Ron Hamilton

I love the model!!!! I have been interested in this car ever since I saw a Silver Factory car when it was new. After seeing your building thread, I pulled the trigger and bought one for myself. I also bought one of the Tamiya 300 Gull Wings as a companion build.

Your build sounds so cool!!!! When I was a kid, there was a fellow in our neighborhood named Marshall who had a Roman Red '62 Impala SS 2 Door hardtop. 327/4speed, Red Guts and Cragar S/S wheels on Blackwall tires. I thought that was a cool car, and that is how I am going to do mine.

You're absolutely right on that fact. I have a 429 I can install in the car.

Beautiful!

Nice work!!!!

I have seen a few of these built in person, and it looks like all of them were built directly from the box. I plan to do some more modifications to mine to make it look closer to the one to one. I have a lot of work ahead of me with this kit.

Believe it or not, I have already cleaned the beast up, and it is in primer and ready for paint. I was able to get a hood, and I have a set of styled steel wheels. For an engine, I am using the 428/C6 combination from an MPC '73 Cougar, as well as some other odds and ends from that kit which fit this one very well. I bought several of the '73 Cougars real cheap in order to fix up some more valuable MPC ('70 and '71) and Missing Link ('70) Cougars. At this point, I am not sure if I am going to do it a as a Cyclone GT or Cyclone Spoiler

You mean I can fix this one up?

I bought an old built-up a few years back which is surprisingly complete, mostly unpainted. and unmolested. It is actually pretty clean, and was neatly built. One of the Dominators is missing, and that is it. My plan is to disassemble it, clean it up, strip it, and re-paint it with new decals, which I have. I want to do it up as a companion piece to the Revell kit. This is Marco Cruz' '70 Hemi Cuda while it was under construction. I have to get a set of Fireball Resins Holley Dominators.

Excellent!!!!

Wow! Nice build. It's ironic that tonight I was watching "The Munsters" on COZI TV, and the episode where "Dragula" was created by Grandpa, Herman and Eddie out of scrap parts to win back the "Family Car" that Herman lost in a drag race. I enjoyed it.

Wow!!!!!!!

Thanks Eric. The '60 Bonneville in my Signature, is a Trumpeter '60 Bonneville Convertible, which had a lot of modification done to it to be more pleasing to my eye. It is a copy of my Dad's '60 Convertible. I have not worked on the Comet for a couple of weeks. Last night, I spent a lot of time trying to find some very good reference photos of some details of various items unique to a '65 Comet. Once I found the photos of what I wanted, I did some drawings so that I can either source the parts from my parts box, or scratch build the piece. The Comet dash top detail photo is very elusive, and I have yet to do that work. I think the a first edition Mustang has a similar set up if the dash top, so that is how I am going to handle it. I will scribe the passed dash, speaker and defroster detail with an x-acto knife. followed up with some fine file work. I may do it over the week end. You, Steve, and Mitch are making me build a better model. Thank you!!!

Andy, I have not taken many good pictures of my work on the project. I am not sure of the direction I want to take with it yet. I originally purchased one of these kits to do a replica of the Starsky and Hutch car, but as the kit stands, I am not happy with certain aspects of the kit engine, as it is not a standard issue Ford 351 engine, and I do not care for the speed parts and the "soft" detailing of the kit engine. My sister had a '75 Mercury Cougar, with the standard 351 2 bbl V8, which was slow as owl poop, but I digress, I want to do a "factory stock" looking mid '70's Ford Windsor V8 for my build, so I have to do some "creative picking" from my parts box, and some scratch-building to get a reasonable 351 V8. I may go as far as a transplanting 460 from a Revell F250 pickup, as I understand that the engine and accessory package is pretty accurate, and the 460 was a factory option for the one-to-one, and I understand that Ford provided a Torino to the studio with one in it. But anyway "Zebra 3" is not the only option I have. I did some "massaging of the body, per some of your comments and your photos. Thank You!!!! I removed the flash, and did a little re-contouring" here and there, and I did some leveling of the body. It can barely be seen, I even re-contoured the side window profile ad upper doors. In my parts stash, I have a complete "nascar" fastback body, which is 98% a factory stock fastback body. Yesterday, I was looking at one of my "collectable Automobile" magazines, which had a good photograph of a triple-black '73 Gran Torino Sport Sportsroof with the chrome side mouldings on it like the body I have. I already did a test fit, and I have concluded that I can make such a car happen within my skill set, the "Nascar" body, the S&H kit, a deep dig in the parts box, and some creative scratch-building. I saw Tom Elfritt's fantastic project, and it got my juices flowing to do this one in the future. As you can see, the two bodies are fairly close, and some "Frankenstein" work can be done to combine the two into a reasonable copy of a '73 Gran Torino Sport. My third project from this kit, is of a '74 Gran Torino Sport 2 Door Hardtop, which was my favorite version of this car. The red car in the upper photo may be that particular car. I want to add a Vinyl Roof to it, so I have to install the proper mouldings, as well as some other trim unique to the model, as well as a complete interior transformation form the base Gran Torino, to "Gran Torino Sport" trim with Bucket seats, console, and revised door and dash trim. Model Car Garage does a photo etch set for the kit, so I have to get it, and a couple more kits to continue the project. Again, thanks for your thorough critique of this kit. It will make my build that much better.

