1965 Shelby Cobra 427 S/C

[modelcarjr]

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I haven't ever built a Shelby Cobra so I thought I would give it a try. This is the same Revell kit that has recently been re-issued but with different decals and box art, I think. I bought this kit at the last model contest and vendor show. The color is suppose to be Guardsman's Blue but I bought a can of Dupli-Color Royal Blue which will be close enough for me. I have sanded out the mold lines that run the top of both fenders for the length of the model and even under the headlight buckets and washed the body. I have also sorted all the other parts into piles for painting, either black or aluminum for the most part. Some chrome parts are in the purple pond. So tomorrow I should be able to get started painting! Thanks for looking! 😎

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[keavdog]

Oh cool! I have the '88 Monogram boxing of this kit in the stash so I'll be following along and taking notes. Plus... what a car!

[kyledehart5]

Excellent!! I also have a boxing of this kit so I’m interested to watch. I’ve also never built one of these iconic car. Will look perfect in your blue.

[handiabled]

The perfect color choice for a Cobra. Bookmarked this.

[406 Silverado]

I'll be watching this one John. Crazy about the mold lines going the length of the car.

[modelcarjr]

Thanks, everyone! I thought I was the only one who hadn't built this kit already!

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Had a great day today painting. Temp in the 80s, humidity at 40%. I stopped at 1 coat of clear because I can't do any better than this. I could almost get away with not rubbing this one out. All the other pieces are also painted so now I can wire the engine and get a lot of assembly started. I assembled the entire chassis before paint and painted it with a dark primer. I am going to leave it like that and detail a few parts, like springs, with a brush. I'll rub out the body tomorrow. Thanks for looking! 😎

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[keavdog]

Oh wow that looks great. I wouldn't touch that paint myself - looks great as is.

[bronco67]

that looks smooooth great job!

[greg]

Oh boy, gotta love that blue. What a great hue. Nice job on it.

[handiabled]

Fantastic paint job on this! The finish really does look great!

[TJ]

As somebody who used to build 1:1 fiberglass Cobra replicas I approve of this build. Really sharp color too.

[406 Silverado]

I do love that shade of blue John. Beautiful work so far and am looking forward to seeing an even greater shine on that car body.

[modelcarjr]

Thanks, everyone! I appreciate your comments!

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Made some progress last night and early this morning. Finished the engine and it is now installed in the chassis. I added plug wires and a coil. I thought I would have an issue withs the exhaust headers that were two-piece assemblies without positive pin placements. But they glued on nicely. 

This afternoon is a different result. I thought the decals looked good and I started with the hood stripe but it disintegrated into a bunch of pieces. I looked at the decals and found that they were dated 2004. uh-oh! So I sprayed them with a coat of clear lacquer, which I should have done in the first place. Now I used the alternate decal for the 1975 car on the hood. I can either complete the decaling for the 1965 car using this one decal for the other car, but the hood will not have a number on it as the sides and the trunk will. I don't know if that is against the racing rules and I don't even know what association this car raced in. I think it might be the SCCA, so I guess I need to do some research. 

Or I could just build this one as a hot rod with the one decal that I put on the hood. Let me know what you think and if anyone has info on these racers, let me know. Thanks! 😎

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[aaronw]

This is a nice kit, I built one several years ago. As I recall the only real issues were simply it is a tight fit getting everything into the body. Classic 10 pounds of stuff in a 5 pound bag. The exhaust is challenging, a 4 handed job.

Nice thing with Cobras is you can go full rivet counter to replicate one of the originals if that is you thing, but kit cars far outnumber the originals and those are pretty much anything goes. There is a purple one I've seen locally a few times, and pretty sure Grape wasn't a factory color.

The blue you've picked looks good.

[kyledehart5]

Nice quick progress!! Love the blue also. I think with a cobra you can tackle decals however you want!! So many options!!

[handiabled]

Great engine work! Too bad about the decal issue. Rule of thumb from what I can recall about the car's number had to do with size of them and that the placement is visible from each direction for timing and scoring.

[modelcarjr]

Thanks, Aaron, Kyle and Handlabled! I appreciate your comments!

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Well, I was going to attempt the rest of the decals but the one that I had put on the hood started cracking and flaking off. So I removed it and that will be it for the decals. I guess I'll have to buy the new re-issue and build it. I understand that the decals are much better in that kit. I couldn't use the front and rear logo decals as they were too big and there were no decals for the side badges that were not sponsor decals. I just used a chrome pen on these emblems and called it good. 

Once I had the interior in place, I realized that I had to re-work the mounting of the dash because it was too deep into the body. So I took out the interior and moved the dash back so that it is glued to the most anterior end of the interior wall. Then I could get the steering wheel in place without it looking like a knuckle-buster. I also mocked up the body on the frame with the wheels on the frame and noticed that the front end sat high without the radiator in place. The radiator needs to tuck into the nose to keep the body lined up. I installed the radiator and ditched the lower radiator hose whose connection could only have been accomplished by a double-jointed person. And it didn't make sense anyway since there is not top hose and you can see neither of them hoodside once everything is in place.

This one has been completed as a street driver. I used the standard windshield and frame, wing windows, interior mirror on the dash, driver side mirror and I left the jack points, front and back, off. Maybe I can find some nice bumperettes to fill the mounting holes in the body. There are none in the kit. I dullcoted wheels and exhaust side pipes and blackwashed both. The hood needs a prop to see the engine. One of the dash decals flew away and another one shriveled up. Some may say the it looks like the body is resting on the rear tires and I wouldn't disagree. But there isn't any way to fix it unless I would go to a smaller wheel or tire or both. The car sits level and the rear of the frame tucks in the body right where it's supposed to. Here are a few pics. Final photos are in the Completed section. Thanks for looking! 😎





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[kyledehart5]

Nice work getting through this one!! Quick and excellent job as usual. Off to check out the completed photos.

[406 Silverado]

That frickin' PAINT!! WOW!!

What a beauty!! 

[handiabled]

All of the chrome under the hood really stands out nicely against the deep blue paintwork.

[joelw]

Is it just me or did all the pics vanish?

joel

[greg]

Oct 4, 2024 7:35:37 GMT -5 joelw said:

Is it just me or did all the pics vanish?

joel

I can see them (it's about 2 hrs after your post/question).

Over at Paul's McClaren MP4/4 thread, user Paddy has been reporting disappearing pics off and on, and has recently posted that he believes it is a problem with Imgur. No idea if this has anything to do with you experiencing disappearing pics, Joel.

[joelw]

Greg,
I use Image Shack for many years, but if it's Imgur, then it's their in house issue. I'm sure that sooner then later they'll get it fixed.

joel

[AussieTJ]

Oh man... that blue is beautiful!!!

[dupes]

My favorite car! Can't wait to see the finished product. That blue is lovely.

[benb]

Not sure how I missed this. Beautiful paint work! Love the color!

Ben

[brentprice]

Oct 29, 2024 8:19:32 GMT -5 benb said:

Not sure how I missed this. Beautiful paint work! Love the color!

Ben

Same here.