baycolony

So as promised, I completed the interior in "Ginger." I used some Vallejo Military colors to get the right tones as I noticed that reference pics showed varying subtle color differences. This interior also brought with it the challenge of a multicolored dashboard. This required a lot of detail painting. I also replaced the directional lever with a piece of brass rod. One note: The wood grain decal surrounding the middle instrument cluster fits very poorly and i ended up supplementing it with matching paint. It may be easier to just paint the area. If you choose to use the decal you need to cut out the openings for the 3 gauges prior to applying. I am nearing the end. I hope you enjoy the pics.

Thanks!, and Dino, a little of both...Revell supplied a really top notch kit to work some magic

I finally got the drive train and chassis finished. I was very impressed with the level of detail and fit of the parts, especially the suspension parts which sometimes can be problematic with final stance if they are not positioned perfectly. These seem rock solid. For the engine I have added some plug wires, a PVC hose, fuel line, and battery cables to the battery and solenoid. The callout for intake manifold color in the instructions (blue) is obviously wrong, and should be aluminum. The Carburetor is one of the best OOB I have ever seen and is a shame it won't be visible with the air cleaner assembly attached. I painted the chassis with red oxide primer and black over spray. The suspension and drive train components were decorated with factory paint inspection markings.

I had a few myself. I was the second owner of a 79 pace car V8 with a 4 speed (140hp. They also came with the lousy 2.3L 4 banger turbo). I had an 82 GT with the H.O. engine (Maybe 200hp). I still love that white Saleen (1989/90?) Stock versions were a whopping 225HP. I also always liked the front end of the 85/86 with the ten hole wheels.

Very nice. Working on one of my own but you did a superb job on this. Any hiccups we should be aware of?

Awesome. Just like I would like mine to come out when I get around to it.

This next update shows some progress with the body and the wheels. I have added the decals to the body and used bare metal foil for the chrome trim. For the lower blacked out sections I painted the black as shown previously but only added the pinstripe portion of each section from the decals. The hood decal was also added and appeared glossier than the satin black that i painted on the hood. After sanding down the ridge that was formed after painting the black, I hand painted some Vallejo satin clear over the black decal section to try to blend the sheens. It isn't really noticeable at a glance, so I may be satisfied with this. Also, I have finished the Fireball wheels with Alcad Polished aluminum over a black gloss base. I then used a black wash to darken the lettering and rings. I also added small valve stems. To install the wheels, I had to shave down the back to allow them to fit into the tires. The tires were also sanded down to depict wear. BTW, I didn't use the Shabo dry tranfers because they didn't perform well after being stored so long, so I used the kit decals which performed perfectly. One note for those building this kit: If you notice the holes in the trunk that were drilled for the rear spoiler, take note that one has to drill them at an angle or widen the lower part of the hole on the inside or the spoiler supports, which are angled in opposition to the trunk, or they will not fit flush.

Thanks Tim! FYI, I just noticed and read your article on FSM regarding this build and I have to say it was pretty comparable to what I envisioned and am encountering before reading it. the other issue, which you also mentioned, is the black surround on the hood. I have already painted it Matte Black and applied the decal whilst trying to blend in the correct sheen and I don't know that I am satisfied yet. That being said. I may elect to clear coat everything, mask around the whole black area and recoat. We will see, but I should have more on this later in the build. Bob, I don't recall how much they were since I had purchased them a while back for a future build. If you check their website I would imagine they are still for sale.

