whale392

The more FOXes the merrier, Tony. To say it looks a little 'crude' would be a close to fair assessment of the kit. I think you will be able to do something good with the kit though, and I look forward to seeing another FOX done (as mine are at a slow crawl and might not make it to done!). I hope to have the front seats done by the weekend, and maybe them and the engine block ready for paint by Monday. We will see though, as I am also working on a pictoral/tutorial for using the Monogram (Revell) 1/24th 1987 Thunderbird TurboCoupe kit to udgrade/detail up/kitbash with the re-issue Monogram (Revell) 1/24th 1985 SVO kit.

Eric and Dave, glad I could help. I have 4 of the red-plastic versions, and now 2 of these reissues. Knowing my penchant for FOXes, I will more than likely grab one or two more. The pics illustrate why the FOX Mustang (and its cousins) are sought after today; their smaller size and light weight. The Mustang has become a fat lady, heavy and bloated with garbage that isn't needed. Also, due to the ever-increasing rate at which morons and lawyers reproduce, the newer cars are becoming saddled with all forms of 'safety' features that would not be needed should Americans re-learn how to really drive their cars (versus using them as mobile couches, meeting rooms, office spaces, and cafeterias). The 10 year newer release of the Revell-O-Gram 1987-88 Thunderbird TurboCoupe can be combined with this SVO (either original issue or current reissue) to detail up and/or update the SVO to a more correct in-scale model. I was going to write up a comparo between the two, showing what parts to use from the T/C, and what/where needs to be cut/pasted between the two for a really nice SVO. if anyone wants to see such, let me know and I will take some time to write it up. All said, thank you Revell for bringing this SVO back. While you will still pay about what you would for an Ebay score, you can now much more readily find them.

Mechanically ept meth-head meets abandoned Riviera.

Thanks for answering those questions Eric. I thought it would make better sense to cast the fenders/headlight bezels separately, and am glad the option will exist. Also, for guys who want to convert the regular cab back to the earlier single-light version, having those separately available will make life a lot easier! On a side note, I was talking to my dad (who drove one of these in 1976-77) and he said his truck had the high mounted door handles like the kit depicts. He did, however, mention that the slightly later version of his truck had the low-door slam-style latches. How hard do you think it would be to convert the doors to the later type?

Well, in all honesty, I don't know my Elkys real well. But I did remember the 'Royal Knight' and liked the graphics treatment it carried!

OK, round 3. I really apologize for the blurriness. As you can tell, pics are NOT a strong point for me! *image links were moved/deleted by O.P.* First up is the engine/hood/nose tree. Very little flash for such an old mold (then again, if you never use it, I guess wear and tear doesn't happen, huh?). Interior tub, rear axle, exhaust, and the second piece of the biplane spoiler are next. The spoiler is the second sore spot for the SVO faithful, as the upper piece mates to the incorrect bottom piece cast into the body. The lower is actually just a 1979-early84 3 piece rear spoiler that Monogram wanted you to glue the top plane and the lower 'top' of the SVO Biplane spoiler to. Good kit utilization, bad for detail. Oh well, some careful filing on the 3-piece corners will yield a much better overall looking unit. The next tree holds the chassis plate, dash, cooling fan, seats, radiator, shifter, front k-member, and other small parts to complete the interior/underhood. The dash is for the most part correct for the SVO, although just a slight bit of texturing to the faceplate will yield a very good looking unit. Also, the seats are the Leather type, as the cloth carried a different pattern. Overall, not a bad interior. Chassis is simplistic in nature and lacking any sort of spring/strut/upper control arm detail, but the plate itself has decent engraving. Some attention to detail and parts replacement here will help out the look overall! Last installment of the series.......the body. As this entire kit is a straight re-issue, there will be nothing new to suprise those who have built this kit before. The engine bay is a mismatch at best (take the unit from the later Thunderbird TurboCoupe and really bring the SVO to life with it), and the aforementioned rear spoiler issue remains. Mold lines are there, as they were in the original. Something new, however, is what appears to be mold-slip at the junction of the roof/c-pillar/hatch area. Some carefull filling/sanding will be needed here to correct that issue. Overall flash is minimum, and a little clean-up will be needed. Overall, what I expected, if not a little better. Tires are no-name repops of the original Goodyear units. Sourcing an original set will get you the sidewall detail you want. Well, there you have it. A hokey overview of what is in the box of SVO reissue goodness. Overall, it is in good shape and I believe will build up just as the original did. Even with its inaccuracies and lack of detail (wrong intake set-up, rear-end WTF, simplified front suspension, rear spoiler SNAFU), I am glad to have this kit back and in white plastic. The red wasn't bad, but it will leach through if you are trying to shoot a lighter color over it. Now, I can shoot a White, Silver, or custom light-colored paintjob without the pinking tint! Maybe I will even shoot one in the extremely rare Sage Green........hmmmmmm. Welcome back SVO; combining you with the later offering of the 1987-88 Thunderbird TurboCoupe and a smattering of aftermarket parts/scratchbuilding will really let you shine on a display case or contest table. P.S: If you need any more up-close pics of any of the individual parts, let me know and I can work on getting those up to you here.

