Revell Shelby Cobra

It has been a long time (2 years maybe?) since I have been working on models. The only model I really ever finished was the Ferrari FXX motorcycle.
Google "Ferrari FXX Motorcycle" and you can find some pics of that.
All other models (3 total!) I made a little too complicated and got over my head. I have decided to get back on the board with a little Cobra, potentially twin turbo on this guy (but not too complicated!). We will see. The main goal is to have a clean model that kicks a$$ and people can appreciate when FINISHED.

I started off with this Revell Cobra. I scratched some side louvers and left the body alone outside of a lot of clean up of mold lines.

The body was completely cleaned, "gills" made, and then sprayed with some gray primer.
Wetsand the primer, and a coat of white Tamiya primer out of the can. Man, that stuff is great.
Another wetsand, and another coat of primer, followed by one more wetsand and one more primer and a final sand.

Then I shot color, Model Master Anthracite Gray Metallic, which was wetsanded and shot again for a total of four coats.
A few years ago, my wife got me a dehydrator which helps with the multiple coats and wetsanding.

When I did the Ferarri bike and showed it in Atlanta in 2007, David Morton suggested I mask stripes with Bare Metal Foil. I have used that advice on this car. I made special effort to wetsand the area where the stripes were going to go to ensure I had a nice level surface for the BMF to adhere to and yield nice stripes.

Actual Cobra stripes taper in by 1.25 inches from windshield to nose, so I replicated that as well. At the windshield on the car they are 7.5 inches each and get to 6.25 at the nose.

http://images116.fotki.com/v695/photos/8/1044538/9280061/Cobra1-vi.jpg

The stripes came out 100% perfect. I want this paint to make people say WOW! and it is well on its way.
I am making sure there is a lot of wetsanding to level everything out and eliminate the buildup where you normally see paint want to "hang out" and not be level.

http://images17.fotki.com/v62/photos/8/1044538/9280061/Cobra3-vi.jpg

http://images58.fotki.com/v696/photos/8/1044538/9280061/Cobra6-vi.jpg

http://images54.fotki.com/v452/photos/8/1044538/9280061/Cobra2-vi.jpg


The side louvers will be masked and painted with some Alclad Aluminum after the clear has been laid down and polished.

http://images57.fotki.com/v283/photos/8/1044538/9280061/Cobra4-vi.jpg


Thanks for looking!
Andy

The clear is coming out pretty good. There has been learning as always, but I am pretty happy with the outcome so far.

This should be the final coat, now I just need to wetsand and buff and it will look awesome I think.

I have 4 coats of clear with a sand in between each.

Sorry for the poor photos, I was too excited to get these up and did not take them in the photo booth.

http://images112.fotki.com/v494/photos/8/1044538/9280061/DSC09428-vi.jpg

http://images112.fotki.com/v494/photos/8/1044538/9280061/DSC09427-vi.jpg

http://images112.fotki.com/v495/photos/8/1044538/9280061/DSC09402-vi.jpg

http://images43.fotki.com/v504/photos/8/1044538/9280061/DSC09394-vi.jpg


Thank you for looking!

WOW! great color choice...the clear give it a lot of shine!


Suscribed....i wanna see how it finishes

The paint is awesome!

Here it is all sanded and polished.
I need to work on my photography strategy and get some better pics as well.

Polishing was done with Tamiya Course, Fine, and Finish polishes and then a little Meguiars cleaner wax.

http://images57.fotki.com/v81/photos/8/1044538/9280061/DSC09452-vi.jpg

http://images116.fotki.com/v695/photos/8/1044538/9280061/DSC09442-vi.jpg

http://images43.fotki.com/v504/photos/8/1044538/9280061/DSC09447-vi.jpg

http://images107.fotki.com/v71/photos/8/1044538/9280061/DSC09436-vi.jpg

Next is chassis and suspension!!!!

Thanks again for looking!
Andy

Wow, absolutely gorgeous.

