Spiny Posted August 20, 2022 Share Posted August 20, 2022 Must admit I probably didn't help by forgetting the other half of the advise lurking somewhere on here (again, this is plagiarised from someone on this site, so credit to A.N. Other for the idea). Basically, a bolt, a wingnut, two washers of appropriate size to hold the tyres in place and some nuts as spacers to hold the tyre far enough away from the end of the drill to use sandpaper. If your drill is like mine with a 3-section clamp for the bit it will clamp the hex end of the bolt surprisingly securely. A picture is worth 10,000 words here I think: 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neddy Posted September 5, 2022 Author Share Posted September 5, 2022 Thanks, that tool will be well worth assembling. I've just treated myself to a new combi drill/driver which will be ideal for the job due to it's low speed control. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neddy Posted September 5, 2022 Author Share Posted September 5, 2022 Having spent quite a time preparing and painting parts it was time to start the chassis assembly. I'm choosing a mix of standard and custom parts and will identify the choices as I go... Starting with the bare chassis, painted in matte gunmetal with the fuel tank in metallic gunmetal... Front suspension and steering linkage fitted... Exhaust systems fitted - note asymmetrical lengths and curious waisted marks on both pipes... ...the purpose of which I only found out almost too late. Rear axle and springs fitted next, choosing standard setup as opposed to the custom option which would have jacked up the rear too much (some like that look, I don't even with custom wheels...) I had previously chosen to fit custom exhaust headers (manifolds to those East of the Big Pond) and on trial-fitting the engine into the chassis having fitted said headers I discovered what the instructions had failed to mention - the waisted marks on the exhaust pipes are where they needed to be cut to accept the longer and more complex multi-branch headers! The cuts were accordingly made and the resulting butt joints were found to be irretrievably ugly, so I did exactly what the old-time 1:1 scale car builders did when mating dissimilar exhaust parts - I sleeved them... Chassis now complete apart from rear shocks, metal axles and wheels. 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neddy Posted September 5, 2022 Author Share Posted September 5, 2022 Oh, the more observant amongst you will note that the chrome custom oil pan has had to go, it was far too bright and looked ridiculous hanging from a 289 block. I've kept the Cobra badging on the sides of the oil pan but the rest I've reverted to the block colour. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neddy Posted September 7, 2022 Author Share Posted September 7, 2022 Shock absorbers fitted, custom wheels and axles added, rolling chassis now complete. It's been interesting to compare this 40+ year old kit with the previous AMT 1/16th scale build, the '57 Thunderbird which is a current re-release. So far the Mustang is coming across as a much better kit than the re-release in that moulding quality and parts fit is much better and details like the length of the metal axles (the T-bird's axles needed a good 6mm shortening) and the tubing supplied for ignition wiring - fairly near to scale on the Mustang whilst that supplied with the T-bird would have made good heater hoses! Having said that, there was no way the wheels would press onto the metal axles until the ends had been ground to smooth them down and a drill of the correct diameter hand-wound into the wheels to gently ream them out to a fairly tight interference fit. That and the necessity to sleeve the exhaust to headers joints have been the only problems encountered so far. Being an old f**t by nature I'm really enjoying getting to grips with such an old kit - long may it continue. To those following this build, thanks for watching. I hope you're finding it interesting, it's certainly enjoyable documenting it in this way. Now to tackle the bodyshell... 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spiny Posted September 7, 2022 Share Posted September 7, 2022 That's certainly starting to look the part now. Definitely finding it interesting, always good to see how others attack a problem or proceed with a build - even if it's not the way I'd do it in that instance it's still a process to store in the memory bank for where it will be useful. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neddy Posted September 7, 2022 Author Share Posted September 7, 2022 Thanks @Spiny. I'm always open to alternative (and probably better!) methods so please feel free to comment - it's how I can learn and improve. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neddy Posted October 20, 2022 Author Share Posted October 20, 2022 Sorry for the hiatus, Real Life interfered, plus the need to shelve two walls of the ManCave as I'd run completely out of stash space - a dire disaster if ever I saw one. Now it's completely shelved out with adjustable shelving I can get back to actually building something. After a long search for suitable colours I've started on the interior. The desired colour scheme is a mixture of dark blue and light grey upholstery, both colours really hard to locate in a satin finish. Revell supplied the Lufthanza blue but the light grey eluded me completely and I eventually unearthed an old mix I made when I was a teenager, surprisingly still viable and exactly the right shade. This will be a VERY slow process as it involves a lot of freehand cutting-in which I'm not awfully good at and can only undertake in short sessions before my 71-year old eyes start complaining, my head aches from the headband magnifier and the shakes start. I'm not being beaten by it though... More later, thanks for your patience. 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spiny Posted October 20, 2022 Share Posted October 20, 2022 Despite the difficulties it looks as though you're making a good job of those seats. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neddy Posted October 20, 2022 Author Share Posted October 20, 2022 Thanks! As the front seats are not yet fitted I'm tempted to try flocking the carpets. I've never done it before but I've acquired a sample of the correct colour 1mm flocking powder. Wish me luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spiny Posted October 21, 2022 Share Posted October 21, 2022 I'll definitely wish you luck, and be interested in how it goes as this is something I'm planning to try for the first time on the Gullwing. Only difference is that I'm planning to use embossing powder as it's a bit finer, but flocking powder is probably better suited some the larger scale you're working with here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neddy Posted October 22, 2022 Author Share Posted October 22, 2022 More slow progress. Interior vertical surfaces painted, centre console ditto. To whoever recommended Tamiya 3mm masking tape - thanks a million! I couldn't have pulled it off otherwise. 