On to the second installment. Wow, didn't realize that the pics were as blurry as they were. Camera and Photobucket showed them to be fair at best, but all blown up like this really shows the fuzzy! I need a good light source and a tripod/trigger. Ok, chrome is good overall, with a smooth shine. As you can see, the mirrors are chromed (with sink marks in their backs) even though they should be Satin Black. Over all, the chrome tree contains the mirrors, wheels, valve cover, headlight buckets, front engine dress cover (should also be satin black), rear-view mirror, and license plate brackets. , , , , The rear end is a sore spot with SVO/Mustang guys, as it really doesn't depict either a 7.5" or an 8.8" very well. As a matter of fact, it really doesn't depict any Ford rearend at all (maybe a truck unit, from which it was derived). The front k-member is a one-piece unit that doesn't accurately depict the SVO specific units, but it too is a direct pull from the chassis of the original Monogram 1979 Cobra and Pace Car kits. , They did fix the steering wheel, as the original issue had a short-shot issue where it had a terrible sink mark dead-center of the wheel (so much for the SVO emblem in the original issue wheel!). This wheel will find its' way into my 1991 Mustang GT build, with the horn-button detail added (the SVO and the 1983-86 GT Mustang non-cruise wheel was very similar in overall design). Be careful, as my wheel/steering shaft had come off the tree. , Next up, the rest of the parts trees and interior bucket.

Ok, fresh from a haircut and shower, I bring to you fresh re-release plastic SVOness. This will be split into 4 parts, as 10 image limit really kills the one-shot posting with 34 pics to upload! Keep in mind, this is a direct reissue of a 1984 casting, so none of the flaws have been corrected (with the exception of one, and I acredit that to the part recieving a full shot of styrene versus a short-shot). It does, however, have an updated decal sheet and a new (not in any of my original issues anyway) Motorsport SVO plastic front license plate. So, without further b.s from me, let the pics begin: Box art is typical 'Streetburner' fare, with a built-up representation of the model at 3/4 front view. Whoever built this box art model did a rather nice job at it, and it looks better than the original by far. The Monogram logo emblazened in the corner gives a nod to the kits roots, but to me takes away slightly from the overall look of the boxtop....personal opinion on this. The instruction sheet is as you would expect for a re-issue, all the old pictures abound with only the call-outs for the new decal sheet added. One nit-pick is the incorrect horsepower rating stated in the decription block.....oh well. Speaking of the decal sheet, I can see where this one is a better shot than the original BY A LONG MARGIN! 4 different plate options, decals for the instruments and badging, some funky stripe package, and some SCCA call-outs and sponsor/contingiency decaling is a nice touch for this sheet. I will find use for some of these in other builds. Kudos Revell for giving us something new and useful. , , The glass tree is very simple, with a grand total of 6 pieces; the front and rear glass, taillights, and headlight lenses. No suprise as it is a direct re-issue. Like I said, 1984 was the casting/copyright date on this kit, and the chassis/interior tub still bears the marks! , Next up, the chrome tree and some of the chassis shots; stay tuned.

Thanks Scott, but it is guys like you who build what isn't even availible that inspire me. I am on the way to pick up 2 of the SVO re-issues from Revell this afternoon (and another Thunderbird TurboCoupe for donor parts if they have one) to squirrell away for later FOX projects. Combining the two kits will yield a much closer to correct SVO, albiet the k-member and front lower control arms still need to be scratchbuilt as no correct SVO units exist. I should have some more work done on this convertible later this week as I have some time to fiddle with plastic today and tomorrow. Keep the FOX love going guys, your work inspires me to quit being lazy and do something!

I could remedy the lack of photos situation later this afternoon as I am going to pick up 2 of these in just a few minutes. You are correct Mark, the AMT and Monogram 1/25th scale 1994+ kits can be used as chassis/wheel/tire donors for the horrid MPC units, and has been done (I think it was Eric Stone or you I was talking about this very thing with) with some success. Either scale has this option availible. Too bad there really isn't a nice 2.3T availible in 1/25th to up-detail the existing MPC piece. That is where good old modeling skill and attention to detail comes into play (even the Revell-O-Gram 1/24th scale 2.3T from the TurboCoupe can use some of that to really make it shine).

