# Coupla Concurrent Cobra's



## tolenmar

UPDATE 3/13/12: The Second Cobra is finished. The Dio is nearly there, only thing left is to finish up the barn wall. Pics at the end of the thread (at least until folks start commenting, anyway...).

UPDATE 2/21/12: I re-organized my photobucket account, most of my links are useless! Scroll down for new pics!


I'll use this thread to post my WIPs. Not too long ago (some of you may recall), I decided I wanted at least one Shelby Cobra that wasn't "pimped out" like the Jada 1:24 I have sitting on my shelf (a real V8 with chrome and carbs, racing tires, not a rice-burning fuel injected, low-profile tires bling machine).

I like my yellow Jada, but I wanted something more authentic. So I was scouring the 'net looking for a good deal, and found one on Ebay. Two almost identical Shelby Cobra model kits from Monogram for 10 bucks plus shipping. The hitch: no instruction sheets. 

In another thread, I asked for help in finding the sheets and was able to come up with some that seem to be working quite well from Revell.

So since I have two kits to build, I can do one in a more traditional race style, and go wild with the other one. Moreover, I can build one, and my son can build the other.

So I have three WIPs to offer today:

First, I took one of the bodies and masked it all to hell and gone, then hand-sketched the intended design on the wild one. This was just to get an idea of how complex a mask I would be creating. Here it is:
The next two aren't anything special. They show the work area, and the beginnings of the build. You can see the start of the suspension, the engines. Nothing spectacular, but then again beginnings rarely are. The blue tape down the middle of the table lets us keep the parts from both kits out as we need, but still keep them from getting mixed up.

The wild side:
And the race side:
I also know I'll get the wild one done faster than my son will get the racer finished. After all, he's in school. Meanwhile I can sneak in whenever I have a few minutes to spray a little paint or assemble a couple of pieces.

More to come!


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## CorvairJim

That "Tiger"-style masking job is awesome! That's thinking outside the box on a Cobra if I've ever seen it! I'll be watching this one closely... :thumbsup:


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## Dyonisis

I have two of these kits, but one isn't for building - it'll be for recasting as it seems that these go for ridiculous figures on feebay in 1/16th scale. I want to make a few different versions of this, maybe sell a few as well. I started one back in 1986, but it still isn't finished. These are getting harder to find all the time in the MPC offering. This is one of the few kits that they got right! I see that yours is the smaller version by Revell - am I right? This will be great to watch. Maybe sometime this summer I'll break out mine, and finish it. I have a Davey Allison Nascar T-bird that I put Arnie Beswicks' Pontiac GTO tiger stripe decal kit on 13 years ago. I took pictures of it. I'll post a pic here so you can see it. Maybe it would be easier to get one of these decal kits, and detail it that way? That's only if the paint doesn't come out as expected. Thanks for sharing this with us. 

~ Chris​


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## scottnkat

That's great building it with your son. I do that myself and it's great sharing the experience together.


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## tolenmar

Dyonisis said:


> I have two of these kits, but one isn't for building - it'll be for recasting as it seems that these go for ridiculous figures on feebay in 1/16th scale. I want to make a few different versions of this, maybe sell a few as well. I started one back in 1986, but it still isn't finished. These are getting harder to find all the time in the MPC offering. This is one of the few kits that they got right! I see that yours is the smaller version by Revell - am I right? This will be great to watch. Maybe sometime this summer I'll break out mine, and finish it. I have a Davey Allison Nascar T-bird that I put Arnie Beswicks' Pontiac GTO tiger stripe decal kit on 13 years ago. I took pictures of it. I'll post a pic here so you can see it. Maybe it would be easier to get one of these decal kits, and detail it that way? That's only if the paint doesn't come out as expected. Thanks for sharing this with us.
> 
> ~ Chris​


These kits are 1:24 scale, and I got a pretty good deal on ebay (both shipped were less than $20). 

As far as decals go, I'm trying to avoid the decal route, unless something really bad happens to the paint-job. It's been my experience that decals flake off a few years down the road, and I'm pretty sure I can manage everything I need for both of these cars through different layers of paint. But by all means, let me see the decals, I can always use the reference material.

