AMT ‘66 Mustang Hardtop

[radiohd10]

Well, I finally bit the bullet and got myself an airbrush - now I’m kicking myself for having waited so long.  To anyone who’s on the fence about taking the leap - just do it.  It’s actually easier than using spray cans and the cleaning isn’t nearly as annoying as I thought it would be.  There are some great tutorials on YouTube and they’re just a lot of fun to use.  

Anyway, here’s my first attempt at airbrushing  -  a ‘66 Mustang Coupe.  It’s a kit bash between the AMT ‘66 Hardtop and the AMT Shelby 350 GT.  I used the ‘66 body/interior tub and everything else is either scratch built or taken from the ‘67.  Sorry for the photo dump, but this thing nearly killed me (and I have no self control ?)

Here are some build notes for those who like to know this stuff:

I had to shorten the rear of the ‘67 chassis a bit to get it to fit properly. I also cut and grafted the waaay more accurate front inner fenders from the ‘67 to the body of the ‘66 so I could add detail to the engine bay.  Most of the engine bay bits are scratch built but I also repurposed some things out of the parts box.  

The interior door panels needed quite a bit of added detail so I shaped and glued some styrene sheet and putty to them and used two different gauges of wire for the trim.  The knobs and handles are aluminum sheets/tubing, and tailor pins. Had to build a rear view mirror and some sun visors too. I also added styrene to the back of the seats and to the sides for the chrome trim, sanded them to a more appropriate shape, and put them on brackets to lift them off the floor a bit. 

The trim around the windshield was a mess so I sanded it off and used some styrene strips and scribing to recreate it.  I also had to scribe the panel lines around the front and rear lights because the kit inexplicably had the body smooth the whole way. Weird detail for them to miss. Also scratched some bezels for the headlights. 

The kit glass was unusable so I used clear acetate, cut to shape.  I added some styrene strips along the inner A-pillars and around the rear windshield so I could friction fit the glass into position.  

All the chrome on the body (aside from the bumpers and wheels) is BMF and the scripts and emblems are foil under paint. 

The wheels were taken from another kit (68 charger I think??).  Had to do quite a bit of reshaping to get the ride height sorted.  It’s not perfect but it’s better than before.

Body paint is scale finishes Tahoe Turquoise basecoat over Alclad silver candy base, clear coated with Mr Super Clear UV Cut Gloss.  Interior paint is tamiya racing white under Tahoe Turquoise, with tamiya browns and blacks and clears for the wood grain.

This build was a real pain in the butt, but I’m happy with how it came out.  It’s probably my favorite car of all time so hopefully a manufacturer will put out a better representation someday. If not, I took notes, so the next one should be easier.

Time to cleanse my palate with nice simple curbside ?? 

[Jim B]

Beautiful Mustang.  Very sharp.

[vamach1]

Nicely done with all the modifications to make the build much more realistic.

[Erock]

2 hours ago, radiohd10 said:

Well, I finally bit the bullet and got myself an airbrush - now I’m kicking myself for having waited so long.  To anyone who’s on the fence about taking the leap - just do it.  It’s actually easier than using spray cans and the cleaning isn’t nearly as annoying as I thought it would be.  There are some great tutorials on YouTube and they’re just a lot of fun to use.  

Anyway, here’s my first attempt at airbrushing  -  a ‘66 Mustang Coupe.  It’s a kit bash between the AMT ‘66 Hardtop and the AMT Shelby 350 GT.  I used the ‘66 body/interior tub and everything else is either scratch built or taken from the ‘67.  Sorry for the photo dump, but this thing nearly killed me (and I have no self control ?)

Here are some build notes for those who like to know this stuff:

I had to shorten the rear of the ‘67 chassis a bit to get it to fit properly. I also cut and grafted the waaay more accurate front inner fenders from the ‘67 to the body of the ‘66 so I could add detail to the engine bay.  Most of the engine bay bits are scratch built but I also repurposed some things out of the parts box.  

The interior door panels needed quite a bit of added detail so I shaped and glued some styrene sheet and putty to them and used two different gauges of wire for the trim.  The knobs and handles are aluminum sheets/tubing, and tailor pins. Had to build a rear view mirror and some sun visors too. I also added styrene to the back of the seats and to the sides for the chrome trim, sanded them to a more appropriate shape, and put them on brackets to lift them off the floor a bit. 

The trim around the windshield was a mess so I sanded it off and used some styrene strips and scribing to recreate it.  I also had to scribe the panel lines around the front and rear lights because the kit inexplicably had the body smooth the whole way. Weird detail for them to miss. Also scratched some bezels for the headlights. 

The kit glass was unusable so I used clear acetate, cut to shape.  I added some styrene strips along the inner A-pillars and around the rear windshield so I could friction fit the glass into position.  

All the chrome on the body (aside from the bumpers and wheels) is BMF and the scripts and emblems are foil under paint. 

The wheels were taken from another kit (68 charger I think??).  Had to do quite a bit of reshaping to get the ride height sorted.  It’s not perfect but it’s better than before.