That is going to be an outstanding looking build.

Welcome to the world of replica stock modeling on this board. I am working on the same kit, and I am encountering the same "foibles" within the kit that you are, and like you, I am dealing with them as best I can, making modifications and substitutions as I go. While this kit is not perfect, I can wholehearted say that it is far better than the '65 AMT annuals I built back in the day. In the case of the kit glass, I am going to treat mine as a separate assembly. detailing it out, then installing it into the painted and polished body. In the case of installing the kit glass, I plan to use watch crystal cement to secure the windshield, vent windows and rear glass in the car. It dries clear, and doesn't fog. but you have to be very careful in its application, as it will smear and ruin the part.. A lot of the observations and suggestions we get from members who are more well versed with the subject matter are very welcome. I am enjoying your thread very much. I just hope that our builds do not end up as twins!

I like what you are doing to that one. I bought several of the '70's for future projects They were the cruiser of choice in our area (Washington, DC). Also I would love to backdate one to a '69 Custom.

I like a challenge, but I am no masochist. Not at that price.

Very tasteful.

I like it!!!!

Absolutely. Steve, I really appreciate your input on this build, as your information is making the project come out better.

When I do a mock up like this, I will use normal plastic cement or CA glue just on the major assemblies (engine, axles, partial suspension) that are to be the same color when painted. The interior sides are taped together. I do this to see how the kit goes together prior to paint, and final assembly. The body, glass, and bumpers are friction fit on the pins in the case of this kit. Once I am satisfied, I can easily disassemble the unglued parts, and prime and paint. I try to do something similar on everything I build.

I did a little more work to my build to upgrade, and personalize the build. I felt that the rear suspension was too high, so I fashioned a set of lowering blocks to get the back end down. I think I got the stance pretty much correct for a factory stock '65 Comet. Also, I recontoured the rear part of the roof and sail panels, rounding over the edge, and sharpening the sculpture on the sides of the top, and across the back of the roof above the rear window, and as well as cutting in the door opening line into the upper door. I have not decided on whether or not I am going with a vinyl roof on my build, as I tend to like the car better with the slick roof, but these cars did look good with the vinyl top. Working on the interior, I scribed the door opening lines in the side panels, and deepened the soft stitching on the upper seat backs as well as adding a separation line between the seat back and the cushion. I plan to use cloth seat belt material and photoetched buckles for the seat belts. Also, I may remove the window cranks, and make a more detailed set with better definition. As far as the engine goes, I am going to dress it up like a 289/271 hi-po engine, by adding an open element air cleaner from an AMT Mustang, and the chrome valve covers from the Mobieus 1972 Ford Pickup. They fit perfectly. I plan to add one of Replicas and Miniatures Distributors, and Holley carburetor, since the detail is much better than the kit pieces, and I have them I also cut in the fender to cowl separation lines. I have a set of AMT exhaust manifolds, which are beefier than the Mobieus pieces, but I may not use them, as I do not want to get into any more fitment issues. I do not plan to do any engine plumbing and wiring, as I have a slew of projects to get to, I have a couple of cans of paint that should work well on this build, even though I have not made the final decision on the color combination, but I have narrowed it down. I appreciate the comments on this build, as well as I am looking at the work done by other builders of this kit to make my build more satisfying to me..