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neddy Posted October 23, 2022 Author Share Posted October 23, 2022 Flockin' 'ell! My first attempt at using flocking powder for carpets seems to have gone fairly well... 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fnick Posted October 23, 2022 Share Posted October 23, 2022 3 hours ago, Neddy said: My first attempt at using flocking powder for carpets seems to have gone fairly well It has indeed!🙂👏 Nick 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neddy Posted October 24, 2022 Author Share Posted October 24, 2022 Seats fitted (together with tilting backs - I'm impressed!) and that completes the interior module... Thanks for watching! 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete in Lincs Posted October 24, 2022 Share Posted October 24, 2022 23 hours ago, Neddy said: My first attempt at using flocking powder for carpets seems to have gone fairly well... Mmmm Fluffy! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neddy Posted October 24, 2022 Author Share Posted October 24, 2022 Oddly enough the camera seems to emphasise it. In reality it looks finer than that - maybe I'm shooting the pics from too close up. Still, it could have been worse - might have been shagpile... 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neddy Posted October 30, 2022 Author Share Posted October 30, 2022 I then turned my attention to the dashboard which turned out to be marginally easier than expected, Molotow providing the brightwork and a judiciously wielded cocktail stick for the fine(ish!) detail. This completes the interior, now for the bodyshell. To those of you sticking with this comparatively mundane OOB build, thanks for looking. 13 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vesa Jussila Posted October 30, 2022 Share Posted October 30, 2022 You have done nice work. Looks really good to me. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bengalensis Posted October 30, 2022 Share Posted October 30, 2022 You're doing good work and good progress indeed! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fnick Posted October 31, 2022 Share Posted October 31, 2022 That is a very nice interior. The contrast between the two colours makes it really pop! Nick 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neddy Posted October 31, 2022 Author Share Posted October 31, 2022 Thanks people, I appreciate your comments. @Fnick, I put a lot of thought into the colour scheme. The exterior colour will be a really dark metallic blue (Tamiya TS-53) and it would have been so easy to go with blue and white upholstery as a lot of 1:1 restomods have done but I thought it would be too garish. The light grey tones it down a bit. I used the custom additional gauge module as I thought it added to the dashboard layout nicely but stayed with the stock steering wheel. There's something stylish and elegant about it's large size, slim rim and chrome centre, so fitting with the style of the dash, whereas the custom wheel supplied with the kit was way out of proportion and belongs to a different era - a bit like seeing your granny wearing a puffball skirt... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neddy Posted November 5, 2022 Author Share Posted November 5, 2022 Just a quick update... Before starting to prep the bodyshell I thought it'd be an idea to have a quick trial fit onto the rolling chassis, basically to see if I could fit the front and rear chin panels before spraying to achieve a smoother more unified finish. Sadly not the case as it would cause problems mating the 'shell to the chassis further down the line. I did, however, come across the first real problem in that, having opted for the custom wheels, the rear wheels don't fit under the wheel-arches as the track is too wide - obviously whoever added the custom options to the kit didn't actually try that option before signing it off! Sorry for the lack of pics at this point, I ran out of hands trying to illustrate the problem! After a lot of measuring and realigning I found I could gain about 3mm each side by shortening the rear axle housing by 1mm or so, then removing 2-3mm from the inside of the wheel hubs, all achieved by a combination of a razor saw and a small abrasive Dremel tool bit mounted in a 12v mini-drill running at a VERY slow speed. I also had to drill out the wheel centres very slightly to accommodate more of the metal axle but the end result is that the custom rear wheels now fit snugly under the wheel-arches and all is once again well with the world. Now, back to the bodyshell prep. As the weather has now turned cold and damp I'm not sure when I'll be able to spray it as my "spray-booth" is the garage which is also full of classic car. This means I only have a small area at the front and have to spray with the garage door open - not a good idea this time of year. Oh well, I have other projects I can work on whilst awaiting suitable conditions. Thanks as always for reading, sorry this isn't more interesting right now. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spiny Posted November 5, 2022 Share Posted November 5, 2022 I feel your pain with the spraying situation - it's for the same reason (albeit my garage is too small for modern car use) that I try to get body shells sprayed over summer. What I have found though is that it appears that humidity is more important than temperature, so if you get a cheap hygrometer you can see what the humidity is and may find some days when it's unexpectedly possible to spray through winter. Generally I aim not to spray when the humidity in the garage is above 70% RH (60% for Humbrol gloss) and that seems to work reasonably well. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neddy Posted November 6, 2022 Author Share Posted November 6, 2022 That's useful information, thanks! I'll do just that. Finding an opportunity this time of year is going to be "interesting" but right now I don't need a hygrometer - a wetsuit and aqualung would be more appropriate today! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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