Did you use a 2 part clear or something else? Looks deep enough to swim in.

Fantastic finish. Nice work on the stripes too.

Lovely colour and finish.

Interesting to learn that clear coat will work well over BMF. Thanks for sharing that :thumbsup:

Thanks guys!

The clear is a 2 part urethane automotive clear.

Just for clarity, the BMF was used to mask for the stripes, the stripes were painted, and the BMF was removed, so there is none on the car in these pics.

Thanks again for the great comments!!!
Andy

Looks amazing so far, great paintwork

Just for clarity, the BMF was used to mask for the stripes, the stripes were painted, and the BMF was removed, so there is none on the car in these pics.
:lol: my bad! Must learn to read with understanding and look at the pictures :)

I guess I was also a little bit thrown by you painting the lighter stripes over the darker body color.

The paint work looks great. Nice job masking with the bare metal foil. It looks like there was no buildup on the edges.

Klutz, I painted the stripes because I knew the silver would cover in one coat. Doing it the normal way, and having to paint 2 perfect coats, first silver and then gray, would have increased my odds of messing something up! I can see how that makes things a little confusing as it goes against logic.

Pharr, you are right, there was little buildup on the edges because the testors silver seems to cover so well, I only needed a mist coat and then a regular coat, all within 2 minutes.

Thanks again guys!

Chassis is painted and ready to be detailed and then some suspension to be added. I hope to have some pics up for this Sunday morning.

Chassis is painted and ready to be detailed and then some suspension to be added. I hope to have some pics up for this Sunday morning.

Looking great so far :sunglasse

FWIW, Sunday Morning is "Caffeine & Octane", the best monthly car show in Atlanta, by far (one of our ACME members often takes his 1:1 1965 Cobra 289 to the show, but it might be a bit cold this weekend, though there should be several 427 replicas as usual). And Sunday afternoon at 2 PM is the ACME meeting, if by chance you or phar7226 can make it.

I am not a fan of the Cobra... but your excellent work made me think of a diorama based on the final scene in bad boys.... I do not remember, however, if the kit represents this specific car. Can any one here tell?

Actual Cobra stripes taper in by 1.25 inches from windshield to nose, so I replicated that as well. At the windshield on the car they are 7.5 inches each and get to 6.25 at the nose.
Andy

Andy, congrats on being one of the few who understand that Cobras should have taper of the stripes. Captures the character of the 1:1 perfectly. Beautiful job with the BMF.

I did the dimensions of my 1:1 as 6" at the nose and 7.5" at the w'shield and rear bulkhead. They should also taper at the license plate back to 6". The center blue partition is 1" and the Cobra badge overlaps the edges slightly.

Your patient work, with sanding and recoating paid off-looks dead flat. When painting mine, I actually masked the DAU white in the stripe areas then shot the blue(s) -a base and two candies. Then unmasked the stripes, masked their edges and masked the entire blue. Then shot Wimbledon White into the stripe areas. Like you, this was with wet sanding between every coat. When unmasked the white stripes were the same paint thickness as the blue. Then an overall wet sand and the clear coats went on. There are no stripe edges with this method. It's dead flat too. Here's the result:
http://i679.photobucket.com/albums/vv151/Aframe/P9030018M.jpg
Please keep posting your progress. As a tip, pay attention to the windshield frame thickness and scratch your own pipe tubing. See how thin the w'shield frame really is? The kits never have these right and they are two of the most noticeable signatures of the car.
Great job from a Cobra lover!

Merlin, AWESOME CAR!!! Thanks for the words and the heads up on the windshield. I am definitely going to have to scratch one. Thanks again!!!

Suspension is the stock suspension with RBMotion shocks and some PE washers, bolts, etc.

