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AMT '67 Shelby 350GT


TonyW

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A bit of re-aranging has taken place on the Shelby as things didn't work out quite as intended.

I had glued the firewall to the inner fenders to make sure I got a clean join at that point. The problems started when I assembled the cockpit tub and tried to fit the thing. It just wont fit around the firewall. Off it came, and the firewall got glued to the tub instead. It now fits but it's a bit of a wrestle getting it in place.

 

The engine isn't in yet and I can see big problems fitting the tub to the body with the engine glued in. I'll be trying adding the engine to the assembled tub and body to see how that's going to work. Not for a while though, as I'm waiting on re-glued front wheels setting first.

 

The Revell Cragar wheels sat too far out from the body. Cutting the wheels off and removing a bit of the mount point sorted that out. I then added flat spots to the tread contact area and re-glued the wheels in place. I went for a lowered front end, there's not many cars that don't look better for a slight lowering. The back will sit a little lower once it's all buttoned up as things at present are all a bit tight at the rear. Once I've relieved things where necessary, the rear end should drop a scale couple of inches or so. The car will sit slightly lower than stock, with a bit of Shelby rake going on. 

 

Here's how it sits at the moment, slightly butt high. I've made yet another photoprop base using a board print for the floor and an A4 size piece of railway brick wall, probably Slaters old stock. Nothing on the car is fixed yet as I've still got to sort out glazing.

 

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1 hour ago, Mike Dean said:

Who said "only Ferraris look good in red"? I might have been me actually. It looks a lot meaner lowered. And who needs an engine? It's doing 100mph just standing still!

 

Not far to go. The chequered flag is in sight............🏁

 

 

The chequered flag may well be in sight Mike, but I'll have to stop faffing around with laminating printed papers and mountboard first. I've spent today playing with bases rather than building.

I've been trying some crazy paving type print as a base and as a wall covering for a dealer showroom base. Setting it against a bit of '60's type Scandinavian wood panelling gives a nice retro look.  Very different looks happen just by flipping the boards. I like both. Fortunately, I'm keeping all the different printed boards loose, so I can mix and match endlessly.

 

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19 minutes ago, Mike Dean said:

Personally, I think the Boss 302 set-up looks the best. The wooden floorboards look better on the floor, and the crazy paving wall says "Malibu Beach House" to me. Surf's Up dude 🏄‍♂️🏄‍♀️.

 

I can't make my mind up!

 

This earlier Mercury dealership building is swaying me towards stone walls though. What a terrific building!

 

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All my current GB builds are a bit stalled over the windscreen moulding issue. Best I sort that out then.

 

I've made a rack out of mountboard and BarBQ sticks to hold cut clear sheets and set the thing up in a cardboard box with a fan heater firing into it, to dry the plastic out. More than one source has told me that the little bubbles I keep getting when moulding are due to moisture boiling inside the plastic. I'm hoping this Heath Robinson dryer will sort the problem

 

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If it works, I'll be over the moon.

 

Tony.

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Well, I'm not over the moon.

I have got through a whole pile of well dried clear plastic though. All morning with the fan blowing warm air over the sheets to no avail. Same problem each time, tiny little dimples appearing each time I smash mould the clear plastic.

Changing tack somewhat, more out of desperation than anything else, I tried putting the clear sheets in near boiling water, removing them and quickly pushing the male mould down onto them over a soft cloth backing. The overhead projector sheets didn't respond, hardly changing shape at all. LMS bought clear plastic took a bit of shape and might work for the rear screens as they are nearly flat. The front screens with a bit more of a curve involved remain elusive.  I'll be trimming and trying the back ones this evening.

Some of the cheapo clear I bought just shrivelled up in the water and was unusable. I'll try again, using cooler water but the plastic seems a bit soapy somehow. I really want the OHP stuff to work as it's by far the thinnest and clearest I've found so far. I'll try doing the actual moulding with everything under hot water and see if that helps with the elasticity.

The most annoying thing is, my very first attempt worked perfectly. I've not been able to repeat that though.

I'll get there eventually.

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Is it more of a situation where there are microscopic bubbles of water inside the plastic, that you can do very little about? That of course, doesn't explain how you managed to it the first (and only) time.

 

Have you tried placing the mould over a cold clear sheet, and then heating the sheet from below whilst applying gentle pressure? Just enough heat to make it malable may avoid "boiling" the plastic. 

 

Mike. Amatuer molecular scientist.

 

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I'm running out of things to try Mike. Holding the male mould against the plastic and playing the heat gun around it until the plastic just gives nearly works. The problem then is that although there's a slight give, leaving a very gentle curve in place, the plastic then seems to pull back to its original flatness over an hour or two.