And scottnkat, I agree. he loves building model kits, and though he's not terribly happy that I'm putting both cars into my collection, he is certainly happy to get the chance to build them. In fact, it's been about three months since the last build, and he's been commenting off and on how he really wants to build another one.

I still say that someone somewhere has their scale figures mixed up. These Monogram kits are going to be smaller than the Jada diecast I have (maybe an inch or so shorter front to back), even though all three are supposed to be 1:24.


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## tolenmar

I do wish I'd thought of re-casting it though. As much as I like Cobras, it would be nice to be able to create a fleet of them...


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## tolenmar

The build proceeds apace. In fact, even with me taking time between each spray and glue stage, I'm moving along pretty rapidly.

Of course, I work this weekend, so that will slow me down.

At any rate, I brought the body up from the basement and spent the last hour cutting the masks.

























From here, I'll spray black over the tape to be sure the edges seal, and once that's dry, I'll do the orange. A little white along the bottom blending into the orange, and I'll be able to pull all this tape off. This is the part that'll test my patience, since I now have three layers of paint to work on before I know how it all turned out.

Can we say "pins and needles"?


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## tolenmar

Ok, the latest round. the suspension and engine are going together bit by bit. Since this isn't the part I'm customising, these are just shots of the build without commentary (i.e., business as usual).

















Here is the body with all of the paint on it. I tried to blend a little bit of white on the bottom edges. This would have gone better if I had a working airbrush rig (I think my compressor is dead). The nose looks really good, the sides, not so much. Rather than keep re-painting it over and over, I'm going to say it's all good.

























I did that yesterday. So today it was time to pull the tape and see if anything bled. So far, there doesn't seem to be anything I can't touch up before I clear coat.









Now, I could have taken a dozen pictures at this stage, but since this is the body of the car, that would leave me little to show off once finished. So, you'll just have to wait and see. This kit has a soft-top that I think will look really good on here, and my son's has a canvas cover for the passenger seat. Neither the soft top nor the canvas will be glued down so that as the mood changes, I'll be able to choose from three different set-ups for each car.

Tonight, we cut racing numbers out of tape for the racer.


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## Dyonisis

Do you have a tonnau (pronounced: tonn - o) cover for this along with the convertable top? This would make it much more enjoyable to have both. I can't wait to see this finished. Are you going to clear coat this too? 

~ Chris​


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## tolenmar

I think what I called a canvas cover you refer to as a tonnau. It's L shaped, goes over the passenger seat and around the back of both seats.

I am clear-coating it as we speak. However, last I checked on it, the clear coat caused a bit of bubbling in the paint along the bottom edges. I'm irritated. That's a lot more work to correct.


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## CorvairJim

That "Tiger Snake" looks great! Definitely the most unique paint job I've ever seen on a Cobra.


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## tolenmar

I'll never truly duplicate it. Every one of those masks was cut by hand. A few of them were made up of three or four pieces as I adjusted the shape. Just like real tigers, every time I do this, I'll end up with a different pattern.

My son said we should try snake scales...


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## scottnkat

tolenmar said:


> My son said we should try snake scales...


That would be rather appropriate for the Cobra, I think....


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## tolenmar

True, but I have no idea how I'd plan that one out.


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## tolenmar

Well, I kinda let this one stall a bit. The latest clear-coat layer caused the orange to bubble, mostly on the bottom edges. I've just been to irritated with it to take the time to fix the problem. So now I sit here, sandpaper in hand...

I know what I did wrong. I got impatient. At least the whole thing isn't ruined.


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## DOM-19

Tolenmar, having same trouble,thats why when i was racing r.c.cars with "lexan bodies never had a problem -20 years racing & 100,s of painted bodies --i think you need more patience with model painting, especially two color bodies --being i,m new at this i will learn ---dom


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## tolenmar

Well, I almost have the blisters fixed. I'm back to painting over the problem areas. 

