vamach1

Nice job on both and the Fox Mustang Cobra is one you do not see often.

I hope to work on the Cobra convertible some more this week. All the Mysticrome Cobra’s were coupes that year so this will represent a one of none build. ?

For those that are trying to replicate a Boss 351 here’s a few suggestions and some other things I noticed about the Testors diecast kit. Somehow they body size did grow to 1/24 in transformation from the MPC 1/25 plastic kit and their diecast body. I placed the MPC hood on the Testors version and sure enough is the MPC hood is smaller. So If one wants to to a 73 Mach1 with 72/73 stripes the grille should be swapped with the MPC one. Of course the 1/25 Revell 70 Mach1 1/24 351C engine would now not really be out of place. I have not tried that transplant yet. So back to the Boss - aside from grinding off the front bumper and using the chrome bumper from Missing Link resin the best bet would be to use either the MPC or AMT kits and add the ML grille and bumper and paint the color of your choice and order decals from Keith Marks. I know I am overly critical of the MPC and Testors versions but another glaring difference between a Mach1 and Boss is the Boss 351 did not have the honeycomb panel between the tail lights. Of course the “Boss” kits have the Mach1 rear panel which can be removed with a hobby knife. Of course that means that area needs to be painted silver or black. If there is one thing I give credit to Testors is the door panels which are an improvement over the typical flat tub of the original MPC kit. Eventually I will finish building a Boss 351 using both an MPC and AMT kit but with of course major changes from the donor kits. I just wish Testors had done a version without the 73 bumper and perhaps a painted body without the decals applied but I suppose that “kit” would not have looked as tempting in the packaging to the purchaser of their “ultra detail” series. I bought some too so I guess their marketing was successful. ?

Did you buy it through Ebay via China or Canada? Either way it’s a lot less then the Trumpeter ones cost when the came out.

Good call. I used a 73 grille on the Japanese police car I converted from the Testors Yellow Mach1 kit. I have see many real 73s that an owner has repainted and used the 71/72 side stripes and Mach1 fender decals because they preferred them over the wider 73 Mach1 stripes. It still throws me off when I see that mismatch.

I have not seen many on Ebay (just the decal sheet) and having bought many a Round2 kit I figured I would not have to outbid someone else and was happy I could get a set from the source.

Thanks. I forget some use their phones to view this site so a lot of large files may be an issue. The Testors ones are inconsistent as the yellow mach1 had the 73 type trunk decal but the black one has the 71/72 type. None of the Testors versions have the correct 73 MACH1 side stripes despite all the versions having the 73 only bumper and some having the 73 Mach1 trunk decal. At least with the MPC kit it’s easy to not use the 73 bumper to try and make a 71 Boss but I figure it would be a real pain to grind down the 73 bumper on the metal body and repaint it as an alternative to piecing together parts to make an accurate Boss.

Very nice build. A neighborhood friend back in the mid 70’s had a 1970 440 Sixpack Cuda In a darker blue color. That was one of the cars that was not a Mustang I wish I bought “used” but with no place to garage it I bought a 69 GTS Dart with a 440 and after breaking a timing chain and the rear main bearing seal expiring I bought a low mileage 72 Mach1 which was more practical as my only car at the time since at least it got over 15 mpg unlike the big block Mopar’s that needed Sunoco 260 and probably got less than 10 mpg. At least that is the story I guess I told to my mother that signed the loan for the Mustang which I eventually sold back to her to buy a 2nd yellow Mach1 after college. she even drove “our” first Mach1 a few times to work before realizing it was not the right car for a woman under five feet tall. ?

It is available to buy in a roundabout way. I went to the round2 website and printed out their form to request a decal sheet and filled it out and mailed a check for $9.95 and it received the sheet in the mail about a week later. I did not say I bought that exact kit but I did provide the UPC# I found online and I guess they figured If I wanted the sheet and I was willing to pay for it versus asking for a “free” replacement of buying the kit on Ebay that R2 was happy to send it to me and cash my check. Just do not tell them where you heard this. ?

Either Goodyear or Firestone for the 60 and 70 series tires. Speaking of 71-73 Mustangs, Here are some Testors “kits” all with that 73 type front bumper and one I repainted as a Japanese police car. Also pictured is what a 1971 Mach1 429CJ and Boss 351 should look like in the metallic blue and pewter colors with of course the correct wheels and tires and everything else. Danbury Mint did their homework on those beauties.

