1968 Shelby GT500KR Convertible (VERY PIC HEAVY!)

[MrObsessive]

This is another one I posted on FB, and folks are still talking about it.

I based this one again off a printable file of the regular Mustang coupe, but quite a bit of editing/scaling went into the body to first make it a convertible, and then make it a Shelby version. The Shelby parts came from .obj files I have of a '68 Shelby Fastback, and its files originated from a Forza Horizon video game which I converted. I gotta say that this particular Shelby puts to shame anything I've seen come from the kit makers, as its body lines are EXACTLY CORRECT. No, I don't plan on selling the files, or the model...........I get that question a lot on FB, and I do this strictly for my own hobby use particularly something that's my own creation.

I've a bunch of pics below......some of them I'll describe what was up in that particular pic.

Enjoy!

Print time for the convertible was 16+ hours with 2,977 layers. I get questions from time to time as to why it takes so long------GOOD prints take time with a high resolution (.030mm layer or less) set on your printer. The 3D prints you see with rough surfaces and horrific layer lines, I can guarantee were a rush job, and were done rather quickly. Good luck in trying to get rid of those lines in critical areas such as scripts or body trim.

Edited doors came out very well as they originally had the window frames on 'em. I never thought that looked quite right as they were a bit heavy-handed, so I edited those out for the CS and the convertible.

The Shelby taillight panel came from one of the game file '68 Shelby's I have. The file had to be converted, scaled, and then thickened up to survive printing. The rear bumper came from the original .obj files I have of this Mustang. Due to the scale origin of the printable body, it had to be edited to suit as far as scale, file format, and print-ability.

I extruded the lettering just a bit on the Shelby nose, since the nose itself (another game file origin) had to be thickened up for printing. In Blender, I extruded the letters so that they were a bit above the surface but still would mesh with the vertices underneath. They came out pretty well, and we'll see down the road how they'll show up after BMF and painting. If all else fails, I have Model Car Garage's very nice PE set he has now of this car.

The hood was yet another '68 Shelby game file that had to be converted for use here. I actually like this hood a bit better than the one I'm using on my '68 Green Hornet project!

Same decklid from the CS I'm using here...............

The rollbar came out a wee bit wonky. This is an easy fix though with some liquid resin and a UV light. Sand to shape, and that's it.

The door sills came from a '65 Mustang coupe file which was also part of the Forza Horizon game series. ANOTHER ONE that has spot on body lines, and one I wouldn't mind converting and printing someday.

Side scoops are from the same '68 Shelby Fastback game files.

These are not printed, but cast resin and IMO, not very well. I'm looking at a file on gamemodels.ru where they have a '68 Barracuda file that has the CORRECT wheels. The MOPARS and Ford shared this design.......GM's were slightly different in the spoke area near the center cap as they were "straighter" while the Ford and MOPAR ones were curved.

These 10 spokes were 3D printed by @Superbird McMonte and are super excellent! I'm going to use his wheels on my Green Hornet, but they wouldn't look bad on this convertible either.

These were 10 spokes 3D printed and cast by Plamoz. They were only available for a very short time, and then for whatever reason, they pulled the plug never to be seen again. It's the reason you want to grab items in the hobby you want if you can, as they can disappear without a trace, The same goes for 3D files too.

From time to time, I'm working on an uptop for the convertible. Lots of editing will be involved here, and more than likely I'll be getting the putty and resin out after it's printed to get the finer details. I have a bunch of pics of the uptops on '68 Mustangs. I don't want the one out of the Monogram '65 Mustang kit as it's too "boxy" and "straight". Convertible tops have a certain droop and sag in places on them and I don't want mine to look like a hardtop with ridges on the roof.

Thanks for lookin'!

[Fat Brian]

This one has me truly jealous, the 68 KR is my favorite Mustang and it hurts my heart the only kit available is the old AMT version. It's inspiring to see what you're able to do in such a short time.

[MrObsessive]

2 hours ago, Fat Brian said:

This one has me truly jealous, the 68 KR is my favorite Mustang and it hurts my heart the only kit available is the old AMT version. It's inspiring to see what you're able to do in such a short time.

Thanks Brian! The files that a lot of the parts came from were in fact a SUPER SHARP '68 Shelby Mustang Fastback game file (Forza Horizon). Maybe one of these days, I'll reformat and print that file. I'll see if I can get a screenshot of the body........someone knew what they were doing when they designed this car for a video game of all things.

[MrObsessive]

2 hours ago, Fat Brian said:

This one has me truly jealous, the 68 KR is my favorite Mustang and it hurts my heart the only kit available is the old AMT version. It's inspiring to see what you're able to do in such a short time.

OK! Here are some screenshots of the Shelby........the different colors represent texturing which is used as part of the video game format. This file is so good (one separate file for a COMPLETE ACCURATE interior), it even includes a file for the 10 spoke wheels. Now you have to extract them, but for the exception of the wheels I showed above, NO ONE has done that wheel correctly.

[Fat Brian]

34 minutes ago, MrObsessive said:

OK! Here are some screenshots of the Shelby........the different colors represent texturing which is used as part of the video game format. This file is so good (one separate file for a COMPLETE ACCURATE interior), it even includes a file for the 10 spoke wheels. Now you have to extract them, but for the exception of the wheels I showed above, NO ONE has done that wheel correctly.

I used to build 3d models back in the day but the programs got so complicated I couldn't keep up. I build this mostly from scratch and placing individual vertices in the space, no fancy extruding back then. I really need to get back to it I guess.