So I moved on a bit, started working on the interior. I'm thinking nothing fancy. Black with white and chrome details. After all, it's the exterior I'm showing off on this one. On the other hand, the way the seats are made, I could paint orange stripes down the length of them, to sort of tie everything together.

The kit comes with two sets of wire spoke wheels. I chose the more open set. Then I painted the wheel hubs orange so you can see it through the spokes. I'll try to get pics up soon, maybe after I've mounted the wheels to the chassis.

And that's all for today, seeing as I broke the shifter, and dropped a tiny little chrome piece onto my filthy basement floor. You try tracking down something less than a quarter inch to a side covered in chrome on a floor that hasn't been swept properly in years where styrofoam is a major building component for other projects...


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## tolenmar

P.S. We've stalled on the racing model, as well. My son doesn't seem as interested as he was at the start, and cutting numbers out of tape has proven...well pretty ridiculous-looking. Until I can find an alternative, looks like we'll be waiting on that a bit.


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## s.moe

tolenmar....I really like your paint design on the body and also think that your interior idea , will help at tying together a completeness to the overall appearance......Can't wait to see some Pic's of how it comes out.........

And as for the Racer......Maybe after your son see's how your build turn's out, He'll get the insperation to see his finished, as well.......Really hope so anyway......

MOE.


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## tolenmar

Chassis pretty much complete. I think the orange wheel hubs will look nice once mounted under that body.


















Finally got to the orange touch-up's from the blistered paint. Bit by bit, it's getting closer to being finished. This is the longest I've ever taken to build a kit.


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## scottnkat

tolenmar said:


> This is the longest I've ever taken to build a kit.


Boy, I can relate to that comment! But your work is looking good so far. Keep it up, man


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## s.moe

Looking good....tolenmar.....:thumbsup:


MOE.


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## tolenmar

Well, I had a long talk with my son about the other shelby, and it turns out he was losing interest because he felt he wasn't getting enough freedom to choose how it was going to look when done.

So we have a new plan, one that may have re-kindled his interest. Currently, it looks like we are going to go with a rusted out shelby next to a barn. This means we'll be moving up to diorama's for this project.


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## scottnkat

oh, that should make for an interesting display!


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## tolenmar

Time to walk away for a bit. This thing is really starting to get on my nerves. 

Pulled the mask away from repairing the bubbled paint only to find masses of thick paint that sitck out like a sore thumb next to areas that are "kind of" still blended from the first go around. Meanwhile, the bubbled areas never really did fill in properly. Seems like the more I try to fix it, the worse it looks.

Time to leave it be a while and come back later. It's too cold in my workshop anyway.

I'll strip it down later and start over. But not now. I'm too ticked.


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## scottnkat

Sorry to hear that - we know that it happens to all of us, but it sure does stink when it's you. Time away often helps me as well.


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## tolenmar

As mentioned, my son wants to rust one out. In addition, fixing the paint on the tiger will require stripping it down and starting over. 

I'm going to suggest to my son that we swap car bodies. His is currently painted flat black. Mine has a terrible hack job on the paint. More importantly, painting the tiger requires I start with black, and the bad paint can look like a rusted out panel with a little dry-brush work.

So I thought maybe we'll paint the tiger over in blue, then rust it out. Then we mask off and paint the other body as a tiger, taking more care and time to do so. The two kits are 95% identical, so there should be little problem getting the bodies to match up to the chassies.

That would be a handy way to get out of the morasse of bad paint and start working in a positive direction with this. More updates to come.


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## scottnkat

There ya go! Good plan - looking forward to seeing it


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## Dyonisis

Is this what you're trying to do?














































































Decals are your friend! Just look up Arnie Beswick decals at your local hobby shop, or on evilbay. I found these for the Pontiac GTO kit in 1/24 scale at a place here in town the went out of business a few years ago. I did mine in 1999. I painted a guitar to look like this as well. I don't have any pictures of that on this computer, but it's something that I thought should give you a little more help. 

~ Chris​


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## tolenmar

Something like that is what I'm aiming for, but I generally prefer to avoid decals when possible. Besides, doing my masks by hand in this case means it'll get a truly "one of a kind" paint job.


