Dirk's 1/24 Revell 65 Mustang 2 + 2

[Dirkpitt289]

I recently found a few car builds in another forum that caught my eye and had me itching to build a car. Rather then go out and buy another kit I realized I had just the kit I would want to build, Revells 1/24 scale Mustang 2+2. A car I actually owned back in the 80's. I started modeling just over 3 years ago because for Christmas that year my girlfriend bought me a Revell Mustang kit. At the time it seemed an odd gift because I hadn't built a model in over 20 years. My guess is she was clueless as to what to get me that year or she was ****** at me and it was an "This'll teach you" kinda gift. Well that spark re-ignited my passion for the plastic. I started this kit back then but it soon fell to the wayside for other more shinier kits and had been languishing on my shelf ever since. Most of what had been done back then was applying paint to lots of various pieces and painting the body with my first air brush.

So here we go on my first venture into car building in many many years...

History

In 1964 when Ford introduced the Mustang, the new car not only conquered America, it also mesmerized the buying public across the world. However,in Germany, Ford ran into a snag when it learned that a pair of German companies already held the copyright to the Mustang name. To the Germans, a Mustang was either a truck or a small motorbike.

Eyeing the lucrative German market, especially with so many American soldiers stationed there, Ford swerved around the copyright issue by giving the Germany-bound Mustangs a new name, calling it simply "T-5," which was the Ford code-word for the Mustang during its development. The seemingly simple fix for the problem led to the production of some very unique components. Because the Mustang name couldn't appear anywhere on the car, Ford tooled up gas caps and steering-wheel horn buttons with the embossed "Ford," but not "Mustang" like the American versions. Fenders had to be punched for installation of the special "T-5" emblems. Even owner's manuals had to be printed without the Mustang name. Most came with kilometer-per-hour speedometers instead of miles-per-hour, and suspension upgrades--like the stiffer "export brace" in place of the typical flimsy shock-tower-to-cowl braces--were added to accommodate therough European roads.

The Kit

I left it a bit of disarray

The body had one cote of red acrylic applied but needs to be redone

This was caused by one of the tires getting stuck to the hood.

I bought a Photo etch set for it along with an engine kit.

I had already painted a lot of the parts but seeing how this was the very first kit I started when I got back into the hobby I will be going back and cleaning up and or redoing some of them again.

One of the first things I need to do is remove the molded in pony badge and mustang lettering. I will need to spray this with some primer to see how well I did in the sanding.

[Dirkpitt289]

I decided to start assembling the undercarriage

Moving forward with the horse with no name it was time to address the 289 power plant.

This is what I'm shooting for. 64 1/2 and early 65 mustangs came with black blocks and intakes with gold valve covers and a gold air cleaner with a black snorkel.

My personal opinion is that I should have made this a 66. Then I could have painted the motor blue and it wouldn't look so lost among all that black. Oh well there are plenty more Mustangs to be built. The one thing I did decide (good bad or indifferent) is in order to brake up all that black I decided to install red spark plug wires. This is the first time I'm using one of these wiring kits.

Not great but i'm ok with it considering it's my first time with this product.

The engine has been installed in the frame

I did a dry fit of the body on the frame to see how the engine fits. Not too shabby. Of course I still have to paint the engine compartment but the fit is a lot like the real deal.

Thanks for looking

[whale392]

Interesting about the overseas 'Export' cars.

One thing I did see on the model (and please don't kill me for this) is the valve covers are on upside-down. Other than that, it looks like a good start.

[Dirkpitt289]

Interesting about the overseas 'Export' cars.

One thing I did see on the model (and please don't kill me for this) is the valve covers are on upside-down. Other than that, it looks like a good start.

Not a problem at all. I caught that to but it was too late to change it. Wait till you see the mistake I made on the KR-8 in my other thread.

[W-409]

Well this is looking amazing. Can't wait to see more. Engine detailing is great, and chassis work is really great so far. I'm sure, this will be very nice Mustang when finished. I'll be watching.

[Dirkpitt289]

Moving forward on the T-5 I've given it a cote of primer to see how well it went with removing the fender badges.

Right side, CHECK

Left side, CHECK

Instrument cluster before

Instrument cluster after

Side vent PE in progress

Side vent with all PE in place and awaiting paint

The back side of the vent windows need some work. Need to remove the two injector marks

Four injector marks in the headliner that will also need to be removed.

All better

Till next time. Thanks for looking.

