1/16 Shelby Mustang GT500

[Rich Chernosky]

Inspiration sometimes comes from the strangest places. I recently moved my rack of big scale kits and re-arranged it. Everything fit nicely except for one box. This kit. So why not just build it. Here it is, a fairly obscure Nichimo 1/16 Shelby Mustang GT500. This was sprayed on November of 2013. Color is Tamiya TS22 over TS21 gold. Ity was clearcoated with TS13 with some gold added and then just a coat of TS13. Many working features on this kit and it was a joy to build. Glad I did it ....finally.  More details below pictures. Feel free to comment.

For and early Japanese kit...my guess is early 80's...this was a well engineered and great fitting kit. the openiong doors,trunk, and hood all fit and worked to perfection. The glass fit was also amazing.  Wheels were accented with Tamiya panel liner. Even the decals were still good. 

Detail and fir in the back was also good. I substitued the tail pipes with chrome antenna tubing and the licence plate is from extras. Note the working tail lights.

One of the more interesting features of this kit was the working suspension front and rear. Not quite prototypically correct but worked and assembled  nicely.

The big block 428cu in engine all wired and plumbed. Had to add a few extras here as they kinda skimped on detail but what was here was nice.  Had the option of doing either the Mustang or Cobra graphics.  Ford used the Cobra name as they were out of production to sell the cars. Not many GT500 cars were produced between 1967-69 due a shortage of these engines. 

These two tiny pieces were seperate and really added to the look . Nice touch.

I really liked the front end treatment on this kit. Model came complete with working front headlights, but they were grain-o-wheat. I substituted them for LED's.  Thanks for looking.

[VanGoGo]

looks great. really impressed with the detail of that kit

[Bainford]

Very nice work, Rich. That will be an impressive model on the shelf.

[Jim B]

Great looking Mustang. Well done. 

[Cosmic D]

Great to see this unusual old kit so nicely built instead of sitting on a shelf.  Thanks for sharing it.

[STU111]

Great build of an interesting old kit. You don’t see the Japanese kit makers doing a lot of US cars, thanks for sharing this one. 👍🏻

[PappyD340]

Very nice Mustang!

[Ragtop Man]

Literally, the first time I have seen this kit built and completed. Really nice. 

The Japanese kits of the time had an unfortunate tendency to be kind of ... off ... in places. This one is cool.

Would also like to see the Entex 1/16 convertible... the 1/20 scale Mach 1... the Imai Cougar completed as well. 

Inndaay they were too rich for me, or, I had lingering suspicions about their scale fidelity. 

[Mike 1017]

MOST MOST EXCELLENT

[Rattlecan Dan]

Wild color! Looks nice.

[Brudda]

Very nice!

[DJMar]

Nice work on that oldie. It builds up into a really sweet looking model. It's certainly a really unique color.

IIRC, the kit was first released in the late 70s. I picked up my first and only copy of the kit in 1983.

[Rich Chernosky]

On 11/26/2025 at 1:30 PM, VanGoGo said:

looks great. really impressed with the detail of that kit

Thanks Vince. I was just as impressed with your 1/16 Vette. 

 

On 11/26/2025 at 1:37 PM, Bainford said:

Very nice work, Rich. That will be an impressive model on the shelf.

Thanks Trevor. I will be as soon as I can find room.

 

On 11/26/2025 at 1:58 PM, Jim B said:

Great looking Mustang. Well done. 

Thanks Jim

 

On 11/26/2025 at 5:09 PM, Cosmic D said:

Great to see this unusual old kit so nicely built instead of sitting on a shelf.  Thanks for sharing it.

Thanks...I have no problem  digging into a rare and irreplaceable kit. No shelf queens in my collection. 

 

On 11/27/2025 at 6:38 AM, PappyD340 said:

Very nice Mustang!

Thanks Larry

 

On 11/27/2025 at 10:26 AM, Ragtop Man said:

Literally, the first time I have seen this kit built and completed. Really nice. 

The Japanese kits of the time had an unfortunate tendency to be kind of ... off ... in places. This one is cool.

Would also like to see the Entex 1/16 convertible... the 1/20 scale Mach 1... the Imai Cougar completed as well. 

Inndaay they were too rich for me, or, I had lingering suspicions about their scale fidelity. 

Sometimes those kits can fool you as is the case with this one. But for the most part you are correct, they are what they are. Most times I just finish them if it is way too much work to correct the innaccuracies. They go to the back of the shelf. I admire anybody who can completly cut apart a body to make it right. 

 

On 11/27/2025 at 11:49 AM, Mike 1017 said:

MOST MOST EXCELLENt

Thank Mike.

 

On 11/27/2025 at 12:56 PM, Rattlecan Dan said:

Wild color! Looks nice.

Thanks

 

22 hours ago, Brudda said:

Very nice!

Thank you Bruce.

 

20 hours ago, DJMar said:

Nice work on that oldie. It builds up into a really sweet looking model. It's certainly a really unique color.

IIRC, the kit was first released in the late 70s. I picked up my first and only copy of the kit in 1983.

Thank you DJ. There was no date on either the box or instructions, so it was my best guess on the year.  Bought the kit at a show, don't remember when. 

 

[Rich Chernosky]

On 11/26/2025 at 6:10 PM, STU111 said:

Great build of an interesting old kit. You don’t see the Japanese kit makers doing a lot of US cars, thanks for sharing this one. 👍🏻

Thank you Stuart.  I have gone out of my way to get these oddball Japanese kits. At shows nobody wants them so they usually go cheap but lately the prices have started to soar.  Most of the Japanese kit makers manufacture for their own market first. Most of what I have seen for our market has been Mustangs and Corvettes and a few oddball show cars. I just like em cause they are so different than the usual domestic fare. 

[ChrisR]

Nice.