Since this is being built as a kit car replica, I have some freedom to straw away from the black frame and match the color of the car and throw a little chrome in there too.

http://images17.fotki.com/v63/photos/8/1044538/9280061/DSC09484-vi.jpg

http://images18.fotki.com/v346/photos/8/1044538/9280061/DSC09487-vi.jpg

More updates soon!

After the rear suspension is in place, I am working on the twin turbo engine.

Thanks for looking!
Andy

Looking first class :bigthumb:

Thanks again to you all.

Bob, I will see you guys at 2:00 today at the AMCE meeting!!!

The suspension is fantastic. Looks completely operational. This is going to be a real special model when it's done.

Glad you and Andrew could come to the meeting today :sunglasse

The Cobra looks fantastic, even better in person.

Wow, fantastic start!

Thank you all!

Bob, thank you for having us out to your event. Andrew was so excited to be there and everyone treated him so well!!! We are working on his Hippie Hemi and will bring that to Show & Tell next month!

Here are some small updates on the car. In keeping with my keep it simple theme, I decided to add lights (that was sarcasm, yes). This was a bear and a bad idea in terms of complexity, but I think will pay off in the end. I have all the wires hidden inside the body, a place for the battery, and all should be good to go shortly. I have to touch up the front lights and then spray the inside of the body with some more black to cover the colors of the wires and to keep the light inside the body. You can see some of the red lights wanting to come out, but that will be an easy fix.

The pics in the photobooth kind of drown out the light from the taillights, I will have to get some better pics, maybe take them in the dark or in a darker environment.

http://images116.fotki.com/v695/photos/8/1044538/9280061/DSC09578-vi.jpg

http://images107.fotki.com/v67/photos/8/1044538/9280061/DSC09579-vi.jpg

Wow, this is absoloutely beautiful!

I can't wait to see the finished article.

I always wanted to try bmf for masking but im still a little leary. How did you burnish the tape down? Out of the last 3 bmf sheets ive gotten they were all bad!!! I guess they were just bad batches with tons of wrinkles and when i would peel it off the backing it would rip.


BTW The stripes and paint look flawless!

Thanks for the kind words guys!

I am going to be using the kit 427 for the base powerplant. It looks like the engine bay is going to be tight. I need to take some inventory of my styrene piping and then I am almost ready to tackle some scratch built turbos and manifolds. I think the manifolds are going to be key to this all fitting under the hood. Cross your fingers!

In the meantime, I delayed a little with some more work on the headlights.

I messed up the chrome a bit when getting these things settled in, it will get a little touch up.

http://images107.fotki.com/v70/photos/8/1044538/9280061/headlights-vi.jpg

http://images116.fotki.com/v695/photos/8/1044538/9280061/headlights3-vi.jpg

http://images116.fotki.com/v695/photos/8/1044538/9280061/headlights4-vi.jpg

http://images54.fotki.com/v1591/photos/8/1044538/9280061/headlights2-vi.jpg







I think I figured out how to do the windshield too today, only in my head so far.
Interior should be a snap. I already have some mock carpet done with a paper mache technique I made up with Viva paper towels and Elmers glue all. I have not had success with flocking for some reason.

Thanks again guys!

A few quick small updates:

The interior will need to be in place to check for fitment of the turbos. I am going to have to have the body fully assembled to check for clearances. I am really worried about them fitting in this engine bay.

I got the dash done. The switches are from a Top Studio McLaren SLR722 conversion kit. I laid down a piece of Bare Metal Foil and painted the whole dash flat black, then I cleaned off the surrounds of the gauges to get the chrome bezels. The lights are the BMF with a dot of clear yellow and clear green.

http://images58.fotki.com/v506/photos/8/1044538/9280061/Dash-vi.jpg

The interior is starting to make progress as well with the napkin carpet.
http://images112.fotki.com/v503/photos/8/1044538/9280061/Interior-vi.jpg

Maybe I can start the dreaded turbos tonight!!!!!

