1963 Ford Cougar II

[Raul_Perez]

Bill,

Those magnets look like a pretty slick idea. I may have to try that sometime.

The engine detail also looks pretty good. The fuel line fittings look spot on!!

Thanks for sharing,

[MrObsessive]

Whoops!

Raul I got the name of the site wrong..............it's called "Amazing Magnets" and if you click here it'll take you right to it.

They've got some neat stuff to try in other applications---------I got the site from someone else who originally posted about using magnets, but I can't remember who.

[Fisher61]

Bill, thanks for showing your in depth works in progress, I'm just amazed at the way you open the panels and take care of any large gaps, one of these days I'm might get brave enough to open up some panels and I can learn a lot here! The gaps are the one thing that scare me, I wouldn't want it to look like a die cast!

Your Cougar is going to be gorgeous!

[RodneyBad]

WOW WEEE!

Sweet work on motor, Hinges and Magnets?

IF the glue doesn't hold the magnets good, wouldn't you get locked out?

What kind of glue did you use?

2 part epoxy?

[MrObsessive]

WOW WEEE!

Sweet work on motor, Hinges and Magnets?

IF the glue doesn't hold the magnets good, wouldn't you get locked out?

What kind of glue did you use?

2 part epoxy?

The magnets are just mocked in right now...........I won't put them in fully until final assembly.

Two part epoxy is what I'm going to use-------the magnets are set so they just come up against each other. No chance of getting locked out!

The two part epoxy I use is some tough stuff! It should be strong enough to keep them in their places.

[cruz]

Very cool Bill, like all your stuff!! I am glad to see you posting info. on those magnets, I have already saved the site and will definetly be buying them in the future, they will work not only for door applications but for other little things around the model!!!

[RJWood]

Its great to see you back on track with this one Bill. Sometimes a little model building is just the ticket to help you forget about the worries of the day for a little while.

Great tutorial, cant wait for more.

[Dragon7665]

BTW, I've decided on a color for the Cougar..........

I ran across this pic (I think someone else posted it here)......I really like this color! It's a great contrast with the brushed stainless steel top.

Any suggestions guys for a close match?

Glad you liked the Pic Mr. O.! The color if I remember correctly from all of the Mag Articles about the car, is a Candy BrandyWine.....

[roadhawg]

I really am impressed by those hinges and magnets. You have almost inspired me to try that on something I'm planning. What kind of soldering iron are you using, as I need to get a new one. My kids used my old one as a Star Wars light sabre.......

[MrObsessive]

Hmmm.............I think it's time I made an update to this thread!

The chassis is mostly done, and the body finally has some paint on it. Here's a somewhat coherent rundown of what's been going on lately.

As you can see, the chassis rails are all painted now. I painted them with MCW gloss black. What I like about his paint (particularly the black) is you can spray it directly on the plastic, and it won't craze like your hotter lacquers can.

Beginning to build up the master cylinder frame rail for it to sit on...............

In the above pic, I wanted to build up my own brake and clutch pedals as opposed to the ones given in the kit. The car's pedals pivot on the floor so I went and cut out a square section so the pedals can run up through once the interior is attached.

While I don't know the inner workings of the concept, I know that it used a '63 Shelby Cobra chassis with the engine set back a bit more than the standard Cobra yielding more of a midfront engine layout. Using pics of a 289 Shelby Daytona Coupe under restoration, I based the brake line routing off of those details. These are the front brake lines..............

And the rear brake lines------the Tees and unions were scratchbuilt.

I wanted a break (NOT brake! ) from the chassis so I turned my attention to the interior. The interior of the concept is basic black, so I followed suit and painted the wheel wells, seats, center tunnel, and rear spare carrier in Polly S Engine Black, which is a water soluble paint.

The "carpeting" is black embossing powder which is a bit finer and not as "fuzzy" as flocking. It's a bit better for smaller scales as the flocking is great for large scales when needed.

Stay tuned for more!

Edited May 25, 2009 by MrObsessive

[MrObsessive]

Here's the mostly complete chassis with the inner fenders painted Alclad Aluminum.............

Rear suspension with transverse leaf spring like the 1:1 Cobra's with rear disc brakes.

................And now the interior mostly done save for the dash...............

Now it's time to get the windows trimmed out and test fitted before painting. As some of you have seen in my other builds, it's good to make a pattern from the outside of the windows, then you want to make a "trough" in the A pillars for the windows to have something to rest in/on.

After the paint is rubbed out and such, the windows will be put in. IMO window fitting is just as important as your paint.............huge gaps and ill fitting glass really take away from what can be a nice looking model.

Okay, finally painting! I did the door jambs first so everything can be mounted at the same time to ensure a same color match for all panels. The color is Duplicolor Claret Red Metallic to closely match the dark red car which was the running concept.

But wait, there's more!............

Edited May 26, 2009 by MrObsessive

[MrObsessive]

Here's the can of Duplicolor used for the body.........as my usual mode I decanted the can into an airbrush jar and sprayed away. I just don't trust spray cans of any sort.................I especially hate that stupid fan spray pattern that they've foisted on us if you want to use automotive colors.

