Neddy Posted March 6 Share Posted March 6 That's a lovely piece of work Matt, you've really captured the unique shape of the Mk III which isn't easy - it's neither as slim as the original 289 nor as beefy as the 427 - but it looks spot-on to me. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
triumphfan Posted March 7 Share Posted March 7 Body mods turned out really well and that blue is gorgeous Matt. Very tasty! Atb, Steve. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cmatthewbacon Posted March 7 Author Share Posted March 7 Do any of you nice folks following along here happen to have a spare pair of front wheels for a Monogram 1/24 Cobra? I don't really mind if they are the wires or the Hallibrands, but I need smaller wheels on the back than the wide slicks of the 427... I figure using two pairs of fronts would solve the problem, but having bought the wire wheeled kit for the flat bonnet, I'd have to mix wires and alloys to use the two pairs of fronts I have to hand! best, M. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
triumphfan Posted March 8 Share Posted March 8 7 hours ago, cmatthewbacon said: spare pair of front wheels for a Monogram 1/24 Cobra? I have a couple of kits in the stash but they are the 427 S/C kit. I am sure these boxings contain Halibrands and Wires. Will check over the weekend Matt. Atb, Steve. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cmatthewbacon Posted March 8 Author Share Posted March 8 Thanks, Steve! Much appreciated… best, M. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
triumphfan Posted March 8 Share Posted March 8 Sorry Matt, bad news. The wheels are not in the box or any of my spares boxes. I was sure I'd kept the wires too. Hopefully someone else will come forward 🤞 Atb, Steve. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Six97s Posted March 8 Share Posted March 8 20 hours ago, cmatthewbacon said: Do any of you nice folks following along here happen to have a spare pair of front wheels for a Monogram 1/24 Cobra? I don't really mind if they are the wires or the Hallibrands, but I need smaller wheels on the back than the wide slicks of the 427... I figure using two pairs of fronts would solve the problem, but having bought the wire wheeled kit for the flat bonnet, I'd have to mix wires and alloys to use the two pairs of fronts I have to hand! best, M. Rears are definitely wider here? https://images.girardo.com/girardo/image/upload/2023/PS137 - 1967 AC Cobra 289 Sport/1968_AC_289_Cobra_Sports_MKIII_-_COB_6124_-11_resize.jpg I think it'll look weird if you use the same wheels all round, but just my opinion. I'd suggest keeping the kit wheels but try some narrower tyres. I don't know what the current Revell version comes with, but the original Monogram 427 S/C issue came with the horrible Michelin TRX tyres for the front, with Goodyear GT Radials for the rear; the latter don't seem far off compared with the BFGs on the real one. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cmatthewbacon Posted March 8 Author Share Posted March 8 Thanks both. The problem has changed… I think it’s right that the rears are still substantially wider, even in the narrow body. So now I have to figure out how to take 10mm out of the track of the suspension, while retaining the wider frame and coil sprung suspension. Hmmmm…. How would they have done in real life? Shortening the wishbones would do it, but wouldn’t that mess up the suspension springing and geometry? I could bring the chassis rails closer at that point but the diff still has to fit in. Shorter drive shafts are no problem, and there’s a couple of mm each side by taking off the inner wheel hubs. But I need to find at least 6mm out of the rest… Ideas welcome! best, M. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Six97s Posted March 8 Share Posted March 8 Having read around the subject a bit more, it seems AC used the same width wires all round, so the mags on the Girardo example aren't representative. I think this is one of those cases where you have to choose to represent a specific car at a specific time - search for"narrow hip" Cobras and you'll find all kinds of wheel and tyre combinations. If you want to be exact, 3D printing is the answer - kit parts will always be a compromise. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cmatthewbacon Posted March 8 Author Share Posted March 8 Next challenge.... Having narrowed the body to make sense for British roads, I now have to narrow the rear track so the tires fit under the wheel arches. Although the original AC 289 MkIII's may have had different wire wheels, the car I'm trying to copy still has wider Hallibrand mags at the back. I can win a few millimetres (scale inches) by using the narrower front wheel backplates in the kit, and by taking off the raised hub section on the wheel parts, but I have to lose a scale 10" overall for the wheels to fit. So, here's the problem... And here's my plan: I reckon I can get 3mm each side by cutting as shown above and moving the wheel carriers inboard, another 1mm by cutting off the inner wheel hubs, and a last 1mm each side by using the narrower front wheel inner rims (of which I have a spare set from the previous build) on the rear wheels as well. Update tomorrow! best, M. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neddy Posted March 9 Share Posted March 9 Yup, quick and simple fix. Five minutes' work each side. Good luck with it! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vesa Jussila Posted March 9 Share Posted March 9 Measure twice and cut once. Not easy work. How about 3D printing? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spiny Posted March 9 Share Posted March 9 Appreciate you don't need them now, but I had a check and the boxing of my 427S/C Cobra (the newest boxing in Gulf colours), and there's no sign of wire wheels in there. I can only guess that at some point along the line Revell have dropped them from the issue (or I've completely missed them), 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cmatthewbacon Posted March 9 Author Share Posted March 9 So, that was a bit of a battle, but I think I'm done... The first part of the plan, implementing the cuts marked above, worked fine. That was when it got interesting. I started mocking up the wheels, suspension and tub. The narrowed arches mean that the tub needs trimming around the upper rear cabin corners to fit. Then I discovered that the tires were rubbing on the inside of the arches and wouldn't go in without lots of camber.There's not much room to thin the arches, and after doing all that filling and paintwork I wasn't planning to risk it. So I looked VERY closely at the tires. It turns out that they are handed. Whether deliberately or a moulding artefact, one shoulder of the tread is markedly more curved than the other, and I'd got it on the inside. I turned the tires round on the hubs. This also made the inner hub halves click into place deeper inside the tire. I suspect it may be designed that way, but the only way you'd ever notice on a normal build of the 427 is if you actually followed the instructions closely enough to put the right-numbered tire on the right side, and who does that? 