Maindrian Pace

Prime Time! Tamiya fine gray primer used. I like Prime Time because you get to see your car in all one color for the first time. But it also shows all the little things that still need to be done, of which there are a few yet. But 99% of the way there. I detailed a few other parts. The wheel covers were painted with three different colors, the gray being a custom mix of flat black and silver. The spinners were brought over by Dan. He thinks they may be from the '63 Impala kit, but it's still a mystery. I drilled the centers and painted them black to make them look more Mustangish. The taillights were modified a bit, the side wings on the bezels were shaved off so they could be mounted all the way to the sides; as per the real car. The AMT kits had the wings for the mounting spikes, which facilitated quick assembly of promos, Philco radios, and slot car bodies; at the cost of accuracy. When you move them further out board, you will uncover the innermost mounting holes in the rear panel. I filled them with styrene rod so the tiniest wipe of filler was necessary to erase them. The air cleaner was wrapped with a piece of stainless mesh.

Yes, PM Greg Wann here. If you don't hear anything back, ask me and I'll see what I can do.

Thanks Bob. I continue to be impressed by how accurate your Ranchero conversion is, there isn't a line out of place on that car. As a '65 Ranchero owner, these cars have always been on my list of all time favorites, just about all body styles.

Wow, that car looks like a celebration on wheels. Best of luck on the build, sourcing all that gingerbread will be a challenge.

The color I chose for this car is Emberglo, a bright burnt orange, with a matching interior. I ordered the paint from Scalefinishes, and when it came, I did a couple of spoon tests. They came out fine, always do, but there was just one problem: I don't know what color that is, but it's not Emberglo. Maroon with a hint of brown. So I emailed Jameston Kroon, the owner of Scalefinishes. Super nice guy, I've met him at a few shows, and he can always make a specific color whether or not it is on his website. I showed him the spoon tests, and he said that his formula wasn't correct, but he had another one that was, and he would send me a new bottle quickly. Not worried. So I moved on to a few other things. I built a new engine from a coupe reissue. This engine looks more like a '64 260 than a later 289; the timing cover mounted oil filler has to be removed, the timing cover smoothed a bit, and the alternator is way too high on the fan belt - higher even than the stock generator location on the 260. So I modified the fan belt to mount the alternator in the stock location, in front of the right cylinder head. I painted it Ford blue, and used the kit optional Cobra valve covers. The smooth valve covers are too narrow in appearance, but the Cobras are just the right shape. Aside from that, it's box stock. I then did a few parts in Alclad, including the grille from the trashed promo. The Cragar in the pic was done as a demonstration for a local club guy to show him what happens when you spray on too much Alclad - it turns into silver. The Americans are the unplated units from the '62 Bel Air kit, they will be used on another car. Finalizing the bodywork, I corrected an area at the belt line on the left side behind the door window, where the green lacquer paint pooled a little bit and crazed the plastic. While I was smoothing that recessed area, I had a whoops moment and accidentally wiped out the trim around the lower front corner of the 1/4 vent panel. So I rebuilt it with a piece of .000something Evergreen sheet, and carved it to shape. Crisis narrowly averted.

Falcons, Comets, and Mustangs have spring towers in the engine bay. AMT kits do not. They give you a wheel tub engine bay which looks more like that of a Chevelle or a 442. That bugs me. A couple of months ago, I cut the under hood area from a Monogram '65 Mustang and shortened, narrowed, and accurized it a bit to fit the AMT '60-'65 Falcons and Comets. Testing it in a '63 Comet: Finished master: A club member asked if it would fit the early Mustang. Why, yes it will, with a bit of filing and fitting. So this is going to be the one major change to the kit, a more accurate engine bay. The Master Caster was kind enough to make a mold, and fire off a few copies for me: Thanks again, Greg! Here is where things get interesting; The 289 in the AMT Mustangs has taken a lot of criticism over the years and decades for being too small, narrow, undersized, etc. But here it is in that Comet sitting in the resin engine bay insert, and all of a sudden, it's exactly the right size. It's all in the context. To make it fit, all that needs to be done is to "angle mill" the exhaust manifolds to make them hug the engine closer, and cut the head pipes off to fit them in the chassis after the engine is mounted. To make the chassis fit, take a razor saw to the wheel tubs and cut them flush with the frame rails. Since I made this insert for the Falcons and Comets, which are essentially a Mustang that hasn't been sectioned, some trimming of the skirts is required to fit the chassis up in the stock location in the Mustang. Quick work with a Moto Tool with a drum sander. Fitted and glued. Centering the opening between the spring towers is important for manifold clearance which is tight, just like in the real cars. Finalizing the bodywork now, getting ready for Prime Time. Just got a package in from Scalefinishes...