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## tolenmar

OK, so I took some time off. Got my head clear, made a swap, and started over. 
There was some good to come out of this. I like the new pattern so much better than the old. I do have a lot of bleed through to touch up, so I'll be getting my brushes out again.

Here is the latest attempt with the tape off.

















And since I changed all of my photobucket links, here's a look at it before I screwed it up:









I think it looks a lot better now. Soon I'll be back into the building of the model.


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## Dyonisis

LEAVE THOSE BLEED UNDER MARKS RIGHT WHERE THEY ARE! That makes this look even more realistic like an actual tiger. My build is one of a kind as it was made from a decal kit with the paint that I wanted. I had to cut these to fit the car since this set was a little smaller than the car that it was intended for. There has never been a kit made with the decal set that I used - this was purely aftermarket for those who wanted this striping, but yours looks so much more like a real tiger! Leave them as they are, clear coat it to seal the two paint layers (interclear) coat is what professional painters use to make it smooth. Then slowly airbrush the white onto the bottom. Then clearcoat it again on top of that. You'll want to spray in a very warm room to keep your paint from crazing, or checking (cracks), or getting wrinkles. Wait a week before painting this again just to keep any incompatabilities from wrecking a beautiful job! I usually wait at least a week in between for regular enamel, or acrylic enamel when doing more than one colour. I hope this helps. 

~ Chris​


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## tolenmar

It seems my wife agrees with you there. I may touch up a couple of really bad spots and leave the rest.


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## scottnkat

I agree - leave 'em be - it looks good


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## CorvairJim

Yeah, let 'em ride. Think about it: The stripes on an actual tiger aren't neatly masked off. They're HAIR! By nature the big guy's stripes don't have perfectly defined edges.


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## tolenmar

That's all true, but at the same time, I can pick this thing up and look close and see at least a few areas that really bug me. The pics don't really show the worst spots very well.

At any rate, I'm letting it ride for now. In a couple of days, I'll look again and see what I think.


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## s.moe

Hey... tolenmar,,, I like the new paint layout and I too think you should just leave it as it is....Look's more realistic to real Tiger stripe's....Just touch-up the ruff spot's you mentioned and spray some Clear on that baby.....Lookin' forward to seeing more.....

MOE.


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## tolenmar

I've begun clear-coating the tiger. I didn't fix any of the bleeds. Sooo many people have told me it looks good (including the wife) that I went ahead and made the jump.

I started spraying the other cobra and realized that there was no way to paint it where you couldn't see the original stripe pattern, so it went into the dip. Almost all of the paint is off, we're nearly ready to start over with it.

Also, I've done a simple mock-up of the barn. A little glue, a bunch of weathering, and we'll be nearly ready with it. Also, I have an old '32 or '34 ford truck model I'm stripping. It'll get rusted out and take up residence next to the rusty cobra. I think I'll leave the motor completely off of it, leave the hood nearby on the ground, and fashion a tarp to partially cover the cobra.


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## DOM-19

Tolemar, michael,s art,s & craft has "martha stewart dept. Where you can get her own masking tape, so far it,s better than the blue 3m ---they also have many oyher things ,wife took me there ,good not believe it ,they even have "pinecars"---dom-- you could use there decals also pinecar


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## tolenmar

For this, I've been using the green automotive tape from 3M. I've used the blue stuff, and It just doesn't stick all that well.


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## Dyonisis

I'm glad that you kept this as is! It makes for a much better appearance, and realism. As far as a rusty Cobra, these were made from aluminum originally, and for that very same reason - to be light for racing, and prevent rust! Aluminum can corrode, but not nearly as quicky, or rusty as steel. It's not prone to rusting out, or having brown rust on it. This is something you never see on these cars. Now aluminum gets pits, and gray/white hazy spots where water sits for a while - kind of like when you drop hot solder on the ground, and it leaves imperfections in the side that hit the floor. It (aluminum) doesn't get rusty in regular weather conditions though. It would take years for it to show dulling from weather conditions, but it doesn't have ferric oxide in it as steel does, so there's no actual rusting involved. You'd be better off drybrushing a dull silver mixed with white to make it more of this colour if you're going for that old beaten up look.