Paul, thanks for the info. But I do have to disagree to your coloring info, the Race versions were the darker colored motors. Mopar still offers the colors as spray cans and the 'Race Hemi Orange' contains more red tint than the 'Street Hemi Orange' does. Both of dads original HemiCars wear the Street Hemi color, and the race block we had was darker (not just from age either). I too have seen the max Wedge blocks with the crossbolted mains, but being as we were talking Hemi I.D here again, I left that out. Thank you for adding that info though. RO23 and WO23 were the Mopar B-body Super Stock Hemi call-outs(in 1965-66), along with the BO29 for the Barracuda, if memory serves me right. The intake was indeed called the Rat Roaster. Dad still has a complete intake with plates sitting in his storage locker (a 40' semi trailer full of Hemi and big-block parts), along with the later Maxi Hemi Magnesium crossram intake, 3 1968+ 2x4 inline intakes, 2 1966-67 2x4 inline intakes, and an Arlan Vanke modified 1966 unit. This isn't going into the various other big-block intakes as we are talking Hemi here. Nice to see you join in on this build and contribute positively with info and encouragement. Andy is doing a great job with this build, and if we can help him 'nail it', we have done a small but valuable service to him.

That is looking good. Just two questions; why the single headlight arrangement? Are you going to offer the cab without the headlight buckets for the twin headlight configuration and include them for the single headlight configuration?

Thanks for the vote of confidence Tony! I would give this a 'C+' if I had to grade my work. A+ is well beyond me at this time! Can't wait to see Backyard Billy back at his Cafe Racer project; once the cold weather is gone I am sure he will be back to picking up the tools and downing the beers in the garage (downing the beers only after the tools are put up of course!).

V-Spec, I believe you mean the 'Royal Knight' version of the El Camino. Good looking car with some sweet (for the time) graphics.

Kaleb, all 1996+ Cobras were 4V heads (DOHC). 1996-early 98 were coilpack 'B' (seperate intake ports) heads. Late 1998-2004 recieved coil-on-plug 'C' (siamesed intake ports) heads. What I mean is that the 'B' heads had 8 intake ports while the later 'C' heads have 4 larger ports.

Just thought I'd ask. I will eventually pick one of these up, and do an 85-86 conversion to it. Finances willing, it should be sometime soon.

This will be a cool little ride. Go sinister with some Gold-tint wheels. Nothing says "I'm going to kill you now" like Jet Glossy Black with just the hint of color on the wheels!

Craig; gotta tell you that the Chevelle up on the jackstands shots just look REAL! Your garage scene is very much realistic in almost every way. Awesome work; I will be looking to your work when I get ready to do my garage.

Don't fear the Revell-O-Gram kit, as it can be done into a pretty nice SVO with a little kitbashing and filing/fitting. The worst thing about the MPC SVO (besides the horrid headlights and the complete lack of interior detail) is the fact that there are no other 1/25th scale 2.3Ts to source correct parts from. At least in 1/24th we have the later Monogram Thunderbird TurboCoupe, which actually has a lot to offer in terms of pirateable parts. Also of note is the Tamiya 1/24th Mustang GT and Cobra (1994-95 and the 1995 CobraR) kits to grab brake/suspension bits from.

Just some detail-washes on the rims and the aforementioned touch-ups Tony, and I think you have this one in the bag. Better than I could do. (Then again, don't listen to me as this isn't a FOX Mustang!! )

Best bet is to take the engine from the Revell 1999 Cobra and the upper end from the Revell GT500 and mate them. The intake will need to be narrowed slightly from the GT500 to fit down on the 1999 Cobra block/heads as the GT500 is a taller decked 5.4L compared with the Cobras 4.6L lower deck. But, a good facsimily could be made from the two. You will have to flip the intake/throttle body around to face the passanger side wheelwell, but overall not too hard to do.

Interesting idea Tony. kind-of a Funny Car without really being one! Looks killer on the smoothness of the paint.

Started making the front seats by cutting the headrests off the original seats and shortening their backs. Then, I cut the back seat out of a second kit interior (to get the proper seat upholstery pattern) and cut it up for use with the front seats and fitting. I then seperated the seat backs from their bases and removed the pattern from the seat bases. Narrowed the pattern from the rear seat to fit the bottom of the front seat, and will be smoothing it all in with filler shortly. I will have to narrow the center pleats and drop them back into position in the seat bottoms. As for the seat backs, I am doing much the same except that the backs have been shortened to proper height and the narrowed pattern pieces glued over the top of the existing material (to give it the proper thickness). I will fill and sand to shape when all the glue is dry, then drop in the center pleat pattern. The headrests are cut from the later Mustang GT convertible seats and reshaped to fit these seats. All in all, I will be fairly close to the correct pattern for this car. , , , , , , That's all for the moment. More when time and pics allow.

Well, been a while since I was able to do anything with the FOXes, but I got some more work on my GLX convertible started this week. Getting the dash squared away...just a little more painting and I will call it good enough. , , , . Also, started working on the steering wheel and the steering column. Started cutting the V8 back into a V6. More to come in the next post. The seat mods will put this post over the 10 picture-in-post limit.

It makes a great scale paperweight, Mark!