It’s always a lot more effort to cut open and hinge the doors but the results are worth it. This is one of the few kits I have seen that have the trunk as a separate piece which makes that “opening” a little easier. Nice save on this one and to me it’s still a “new” kit even though it came out more than a few decades ago.

Yes - that and a whole lot of other things. The exhaust is wrong (no mufflers) and my #1 pet peeve for the body is the cowl vents in the hood were NEVER on any 71-73 Mustang built. Someone at MPC must have assumed it would have them because the 70 Mustangs did.

The quick answer is in 1/25th I have found very little. I am not sure when this Testors kit magically grew in size to 1/24 since it is based on the MPC 1/25 plastic kit. Some of the Mustang II kits had a different “race” engine instead of the usual 428CJ and 429 Boss engines that seemed to be in every large Ford and Mercury Kit from 1968 to the mid 1970’s despite the 351C (all varieties) and 429CJ engines being in 71 Mustangs and the 351HO and CJ in 72 and the final year of any V8 including 351C 2 and 4bbl In 73 before the 74 Mustang II when any size V8 was not available in 74. I has posted pictures of various engines I’ve “found” over the years and I am not familiar with every kit that may have had a 351C in 1/25 so there could something out there but I would say this - never believe what the side of the model box says of the kits of that era. Sadly a decal on the fender does not change the fact that the correct engine isn’t in the kit. Tim Boyd did a comparison of Ford muscle car engines the Revell 70 Mach1 has a 1/24 Cleveland but that’s about it. Search some of m posts where I point out the numerous things that would needed to be sourced to build a fairly accurate 1/25 Boss 351 Mustang.

The prepainted finish is nice and the opening doors are an interesting modification added when Testors took the old MPC molds and turned it into a quasi diecast kit. You are correct about the many incorrect things that go back to the annual kit so I will not list them here again except to mention do they think no one knows the difference between a 351C and a 428 engine. ?

Very nice indeed. I did not realize it was 1/43 at first. The scale just never caught on in the USA probably due to the origins of the promo and slot car markets.

Very nice clean build. I have a few 71-73 Funny car kits (Mustangs of course) and probably decals to do twice as many but like many of us I have so many projects started and have not build much of anything lately it’s going to be a while before I get some paint on one to at least get me thinking about colors and which decals to use. I assume those are from Slixx.

At least we know all the inaccuracies with that kit and at least there are more resin parts available then there were back then.

Very nice indeed back in the day before we had a few more options in resin bodies and parts but a nice resin or plastic USRRC body along with of course a 427 body and chassis in 1/25 scale.

Very nice job on this very unique Flip-top that many us would like to see in a plastic kit form or at least a nice resin conversion kit.

Wish I had an answer for the decals but I’m guessing the area was cut out with an exact knife and painted black. I painted the stripes on this kit I built many years ago anticipating this very problem. For the rocker stripes I always look at pictures of the real car and make sure the letters and numbers line up with the fender. I also cut the decal in sections if it part of it is on the door.

They might refer to the wrong years on purpose. Just a theory. ?

Both Rex’s thank you. ?

Great story. I’ve had my 72 Mach1 for 39 years so needless to say there’s a lot of stories of various escapades in it a few of which meant a visit to the County Courthouse a few times for traffic court.?

These may not be the best kits but it’s possible to make a presentable kit with some better decals and taking into account they originate from molds that are at least fifty years old. Despite the box art on AMT kit it’s basically the same kit as the IMC MKII and would need modifications to represent the 66 Daytona race version.

And the Standard hood (which Eleanor had) to do that version of maybe a sprint or plain sportsroof. The interior buckets are atrocious in the AMT and MPC offerings if one wants to represent the deluxe door panels. The gauge cluster and dash are okay but Including a mini console for an automatic shift selector for a FMX or C6 trannyI would be nice but I could go on and on but let’s just say the list of what could be included is petty long. With just the right hood, grille, Front bumper, side mirrors, and decals at least a 72 sprint could be built with either Magnum 500’s or the FOMOCO hubcap and trim rings on stock steel wheels. I know it would save builder the expense of custom decals, extra resin parts and pilfering a set of wheels front the spares box. I don’t think that is asking for much after the builder finds a suitable engine for the kit such as the 302.