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## tolenmar

That would tend to make a rusty one something of an oddity. I'll talk it over with my son.


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## CorvairJim

It wouldn't have been the first time an "OOPS" like that had happened in the model car hobby. I saw a very nicely weathered 1955 Chevy Cameo Carrier pickup in one of the Scale Auto Enthusiast Contest Annuals a few years ago with it's bed's quarter panels well and truly rusted out. Thing is, those beds had FIBERGLASS quarter panels over the stock steel Stepside beds! Last I knew, fiberglass doesn't rust any better than aluminum does. The builder had overlooked that fact, and apparently the magazine's editors did too!


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## tolenmar

Hehe...at any rate, I am (carefully) clearcoating the tiger shell now. One fine layer at a time. I'll get it polished and waxed before I start final assembly so I don't have to try to do that with all it's chrome bits sticking out.

In the mean time, we'll be slapping together that old ford, and getting the other cobra finally fully stripped (its almost there now).


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## 71 Charger 500

CorvairJim said:


> It wouldn't have been the first time an "OOPS" like that had happened in the model car hobby. I saw a very nicely weathered 1955 Chevy Cameo Carrier pickup in one of the Scale Auto Enthusiast Contest Annuals a few years ago with it's bed's quarter panels well and truly rusted out. Thing is, those beds had FIBERGLASS quarter panels over the stock steel Stepside beds! Last I knew, fiberglass doesn't rust any better than aluminum does. The builder had overlooked that fact, and apparently the magazine's editors did too!


Not being a Shivvy guy, I never knew this!


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## CorvairJim

71 Charger 500 said:


> Not being a Shivvy guy, I never knew this!


Not being a "Shivvy guy", you probably never knew that it was the Corvair Monza that inspired the first Mustangs, either! Lee Iacocca, chairman of Ford at the time, was upset that the Monza was basically eating the Falcon Futura's lunch in sales, so he had Ford Design throw together a sporty body that would bolt straight to the Falcon's very ordinary chassis. His thinking was, if Americans would go in so big for an unconventional sporty car, they would like a conventional sporty LOOKING car even better. Well, history proved him correct, which only goes to show that style sells over substance! The fully independently suspended Corvair always was the better enthusiast driver's car, easily out-handling the primitive, live-axle Mustang.

If you look at the sides of most Mustangs (except for the Fox-body cars), you'll see a fake scoop stamped into the quarter panel behind the door. This is a remnant from an early styling concept that Ford Design put together that actually had an air-cooled engine in back, just like the Corvair. That scoop was for cooling air for the engine, and Iacocca liked it so much that it made it onto the production car.

(P.S. - Tolenmar, sorry to have hijacked your thread like this. You can have it back now! :wave


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## tolenmar

No problem. Always worth it learning something new.


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## CorvairJim

I've long thought that a day that goes by without learning something, no matter how trivial, is a wasted day. I'm glad I was able to impart some really IMPORTANT knowledge yesterday!


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## tolenmar




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## 71 Charger 500

CorvairJim said:


> Not being a "Shivvy guy", you probably never knew that it was the Corvair Monza that inspired the first Mustangs, either! Lee Iacocca, chairman of Ford at the time, was upset that the Monza was basically eating the Falcon Futura's lunch in sales, so he had Ford Design throw together a sporty body that would bolt straight to the Falcon's very ordinary chassis. His thinking was, if Americans would go in so big for an unconventional sporty car, they would like a conventional sporty LOOKING car even better. Well, history proved him correct, which only goes to show that style sells over substance! The fully independently suspended Corvair always was the better enthusiast driver's car, easily out-handling the primitive, live-axle Mustang.
> 
> If you look at the sides of most Mustangs (except for the Fox-body cars), you'll see a fake scoop stamped into the quarter panel behind the door. This is a remnant from an early styling concept that Ford Design put together that actually had an air-cooled engine in back, just like the Corvair. That scoop was for cooling air for the engine, and Iacocca liked it so much that it made it onto the production car.
> 
> (P.S. - Tolenmar, sorry to have hijacked your thread like this. You can have it back now! :wave


Now see, there's a few more things I've learned! That's why these forums are such fun!


