Phildaupho

On the workbench photos at http://www.modelcars...wtopic=66468= Cobra CSX 2128 was originally built as a Team Shelby racecar for the 1963 Sebring race for drivers Dan Gurney, Lew Spencer and Dave McDonald. To get it ready in time rumor has it that it was painted with a spray can. The car went on to wide exposure on the cover of the “Hey Little Cobra” record album. Allen Grant was a Shelby employee who aspired to be a team driver. He sold CSX 2128 to Coventry Motors with the provision that he be the driver. Allen Grant was out to impress Carroll Shelby with his racing abiity so to make sure his Cobra was as visible as possible on the race track, he had his buddy George Lucas an aspiring movie maker to design an eye-popping livery. The strategy worked - Alen Grant became a team driver in Cbra Daytona. The team had a matching big rear-window ’56 Ford pickup which I hope to eventually build a model of. Allen Grant has his own replicas of this car and the truck. Another replica has been built as a prize give away car. CSX 2128 has been restored back to its origibal livery.

It is always great to see a Falcon model built by someone who really knows Falcons. Great resurrection Steve.

The non-photo-etched wire wheels in the kit are actually not that bad for plastic. What has been lacking from all the Revell/Monogram 427 Cobra kits are inner front fender / engine compartment liners. Both the AMT 289 Cobra and Fujimi 427 Cobras have them. I have been planning to make templates from the Fujimi kit so I can make some up for my next R/M 427 Cobra build. The engine compartment cannot look right without them.

What color yellow did you go with? I used Testor's Blue Angel Yellow enamel which is not really soft enough but none of the other yellows I tested were right either so I am sticking with the color as is.

How did you make the front fender skirts? Where did you get your decals? The front skirts or spats were made from sheet styrene and putty. I made the decals with the Testor'sprogram but will have to wait and see how they look on the finished model.

I am building a Cobra 289 racecar in 1963 configuration from the AMT kit. Chassis - Separated front fender liners to paint aluminum - Kidney Bean Halibrands from AMT Parts-Pak Tires - Revell Goodyear Sportscar Specials Engine - Smoothed valve covers and added breathers - Drilled out Webers and added inner tubes - Modified exhaust headers to link up further forward with side exhausts made from aluminum tubing Interior - Separated foot boxes and spare tire tray for painting to simulate fiberglass - Re-positioned hand brake drilled out gauges for decal and clear film mounted behind - Did some grinding to give better fit of chassis and engine Body - Flared rear fender wheels - Installed spats behind front wheelwells - Cut away top for driver’s door as was done on racecars for more arm room

The AMT kit was most certainly based on the first run of Cobras but not CSX2000 which was distinctive in a number of ways from subsequent Cobras as I described in the posting of my CSX2000 build http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=65165&hl=

I used Testor's Boyd's Alumina Yellow which was as close as I could get to pearlescent yellow with what I had on hand. It has a bit of a greenish tinge to it. I have found yellow can be a hard color to match. More on this Cobra can be found Under Glass at http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=65165&hl= I really like the Gulf Stream Aqua you have used on your 69 Shelby. What paint is that?

I like it. Round 2 might actually sell a few of the re-issues.

Great color combination on an attractive car. Very nice build indeed.

WIRE WHEELS for Cobra #1 - When the car was first shown and appeared on the cover of Road & Track it had chrome wire wheels which were later replaced with painted wire wheels. Subsequent leaf-spring Cobras were equiped with wider/deeper wire-wheels. A better set of wire-wheels would have been nice to have for the model but all the wheels I had access to are wider. All things considered I am fairly satisfied with the kit wheels. I also did another set up with dull coat. Below are a few photos of Cobra #1 from promotional literature, the Road & Track cover and a close up of an early Cobra wheel.

Full post on this model in Under Glass The First Cobra - A Tribute to Cobra #1 - CSX2000

