69 Cougar (First Build in 20 years)

[RobRus]

Greetings, This is the first plastic build I have done in 20 years.

This was my real car back in 1972 that I saved my pennies for after having blown up the engine in my previous car street racing (that was a 65 Ford Galixey XL with a 427).

An interesting story behind my Cougar that you may find amusing (I didn't at the time). After buying the car from a private owner who orderd the car without any of the Eliminator graphics or rear wing (what we use to call a sleeper). I had the car for about 3 months and was fully enjoying it when one day coming home from work I was about a half of a mile from home when I heard this horrible clatter. Nothing like I had ever heard before but I knew it was not good so I shut the key off and coasted as far as I could. I made it about 3 blocks from my apartment and coased to a stop. I got out and popped the hood... everything looked fine there so I looked under the car to see if it was leaking anything... there was nothing out of the ordinary. So I got my buddy and we pushed home. I worked in a body shop and one of my friends I worked with was a mechanic so I asked him to look at it. He was a serious motor head and had a 64 Buick Special that he raced on the weekends. So I hauled the car to him and in a few days he came to me with these little tiny pieces of what appeared to be a threaded bolt of some sort...

It turned out the bold that holds the ram air on jiggled loose and dropped down into the carb. From there it went through one of the intake ports and broke up into 3 different pieces. Two of the pieces some how came back up through the intake valve and went into 2 other cylinders. Surprisingly the 3 pieces never touched any of the cylinder walls or did they break or bend the valves. Dan said he could not bieleve all it did was crack 2 pistons and beat the ###### out of the other. Fortunately I was smart enough to shut it down as soon as I heard it.

I ended up letting him do a few modifications to the motor as much as my budget could handle. I had a race cam put in it as well as having the heads shaved, a new double pumper Holly carb, headers and a new coil. When all was said and done I was running the 1/4 mile in 11.60 at 115mph.

So I found this model on Ebay and decided to make this my first build in almost 20 years. It is pretty much box stock except it didn't have a center consol in the kit (strange) so i built one up.

The paint is automotive laquer and I started with a black base with a very light pearl over it. I then used Candy Apple Blue and over that I dusted some Flip Flop blue. The color in most of these shots really don't show off the flip flop and it actually appears lighter blue than it really is.

This is also my first time playing with Alclad Chrome. All the chrome has been done with Alclad and I am pretty happy with how it came out (althought I had to redo them 3 times)

You can see that I pinned the instructions on the wall behind the car so you can see how smooth it is. I did this pretty much how I use to do my custom paint jobs. Prime and block, Color and block. Clear and block and then rubbed it out with ultra fine compound and then a final rub out with toothpaste and then a rub out with swirl mark remover.

I hope you enjoy.

Bob

[Scuderia]

holy cow thats a sweet ride for such a long layoff. Lookin' good !

[martinfan5]

Wow, that looks great, love the blue, good job

[Ron Hamilton]

Looks like you never left!!!! Beautiful work!!!!

[bbowser]

Great comeback! Love those Cats.

[turn1wonder]

Very nice build of a kit I'd like to do. No spoiler or decals looks surprisingly good, good story as well.

Bob

[BOSWELL891]

Looks awesome. Great work

[Guest]

Nice work sir! Glad you stuck with us to share!

[TooOld]

Holy Cow ! ! Beautiful Cougar ! I had a '70 nack in the day , and loved it ! Congrats on a great build .

BOB.

[Jantrix]

Bob, that looks super. Very nicely done.

[RobRus]

Thanks for the compliments guys. I think it turned out pretty good. Not half as good as some of the stuff I see on the forum but that gives me something to strive for.

The color in the pictures don't really do it justice. The first shot is closer to the actual color because the black really shows through.

I see where I could have done a few things different and I missed a couple of parts (forgot to paint the mirrors), but this was more about getting back into the hobby.

[jeffs396]

WOW!!!

Great job on the Cougar Rob!!!

[Lunajammer]

I'd say you're back. Striking piece overall but what got my attention is your foiling. About the straightest edges I've seen anywhere.

[Badluck 13]

Wow Bob,from that paint n finish and the BMF work,Are you sure you left the hobby?,love the color.

..........That paint is soooo smooth,Coulda' have sworn I saw My reflection in that paint.....

Edited April 18, 2012 by Badluck 13

[Harry P.]

Don't forget that the door handles should be chrome, not body color...

[RobRus]

@ Lunajammer, Thanks for the kudos on the BMF work. I guess it is partially due to having steady hands and the perfectionist in me. I also used dullcoat brushed on all the inside edges so they didn't jump out so much. That may contribute to the overall clean look since just the edges pop.

@ Badluck 13, I left plastic modeling do do 3D modeling for racing sims. So I have still been modeling but I switched styrene for digital bits. I achieved the glass like finish by doing it the same way I did on 1:1 cars... wet sanding with a very small pad between each coat of paint. I prefer the look of rubbed laquer over enamel or urethane but I have seen some top notch work from guys like Dr Cranky and Donn Yost so they could make a convert out of me...

@ Harry P, I should have just sanded them off. You probably see I sanded through to the plastic on one of those edges. I was going to foil them but got impatient with this build and called it done so I could get on with another project I have going.

I could never figure out why door handles are always part of the body anyway. They are not realistic and usually distract from a well built model. Plus they are a pain to rub around... yup.. should have sanded them off.

[Brizio]

Nice sexy cougar!

[Mopar - D]

Nice job on the Cougar and your paint is so smooth and shinny looks great.

[deathskull59]

i like that couger more better than the boring old mustangs

[crazyjim]

Nice build, Bob. Welcome back. SHINY :) RULES!

[Harry P.]

I could never figure out why door handles are always part of the body anyway.

I agree 100%. If the real car had chrome door handles, they should be separate pieces on the chrome tree. A few models are made that way, but not many. They should all be done that way, IMO.