😜 That bought me some more clearance at the top of the arch, but the wheels still weren't going all the way on. Finally, I shaved the front outside edges of the rear pan, as you can see above, and the rear corners of the tub for 0.5mm or so extra clearance each side. Even then, the wheels were still too far up in the arches. I cut off the axle stubs from the wheel carriers, filed everything smooth, and re-glued them 1.5mm or so lower, which is why they no longer line up with the half-shaft universal joints on the inside of the wheel carriers... and this is where I am tonight: The wheels are just pushed onto the axles, and the front end of the chassis is floating free, so it's not how it will finally look when it's glued together, but I'm happy that it will eventually look more or less OK. On with the engine now... best, M. 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
klubman01 Posted March 10 Share Posted March 10 I would say that all the complex plastic surgery was worth it. Looking good. Trevor 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neddy Posted March 10 Share Posted March 10 Nicely saved! The work on the rear suspension is superb, well done getting everything back together and aligned. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
triumphfan Posted March 11 Share Posted March 11 Stance looks perfect and any evidence of those body mods has vanished, just the way you wanted it 👍 Atb, Steve. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cmatthewbacon Posted March 13 Author Share Posted March 13 Next rod for my own back... the original I'm building is a right hand drive, like about half the 289 Sports built. So, time to start changing the kit over. There's more to it than "just" flipping the dash... The easy bit... that three pronged box between the outriggers at the right is the pedal booster set-up. It snipped out neatly from the left and slotted into place on the right with no issues. The left footwell is shortened and the right extended by 4mm to give room for the pedals so they will sit over the booster box. The firewall has a reasonable amount of moulded in detail. That will clearly need to be redistributed and probably adapted, because the 289 Sports I have found online have a different layout of bits and pieces in the engine bay. That said, really good, clear pictures are hard to come by. With the help of a good razor saw, I've got most of them off more or less intact and started to shape the firewall itself. I can't finally glue it in place until I've sorted out the "carpets" and fitted the pedals at the far end of the foot well. First check of the engine position. Getting that in place is the next big challenge of swapping out the power plants. I think it will need to be higher so the starter motor when fitted clears the transverse chassis tube, and probably a bit further forward as a result so the bell housing doesn't clash with the transmission tunnel moulded into the tub. Who knows, the engine mounts might even line up and save me a job! best, M. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cmatthewbacon Posted March 14 Author Share Posted March 14 This is just mocked up rather than assembled... there's more painting to do before I get to actually put it together, but I wanted to reassure myself that the engine would fit in the chassis. And it does: I moved the locating pin on the transmission back by a millimetre or so and put a shim on the mounting point to lift the tail end by a similar amount, which then meant that the sockets on the engine lined up with the mounts already on the chassis. That seemed to indicate design, though it might be blind luck. A couple of short lengths of square plastic rod formed new lugs on the block that would drop into the mounts. The bell housing is right behind the transverse chassis tube, but I only had to reshape the lower rear edge of the sump to get it all to fit and align horizontally, rather than having to shorten the sump significantly. I also had to shave the bottom of the starter motor, but not so's you'd notice. Boy, that 427 is shoehorned in... best, M. 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neddy Posted March 14 Share Posted March 14 Impressive! That's a lovely neat engine installation. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anteater Posted March 14 Share Posted March 14 Nice work. I had to narrow the Jag axle in the Mustang I'm working on but managed to get it off the hubs. You've done well to keep it all square with the amount you've taken out. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spiny Posted March 15 Share Posted March 15 It might be blind luck that it all works so well, but as the saying goes you make your own luck. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
triumphfan Posted March 16 Share Posted March 16 Looking good, well done on working it all out. The last pic is great, it looks laughable to think the 427 would go in that chassis 😉 Atb, Steve. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesP Posted March 21 Share Posted March 21 Some excellent problem solving and engineering Matt! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cmatthewbacon Posted March 23 Author Share Posted March 23 Thanks, all... Well, a bout with COVID starting last weekend has put a bit of a dent in progress. Just about starting to feel normal now... I should have taken a proper "before" picture, but I didn't think about it in time. I pondered how best to the flip the dash for a while. It's made easier by being a flat panel. In the end I decided just to _actually_ flip it. I cut the ends off cleanly, then punched the two big dials out with a leather hole-punch. I drilled the smaller dials through, and small holes in the locations of each of the switches. I scribed out the glovebox door. Then I flipped it over and glued the big dials back in place. I made switches from plastic rod, and a new glovebox door from card traced through the hole. I backed the whole thing with plastic card, and textured the main dash with liquid cement. Then a coat of matt black, scratch out the dial markings on the small dials with a pin, dry brush the raised detail in the big dials, and add "glass" to all using Citadel 'ardcoat varnish. Finally the switches with an SMS Hyperchrome pen and a black paint maker. Tub finished with textured paint and then Vallejo Dark Prussian Blue. The pedals actually stay the same way round as the LHD version. Gear lever surround done in BMF. Moving forward, if slower than I would have liked! best, M. 11 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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