In January 1962 Carroll Shelby first drove the car that would become the first Cobra and the prototype for all the leaf-spring Cobras to follow. This car was essentially the latest version of the AC Ace in which a recently released Ford 221 cubic inch V-8 was installed. After some requested changes were made, the first Cobra was shipped minus engine to Dean Moon's shop in California where a Hi-Po 260 V-8 was installed. Next Dean Jeffries sprayed the car Pearl Yellow the first Cobra's introduction to the public at the New York Auto Show and on the cover of the September 1962 issue of Road & Track magazine. Dean Jeffries subsequently re-painted the car in as many as five different colors to make it seem like more Cobras existed before an inventory of cars were available. For painting the first Cobra, Dean Jeffries received a full race Cobra 289 that he used in his Mantaray. The final paint job was blue which the car still wears today because the fist Cobra was never sold always being one of Carroll Shelby's personal Cobras. Changes made to the AMT model, which is a tribute rather than an exact replica - Lengthened trunk [trunks were shortened on subsequent Cobras so extra re-enforcing could be added] - Removed bumper tubing - Repositioned fuel filler - Reconfigured dash gauges to stock AC locations - Moved rear disc brakes inboard [brakes on later Cobras were outboard which allowed a stronger chassis] - Smooth valve covers, air cleaner, exhaust manifolds adapted from the AMT 66 Mustang and fan installed on engine - Knocks off from the Monogram 427 Cobra SC. Wheel hubs shortened to get correct track. Parts box tires - Made decals of original Cobra emblems. - Remover front inner fender liners from chassis to paint separately [Further to the discussion of relative merits of 427 Cobra kits -Inner front fender liners are something missing from Revell 427 Cobra which Fujimi kit had.] Paint – The only Yellow Pearl I had was Testor's Boyd's Alumina Yellow More photos at http://public.fotki....obra-1-csx2000/

Hard to tell by the photos but a number of people are saying the front axle is tubular just like all the other Revell Deuces. I hope that is not the case as it should be a beam axle like that used on the Stacey David Rat Roadster and virtually every other recently built Deuce.

I have posted photos of almost all the models that were at the model show Saturday September 29 on my fotki site http://public.fotki....assic-0937.html

Fantastic final result. I have been attracted to these race Ford GT's since I first saw them and built my own version from a Johnny Lightning snap kit. I saw one of these Simil'R kits behind the counter in a Vancouver hobby shop awhile back and was so intriqued I asked to have a look. I was very impressed with what I saw in the box. It loked like it should be a Tamiya style build but obviously not.

I just discovered this thread but I have been building my own tributes to Carroll Shelby. I have two traverse-spring Cobras on my bench which I hope to finish before departing on vacation the middle of August and will post photos here. I am unable to go to this month's Monterey Historics honoring Caroll and the fifieth anniversary of the Cobra but the first vintage races I ever attended [Palm Srings 1990] and the first Monterey Historics I went to [1997] were also tributes to Carroll Shelby. The model picutred here was built in 2005. It is my version of the 1964 Targa Florio FIA 289 Cobra driven by Dan Gurney and Gerry Grant. The body is a combination of the 1/25 AMT kit and the Academy 289 [which is actually the AMT kit with a 427 body and headers]. I used parts from Replicas & Miniatures [wheels, Weber carbs], the great detail set from Acu-Stion [no longer available] and the beautiful UMI/Cartograph decals from Scale Coachworks.

What paint did you use for the exterior? Great model of one of my all time favorite cars.

YEAH BABY!! Two beautiful Ferraris. I was sure bummed when I learnt Revell of Germany decided not to release the former Gunze 250SWB which is on my top ten list of all time favorite cars.

This is my self-done GTO conversion done on a Revell of NA 599. More photos at http://public.fotki....errari-599-gto/

Tommy Hamilton asked me to add a tire rack to the trailer so I had to oblige.

The trailer is a very simple one piece plastic unit with metal axles. I suspect it came with a ERTL diecast. Underneath it has ERTL markings with TOOL # 62-4405 and CHART # 5451.

For anyone interested in more photos of the Shelby Mustang GT350R have a look at http://public.fotki....n_bros_gt-350r/

I built this ’57 Ranchero for a friend who had such a vehicle back in the late sixties with which he towed a ’65 Shelby GT-350R racecar. About eight years ago, I built him a model of the Shelby so when he acquired a 1/25 trailer the idea of reuniting the model racecar and a model of the tow vehicle seemed like a project that needed to be completed. I was fortunate that a model car builder friend had a stock height previously started Ranchero kit he was willing to part with. In fact he had two kits to trade. I have to say I am pretty impressed with a kit that started life over fifty years ago as a station wagon. The separate body panels had been previously glued together so it already seemed like a model body I have become used to. BUILD PROCESS - Separated dash from cowl. Instruments are a decal made from an internet image of a brochure illustrating the dash. - Molded pickup bed floor and side to body - Headlight and taillight bezels and lenses from AMT 57 Ford - Grill, gravel panel, narrowed front bumper, hood, steering wheel, dash and engine from AMT 57 Ford - Wheels are narrowed American Torque-Thrusts from AMT ’49 Ford - Fender skirts scratch-built and removable - Door handles from Owencraft - Paint Testor’s Boyd’s White and Artic Blue Metallic - Scripting decals made with Testor’s program