In natural light the color is more of a burgundy.........much like the pic of the concept in an earlier posting.

Here 'tis!............

Once the primary color was dry, tape, BMF, and Parafilm was used to mask off the roof to be painted Alclad Aluminum. This was used to replicate the brushed aluminum/stainless steel of the car.

Carefully peeling away the masking yielded good results...................just some touch up needs to be done. Doors appear to be different shades, but they're not. I did some light rubbing out on the main body section to even out some slight orange peel.

Once clearcoated the shades will even out.

Later, I'll clearcoat the red, with Tamiya X-22, then set in the dehydrator to fully cure. Once fully cured, I'll rub out the clear with polishing cloths and wax.

The next hurdle will be the wheels. As seen in the beginning of the thread I want to use Herb Deeks PE wheels. They have the proper offset (none) for this type of car. The jury's still out if they'll be okay for the tires, but I intend to make something work as I have tons of tires laying around.

Thanks for looking!

[Scott Colmer]

This is really nice. I checked out your album a few weeks ago. It good to see progress on this one. I've always like this kit. It will be fun to see one done at a high level.

Scott

[Captain Obvious]

Simply beautiful work...the color is outstanding, and i'm really looking forward to seeing it with those PE wire wheels!

[Clay]

Great Job as usual Bill.

[roadhawg]

Very nice so far. I'm very interested to see how the Herb Deeks wheels go together, as I have a set I want to use on a Revell Austin Healey.

[beefheart22]

You, sir, are insane.... and I love it! This project is incredible!

[cruz]

Good to see you at it again Bill, thanks for the updates and the little tricks you always show us!!!!

[84vanagon]

Great to see you and the Cougar II back!

This was one of the neatest cars to come

out of Dearborn. You're doing it justice.

I love the job you've done on the brake

system.

Can't wait for the next installment!

[Modellpularn]

Very impressive, as always Bill! The chassis looks very similar to AMT's Cobra...... could IMC have used AMT' s molds for the chassis?? That embossing powder looks great as scale carpeting. Sorry, but I've never heard of this stuff before. Could you tell me some more about it. Is it something to do with printing or stamping...? Not sure I'm using the right words here....

[MrObsessive]

Thanks all for the comments! I hope to get more done this week, especially getting the PE wheels done. I'm also in the middle of writing another article for MCM, so that's taking some time as well.

I'll give you a hint to what it's about............one of the things I focused on with this build will be featured in the article. That's a nice little tease!---------Stay tuned!

Hans, embossing powder is used to make cutesy little signs and cards. It works by heating up the powder with a heat gun, and it attaches itself to a preset pattern you've made on the surface. It comes in bunches of colors and can be found at most arts and craft stores.

Here's a couple pics of the jar I used for this.....................

I learned this technique right here on this forum, but I don't remember who originally posted using it------IIRC it was on a '65 Chevelle buildup?

You apply it just like you would flocking........I like to do one section at a time, painting a square (same color as the powder) then sprinkle on the powder and let dry. The only drawback is the powder is a bit sparkly------this might have more to do with how it's processed than actual sparkles in the powder.

Once the powder is fully dry, you can paint over it, but be careful as you don't want to lift the powder with your brush. Airbrushing might be a better way, but you gotta be careful you don't blow the powder away!

Embossing powder looks better to me in this scale as it's more grainy for 1/24-25th than the too fuzzy at times flocking. Flocking would work better in 1/16th or larger IMO for carpeting.

As far as the frame of the model------it does look a lot like AMT's Cobra, but there are some differences between the two. I wish Ford had actually made this car in 1:1, but with them already selling the 289 Cobra roadster and the Mustang on the way as well at the time, Ford probably felt it had the sporty car market covered.

Hope all this helps and thanks for asking!

[Clay]

I don't know Bill, I have yet to find it in the craft stores. I guess its because I keep getting blank stares when I ask for embossing powder. I did however find the silver leaf that Marcos uses. Have yet to use it. Right now I am like using the fabric paint that I have.

I can't wait for your atricle. I loved your last one.

[remingtonbox]

Here is a link for some embossing powder I found: http://embossingcandystore.com/catalog/index.php

This is an exceptional article. Just one thing, I was wondering why the pictures in all of your other topics do not show up. I really want to see that other big ('55?) project you did.

Awesome work on this, I did not even know that Ford made a Cougar, I thought it was only Mercury...

[MrObsessive]

Just one thing, I was wondering why the pictures in all of your other topics do not show up. I really want to see that other big ('55?) project you did.

Thanks!

As far as the other pics, a while back I changed the resolution on Fotki so the pics would show up larger there. I think what happened is that changed the URL on this end, so the pics would no longer show up here.

In the future, I'll see if I can dig up the old threads and then repost the pics so they'll show up now.

Edited May 28, 2009 by MrObsessive

[Modellpularn]

Bill, thanks for the heads up on the embossing powder! If I cant find it over here, I'll try the link to that "candy store".... It does look like scale carpeting, almost like the one in my El Camino! Have to give it a try.