MrObsessive

This won't be the next car after I finish the Shelby-----that'll be another box stocker. I have that Plymouth though dead on my radar screen as the next '50's car I do after I finish the box stock one. Hopefully I can get it going before the end of this year, and there are a couple more key things I need before I get started on 'er. I won't guarantee that I'll send the body off to a resin caster, but you'll certainly see where and how the corrections are needed to make what I think is sow's ear into a silk purse.

I'm surfing the 'net gathering up pics for Moebius's '65 Mercury Comet, and I came across this gem here. LOTS of neat reference pics can be had with some good engine shots! Hurry though, this is an ended auction as eBay only keeps those up for so long. Enjoy!

I keep coming back to the pic above, and the more I look at it, the more I'm inclined to think that the radius itself could stand to be a bit tighter. Of course getting the radii symmetrical on both sides will be the trick in getting this the way you want. I'm trying to gather up reference pics, and the more I look at the 1:1's the more I'm inclined to think that may be the case with the radius of the upper quarter window. Perhaps making some kind of template would be in order? Just the same, I'll have the kit in a few days, and I may tinker around with this one, kinda like I did months ago with their '61 Pontiac and the window difficulty.

Ok, I couldn't wait any longer, so I bit the bullet and just ordered one of these off eBay! Chris from what I can see looking at your pic here, IMO it may be more than just filing the trim and putting in new arc for the roofline. I sure hope I'm wrong but it could be that the quarter windows may be a bit short, and that's why the curve starts at the trailing edge of the driver's window, instead of starting at the leading edge of the rear quarter window itself. I guess you could repeat that same arc for the trim to fix that, but then you'd run the risk of making the whole C pillar too narrow, thus throwing off the looks of the roofline. My solution if this is the case? Move the entire roof section back a whole scale inch which may make the tulip panel a bit narrower, but at least you'd make the quarter window a scooch longer, and preserve the profile of the C pillar. Of course, now you'd have to fill in the void with plastic and putty, on top of replacing the missing trim with strip styrene. This is involved for sure I know. I know some of you out there are rolling your eyes and thinking a "so what", but again I need to have the kit in 3D in my own hands to say for sure. From what I can see though with the pic presented, that looks to be the case. Yeah I know I get carried away------------that's just me and I know some will leave it as is, and that's OK!

A PE set for the 1967-'68 Shelby Mustang. There's one for the '69, but none for the previous two model years.

So you're gonna go with steel wheels and dog dishes?? That'll be cool!

Hmmmm, I dunno Bob. I've always thought for years that there was too little real estate between the top of the rear wheel wells on the '57 kit to the top of its fenders. Here's a pic of a '56 (same car) and you can see the difference in the kits wheelwells as opposed to the 1:1. Wouldn't be too hard to fix with some .020 styrene, but that's up to you.

Sorry for the long pauses between updates folks. Between work, holidays, and some days just flat out lack of ambition, there are times when this'll happen! Ok, here's where I am at the moment................ I couldn't put it off any longer, so I knew it was time to make the inner trunk structure. I didn't try to reproduce every angle and bend in the structure, just enough to make a reasonable representation of this when the trunk is open. No latching mechanism here, it'll just open and close on its own. Here's the complete structure epoxied in on the underside of the deck lid. Gooseneck hinges were made with a separate structure put in for the hinges to hang on. Not enough real estate was there on the tulip panel to hang the hinges on, not to mention I wanted the hinges to tuck in a bit more under the rear shelf area, so this was made. Everything seems to swing open and close without any binding so far. The hinges are somewhat generic, I'm going for sturdiness this time around, and don't want to deal with the fragility of the type of hinges I did for the '59 Chevy's trunk. Some more test fitting of the taillight panel is being done here. It looks like it tucks into the body a scooch too much. OK, did some more tweaking, and it sits a bit more flush with the trailing edge of the deck lid as I'd like. One thing I may change but my better sense tells me to leave it alone, is the angle of the deck spoiler itself. It seems a bit too upright compared to pics I have, but on the other hand, I really hate to lose the "Shelby" lettering on the spoiler. No one makes a PE set unfortunately (yet) so I'm gonna have to leave this as is. I may make the spoiler and end caps just a smidge taller. Now it's time to replace the vent window on the driver's door. Like the passenger side, this was made out of bent H-Channel brass (Special Shapes), and formed to my liking. I then superglued the frame to the door, and epoxied .010 x .020 styrene strip to replicate the chrome trim on the frame, and to also make the fit a bit more flush against the shoulder of the door. I thought while it was on my mind, to double check the fit of the chassis while I'm doing the bodywork. Stance will be important to me on this one as I'll have to practically scratchbuild the entire rear end due to the IRS it has. This chassis is out of the '67 Shelby kit......... Profile is looking good so far...........note the added rocker trim------will have to tackle the fender well trim at some point. Here's the vent window complete and sitting on the door........... The driver's door is still opening and closing without binding. This'll be important as I don't want any surprises when it comes time to paint and final assembly. BTW, I NEVER paint anything on the body till everything (chassis, interior, glass) fits the way it should without any drama. That's it for now everyone.......I don't go back to work till next Tuesday, so I can at least get some more done hopefully. Next major hurdle to tackle is fixing that front end.........yikes! Some surgery is definitely needed! Thanks for tuning in!

