RancheroSteve

Yes, a re-build for sure. By the way, Ford Corporate Blue for blocks didn't come in until 1966. The block would have originally been black with blue or gold valve covers depending on the engine options. Red was used on the valve covers and air cleaners of other engines over the years (the 260 in my Ranchero, for example). http://www.mustangandfords.com/how-to/paint-body/mump-0308-select-correct-vintage-mustang-engine-paint/

Here's a shot of the #0 test car:

I turned this: Into this: And I've got a few more in the works: http://public.fotki.com/Roullier/model_cars-1/restoration_projects/

Yes, like I said - I don't consider this un-buildable by any means (especially considering the lengths I'm currently going to in order to build a Kurtis Sport Car), but it makes all the difference when it's the only game in town. A few years ago when it didn't look like there was much of a possibility of getting a well detailed styrene kit of a '65 Comet I happily snapped this up when I had the chance. Not sure what I'll do with it now, but those are the breaks.

Just as a point of reference, here's a resin '65 Comet Caliente that I bought off EBay a few years back. There's also an interior (identical to the AMT '64 Comet I believe), a primitive chassis plate, and vacu-formed glass. Not completely terrible or un-buildable, but it was obviously going to take A LOT of work to look decent. I'll wait very patiently for the Moebius instead.

Best forgotten regardless.

I believe you are correct here, Scott, including the '64 and '65 models. (I had to look this stuff up myself, but I think I've got it now.) Seems a little counter intuitive maybe to think that Comet wagons had shorter wheelbases that the sedans, but it seems to be the fact. I'm leaving out any reference to the '66 cars because they're a pretty different animal in my book, based on overall parts interchangeability. Also, here's a very extensive article about "The Falcon Platform" and its many variations. Notice it groups the '60-'65 Falcons and '60-'65 Comets together: http://www.curbsideclassic.com/automotive-histories/automotive-history-fords-falcon-platform-from-falcon-to-versailles-in-18-different-wheelbase-lengthtrack-width-variations/ A small quote: "Unibodies are assembled from many stampings, and as such lend themselves quite readily to stretching. A slightly longer piece here, a slightly wider one there…cut and paste." For example, I'm told that the Ranchero shares a lot of the same stampings with the 2 door wagon, which accounts for the void under the bed behind the cab - often a common area for rust due to its propensity to trap debris and water.

I'll admit the thought has gone through my mind after all the work I've put in - If I knew a caster that I'd be willing to trust with this that was interested.

Thanks, John. Yes, I've used brass along the lower edge of the body, the front wheel openings, the grille and of course the side trim and bumpers. I've found that brass is great for holding a shape or an edge (once you get it close to where it belongs) without fear of grinding it away too easily and having to build it up again. I've been using the green label Zap-a-Gap to adhere it and it seems to hold well, and my preferred putty these days is the gray Tamiya.

Those VRM decals are excellent, and the booklet really gives you a history lesson. I'll be watching this one!

I'm still at it! It may not look like too much, but I've been putting in a fair amount of time on this - still fiddling with the body, and I've begun to fabricate the chassis. The Kurtis was unibody car that used '49 Ford suspension components, so I used a Revell '49 Merc as a basis, as I needed a period correct car with a separate frame and detailed suspension. As you can see, I've also added the side trim and part of the bumpers in brass, which I've attached to the body. Next I'll tackle the bumpers guards (center sections of the bumpers), which will be separate pieces. Then on to the windshield frame . . .

For another take on the concept of "Daytona Coupe with a British accent", check out the Willment Coupe (CSX 2131), a Daytona Coupe built in England based on drawings supplied by Shelby. You can read about it here: http://shelbyamericancollection.org/cars/1964-willment-daytona-coupe-csx2131/

No big stories, but here's the first one (with me next to it): I have more memories and stories about our second car.

I built this one from an MCW trans kit (it uses the '64 Thunderbolt as a donor). Like others have said, not quite Modelhaus quality (what is?), but very workable - and Dave is great to deal with.

This is how I've been doing it - works for me every time. (Using a Mac with Firefox, just FYI)

Two jars of "Mr.Finishing Surfacer 1500 Black", all the way from Japan. Can't wait to try this stuff out and see if it's as good as promised.

Looks good from what I can see in these photos. Glad to see separate door handles (and wipers?). I won't try to make any judgement on the mechanicals for now. Still really looking forward to getting this one!

So I dug my old build out of the box I had stuffed it into and shot a few quick photos: I think you can see that the engine cover is warped and a particularly bad fit. I should probably just glue it down, clean it up a little, and shoot a few more pics to see if it looks any better.

Great story, Tom - very descriptive. You should have a blog or a radio show or something!

Modelhaus, maybe? http://www.modelhaus.com/index.php?c=0&p=69210

He did - he donated it (along with a whole bunch of historic catalogs and literature) to the Model Car Builder's Museum a few years back.

Thanks for the kind words, Craig. There are a few things I think I could do a little better now, but I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. The kit is mostly accurate out of the box, but responds well to a little extra detailing, and there's good amount of reference material out there to help. As promised, here are a few shots of the Revell Attempt 1 buck. It gives me an appreciation of what goes into creating a model kit, especially back then. It's hard to get a sense of scale in these photos, but as I remember it the buck is about 16" long. I didn't realize it at first, but it's in two pieces:

Like most of the Revell kits of that era, it's very well detailed with a lot of tiny parts - tough for a kid to build, but fun and challenging for an adult. I believe only the first issue has the trailer and parachute. The chassis is almost identical to the Mooneyes dragster chassis. If you want to build a more correct Attempt 1, you'll need to add an extra hoop to the roll cage. Like a lot of kits, the body isn't split in a prototypically correct manner (for practical reasons I assume), but it can be made so with a little work. A few years ago, I got to handle the carved body buck for the Revell kit. It's now at the Model Car Builders Museum in Salt Lake City. I'll dig some photos of that out when I can.

Yes - I believe you are correct. Looks like they transposed the numbers. I'll try to alert the relevant parties.

Yes, this saga is pretty complicated! CSX 2196 was indeed the "flip-top" Cobra, so assuming the person who put these displays together (Danno?) labeled them correctly, it does look like Bob was building different incarnations of the same chassis. Some history of CSX 2196 here: http://www.rmsothebys.com/az10/automobiles-of-arizona/lots/1964-shelby-427-cobra-flip-top-roadster/416883