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## tolenmar

Well, an update. I've been sick, and of course you all know about my wife's chemo cycles. Bottom line is I haven't gotten a whole lot done of late.

But while sick, i did get the clearcoat and final polish and wax on the body. I need to assemble the second motor, which will be the next step. When my son and I swapped bodies (car bodies...), I ended up with a hood scoop, which means I need the engine with the proper intake cowling.

I also have the other one stripped, we just haven't finished prepping it for re-painting.


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## s.moe

Hey,, Guy....Sorry to here about that....But glad to here it hasn't kept you from doing some work on them......I'll be looking for some up-date Pic's,, When you get them posted.....Take care, Buddy....

MOE.


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## Dyonisis

Yeah, what Moe said - just take care of yourself, and your family. Modeling isn't as important, especially when you have an illness that is so critical and can cause such misery. Cancer is one of those demons that can kill a family, not just the person that has it. We'll still be here waiting, and watching. Just know that we're behind you, and will be as supportive as needed. 

~ Chris​


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## tolenmar

'sall cool. She's coming along nicely, I just had a nasty cold or flu-like thing. I still have a cough but feel about 100% better with each passing day so I think I'm out of the woods. And the cool thing is, now we can share a bed again since I'm not likely to pass anything on in her condition.

Every day I try to do a little bit.


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## tolenmar

Dyonisis said:


> I'm glad that you kept this as is! It makes for a much better appearance, and realism. As far as a rusty Cobra, these were made from aluminum originally,


So how much of the car was aluminum? The body for certain, I get that, but what about the frame, engine block or major suspension areas? The engine I can see being aluminum, but the rest I'd rather have strength for...do you know?


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## tolenmar

Just waiting for some touch up paint to dry, and I'll be assembling the interior. I'm not going to do as much as I originally planned to the interior. I'm still building the second engine. My son is thinking of leaving the engine out of his, with the hood partially off, so I pretty much get to do the engine the way I want. However, the pic on the box shows a blue engine block, so that's what he started to do, and that's what I'm getting. 

Once I get the interior together and mounted to the body, I'll be posting pics of the whole kit sans motor and give you a preview of where it's going and how it's looking. I also have a mock-up of the side of the barn where this cobra and the old Ford are going to be sitting, I just need to glue it all up and weather the boards. I'll try to get pics of that as well.


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## Dyonisis

tolenmar said:


> So how much of the car was aluminum? The body for certain, I get that, but what about the frame, engine block or major suspension areas? The engine I can see being aluminum, but the rest I'd rather have strength for...do you know?


 As far as I know everything on the originals is aluminum, except maybe the engine block. I'm not sure when they went to all aluminum construction, maybe this happened in the late sixties. They were trying to save weight in every way, so I wouldn't doubt it was mostly aluminum for sure. The reproduction models use fiberglas bodies, but aren't accurate. I can check to be 100% sure. 

~ Chris​


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## tolenmar

Here we are at the 'mock-up' stage, where we get an idea of what things will look like once everything's finished.

I do believe it was the right choice to paint the wheel hubs orange.









I was worried that the dash wasn't detailed enough, but now that I have it to this point, I don't worry about it so much.









Since this is just a 'mock-up' stage, none of this is glued in place permanently. I still need to finish the engine and get it mounted before I finalize this.









I'm also currently at a loss for how this all glues together. I don't see any firm connections for hooking the frame to the body. I have time to figure it out, of course, even if that means I just glue the frame to the interior tub.

Tonite, I'll re-prime the other body do we can get started corroding it out.


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## scottnkat

Looking sharp!!!


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## s.moe

Tolenmar.....I sure do like this paint Design, Better than your first layout....Mock-up look's good,my friend....