Hmmm.......yeah looking at your pic and taking a peek at pics of the 1:1, the radii for that could be a bit less rounded. That's something I would more than likely try to fix if and when I ever get around to building one, but then you know how "obsessive" I am about things like that! Another area to my eyes that might be able to stand a bit more tweaking is the radius of the top of the windshield header in the glass in relation to the body. Once again, until I have the kit in my hand (I'm going to see about getting one tomorrow), I'll have to reserve judgment till then. The kit looks fantastic though, and Moebius for sure has another winner!

Congrats Jim! Funny thing about smoking------I tried to smoke a cigarette back when I was in the 7th or 8th grade perhaps (early '70's), and I remember coughing so hard I saw stars! Never touched another cigarette since, and I lived in a household where my Dad smoked up to three packs a day at one point!

That's the first thing I thought the moment I saw the story. Wow.........so many have gone this year.

Steve, thanks for posting those pics! Yeah, I definitely need to pick one of these up, possibly two. Looks like Moebius made the channels for the glass a bit deeper for a better fit---------there's no way to know however until it's test fitted, and then again after paint. The body looks spot on as I don't see any major gaffes............I'll be going over it with a fine tooth comb once I have one in front of me in 3D.

Thanks for the review Tom! I don't know what it is about ROG's wheels and tires........I noticed the same problem when I was building my BMW 850i. I thought that the wheels and tires could have stood to be a bit larger. BTW, your ending credits in the video are comical!

That's the route I would go. And now that I remember, that was the issue someone brought up when an individual was building this and showing their work on the (then) Hobby Heaven board. I would think .010-015" round rod would be good to replicate that crease with some finessing.

Snake just curious------what are some of the issues you noticed with the Cyclone body? I don't have the kit in front of me (it's buried on my 3rd floor somewhere), but I do remember someone building one years ago (on another board) and someone commented about them needing to fix something on the sides. IIRC, it was the bodyline crease/contour or something to that effect........it's been many years but I seem to remember that being an issue. Between the two, I'm more partial to the Cyclone as its styling looks a bit better to my eye. Of all the Cyclones I like the '66-'67's the best. After that, they got too busy/heavy-handed looking and didn't look as lithe and agile as the earlier years.

Hey! Someone else that noticed this! JC, I did a mod similar to yours many years ago (mid '90's?) as that's what jumped out at me immediately the millisecond I took it out of the box. I wish I still had the model to show, but it got lost in a move (don't know how that happened) and I don't have pics of it as it was built pre digicam days. Nice mods and yes, it's interesting that the Cyclone doesn't have the same issue despite them being released right about the same time back then. It's almost like they admitted to making a mistake, but didn't come right out and say it. Now if we could have only gotten the same treatment to that '58 Plymouth................

Incredible Randy!!

Beautiful engine Steve! Available for '62 or not, that is one mighty impressive looking engine!

NEVER!! Good models should never roll!!

Gorgeous, gorgeous car! Absolutely LOVE the paint! I'm assuming you used the chassis and engine bay out of the newer tool '67 Mustang? They're very similar in appearance and one that I'd like to use to build mine if I ever get around to it. Of all the cars I've ever owned, I'd have to say this one was my favorite with my current Challenger coming in a very close second. I certainly never saw myself coming and going, unlike my Challenger which I'm seeing more and more of on the roads these days. One thing I can tell you about those quarters is that they were EXPENSIVE to replace! At the time I owned mine (mid '80's into the early '90's) they were running something like $2000 PER SIDE to replace! Now this included not just the quarters, but the roof section that blended into the quarters as you see. Seems as though AMC destroyed the stamping presses that made those not long after they quit making them. One had to use a junker car if they needed to do any bodywork back then. Nowadays you can get replacements and I don't think they cost anywhere near $2K. Needless to say, I was VERY cautious where I parked mine when I owned it, and I wouldn't let anyone drive it 'cept for my sole mechanic that worked on it. It could be quite a handful as it was very quick off the line (390 4 spd car with 3:54 axle) with no power steering and drum manual brakes on all fours! I'd love to have another, but pristine examples run upwards of $40-50,000 these days!

I just got this over my news feed............hard to believe as it hit me like a ton of bricks. You can check out the story here.

Definitely want to get one of these if for no other reason that I really like this car! And it's a first for this one as it's not been kitted before. I see a few on the 'Bay for sale---------may get one from there, or just stop in to my LHS to see if they have one.

Ain't that the truth! I'm in the middle right now of what looks to be a big fat update from Microsoft on my desktop (running Windows 10). I dread this sometimes as it never fails there will be some program that doesn't like the update, and then I have to put on my computer geek hat to sort out why and what program won't play nice. It's no wonder more and more people are switching to tablets (I have a Samsung one) as they're a bit more user friendly when it comes to updates, but I hate trying to type on those things. Not to mention the puny hard drive space most give you.

Nice color on that AMX! I used to own a 1:1 '69 390 4 spd car many years ago, so I'm a bit biased! I wish I could have hung onto it, but Uncle Sam said I couldn't take it with me when I was being stationed down in Fort Jackson S. C., so I had to sell it.

Some may think of this as a bit radical, but THIS is the future of our hobby! I know we've talked about this before, but the time is quickly approaching when one can simply make their own parts if they're so inclined, instead of waiting/hoping someone will come out with said part/body.