 

Next attempt is with a couple of near flat bits of plastic, cut from a washing up liquid bottle. Report to follow.

 

I've been trying flat clear plastic again but cut to very fine clearances around the screen openings. The openings themselves have had a lip carved into the interior face which the screen will hopefully snap into. The A posts are pretty straight with the top and bottom of the screens curved. If I can keep a straight edge to the posts I should be able to get things to fit at the top and bottom curves. It only needs a slight curve on the uprights for the screen to then go wonky. The '67 and the Boss 302 both look like they might be OK with this method. The Monogram Hertz cars won't conform enough. They have quite pronounced curves in either plane that flat plastic wont follow. I have one good rear screen and one OK-ish one  for the front for three cars at the moment, with only nine days to go to get something in place.

 

Panic? Never!......................EEEEEEEK!

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I'm tempting fate a bit here, but I think I've found a workable method for making screens (at last!)  No matter what I tried, the mini bubbles kept appearing. Different plastics,hot water, oven, overnight drying, nothing seems to work.

In a bit of a Eureka moment, I noticed that the stretched sides of the moulded plastic didn't suffer any marks at all, they were crystal clear. The stretched plastic curved in the wrong plains to be useful as they were but by curving the sides of the mould frame opening and using a dog bone shaped male mould I can get the plastic to curve as needed. There's a bit of fine tuning needed yet, but it's looking promising. 

 

In preparation for the hopeful arrival of a load of windscreens, I've added the trims to the screen openings on the Shelby. That counts as major progress on this build. It's also going to really accelerate my other builds. 

 

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The hood has been glued shut as there's not much chance of a fully detailed engine happening in the time available. Overall tight fitting is also a bit of an issue.

The tapes on the front fenders are to help align the yet to be added hood pins.

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Oh Happy Day! I've managed to get a usable screen made for the Shelby.

 

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I won't show the first attempt on one of the Hertz cars, everything that could go wrong, did go wrong. This latest effort is not perfect, but it's much better than the kit offering. The lower corners don't sit perfectly and in some lights the reflection shows this. I might be able to ignore this but there's always the chance I'll have another go.

 

Here's the modified moulding station. The curved bits of card add the shape to the sides of the plastic as it's drawn. The dog biscuit looking thing is a bit of foamboard that does the same job as it's pushed through the hot plastic. The heat has given it its rounded shape and I can't see it lasting much longer.

 

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And here's two sheets of moulded plastic, showing the curve to the sides that I'm cutting into screens. The plastic is a bit thicker than I would like but it will get the job done for now.

 

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Now that we have a bit of a breather as far as time goes I'll probably make a better version of this set up that will last a bit longer and hopefully provide better quality mouldings.

 

And to finish, yet another base has been built. This ones a blown up picture of El Mirage, laminated onto board with the background placed vertically.

 

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Here's the Shelby on the base, shot outside with my phone camera half an hour ago. It looks a bit like it's sat on ice with that shine under the car. A flat clearcoat will deal with that.

 

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

I got busy on the GT350 today and pushed the thing nearly to completion. Not as involved a build as the Boss 302, so it all went together fairly easily.

 

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More hood pins and wires fitted. I'm getting the hang of these now. Front light lenses fitted, rear bumper and lights fitted, lots of touch ups on the window frames and on the white stripes using Humbrol silver and white. Number plates and door mirrors fitted and a quick T-Cut and wax for the red paintwork.

 

The rear window is pretty poor to be honest but it will do for now.  I couldn't face moulding yet another screen, so went with a so-so one. I'll regret that later.

I'll have to choose my angles carefully for the final pictures.

 

I would like to have fitted photo etch wipers to it, but there's not enough time to strip the cowl down and re-do that area. The chances of me matching the paint finish is pretty slim as well. Candy red applied over solid red kind of complicates things here.

 

The Kat from AMT seems to like it, if that smile is anything to go by...

 

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The last job on the build will be an attempt at moulding door handles for it. I have moulding rubber and casting resin here but it's all a bit old. If it works OK I'll have handles in a day or so. If it doesn't work I'll have a go at carving a pair. What could possibly go wrong?

 

 

.

 

 

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Another one bites the dust! Three down, two to go, I'm on a roll at the moment.

 

A bit of common sense hit me after the last post. I can take moulds from the Chevy Nova handles at my leisure if I make them removable on this build.

A dab or two of Glue 'n Glaze later the Shelby is done.

 

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The handles are slightly out for a Ford. They are fine for the photo's though. They need to be a bit straighter so carving a fresh pair and taking a mould from them makes sense. It also means that the Chevy kit stays in once piece.

 

I'll add a few pictures here later, along with a set for the Gallery.

 

Tony.

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