Thanks again for looking!
Andy

Andy,
Great idea with the BMF dash treatment-looks beautiful. If you care, neither Smiths or Stewart Warner gauges has red markings on them-only B & W.
It may be the photo flash but the seats seem very glossy. The real leather (or vinyl) has more a fine matt sheen-see my seats above.
I'm not picking nits, your workmanship is first rate.:smokin:

Thanks again for the comments guys.

Merlin, while the gauges do not bother me, I see what you mean about the seats. I will go back and touch those up a little bit. Thanks for pointing that out.

I got some progress made on the turbo set up and will take some photos of those over the next day and get those up. I made some manifolds with styrene and then made some turbos as well, they are the mirror image of one another. It's going to be a tight fit.

To carry the theme of doubles (as in twin turbo), I am going to use some styrene to make two roll bars (or whatever you call them).

For the windshield, I think I can take the stock windshield, sand it a ton to get it into the right shape and then use a little BMF for the very thin surround. Thanks for the heads up on that too!

My goal is to have this finished before the end of the year!!!!!!
I think it can be done.
Thank you again!
Andy

For the windshield, I think I can take the stock windshield, sand it a ton to get it into the right shape and then use a little BMF for the very thin surround. Thanks for the heads up on that too!


Andy,
A possible alternative IF you like the look, is the Cobra competition race shield. It was just a curved piece of plexi, riveted to an aluminum base flange which was riveted to the cowl. The slots for the standard frame were covered with a small rectangle of aluminum on each side. You could rep that with BMF strips. The whole thing would save a lot of time/work. I would make the plexi out of thin acetate which would curve easily and look very accurate. Just offering an alternative:
http://i679.photobucket.com/albums/vv151/Aframe/KMPA.jpg

Nice work Andy. How did you do the napkin carpet? I have been trying to create that texture without success. It looks like painted fiber glass in old race car like Porsche 917.

Looking great so far :sunglasse

FWIW, Sunday Morning is "Caffeine & Octane", the best monthly car show in Atlanta, by far (one of our ACME members often takes his 1:1 1965 Cobra 289 to the show, but it might be a bit cold this weekend, though there should be several 427 replicas as usual). And Sunday afternoon at 2 PM is the ACME meeting, if by chance you or phar7226 can make it.

Zoom Zoom, thanks for the invitation. Unfortunately I saw it today, which was too late for this month. I'll try to attend next month.

Helico, nice work on your tandem Ferraris in the finished section! The napkin was cut into shape and then brushed down with white Elmers Glue All. I used a wide brush to encourage the napkin to be flat and to also press the glue into the napkin. If you are familiar with paper mache, it is that process, on a smaller scale.

Merlin, I am going to stick to the full windhshield and think I can camp out with some sanding and polishing to get it right and then make a Bare Metal Foil surround. I might make the windshield slightly smaller and laid back a little (very subtle) to give it the more aggressive look. Thanks for the advice, you can see the toned down seats below.

On to the updates:
I have the interior finished with the exception of the door latches. They are going to have to go in once the tub is installed. The wires for the lights are compromising the fit. The dash had to be shaved down a little to make room for the wires. Nothing too major.


The shifter was stripped and reshot with Alclad Chrome. Flat black for the leather base, gloss black for the shifter. There are 4 PE screws which were also placed around the shifter base for the extra small details that I want to be representative of my builds. You can see where the dash was shaved a little on the far left of the dash.

http://images57.fotki.com/v80/photos/8/1044538/9280061/Interior20101223-vi.jpg


One thing I am working on and studying is scale. The metal in the steering wheel was shaved from behind to thin it out, but when I took pictures of it, it was not enough. It still looks thick.
The screws/rivets were painted with a toothpick and look good to the eye, but when I took pictures of them, they are still way too big. I am going to have to redo them with some .1mm PE rivets I have which will also be the rivets used on the hood. I will get some better pics of the wood as well. My strategy was to build up layers and layers of 2 different browns thinned in varying amounts to create some depth for the wood. The center of the steering wheel is a PE washer painted black so make sure I got a good crisp line and a true circle.

