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AMT '68 Shelby GT-500


Mike Dean

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After much stalling, and then being inspired by the great builds taking place on here, I decided to bite the bullet and get myself a Mustang. The AMT '68 Shelby GT-500 kept coming up in my searches, until I couldn't avoid it any longer and the purchase was made.

 

Here it is, still sealed. I can't remember the last time I opened a factory sealed kit, so I'm going to give it a couple of coats of looking at, and then dive in.

ud1VieI.jpg

 

My original thoughts on the color scheme was this lovely Sunlit Gold example, with black interior.

https://www.topspeed.com/cars/ford/1968-ford-shelby-mustang-gt500-ar164561.html

 

Apparently, the kit body is molded in "Lime Gold" , so I'm sticking with gold, which is a bugger to get a gloss finish on, but I'm up for the challenge.

 

It might be a slow build, but I've got plenty of time. More as it happens.

 

Mike

 

Edited by Mike Dean
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59 minutes ago, Six97s said:

Ford Arizona Gold doesn't look far off Sunlit Gold.

Thanks for tip, I'll check that out. At least an automotive paint will take a gloss varnish!

 

1 hour ago, TonyW said:

Mind you, the Lime Gold one is a looker as well.

I have to agree that's a great colour too, as is Seafoam Green (half-way down page 1 of the 1968 color charts on the www.mustangspecs.com link you provided in the reference section). There's also a "Moss Green" (4th down on page 2) which is catching my attention. Funny, I thought I'd already decided on the colour?!

 

The kits provides cill stripes in white and red, but I can only really see the red ones going on white bodywork, and that's not happening here anytime soon.

 

Mike

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I use Halfords or Holts paint when I'm feeling lazy, which is more often than not.  Sometimes I decant it, thin a little with IPA and airbrush it.  

 

If you're bothered about it being "factory correct", the Shelby Mustangs were offered in a more limited range of colours than the standard ones:

 

http://mustangattitude.com/mustang/1968shelbyclrpaint.shtml

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I've opened the box! Obligatory sprue shots later.

 

What is a dirty rotten swizz, is that there are no imprints on the Goodyear Polyglas tires, and no decals in the box for them either. The box top clearly shows writing on the tires. Not impressed with that. At all.

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I can't remember any AMT kit having decals - always used to dry brush them.  As it's a recent release, you probably have better tyres than previous issues of this kit... I think my '80s AMT/Ertl one had oversize L60-15s all round.  I have a late '70s Matchbox/AMT version in the loft, but I forget which tyres are in that one.

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On 17/07/2021 at 16:42, Six97s said:

Ford Arizona Gold doesn't look far off Sunlit Gold.   Lime Gold, I don't know.

Popped into Halfords to check out the spray cans, and ended up with Ford Solar Gold (Solar/Sunlit. Close enough!). It was on the shelf next to the Arizona Gold so it was easy to do a comparison, but the Solar Gold looked better to me and the purchase was made.

Edited by Mike Dean
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It's perfect spraying weather Mike. Leave the can and body out sunbathing for a bit and fire away when ready.

 

Summers here and the time is right for, er, spraying in the garden. Dancing in the street follows if the paint flows out well.

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Here we go then with the box contents.

 

All separate runners are in individual bags.

zEnFTKw.jpg

 

All out of the bags. Examples of flash all over the place. It needs a good clean up.

Wjd1qeH.jpg

 

Close up of the body in Lime Gold.

H7V4Kq4.jpg

 

Finally the chromey and rubbery bits. It looks like there are a lot of chrome parts missing, but all the parts to complete the kit have been checked as present. The kit must have been loaded with extras in earlier releases.

upte7S0.jpg

 

I dispensed with the clear part picture, (there's only one part, the all-encompassing single section front and rear screen) as I'm ditching it for thinner clear acetate.

 

The next time you see the body in will be in either grey or white primer. As Tony says, now is the best time to get paint to dry quickly.

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The earlier issues were 3-in-1s.  From memory, the missing chrome parts include a set of 5 spoke mag wheels and the cam covers for the 427 SOHC drag version (poorly rendered, so you're not missing much).   I'll dig out my unbuilt one again to compare.  The tyres look better than those in the older issues.

Edited by Six97s
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Oh!  Gotta watch this one.  While mine wasn't the Shelby, the box art is identical (including the color) to the '68 Mustang Fastback I had in my misspent youth.  Damn I loved that car.  I was crazy to let it go.  :mental:

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2 hours ago, TonyW said:

Blimey! what a colour. Does it glow in the dark?

I hadn't thought of that. I'm taking it under the duvet tonight to check that out, and I'll get back to you tomorrow.

 

That's assuming I'm still alive in the morning slap.gif

Edited by Mike Dean
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On 20/07/2021 at 19:16, Mike Dean said:

I hadn't thought of that. I'm taking it under the duvet tonight to check that out, and I'll get back to you tomorrow.

