics? Definitely not for me, and this confirms that it is risky to determine measures from photos. The best way to be faithful is to make real measures on the original car.

4: 13,77 right side, 13,4 mm left side (instead of 15 mm). 

5: 13,4 mm both sides on my build (instead of 11,9 mm). 

6: 14 mm rs, 12,9 mm left side (instead of 15,6 mm).

 

The measures 5 and 6 show I was right increasing the too small side panel (vertically as horizontally) but it is not enough, I still have to increase it...

 

Cheers, Olivier

[Pouln]

Hi Olivier. I agree that the beads on the bench still need a lot of work. I would suggest that you create a scraper in the form of the crease, which you then can use to for the creases and which should give a uniform bead. 

[Totally Mad Olivier]

Thanks Poul for this suggestion. I preferred to use my Proxxon PS 13 with small square tips (see above) for the beads. There are still corrections necessary but I feel I have never been so close from an acceptable result on this bench. I also took in consideration Bernard's measures. Here is where I am now:

 

 

 

Cheers, Olivier

[JeroenS]

A good result on the rear bench Olivier, I'm sure you will add some more corrections to it and equally sure the result will be satisfying!

 

About the soft top, what you could do is represent the shape of the mechanism, and then roll a layer of fine Milliput (like you would roll dough) and drape that over the mechanism in the desired shape. You could easily create folds and creases in the material, and smooth it with water, before it hardens. I did the same for my sister's Fiat 500 and it worked quite well.