http://images58.fotki.com/v696/photos/8/1044538/9280061/steeringwheel-vi.jpg


Thanks again for the comments guys!
I am really having fun with this and still think a finish this week is possible!
Andy

I understand your time issue but here's a little reference help should you wish to get that detail level you talked about in post 1.
Here's the general cockpit and yours looks very close now-especially after you redid the seats. Those are 3" wide 5 point harnesses. Note that the reverse lock-out 'T' on the shifter is narrower than you have it. A small snip and re-attach would get your perfect: Also the boot is rubber not leather but yours looks exact now.
http://i679.photobucket.com/albums/vv151/Aframe/P9030020M.jpg
The steering wheel is a little tougher. Note that the aluminum spokes are all one frame which runs the circumference of the wheel and the wood is riveted to both sides-it's not one round piece of wood. The aluminum spokes and frame are one piece, .190" thick. In 1/25 that would be about an .008" piece of aluminum baking pan which is easy to find, cut and slightly dish. Then find 1/2 round styrene the right thickness and bend around both sides of the wheel.
Or you could very simply paint the inner and outer wood wheel with a stripe of chrome silver and be done. Here it is and a close-up of the windshield frame. Note there is a black rubber strip made into it's base which is a water seal. Good luck:
http://i679.photobucket.com/albums/vv151/Aframe/P9030042MLarge.jpg

Thanks for sharing the technique. I will definitely try it out on my future projects.

looking good :thumbsup: love cobras

i just saw a PE wood steering wheel set somewhere, i'll try and find it again
it was a 3 piece set, with center metal PE, and resin 1/2 round front + rear rim

i suppose you could make the same basically, by sanding rim to 1/2 round, then cut & paint a center/spokes out of brass, then make a rear 1/2 round (maybe from a spare wheel)

Okay, so this week was not as productive as I would have like, but there a few small updates. A lot more has progressed and I think I am closer than I feel right now. I did get to waste some time f*cking up the wheels and having to strip them as well as the gas cap and the tow hooks (or whatever they are), but if I can do something a little better, I am not going to stick something that is not as good as I can get it on the car. With the wheels on however, I can tell you I got the stance of this thing NAILED. It looks badass. Some people might think it is too low, but it is the way I like it.

Here is a shot of the engine bay with the turbos. I had to move back the face of the engine to make room for the pulleys and the turbos. There still has to be some room left for the exhaust off the turbos and the cold air side coming into the engine. This is going to be tight!!!!!

http://images30.fotki.com/v51/photos/8/1044538/9280061/Engine-vi.jpg


Here you can see the turbo manifolds. These were not as difficult as i thought they would be. I used heat shrink for the 4-1 collector to the turbo. They still need some final clean up before paint, but they are looking pretty good. I am going to have to add some plumbing to the turbos which is going to be tricky given the tightness of the engine bay and also to keep it in scale so it doesn't all look too big and out of place. Clay and the guys always do a good job of this on their NASCARs.

http://images16.fotki.com/v272/photos/8/1044538/9280061/turbomanifold-vi.jpg


I took these off my unfinished '34 Ford which was my first attempt at a model a few years back. A little recycling will help my budget!!!

http://images54.fotki.com/v1613/photos/8/1044538/9280061/pulleys-vi.jpg


These guys still need some clean up, but they are off to a good start. The exhaust has to be redone for a few reasons. One is, I never like to see exhaust which is not a real tube. Secondly, the exhaust coming out of the Cobra exits the car in four pipes per side, collects to 1, but the turbos have the exhaust coming off the turbo as one so the exhaust is going to have to exit the body as one, not four.

http://images114.fotki.com/v651/photos/8/1044538/9280061/exhaust-vi.jpg


Thanks again for the all of the shared expertise and encouragement on this sucker!
Andy

Thank you all again. I got the wheels done that I messed up Friday.

