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Who doesn't love a Cobra! 1/24 but which manufacturer?


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This one is at the wife's request. After a bike she wanted to see a car on the bench and we both decided on a Cobra in red (she always insists my models match the house decor!!!)
After working hard to talk myself out of the Model Factory Hiro Kit in 1/12 as I didn't want a project tying me up for the year, the 1/16 Monogram kit as I heard stories about poor fit, I ordered the Fujimi kit from Spot Model. Usual box shot...

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As I waited for it to arrive I did all my project planning and research, where I also read the shape of the Fujimi kit is almost hilarious!
So I also ordered the Revell kit from Hiroboy as I read the shape was much better. This leads us to the first picture where both are side by side.

Revell on the left and Fujimi on the right. It's the radiator intake that is mostly at fault on the Fujimi kit.

 

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So I started in the order of the instructions for the Revell kit...and it lasted one evening! What a pile of rubbish! Just the rear diff took numerous cuts, filing and butchery to fit, and even then it needed filling and more filing!
So I pushed the Revell kit to one side and opened the Fujimi kit! Oh what a pleasure to work on! Much more what I'm used to after Tamiya kits.
The Revell Cobra will now donate various parts I need for this build.

 

One of the first things I do is get the stance right and here the Revell kit has donated the tires. You can tell Fujimi don't build many American cars, they have no idea what the tires look like! Top pick is the Revell rear tire, the bottom the Fujimi! There is barely any difference between front & rear and it just looks really off!
I didn't use the rear suspension spacers in the instructions and the wheels will need the offset reducing so the wider Revell tires sit under the arches nicely.

 

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SO after an evening's work the body is prepped. Another part donated from the Revell kit is the windscreen, it just looked so much better than the Fujimi part which was too thick, too high and too steep!
I wish I had worked this out before I opened up all the holes for it but there you go! 
I also opened up the side vents with a 0.5mm PCB drill bit and a round pointed file and removed the molded in oil cooer from the bottom front vents. The wheels have had the offset reduced a little but they need more. I may also go a little lower with the suspension still.

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Curious that you mention fit problems.  I built that Revell (Monogram) Cobra when it first came out in the late '80s and I remember it going together well, like most Monogram kits.  🤔

 

3 hours ago, johnlambert said:

This is really useful stuff, I would prefer to build an earlier-style 260 or 289 Cobra; but I don't think anyone makes one.

 

There's only the AMT 260 that dates from 1963.   It's a decent kit, though the engine seems a little undersize.  It's been reissued to death by AMT, Matchbox/AMT, Ertl and Esci, so not hard to find.  The most recent "King Cobra" AMT reissue is probably the best option other than an original issue - more appropriate tyres and moulded in white.

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I built the Revell kit about 7 years ago when I first got back in to modelling. Oddly, I found the suspension went together quite well, only issues were getting the windscreen frame to sit flush & the bonnet to close with that enormous engine in there. Like the idea of meddling the best bits from each kit

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Looks as though you've made a good start with this - it'll be good to watch it come together.

 

I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong, but I understood that there are two Revell kits. One is supposedly pretty good, and one pretty terrible. I think (but aren't too sure) that the recently released one is meant to be the bad one and the one with the green car on the front the decent one???

 

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17 minutes ago, Spiny said:

Looks as though you've made a good start with this - it'll be good to watch it come together.

 

I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong, but I understood that there are two Revell kits. One is supposedly pretty good, and one pretty terrible. I think (but aren't too sure) that the recently released one is meant to be the bad one and the one with the green car on the front the decent one???

 

 

The older Revell 1/24 427 is the Monogram kit from the late '80s, which is fine.   Their new one is a repop of the Sunny kit, which is a half baked copy of the old AMT 260 Cobra with flared arches - not good.  The Sunny Cobra has a separate boot lid like the AMT, so presume the OP has the ex-Monogram 1/24 kit.

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No plastic kit manufactured has captured the character and look of a 427 (or 428) accurately to date. If you start with any of these you need excellent references of originals and much scratchbuilding and modifying to get closer to accuracy.

The very best commercial kit is the MFH 1/12. Very close in all details, proportions and materials.

 

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4 hours ago, Codger said:

Jo is that still in production and superior to the other manufacturers?

Sadly out of production. When it first appeared (1987 or thereabouts) the shape looked really good.  There were two versions - a standard 427 and a 427 S/C.

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  • 3 weeks later...

It's taken me a while to get to a good point with this one, experimenting with different paints has taught me much. The base coat which was also going to the stripes is AK Design dark aluminum and as you can see I put it on too fast and so it exposed the mold lines again!
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So I had no choice but to file the silver off and take the mold lines down to plastic once again. Then instead of Zero Paints primer I used Tamiya primer.spacer.png

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After another failed attempt to lay the silver on and then the red (Tamiya tape pulled all the paint off down to primer!!!) I've decided to lay the red on, then the silver.
This is Zero Paints Liquid red which is designed to dry matt. A gloss coat then brings out the pearl effect.

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Inspiration for the colour scheme came from this car...
 

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Meanwhile the engine and ancillaries are moving on.  Anything chrome was stripped using bleach and then sprayed using Alclad chrome over gloss black, including the wheels which as you can see above have also been masked and had Alclad Steel Grey sprayed as their centres.

 

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