Carrera Revell Ford Mustang 60 Years (05647) 1:24

[Mike]

Ford Mustang 60 Years (05647)

1:24 Carrera Revell

 

 

Ford’s Pony Car was first introduced in 1964, and immediately struck a chord with the American car-buying public, claiming a place in motoring history as it did so.  The lineage became known as ‘Pony Cars’, which extends all the way to today with the seventh generation, as at time of writing.  The progenitor was a much simpler car from a simpler time when the upper working and expanding middle-classes were relieved of their excess money by their innate desire to drive something sleek and fast.  There were two variants at launch, including hardtop and a drop-top cabriolet, and they were joined by the Fastback later in ‘64.  Ford’s chief engineer Donald N. Frey was responsible for the project, which began in ’62 and was chivvied along at board-level to ensure that the plug wasn’t pulled by the penny-pinchers with no imagination.

 

The result was a relatively light, powerful four-seater with a price limit to keep the more ambitious designers in check, using the Ford Falcon chassis as a base to keep costs down, and after a competition between the various Ford in-house design departments, the Ford design was chosen, as it appealed to men and women, adding a little European flair to the bodyshell, whilst keeping it palatable for home audiences.  It also got a new badge, dropping the Cougar project name, taking on the Mustang name, and adopting the prancing horse that’s now legendary.  The first Mustangs were given 1965 VIN numbers, and this led their fans to call them the 64 ½ Mustang, running with various engine sizes from 2.8L to 4.7L, three-speed manual and automatic gearboxes, plus a four-speed manual box.  From outset its appeal was obvious, receiving 22,000 pre-orders, and selling almost 1.3 million cars in the first two years.  The original Pony Car and its descendants have changed the way Americans view their cars immensely over the years, and I wouldn’t mind one of the new ones myself, if I had a few shekels to spare, as they’re now officially available in the UK.

 

 

The Kit

This is a reboxing with new decals of the 1985 tooling by Revell, which is backed up by the raised lettering on the underside of the interior tub of the model.  The kit arrives in an end-opening box, and inside are five sprues and the bodyshell in white styrene, another sprue that has been chrome-plated over white styrene, a small clear sprue, decal sheet, and instruction booklet that is printed in colour with profiles for the decal option to the rear.  This is a special boxing that depicts a single car for its 60th anniversary, which is an amazing length of time for a car and its name to continue in production.  It is an old kit, but has good detail, and time has been kind to the moulds, including a full engine, underside details and the interior, plus of course the revised bodyshell and other parts that make this a convertible.  As it’s a special edition, there are six thumb-pots of acrylic paint in various colours, a 12.5g bottle of Revell Contacta Professional cement, and a #2 Revell paintbrush with a thick coating of starch keeping the bristles safe from harm, which worked well in this instance.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Construction begins with the engine, two parts for the block and integrated transmission, adding multi-part detail inserts top and bottom, fitting two cylinder-heads and their rocker-covers, then accessorising it with alternator/generator, serpentine belt, fan and manifolds, exhausting four cylinders per bank.  The under-tray of the vehicle is then outfitted with the front axle with suspension moulded-in, twin exhausts that exit at the rear, and the rear axle, which has extremely ‘hi-tech’ leaf-springs and the drive-shaft moulded-in, then has a pair of dampers fixed between them and the chassis to reduce rebound, installing the engine between the chassis rails at the front, joining the down-pipes from the manifolds to the exhausts, and the drive-shaft to the transmission.  The interior is begun by applying six dial decals to the instrument binnacle, and another decal for the boss in the centre of the wheel.  The two binnacle components are glued into position, fitting the steering column with moulded-in stalks, and the steering wheel, adding a cranked shifter to the centre console, and creating two front seats from two parts each.  The dash and console are installed first, adding the seats on their twin pegs next, before installing the interior and the windscreen with rear-view mirror into the bodyshell, which most modellers will have painted by now.  While the bodyshell is inverted, a pair of coil-over shocks are fitted into the front suspension towers, trapping them in position with the floorpan, after painting the struts red and the coils black, taking care to get the lines nice and straight.

 

The instructions turn to the road wheels, inserting the two hubs from each side of the flexible black tyres, applying white rings around the outer faces of the tyres, and gluing the knock-on/knock-off retainers to the outer centre of the four hubs, which are all chromed.  The vehicle’s front panel has the radiator core glued to it, adding a window to the soft-top, and a pair of chromed rear-light clusters and boot button to the rear, painting the lights with translucent red and orange as appropriate.  The lower valance and bumper with moulded-in over-riders are attached under the boot lid, adding side-lights in chrome outboard of the over-riders.  The radiator panel is slotted into the engine bay, adding a strut-brace between the strut towers, and fixing two ancillaries to the left bay wall, applying a decal to one of them.  The face of the car has a pair of chrome light reflectors and clear lenses with mesh moulded-in, fitting the chromed radiator grille, and those go-faster stripes on the panel under the radiator, then doing the same to the front skirt, and mounting the bumper and side-lights beneath it.

 

 

The bonnet has some detail moulded into the underside, but you’ll need to remove the ejector-pin marks in between them, applying the two go-faster stripes after painting, and fitting the air-box and radiator feeder-pipe into the engine bay, and painting the battery filler plugs orange, as batteries weren’t sealed back then, and needed a regular top-up with deionised water.  The bonnet can be slipped into position without glue to leave it mobile, but you’ll need to scratch-build your own stay if you want to prop it open, or you can close it over the bay, dropping the pivots into two recesses in the bonnet sides.  A two-part wing mirror is added to the driver’s door, but you have the luxury of a door handle on each door, and chromed intake trims are applied to the scalloped area on the rear panel.  You have a choice of fitting a stowed roof that is a single C-shaped part, or the deployed roof made earlier, slotting the four wheels into the arches with or without glue, depending on your likelihood of driving it around when no-one’s looking.

 

 

Markings

There is just one decal option included on the sheet, which contains many double white stripes that are applied over the front and rear of the car.  The other decals include logos, number plates, and the white rings around each of the tyres, as previously mentioned.  You can of course paint the car any colour you like, but the instructions show it in a handsome blue with a white roof, which is covered by the pots of paint included in the box.

 

 

 

Decals are by Cartograf, which is a guarantee of good registration, sharpness and colour density, with a thin gloss carrier film cut close to the printed areas.

 

 

Conclusion

Whilst this isn’t the newest kit on the block, the detail is good, as are the decals, and it’s the original Mustang, which is appealing in itself.

 

Highly recommended.

 

Carrera Revell model kits are available from all good toy and model retailers. For further information visit

  or

[Stef N.]

This was the first car model I built and, although clunky and showing its age, it builds into a rather nice replica. Ripe for some extra detailing for those that want to but good enough out of the box. 👍