MOE


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## tolenmar

Yeah, I was irritated with myself for screwing up the paint the first time around, but at least it gave me the opportunity the second time to be bolder with the masking tape and go for narrower, more realistic stripes.


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## Dyonisis

tolenmar said:


> Here we are at the 'mock-up' stage, where we get an idea of what things will look like once everything's finished.
> 
> I do believe it was the right choice to paint the wheel hubs orange.
> 
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> I was worried that the dash wasn't detailed enough, but now that I have it to this point, I don't worry about it so much.
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> Since this is just a 'mock-up' stage, none of this is glued in place permanently. I still need to finish the engine and get it mounted before I finalize this.
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> I'm also currently at a loss for how this all glues together. I don't see any firm connections for hooking the frame to the body. I have time to figure it out, of course, even if that means I just glue the frame to the interior tub.
> 
> Tonite, I'll re-prime the other body do we can get started corroding it out.


The only mounting point all the manufacturers use is under the seat, and the fuel tank. Mine only has mounting points under the seat. This is a problem that I'll have to think of how to remedy when I get back on this build. I have the MPC version. This was originally a kit that my dad bought me back in 1986, but I destroyed it with glue. I covered it with this stuff. I took it apart to restore it, but I didn't have the rest of the parts to do it with. I got lucky, and bought the top half of a kit that someone started, but didn't have the bottom half which is what I didn't need since I still had the wheels, and undercarriage with the motor. I'm just going to paint mine the blue with white stripes that I was hoping for twentysix years ago. 



s.moe said:


> Tolenmar.....I sure do like this paint Design, Better than your first layout....Mock-up look's good,my friend....
> 
> MOE


Agreed!! I'm so glad that we all encouraged you to go with this, rather than attempt to clean up the edges - this has that realistic look that mine lacks. It's perfect! All you need is a shiny clearcoat over it. :thumbsup:


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## scottnkat

Dyonisis said:


> ... All you need is a shiny clearcoat over it. :thumbsup:


And that little shade of white underbelly if you can... If not, it looks good as is!


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## tolenmar

The camera didn't pick it up well. There's 6 layers of clearcoat on it, plus polish and wax. I think part of it is just how busy of a design it is. I did not attempt the white belly this time because I don't have a working airbrush set up. I wasn't going to chance ruining my work again by trying to blend with a spray can. (I really wanted that white belly, though...)


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## tolenmar

The Tiger Snake is nearly finished!

Left to do:
attach the license plate
attach the spinners to the wheels
paint the tonnaeu cover.

That's it. That's all. I had to stop because all the little fiddly bits I just glued on need time to dry. Every time I touch the model right now, something gets knocked loose. Later tonite, or maybe tomorrow morning, I'll attach the last couple of pieces.

The barn side is coming together nicely, almost ready to weather the wood. The rusty ford that'll be sitting next to the old race cobra has gotten the initial layers of rust paint, and we're ready to pit and corrode the body of the race cobra.

as Kermit once said: "movin' right along..."


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## tolenmar

Ok, the Tigersnake is finished. But before I show you pics of it, I want to show you where I'm at with the other cobra. Basically, I just have to finish building the frame/suspension, and age the body panels. But here is what things look like as of now:


















Obviously, at this point, I would need to finish the tarp on the cobra as well. My son isn't completely sold on the idea. I need to finish building the barn wall and ageing the wood. I'm very happy with the way things are looking so far.


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## tolenmar

Ok, so here's what most of you have been waiting for:

















































Downside: The camera enhances the odd speck of paint that made it into the wrong place. And I realized I never finished detailing the engine compartment. Easily fixed. Otherwise, I really like the way it turned out, and my son's eyes about popped out of his head when he saw it complete.


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## tolenmar

Plus, I have a few choices for dsiplaying the Tigersnake:

Topless:









Tonnaeu:








(I do wish it covered the other seat better, but I'm not going to go to a whole lot of effort to fabricate something that will do the trick.)

Top Up:









There you go, and now I can focus on getting the other one finished.


