1966 Mercury Comet

[MarkJ]

Got the base interior painted. Working on the stuff that goes in it.

[Pierre Rivard]

Looking good.

This red matches well the real car's interior.

[MarkJ]

Pierre, that's the thing. I'm using the photos of a car that is presented as being the real car in a Hot Rod magazine article. So it is a close match to that car, but if its like the real car from 1966 that won the Southern 500, I don't really know. I'm hoping its close. I finished the seat and almost through with the axle cooler. still need to paint the motor that sticks out the side of the cooler. Also got the dash mostly done. I just need to add the guages before I reveal it. It turned out pretty rough. Thats what's good about dashes. when they're installed in the model, its really hard to see them.

[Modelbuilder Mark]

looking good

[MarkJ]

Finished the dash, steering wheel and rear axle cooler.

[MarkJ]

On 6/3/2022 at 4:25 PM, Modelbuilder Mark said:

looking good

Thanks, Mark. For some reason I'm having a hard time getting this one done. Maybe next build will be strictly oob. Except for tires and wheels. and a roll cage of course.

[gks1964]

Excellent work Mark!!

[MarkJ]

22 hours ago, gks1964 said:

Excellent work Mark!!

Thanks, Gerald. If I could just get this interior done, I could assemble this thing and get her done. Had a few personal issues I had to tend to last week. Anniversary and two birthdays. 

[MarkJ]

[jjsipes]

Looking good. Can't wait to see the finished product.

[MarkJ]

53 minutes ago, jjsipes said:

Looking good. Can't wait to see the finished product.

Thanks, Jason. Seems like its taking forever.

[Pierre Rivard]

From here I can see the finish line. Almost there Mark.

[MarkJ]

19 minutes ago, Pierre Rivard said:

From here I can see the finish line. Almost there Mark.

Thanks, Pierre. I'm getting ready to finish the harnesses on the seat and then I think I can get the interior finally put together and inside the body. When that happens it should not be too much longer.

[MarkJ]

[Pierre Rivard]

The interior looks super nice. What did you use for the cage padding?

[MarkJ]

Pierre, it is .25-inch black crepe art tape. The same stuff I use for the seat belts, but it is 1/8 inch wide. hobby Lobby sells it. Thanks for the question. 

[MarkJ]

No more wips. I finally attached the Body to the frame so just a few more things to do. I'm not going to do some of the detailing under the hood I had originally planned. I just want to finish this thing and move on to the next project, which will have the hood shut and a molded chassis with exhausts removed. I don't want to use my 60 Ford kit as a donor for the chassis. It's going to be a simple build.  As they like to say, a shelfer.

[yellowsportwagon]

This is turning out real nice Mark.

[Pierre Rivard]

Mark, I can't wait to see the finished model. No doubt it will turn out great. Thank you for sharing your build process. I always learn something new from following your work.

[MarkJ]

Thanks, Tim and Pierre. Just got through putting the blue streak decals on the tires. Talk about a scary process. You're trying to get this tiny blue circular decal in a ridge on the tire. somehow, I got all 4 tires done without trashing the decals. One of those hold your breath and pray jobs.

[Pierre Rivard]

Looking forward to seeing the completed build.

[MarkJ]

Thanks, Pierre. all I lack is installing the hood and trunk pins, which on this car the ferrules are oval shaped. Why, I don't know. Then I need to future the decal sheets, something I should have done earlier than this. Then I need to decal the model and finally future the model. I see a lot of glaring mistakes that I won't share, but overall, from a distance, I think it will be an okay build. Especially since It's not what it says it is on the box. Watch AMT release a 66 comet as a round 2 kit with nascar goodies in it.

[Bills72sj]

I have enjoyed watching all the fabrication you have made on this model. The seat turned out AMAZING. If I had been paying attention when you were struggling to mask your multi colored paint job, I would have strongly suggested Parafilm. It is made to seal medical test tubes. You cut a strip, stretch it to activate it, then lay it along the edge of area to be masked. If you want a clean smooth line you just lay thin 1/8" tape onto the over the top. You then cut your line based on the parting line between colors. The side that is to be painted peels off without leaving any residue. It is also malleable so you can push it around a bit with a toothpick. This is particularly handy to prevent bleed under at scribed panel lines. It never hardens or gets gooey. It is kind of like the adhesive on Post-it notes but without the paper. You can leave it on for YEARS with no ill effects. To cover the masked areas inside panels you can simply lay regular blue masking tape. Removal after painting takes no special solvents, water or technique. Simple peel or rub it off in little balls as it loves to stick to itself. Parafilm is not transparent but not opaque either. Below is a recent project. You can see the thin white line tape by itself would fail miserably over all the ridges and grooves I ran over. It has no issue with overlapping itself either. It just sticks and seals.

Edited June 30, 2022 by Bills72sj

[MarkJ]

Wow, Bill. Thanks for the info on parafilm. It did a fine job on your excellent hauler build. Do you have a link or can you tell me where you purchased it. As you can tell I'm yet to find a good masking system.

[MarkJ]

Finished and final pictures posted in Nascar under glass forum in this web site.