Cato

Ya mean you ain't gonna hinge it and display half open???? BOooooooooo...

For "not going crazy" - you're going crazy! Great to see your work and I know you've got great references to work from. Now make sure you photo this one when finished and put it on the magazine's cover with the full build inside! So we can always look back on it and enjoy.

Mike, This is the best Cobra I've seen IN ANY SCALE, except 1:1. You have nailed the look nearly perfectly. Being a hand carved body, its contours are outstanding compared to anything out there to date. The windshield, hood scoop, flairs, thicknesses and proportions are dead on. Did you digitize an accurate replica or original? It looks that good. Picking the most minor of nits, Comp cars or S/C's as you've modeled had rectangular Lucas tail lights not the twin round street car lights. The rear tires should sit inboard a touch, just inside the flair. Also the S/C's and Comps had a different gauge layout and no glove box. The only bad thing is your pictures leave a lot to be desired for Cobraphiles! Please either shoot more or post a link to more detailed pictures. Congrats on a superb job.

Niko, You actually now have it in the correct place but it's called the 'footbox'. Where your legs go when seated inside the car. The 'firewall' is the large bulkhead under the windshield, behind the engine. It's probably too late now but if you build another Cobra and want greater accuracy, here are some tips: Use thinner spark wires (like .3mm)-original was 7mm in diameter, yours look like modern race 10mm wire. All chassis steel tubing was black paint. The brake ducts on the rear of your car were only on full competition models which also had a differential cooler. The battery cables should run from the battery positive to the solenoid which should be mounted on the firewall above the footbox. You could simulate one with a small diameter black rod or sprue with a terminal coming out of each side.Then wire from the other side of the solenoid to the starter. The battery neg cable then runs to the frame or a bellhousing bolt. Here is a smallblock, 289 '64 Cobra but the 427 will look similar in this area. You can see the battery just past the carburetor and the white fiberglass footbox with a ventilation hose which brings cool air from the nose vent to the footwell in the cockpit. Also note the black chassis tube from the firewall forward. Here is a competition Cobra with the race batteries mounted behind the passenger seat: Next are the brake and clutch reservoirs seen on a 427 (or 428) car, mounted on the driver side inner fender. Their hard lines run down to the brake box under the driver footbox then out to brass tee junctions at the front and rear crossmembers. From there, rubber hoses to each brake caliper. Also seen here is the puke tank mounted to the firewall. A 1" diameter hose runs from the rear of the intake manifold to the inboard side of the tank and another hose runs from the opposite side of the tank and just hangs straight down to just below the frame. It's called a road draft tube: Lastly, a view of the chassis from below and from the rear forward. You have your brake lines mounted under the chassis tubes. That would allow them to be damaged on a road car. Here you can see they are mounted on the outboard side of the chassis tube on the drivers side and held on by large steel worm clamps. They are 3/16" ID and in scale, that would mean you make them out of .005" (or .2mm) line. The line on the passenger side is a fuel return line to the gas tank. This car was 'over restored' and originals weren't this neat when brand new: I'm sure you chose the wheels because you like them but for accuracy, all CSX 3000 (427 and 428) cars ran on Halibrand magnesium wheels or Kelsey Hayes aluminum 'Sunburst' wheels. The torque of the big engines made wire wheels unsafe and they were only used on CSX 2000 series small engined cars. The Goodyears used on these cars were called 'Sports Cars Specials' or Bluestreaks. A few were fitted with Firestones but Shelby was a Goodyear dealer. I doubt if you love Cobras enough to go through all this work but the information is out there to really improve these kits. You're a skilled builder and are certainly capable of building a faithful model. Hope this is helpful to you.

That's a really classy thing to do. I'm sure Skip has something to post which would make him proud and teach us some tricks. -AND you Mr. P. still need to post some Giant Benz pics which you promised. There's no snow in Chi-Town now... Posting that RR would make Skip proud of his contribution...

I'd really like you to post a few of your well-researched builds. Starting with the 1/16 Gullwings...