Yes, the decals are thin and are easy to work with. The one thing I found though is that the black panel decals aren't as opaque as I would have expected. Luckily I was painting the black

Ok, a small update here. I have completed the front and rear grills and fascia respectively. With regards to the front grill, if you would note that the surrounding bezels of the headlights are semi gloss black with the trim immediately surrounding the headlights themselves are picked out in chrome. This was a topic brought up in the modelcarsmag forum when it was noticed on some recent builds that the builders were painting the bezels chrome. This is in error and results in the headlights looking too large. The Chrome trim on the grill surround was hand painted with MOLOTOW ink and I highlighted the grill with a gray colored pencil. A note on the rear fascia and taillights: These are really well rendered if you look at some 1:1 pics. the bezels are black with chrome trim. These were also picked out with MOLOTOW ink. One has to be careful but when neatly done, it really pops. Finally, I included a picture of my intentions with the wheels. These are the standard Ford hub caps with trim rings in resin I had obtained from Fireball Modelworks. I also found some old "Firestone Wide Oval" dry transfers by SHABO.

It is a bit hot, but priming and light coats overcome ?

Rex, I just use engine paint in spray form found in an auto parts store. Scale finishes and MCW also has a line of engine colors if you wish to choose that route.

Well I have the latest update to the build. Below I have polished the body and painted the black accents along the lower areas as well as the hood. One issue that concerned me is that the decals for the pin-striping, especially around the hood blackout, contains a border of black in addition to the pinstripe. I was debating whether to totally paint the black and cut out the border on the decal, but it occurred to me that there would be no room for error if I didn't get the paint mask just right, so I opted to go with the full decal on the hood and use the included paint mask in the instructions. After applying the pinstripe decal I will attempt to match the sheen of both. For the rest of the lower black accents I am definitely painting them and just adding the pinstripe decal. When I prepared the hood, I cut out the paper paint mask and cut around it on masking tape. I then taped it to the hood and applied the pre-cut mask around this. For the black, I used a lacquer based paint from "Gravity Colors" called "Tire black" which I had in my stash. It turned out to be a good mask for the matte finish.

Thanks for the replies. Obviously the hue of the picture of my painted model was affected by the light under which it was taken. It is actually more like the reference pics

As usual, the body gets initial attention. Very little flash and the customary mold lines that have to be removed. I then sanded the whole body with a 2500 grit sanding sponge in preparation for primer. Notice the "knockout" marks on the underside of the hood which require filling. There are also a few on the headliner but I am not filling those since you basically have to turn the model upside down and tilt your head to see them. After washing and a final check, the body was primed with Tamiya fine white primer (because of the brightness of the color). Finally, I painted the body and mirrors with the MCW lacquer at 18psi after adding some "slow" drying lacquer thinner. The pic shows the starting point before light polishing. I plan to forego using clear coat as these period cars did not have it. It should also be noted that it appears the instructions call out the lower rear valence as "body color." This appears to be wrong since all my reference photos show it as matte black.

I have been waiting for this one for a long time and finally have it on my bench. I plan to paint this with paint from MCW in factory Ford color "Medium Yellow Gold." In my opinion older Mustangs don't look good in yellow but these are the exception. I originally was going to go with a black interior but I am now leaning toward "ginger." Finally, I am considering doing something a little different and using the standard Ford hub caps and chrome rings.

So Joe, this is the Corvette you spoke of in the other forum when you were referring to the use of the slow thinner. I am just seeing this now and I have to say you are doing a bang up job so far. I never thought of using pastels for the exhaust manifolds. I will have to try that. Gil

I got mine a Carrera Revell. Looks like a US distributor site that also does slot racers. Carrera Revell (carrera-revell.com)

Got mine yesterday too. Next on the bench!!!

We can probably attribute the increased bulk to the plethora of safety systems included in today's vehicles. They are also much heavier because of this and makes it more difficult to produce more fuel efficiency. Remember some of the small compacts of the 80's and 90's that could easily get 40 to 50 MPG?

I agree with all here. Beautifully done.

Awesome!!

Really, how did he get one?

I love everything about this build!!!!

Yep, there were a few Saleens made in this color as a promotion for BASF and the introduction of the Mystic paint. I built this a bunch of years ago and was actually contacted by one of the present owners of the car who wanted to buy the model from me. You did I nice job on your vert!