Revell of Germany 1965 427 Cobra

[JohnnyK]

Hi everyone,

I have a lot of things going on in my life, so it took me months to finish this model. Instead of dragging this WIP over many months, I decided to do a time condensed WIP.

 

This kit is a Revell of Germany kit. Please take note of the word "NEW".

The back of the box has a lot of good information and nice photos of the finished model.

All of the parts are in bags.

The instruction manual is very well done. It even includes sequence of construction (red arrows).

The color chart is printed in numerous languages, so I made a cheat sheet in English. The paint colors are not referenced to any particular brand of paint.

The box cover states that this is a new model. HOWEVER; this model was originally made in 1988." Liar, liar, pants on fire." I was expecting new molds. So, what's new about it? The decals? The tires? Beats me. There will be flash and mold lines that will need to be removed.

Before I start any build, I always mark the frets with a black marker. This makes it easier to find the correct fret during construction.

I am going to start the build by working on the wheels and tires. This is a photo of the rear wheel of a 1:1 Cobra. I will use this as a guide for my model's wheels.

The wheels that are included in the kit are chrome plated (wheel on right). The wheels on the 1:1 car are not chrome plated so I dunked the wheels in the purple stuff to remove the chrome plating. I painted to wheels with Model Master Aluminum Plate (left tire). The rims were polished with a Q-tip and the remainder of the wheel was left unpolished. The kit includes Goodyear decals and blue stripe decals. I used AquaLine "earth" to dirty-up the tires.

The repainting of the four tires is complete.

Next up, the engine.

 

 

 

 

[vamach1]

As you surmised from the date this is the original Monogram kit that has been reissued in some different variations (street and SC and drag race) but has not really changed much.  The most changes to the kit were the Fujumi versions which I would avoid if you want to replicate an original Cobra and not a later continuation series one.

[JohnnyK]

Yes, this is an old kit. Then why is the word NEW printed in big yellow letters on the box cover.

[vamach1]

8 hours ago, JohnnyK said:

Yes, this is an old kit. Then why is the word NEW printed in big yellow letters on the box cover.

It sounds better than Rebox. 😉

[gman]

13 hours ago, JohnnyK said:

Yes, this is an old kit. Then why is the word NEW printed in big yellow letters on the box cover.

New for the European market in a Revell AG boxing? Who knows...the old Monogram issue was not a bad kit IIRC.

[JohnnyK]

The intake manifold, carb and dry sump pan are chrome plated. I quick bath in the Purple stuff quickly removed the chrome. The valve covers were also dechromed.

The engine block and transmission are molded in two parts. They didn't fit together too well, so clamps were needed.

I purchased a prewired distributor from MAD. This saved me a lot of time and frustration trying to wire the kit's distributor.

 

It's time to make a decision. Should the engine be painted Ford blue, of black. I seems that during the mid 1960's, Ford painted their engines Ford Blue if they were installed in the cars at the Ford plant. The engines were painted black if they were crate engines. So, the engine block and valve covers were painted black.  I used the back side of a #11 blade to scrape away the paint on the raised detail on the valve covers. The transmission and bell housing were painted a medium grey. The carb was painted Testors' aluminum and was highlighted with Testors' brass. The intake manifold was painted Model Masters Aluminum Plate and weathered using AquaLine Brown Mud.

Next up is assembling the chassis.

 

 

 

[JohnnyK]

The chassis and suspensions look primitive at best. They look like something a hot rodder would build in his garage.

 

[larman]

1 hour ago, JohnnyK said:

The chassis and suspensions look primitive at best. They look like something a hot rodder would build in his garage.

 

That's because they kind of were...  Cobras were not high tech, driving a 427 Cobra was brutal. Tremendous power in a package that barely can contain it. That was the whole point and why they are legendary today. The ex Monogram kit is older, not sure why it is being marketed as new, but a pretty nice and accurate model.

[vamach1]

10 minutes ago, larman said:

That's because they kind of were...  Cobras were not high tech, driving a 427 Cobra was brutal. Tremendous power in a package that barely can contain it. That was the whole point and why they are legendary today. The ex Monogram kit is older, not sure why it is being marketed as new, but a pretty nice and accurate model.

If you think the 427 was primitive then the early 289 leaf spring chassis's would shock you even more.  It was 1950’s technology and it took a very skilled driver to guide the car around the track.  Even with a coil spring set up the revised 289  was no match for a larger engine so the 427 chassis was redesigned to try to handle the extra torque and horsepower.  I had FFR Cobra and despite a more modern suspension and “only” a 302 engine it was still a handful because the car was so light.  I highly respect anyone that drives a real one or similar replica on the race track since the survival rate in a rollover accident is probably pretty low.  Pictured is a real 427 that was being raced at the Sebring Historics last year.

[Rob Hall]

On 1/1/2023 at 11:52 PM, JohnnyK said:

Yes, this is an old kit. Then why is the word NEW printed in big yellow letters on the box cover.

New box art.

[JohnnyK]

The kit included decals as seatbelts. I didn't like that so I purchased aftermarket cloth seatbelts. I used black embossing powder to simulate carpet. The decals for the dash gauges were really nice. A little Tamiya "Mark Fit" decal setting solution helped flatten out the decals. I used a Molotow chrome pen to paint the gauge rings. Finally, I used Testors' clear glue to simulate glass in the gauges. The dashboard is painted Tamiya Rubber Black.

[Gramps46]

I like your approach with your build of the Cobra.  Please keep us posted with pictures.

[Gramps46]

On 1/1/2023 at 5:15 PM, vamach1 said:

As you surmised from the date this is the original Monogram kit that has been reissued in some different variations (street and SC and drag race) but has not really changed much.  The most changes to the kit were the Fujumi versions which I would avoid if you want to replicate an original Cobra and not a later continuation series one.

Thank you Rex for posting the Scalemates kit diagram.

[JohnnyK]

There are mold lines running the entire length body from the rear fender to the front fender. These need to be removed.

I am not a big fan of the light baby-blue that this car was originally painted. It looks like a washed out blue. So, instead I use Tamiya Light Blue. After the paint dries I'll polish it with Novus#2

I finished the chassis while the paint was drying. First I added that radiator and engine.

Next, I added the wheels/tires. What the heck is this !!*&%$!!! The spindles are WAY SMALLER in diameter than the holes in the wheels!!!! The wheels just flop around.

After some thought, I removed some insulation from a computer cable and cut into tubes.

I pressed the tubes onto the spindles.

Problem solved.

 

[JohnnyK]

Decals have been added along with side pipes and lights.

There are no locating pins on the windshield frame. Just two little indents that fit over two little bumps on the body. That is not a very secure way to attach the windshield frame to the body

I solved the problem by drilling two holes in the windshield frame and gluing a wire into each hole. I then drilled two holes in the car's body to accept the wires. The wires were then super glued into the holes.

That the end of the WIP