Skip, I have tried helping by posting advice and numerous pics of my 1:1, its engine and chassis and original CSX's but sadly, few builders get it right anyway. There seems to be a rush to open the box and put snazzy paint and white stripes on it immediately and then realize whole thicknesses and contours are wrong. TDR has undertaken a huge task and in large part, accomplished it well. Its complexity will not make it 'cost desirable' to a large part of this and other forums in my view-despite the 'buy a little at a time' marketing. Guys here gripe at spending over $30 on anything. Marketing it on 1:1 Cobra sites proved ineffective because there are few model builders among those guys but the capital is there. When Rick was at TDR, he and I discussed a Cobra project for them and he was aware of my credentials and experience. He subsequently left TDR and Garrett apparently decided Syd was more qualified to R & D a Cobra than a 1:1 Cobra builder. BTW, their steering wheel is one which Tim modeled after I sent him snaps of mine. As a librarian of extensive research on classics and sports cars, you know the value of comprehensive research. My experience on model forums is that when it comes to Cobras, 'stand-off scale' is good enough-few have even the basic understanding of the car. At least Bastedo 'gets it' and went to an excellent original source.

There are numerous things wrong with that kit. The battery is higher on a shelf, attached to the front of the footbox on street cars with cast iron head pipes. Cars with tubular headers need the space under the battery, else you could not service the battery. The Wimboldon White footboxes are fiberglass, not tin and they don't have folded edges. The canisters for brake (2) and clutch are mounted on the driver inner fenderpanel and were black steel with steel hard lines running to their systems. Not white plastic mounted on the footbox. The brake master cylinders are under the footbox, in a steel brake box that contains the balance bar and pistons and lines. The foot pedals pivot on the balance bar inside the cockpit. The radiator has an upper attachment pin and tab mounted to he hood opening tube on the chassis and a hitch pin and vibration rubber between. Don't offer this model as a "scale" reference.

Just what I wrote. Are you building a street or comp Cobra? Comp cars batteries are BEHIND the passenger seat, in front of the bulkhead. Look up Rebat batteries-they are 6 volt and long and slender. Street cars have regular batteries above the headers, in FRONT of the passenger footbox.

Wrong. On street 427's-in front of the passenger side footbox. On competition cars, 2 Rebat 6 volts behind the passenger seat.

I know-I live in the past. Ford's emphasis today is Focus-sized and smaller-globally. Dunno how they're gonna sell all those Excretions, Explorers and F250's though...

Too bad it doesn't say 'FORD' somewhere in there...

You're correct-my bad! This is a greater response than I expected-and very welcomed!

Cal, unfortunately not much audience here for sports car racing. Thanks for the update.

Make mine triple black with a dual quad Cammer and 15 x 8 & 10" Torque Thrusts...

Is that a 385 series Ford? Or a Kaase Boss 9?? I know it has to clear the pulleys but I don't recognize the mag on the driver side....

Glad it was helpful-I love race cars and will watch your work.

Jake, As a constructive criticism, I think the roll cage can be improved by looking at prototypical cages. I know "it's just a model" and you may not want to go nuts for realism, but looking at real chassis designs can't hurt. Here's a Mustang drag race set-up from S&W Racecars: http://www.swracecars.com/store/94-04-mustang-chrome-moly-chassis-kit-OSCARItem_136=09-579.aspx You could eliminate the driver inner halo to be more like the endurance cars but you'll get the idea. You could search more and probably find Sebring and Daytona style cages to copy. Best luck and keep posting.

Harry, you MUST ventilate the working area well when using model glues...

Yes it will.

Just put 'ric' between the 'P' and the 'k'.

I use the point of a new #11 to create a starter point in the plastic. Like using a ######-punch when using 1:1 drills. Stops the #80 from sliding and squirming which breaks them. The software thinks I'm using a bad word but it's the name of a tool....

Jeeze Harry! It's on topic-John brought it up in his own thread!

Please post pictures of the girls you go with-they'd be good enough for me...