Body paint is scale finishes Tahoe Turquoise basecoat over Alclad silver candy base, clear coated with Mr Super Clear UV Cut Gloss.  Interior paint is tamiya racing white under Tahoe Turquoise, with tamiya browns and blacks and clears for the wood grain.

This build was a real pain in the butt, but I’m happy with how it came out.  It’s probably my favorite car of all time so hopefully a manufacturer will put out a better representation someday. If not, I took notes, so the next one should be easier.

Time to cleanse my palate with nice simple curbside ?? 

That looks awesome! Love all the detail you put into it

[Erock]

That looks awesome! Love all the detail you put into it

[drodg]

Nice Mustang and excellent build

[michelle]

Very very nice work on the kitbashing looks great 

[radiohd10]

3 hours ago, Jim B said:

Beautiful Mustang.  Very sharp.

 

3 hours ago, vamach1 said:

Nicely done with all the modifications to make the build much more realistic.

 

2 hours ago, Erock said:

That looks awesome! Love all the detail you put into it

 

2 hours ago, drodg said:

Nice Mustang and excellent build

 

2 hours ago, michelle said:

Very very nice work on the kitbashing looks great 

thanks guys!

[cifenet]

Quality finish, great photography, and a faithful scale modeling!  ?? ??  Bravo!

[Dragonhawk1066]

That's a nice looking Mustang!

[charger74]

Very well done ????

[Rattlecan Dan]

Beautiful Job! Has a very realistic look and feel to it. You did some fine detail work as well. Thanks for posting.

[Dominik]

beautiful. love the interior

[afx]

Nice work.

[Calb56]

Beautiful. Wow. One of my favorite cars but I hate the lack of detail in that kit, you did a great job.

[70 Sting]

That’s your first time using an airbrush?  I hate you. ??  Awesome build. All the extra work you put in really shows.  Great detail everywhere and the fact that you were able to replace the glass with acetate is pure voodoo.  I have a Pantera kit sitting unbuilt because it requires a windshield replacement.  Well done sir. Well done.

[TooOld]

Sharp looking conversion , very well done !

[radiohd10]

17 hours ago, cifenet said:

Quality finish, great photography, and a faithful scale modeling!  ?? ??  Bravo!

 

16 hours ago, Dragonhawk1066 said:

That's a nice looking Mustang!

 

10 hours ago, charger74 said:

Very well done ????

 

10 hours ago, Rattlecan Dan said:

Beautiful Job! Has a very realistic look and feel to it. You did some fine detail work as well. Thanks for posting.

 

5 hours ago, Dominik said:

beautiful. love the interior

 

5 hours ago, afx said:

Nice work.

 

3 hours ago, Calb56 said:

Beautiful. Wow. One of my favorite cars but I hate the lack of detail in that kit, you did a great job.

 

2 hours ago, TooOld said:

Sharp looking conversion , very well done !

Thanks guys!

2 hours ago, 70 Sting said:

That’s your first time using an airbrush?  I hate you. ??  Awesome build. All the extra work you put in really shows.  Great detail everywhere and the fact that you were able to replace the glass with acetate is pure voodoo.  I have a Pantera kit sitting unbuilt because it requires a windshield replacement.  Well done sir. Well done.

hahaha I’ve watched so many airbrushing vids on YouTube over the past 2 years I feel like I’ve been using one forever. I did a practice run on some spoons first too lol. The acetate thing is a game changer. I may start using it regardless of the kit glass quality. I saw other members of this forum using it too and now I know why.  

[70 Sting]

2 hours ago, radiohd10 said:

The acetate thing is a game changer. I may start using it regardless of the kit glass quality. I saw other members of this forum using it too and now I know why.  

How do you handle complex curves?  I would think it would be difficult to keep the acetate flush all around a windshield for example.

[1959]

Very nice build! I have also built a AMT 66 HT in the 90's and had to do the same engine bay and chassis modifications to get it more realistic and it sure was a lots of work so I know what you've been through! Good job!

[radiohd10]

5 minutes ago, 70 Sting said:

How do you handle complex curves?  I would think it would be difficult to keep the acetate flush all around a windshield for example.

That’s a good question lol. This was the first time I tried it and the glass was pretty straight. With curves, vacuum forming may be the way to go. Gonna try the acetate on an el Camino I have in the queue and that should be telling. 

[radiohd10]

5 minutes ago, 1959 said:

Very nice build! I have also built a AMT 66 HT in the 90's and had to do the same engine bay and chassis modifications to get it more realistic and it sure was a lots of work so I know what you've been through! Good job!

Thanks - yeah it definitely stretched my ability to the limit. It’s the only way to get better though!

[Bainford]

Beautiful Mustang! You did a lovely job on this one. Nice & clean, and great detail. Nice clean foiling, and I’d say your getting the hang of the airbrush. Nice paint and perfect colour. Certainly one of the nicest builds I’ve seen of this kit. Very well done. 

[Dragline]

A first round knockout. What a beauty. I would be proud to call that my own

[Straightliner59]

Excellent work! She's a real beauty! The interior is very nicely done.