[mrmike]

This is an interesting project, Dirk. I never heard of a T-5 European version of the Mustang. I'll be watching this one.

[roadhawg]

What you have done so far is really looking good, and we really don't see enough of these early Mustangs, but I must question your decision to not correct the upside down valve covers. Incorrectly assembled parts as obvious as this will take your model from a scale replica to a toy quicker than anything. I suggest stopping where you are at and fixing the problem before continuing. You are doing too much other quality work to have it ruined by something so simple. Just a suggestion.

[Dirkpitt289]

The build has progressed too far along to be able to disassemble the valve covers.

Well the interior is just about completed. The headliner and the rear vents have been painted.

The rear vents as seen through that large rear window.

next will be to actually apply the interior vents

The almost completed interior shot. As some might notice I haven't added any seat belts. Well for those that don't know seat belts were an option in 1965. They weren't standard in Mustangs till 1967 but could be added to your stang the following prices:

Rear Seat Belts $14.78

Front Deluxe Seat Belts w/ Retractors $7.39

Front & Rear Deluxe Seat Belts w/ Retractors $25.40

[Dirkpitt289]

Last time I used my air brush I had a problem and screwed up the tip. If you look at the cone on the left closely you can see the crack

After a call I got some replacements and we are back on track.

Time to add some paint to out nameless ford. To do this I broke out some Model Master acrylic Guards Red.

After a couple light passes phase one is complete.

I was very happy with this effort till I realized I forgot to mask off the headliner and rear vents. Now I have red over spray all over the interior roof.

[Dirkpitt289]

This time I remembered to mask off the interior before spraying

Second cote applied

After this is dried the buffing and polishing will begin

Thanks for looking

[Dirkpitt289]

After the second cote dried I set to work on smoothing and polishing the ole stang

Time to do some detailing of the body starting with the engine bay

Added some silver behind the headlights so the red won't bleed through the clear lens on the headlights

And lastly the trim. It came out better then I thought but there is still plenty of touch up required.

Thanks for looking

Edited December 24, 2011 by Dirkpitt289

[Dirkpitt289]

Continuing with the Mustang we put in the windows

Rear Shocks

Started assembling the wheels and tires

Installed the tail lights and then added clear red for the lens covers

Attached the frame and body

Interior from the outside

Thanks for looking

[Dirkpitt289]

I was trying to add the bumpers when I discovered something. The front bumper had an ugly raised seem on both ends of the bumper (No photo, sorry). Using a blade and then some sand paper I removed the seems but then was left with a bumper without chrome on the ends. that's just not going to cut it. Paint would also not do it justice. Then I had an idea.

Here was what I had after working out the seem

here we are after applying the foil. Not perfect but it looks pretty ###### good from where I'm sitting. Needless to say I'm happy with the results

Next I moved onto the running board trim pieces. At first I tried to pint the trim but was unhappy with the results. So seeing as I already had the foil out I decided to try something new again. I wrapped the trim in the foil.

The results

Touched up the side vents

Nice hinie

Edited January 6, 2012 by Dirkpitt289

[Rob McKee]

Hey Dirk, nice looking Mustang. The interior looks great.

I noticed you have used Mr. Surfacer to prime the body. Does it work well over other primers?

Rob

[dc10oiller]

Great looking Pony Dirk. The interior is first rate.

[Dirkpitt289]

Thanks for the kind words Massimo

[Dirkpitt289]

Side mirror in place but it didn't quite look right. There is a big hole where the mirror would be

Using the Micro Krystal Klear I attempted to make a mirror.

Thanks for looking

[Dirkpitt289]

I really screwed the pooch on this one.

As I was doing the smaller details I found that the paint on the trim kept coming off. It was then that I realized I never put a sealing cote on this. I figured it was to late at that point but it kept nagging at me. Well on a trip to my LHS I talked to the guy there and he showed me a product called Testors Wet finish. He said all I ad to do was spray it on and that was it. I was a bit hesitant but being the impulsive person that I am I decided to give it a shot. Well you'll see the results in the photos. Aside from all this I truly am happy considering how long it has been since I built a car.

Live and learn, that's part of what this hobby is about, eh?

One of the issues I caused is evident in this photo :wall:

The T-5 fender badges

The fender badge in place along with the engine badge

I've learned a lot with this build and will do better on the next one. Now to figure out what that will be.

[dc10oiller]

Looks good Dirk. I like all the small details (PE badges, wiring, etc). They add more pop to an otherwise OOB build.

[Dirkpitt289]

Thanks Massimo