I put some wires on the spinners to keep them from loosening in any way (hard to see in the pic). Yes, they are threaded in the direction where torque would tighten them when going forward, so they are indeed threaded in different directions on each side, (righty tightie on the drivers side, leftie tightie on the passengers side) but the twin turbo engine was just dyno'd at about 1350HP at the wheels on pump gas, so I need all the safety precautions I can get!!!!!!!!!!

Alclad steel centers, Alclad chrome outer lip, Alclad Aluminum spinners.

http://images110.fotki.com/v606/photos/8/1044538/9280061/wheels-vi.jpg

I might have corrected some of my camera issues too, making progress there as well!

Very nice work with the exhaust, looks like it would have been a complicated job even thou you say it wasnt that difficult. Looking forward to seeing all your work on the turbos with paint.

Okay, got the engine in and I think good for now. I may add a little more details, a few more oil lines maybe, but I am trying to keep this one simple (too late, I know). Not keeping it simple so far has compromised the project a little. I have learned a few things about how this kit goes together that would have been great to know in the beginning.

Here is the engine with the symmetrical turbo set up. The intake is scratch built from some styrene tube, rod, and sheet. I drilled pilot holes for the rivets and then covered them up on accident with paint when prepping the intake which was a bummer, I had to eyeball where they were to go which did not help alignment on them.

http://images110.fotki.com/v606/photos/8/1044538/9280061/Engine2-vi.jpg

http://images16.fotki.com/v272/photos/8/1044538/9280061/Turbo1-vi.jpg

Here is a picture of the body (which needs a good cleaning at this point, it has been handled a lot with the fitting of the engine).

The windshield is the kit window cleaned up and trimmed out in Bare Metal Foil. I am going to add some clear windows and smoked visors as well. PE windshield wipers are going to be added as well. You can also see the exhaust which I mentioned in a previous update.

http://images107.fotki.com/v84/photos/8/1044538/9280061/DSC09869-vi.jpg


This is what it looks like from behind the wheel.

http://images17.fotki.com/v62/photos/8/1044538/9280061/DSC09872-vi.jpg

Thank you again!
Andy

Wow this looks great.

interesting development, nice scratch build work :thumbsup:

reminds me that Bill Cosby had a twin paxton cobra, "back in the day" LOL

wonderful model and great color !

Body, wheels, engine, all done. I can officially say I don't like photoetch windshield wipers.

I still have to add some small things, like roll bars (2 symmetrical, just like the turbos), side windows, sun visors, emblems, license plate, turn signals on the front, fuel filler, and then a little more clean up and this thing is done!!!!!!!! I wanted to re-do the steering wheel and make some wider wheels, but I think this one just needs to be done. I have a big project coming up that I am ready to get cracking on.

http://images59.fotki.com/v112/photos/8/1044538/9280061/enginefinal-vi.jpg

http://images107.fotki.com/v67/photos/8/1044538/9280061/front-vi.jpg

http://images12.fotki.com/v254/photos/8/1044538/9280061/overhead-vi.jpg

Thank you once again!
Next photos will be the completely done version.
Andy

Love that symmetrical turbo set up. Awesome. Did you adjust the ride height? It looks perfect to me.

The turbo and intake look incredible. I love the welds between the intake tubes. Great work!

Thanks again guys!

Yes, I lowered the front of the car, it seems like quite a bit, but it doesn't look as low as I thought it would.

You can see the finished model in the finished section.
http://www.automotiveforums.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=1059175

Thank you again!
Andy

ok, so like im still waiting to see the 1/24 kit?? whats going on? do you have a shrink ray or something?? cause this cant be scaled down already...

wonderful kit, just I dont like the wiper, sry.

Try look at the cars in this website. They are all replicas:
http://www.hallmark-cars.com/vehicles%20sales/cobra_1.html

Great model btw.