 

That's assuming I'm still alive in the morning slap.gif

Well, that didn't go well. When asked last night "What are you doing down there?", the answer "I'm fiddling with my Mustang" got me a night in the spare bedroom. icon_sad.gif Thanks for that. And for future information, no it doesn't piggin' well glow in the dark.

 

I wasn't going to post pictures again until after the beast is primed, but I thought I'd show some essential pre-painting gluing. The front air-dam and rear lower valance need attaching prior to painting, and the only way to ensure they are in the right place (there are no locating holes) is to dry fit the front and rear chrome parts and then glue the lower bodywork  in place around them. It seems to have worked well.

 

Z1gETGT.jpg

 

I've also dry fitted most of the parts, and have headed off a lot of future potential problems by doing so now. I wanted to check the fit of the body to the chassis, as I don't want to keep handling the bodywork all the time, once it's had its lovely paint job. The give-away is immediately noticable out of the box, as the body shell, inner tub and chassis come dry fitted in a sealed bag (see post above). Immediately you can see that all three fit poorly together: it fits where it doesn't touch and doesn't fit where it does. Much filing and fettling got it into shape, and the body is now painted satin black inside and taped up ready for priming. BTW, the back seat (which can be fitted with the back raised or folded down) seems to fit so badly, it looks like it's from a different kit. I'm not really impressed with this kit.

 

The beast has more scoops than an Italian Gelataria, and they have been added now so that hopefully the paint layers should blend them in nicely. If you're building this kit, the instructions are incorrect on the upper scoops: Part 22 goes on the passenger side, and part 23 on the drivers. Talking of instructions, they are pretty much useless. There are only 6 diagrams (and two of those are for the different engine options), and although the parts are numbered in the diagrams, some of the gluing location points are pretty vague to say the least. As for painting call-outs, forget it! There are 2 Cragar and 4 Goodyear decals (2 white, 2 blue) on the sheet, but there are no instructions as to where to stick them. I could make a few suggestions.

 

Priming tomorrow. What could possibly go wrong? Stay tuned.

Edited by Mike Dean
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Maybe the moulds are a bit tired?  My old one didn't have any glue holding the interior or chassis in place.  Bear in mind that the bones of this kit date back to the 1967 and 68 annual kits, then it was reworked into the Shelby circa 1974 and has been out at least half a dozen times since.

 

Here are the instructions for an earlier reissue, if they're any help, as well as the original 1968 GT annual for comparison.

 

https://public.fotki.com/drasticplasticsmcc/mkiba-build-under-c/amt-instructions/automotive-cars--pi/ford/1961-1970/amt-1968-shelby-gt-500/#media

 

https://public.fotki.com/drasticplasticsmcc/mkiba-build-under-c/amt-instructions/automotive-cars--pi/ford/1961-1970/amt-68-mustang-gt-500-/

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I have to conceed that, yes, it is an old kit  and the mould does look rather tired, so I'm prepared to forgive the old girl. Thanks for the instruction scans. They make an interesting comparison.

 

Mike

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It is a bit pot luck with old US kits, some are gems, some don't shine quite as much. Mind you, Airfix could make you weep on occasion.

 

Much like I'll backdate a less than perfect aircraft kit to an earlier style build or repurpose it to a desktop style model, I'll curbside a challenging car kit if that gets the job done without tears. 

 

A good paintjob and detailed wheels and tires work wonders on any car kit and you are on the way to providing both. 

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I built this kit somewhere around 1993 or so and I wasn't an avid builder at the time but do remember this one having PLENTY of fit issues back then. Wheels and tires always seemed a little chunky to me as well. Thank GOD for the modern aftermarket world coming to the rescue on that note. lol.

 

Will be watching this one with great interest. Progress is looking swell so far.

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6 hours ago, TonyW said:

It is a bit pot luck with old US kits, some are gems, some don't shine quite as much. Mind you, Airfix could make you weep on occasion.

 

Much like I'll backdate a less than perfect aircraft kit to an earlier style build or repurpose it to a desktop style model, I'll curbside a challenging car kit if that gets the job done without tears. 

 

A good paintjob and detailed wheels and tires work wonders on any car kit and you are on the way to providing both. 

I think this is going to be a kerbside. As you say, I'll concentrate on the paint job and the wheels, and forget any other fancy stuff. The interior is going to remain very basic. There is some wood trim and and dials to sort out, but I'm not knocking myself out in that department.

 

Primer (grey and white) has gone on and is baking in the sun!

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All white now, baby itsa aaaaaaaalllll whiiiiiiiite now.......................

 

One coat of grey and two coats of white primer with a light rub down in between, and then a light misting of gloss white over the hood and roof.

 

zHIZnkm.jpg

CQYMbu2.jpg

 

I'm leaving that until the weekend to harden off before masking and the application of the gold.

 

Engine and suspension next up tomorrow.

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Having looked at the pictures in more detail, there are too many unsanded mould lines showing, plus big gaps around the scoops, so it's going back under the knife for a bit more filling and sanding. Best to do it now before the top coat goes on. Updates possibly later in the weekend.

Edited by Mike Dean
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