The MPC '66 GT kits are nice, and come with some neat parts. I will be using the Rally Pack from one of them. I am building this one using as many original kit parts as possible, plus some coupe kit parts. It will be stock with some detailing. It should be done before the new kit becomes available, but we don't know when that will be.

My favorite type of building is, by far, restoring glue bombs. It's just my thing. Late in 2020, this car appeared on Ebay, listed for a silly high price, north of $150. After seeing it listed several times with no bids, my buddy Dan told me, "Hey Mike, give him a stupid low offer and see what he does." So I thought about it and did just that, a fraction of his asking price. I thought he'd just tell me to pound sand, but 12 minutes later, it was mine. Great, now what? I already have a minty built/no paint example of this kit in my case, as well as a near-mint unbuilt one in the box. Why do I do this? So it sat in the junk yard for a year, and then AMT announced that a new version of the kit was to be issued with a new body and parts. So now seems as good a time as any to get busy on this hot mess, both as a comparison to the new kit and as a preview of sorts. Dan wanted the wheels. No problem, Dan. First step was to remove the paint, likely AMT lacquer from back in the day. The Purple Pond did it's thing, and now we have something to work with. The paint crazed the plastic very slightly, so a sanding to 1,200 grit will be necessary. Second step was to replace the broken A pillar with the vent frame from a donor coupe body. The roof was cracked open on the right side too, it was probably stepped on. The vent post is at a different angle on the coupe, an easy fix, the rest is the same. TBC.

Hey, I was trying to put it as nicely as I could!

Ironically, a friend stopped by the other week to give me this book, because he thought that my library could stand some improvement. First edition, first printing, 1981. I've been reading it for the last several days, it has stood the test of time well, with almost all of the tips and tricks still relevant.

I restored a glue bomb many years ago and did it in a semi-promo style, as the '67 was never offered as a promo. I have always hoped that the tool wasn't scrapped, but having never been reissued, it's not looking very good.

Mesa FD wasn't having a particularly good day today. Lost a lower ball joint while turning into a supermarket a few blocks from my house. They were really cool guys, taking it all with a sense of humor. The biggest surprise for me, these ginormous paramedic units have upper and lower A frame front suspension. I mean, who knew?

It was on my order list. But I really should have checked my horoscope.

Back in the day, I really didn't like this series of Mustangs. I thought they were huge and just not in the spirit of the originals. But at a car show several years back, I saw a (really nice) '71 429 Mach 1 parked next to a new, 2017-ish Mustang, and the new car dwarfed the old one in every dimension. I looked at them differently after that, no longer these big, huge Torino-like cars. I agree with all here, this model looks fabulous, especially the engine bay and chassis presentation, and my feeling when a model company puts such a major effort into a new kit is to give them business. Plenty of business.

Great trio, but now I've got the opening sequence with all the doors in my mind.

That is just incredible, and the body work is just so clean, perhaps crisper than the 1:1 version. Truly monumental.

Beautiful job on one of my favorite '80s cars. Sharp as can be.

I have been watching Lake Mead videos on youtube for a couple months now, really amazing what is happening there. One sunken boats are now on hills that were also under water, 40 feet of it or more. Yet, most here in Arizona don't know or have never even heard of Lake Mead, or even care. They turn on the faucet, water comes out like it always has, and they shrug their shoulders. And not just here, I'm sure.

My coffee machine stopped heating the other day, but this morning it was working fine. Make up your mind, Mr. Coffee. Maybe I should just bust loose the 21 bucks for a new one.

When you said "New York look" Beetle, I was picturing a Beetle street parked in The Bronx during most of the '70s.

This is an interesting kit. The body is pure comic book fantasy, but the chassis and suspension are accurate renditions of a '55-'56 Lincoln setup with a Ford FE engine and a C6 transmission, all of which are accurate to the Futura based '66 TV Batmobile.

One week? Oofta. It looks like a six month build, easy. Great colors, stance, wheels, styling, just everything. This isn't just a quick build, it's a quick build with firm plans and a solid vision of what the car should look like finished. And I'm sure it did well.

Looks great, what brand of clear did you end up using?

"Sucker play or not, I must have turned her on somethin' fierce. 'Cause this dame was goin' for broke. Or maybe it was her first time with a New Yorker, I dunno. Anyway, nothing can beat good old American know-how. And I was givin' this broad the Stars and Stripes Forever". Way cool project.

Bringing this one back up, great build and an especially nice blend job on the body. I wish this car wasn't overlooked by AMT, or I'd be working on one now.