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## Dyonisis

Cool! I take it that this is a little bit smaller than the one I have (MPC)? The tonnau cover should have a little bump for the steering wheel moulded into it. I never used mine as I don't care for it. This looks great! :thumbsup: I can hardly wait for the other one to be finished now. 

~ Chris


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## scottnkat

looks great! really top notch job!!


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## tolenmar

Well, I wrote up a reply about the size of the car, but apparently previewed it instead of posting it (not the first time this has happened). So to sum up: Tigersnake is about 7" long, the yellow Jada diecast is about 8", and both claim to be 1:24 scale.


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## CorvairJim

I look at the Tigersnake and imagine the shy, introverted librarian that drives it...


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## tolenmar

Over the past few days, we've been salting the 'rusty' cobra. Taking comments here under consideration, I tried to replicate the silver/grey pitted appearance of old aluminum. This is the first time I've ever tried to do a salt treatment.

I started with the grey primer, and then drybrushed a lot of white, pearl white, and a bit of silver over various parts of the body, affixed the salt in the places I though would be most likely to pit the worst and then coated it with the blue paint. This is what it looks like after we removed the salt:


















For my first attempt, I think I did pretty well. Will definitely have to keep this in mind for a rusty car in future. It shouldn't take too long to finish this project from here. the frame is together, we just need to work on the interior.


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## Dyonisis

THAT'S WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT!!!  That looks like it was given a salt bath in winter for a couple years. This looks convincing. Much better than trying to make it brown and rusty! 

~ Chris​


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## tolenmar

Made good progress tonight. Gotta look up some method for making the seats look torn up. Otherwise, we're just about ready for final assembly.


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## tolenmar

Well, now I know what I'm doing after I get this diorama finished:

One for me:









And one for my son:


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## tolenmar

Well, it's (mostly) done.

Grandpa was a racer back in his day. The cobra was his. He did pretty well, got a few trophies. Then one day there was an accident on the track, someone lost a piece of their car, and it went through his windscreen. He managed to keep it on the track, but suffered whiplash as a result. It's been parked there by the barn pretty much ever since. Next to the Ford he drove when he wasn't racing.










Little by little, parts were scavenged for other cars. From this view, you can see one of the seats is missing, the other is torn through.

















We got her up off her rotten tires onto some blocks. The brakes look okay, but will definitely need attention.









Then we'll also need to drop a new engine in it. Don't know for sure where we'll get one. But we will, and we'll get her back to purring as loud as she ever did.









This was fun to do. The missing seat frame is completely off the top of my head, I grabbed a rollcage from my spare parts bin and started carving. We read up on how to simulate torn seats, and that's what were doing here. The foam is still expanding, so it'll need trimmed later. It ought to yellow out nicely. 

We sprayed primer directly on the chrome pieces knowing it wouldn't stick well, allowing some of the shine through. I think the effect is very effective. I wish I could have spider-webbed the glass better, but I knew we didn't want it intact. 

A few touch-ups, finish the barn, and I'll be ready to move on to my next project. Comments are more than welcome, on both cobra models.


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## CorvairJim

The Cobra looks great, er, awful! (It was SUPPOSED to look awful, right? )


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## tolenmar

Yeah, it is. I tried to talk my son into wrecking it, not just "rusting" it out, but he wanted to leave the body lines intact. I also wanted to cover part of it with a tarp, so we'd have less to build, but he wasn't interested.


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## Dyonisis

Your boy made the right choice. You want as much to look at when building something like this. I'd rust the brake calipers to look like they're really old, and dirty. Most old rust is brown, and dark red from oxidation. The truck looks muddy rather than rusty. Maybe a little more weathering, and dirt to make it look as though it has been around a long time. I love the cracked windscreen, and gray surround for it on the Cobra. This makes it look a little more official, or realistically abandoned. You could also paint the insides of the headlight bezels flat black, and add wires to them to simulate them being removed more convincinly. Otherwise, this looks great! :thumbsup:

I love the 427 Shelby Cobra. This is my user ID on other forums that I'm a member of. It makes my day to see other people doing something with one of these too. 

~ Chris​


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