1/25 Mustang Shelby GT500 (Revell)

Hi everyone,

I have been lurking around here for a while learning tricks and tips from all the experts here. Recently I got this two kits from amazon (free shipping!) as I am a huge fan of muscle cars and this is probably the closest I can get to owning one.

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-eg-J5kDIqAg/UsGKqz40FeI/AAAAAAAAEZs/9WoJYCzWJKE/s800/muscle.jpg

Decided to start off with this one. The 2010 Ford Mustang Shelby GT500. Other than being of a weird scale 1/25 rather than the usual 1/24. As this is my first muscle car build (and first revell kit) I was pleasantly surprised by the quality and engineering of the kit (its rather cheap also). The way the kit was designed to be put together is very similar to that of a real car and thus makes the building process very easy. I have also read that the 1/12 scale of the same car is even better engineered.

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-Gj6DdAqadQw/UsGKqA9oc7I/AAAAAAAAEZs/JDk_sw73BMA/s800/box.jpg

Below are the reference pics for the car which I am aiming to recreate.
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-r4nYJO-B0BI/UsGKaZDkMUI/AAAAAAAAEZs/neeH59xFzO0/s800/Mustang_1600x1200.jpg

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-GEOTaaAG_Og/UsGHws0jgKI/AAAAAAAAEYY/5d_7kZ26GiU/s800/Mustang_1600x12002.jpg

The paint which I will be using was bought from my trip to Japan. Coincidentally there is a metallic cobra blue which should be quite accurate with the original paint intended.
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-cAIn6o1Kats/UtFFKrfeP6I/AAAAAAAAEa4/EDNeRgsL3OU/s800/paint.jpg

The spoon image above was sprayed with a white base. Upon spraying, i realized the paint was rather clear and has very little metallic flakes in it. Thus allowing the base color to show. Therefore i mixed in more silver and painted it over a base coat of silver. This brought the paint closer to the color I wanted.

Next I proceeded to build the engine and engine bay.

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-aDy8xVxCrk4/UtFFI08MBQI/AAAAAAAAEaw/tT9d5rSkOSg/s800/engine.jpg

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-xS_A2SVd4eE/UtFFI9-s-qI/AAAAAAAAEaw/AC58auaFcFk/s800/enginebay.jpg

I have also started on the interior, removed aircon vents and Satnav screen for easier painting. Lack of available PE set for this kit made me very disappointed. :frown:

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-WYReAz5bSrM/UtFFIzirmHI/AAAAAAAAEaw/Rg8r3P4AlGc/s800/interior1.jpg

As for the seats, the back is covered with CF decal and gloss coated, the rest is painted with white, masked the stripes, then semigloss black.

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-xH43GGuET6w/UtFFJ_gEBzI/AAAAAAAAEaw/2XeoOXF7JcA/s800/interior2.jpg

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-GkmZKFST9OI/UtFFKAykFfI/AAAAAAAAEaw/Tde4ziLJRGA/s800/interior3.jpg

Out of curiosity, i overlaid the white decals to test the opacity of the decals. Turns out that its rather thin, this makes me worried as i would need to use the decals on the exterior body, especially the side racing stripes with the words GT500. I need to think of a way to make the decals more opaque. Any suggestions?

Great start!

Great work so far. Looking forward to more progress

Good start
I like the colour too

Thanks guys for the kind comments!

Great start. Keep it up !

I like very much the presentation :D

nice work so far,you will have to modify the front and rear suspension a little to make the car sit lower otherwise you'll have a 4x4 stance.

Thanks guys for the comments and the heads up! I have done some research in this forum prior to starting this build and noticed this problem. I'm currently studying the suspension setup to decide how to do this.

Thanks guys for the comments and the heads up! I have done some research in this forum prior to starting this build and noticed this problem. I'm currently studying the suspension setup to decide how to do this.

I cut about two coils off of each strut to get to this,
http://images9.fotki.com/v1542/photos/2/2889092/12479294/photo2-vi.jpg

Rear tire clearance was fine, but I had to sand back the front inner and upper fenders.

Thanks everyone for the kind suggestions. I will try them out when i get to the part. For now a small update on the other parts of the car.

Continuation of the interior, i applied CF decals masked painted the rest then cut out thin circles using the compass for the speaker rim.

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-JmSh4HKMkjM/UwC_olrd40I/AAAAAAAAEcc/s2-Ci8s5BHY/s800/Doors_WIP.jpg

Detailed up the seats using left over PE parts.
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-0DCmh-TC1cw/UwC_p7B2ZtI/AAAAAAAAEc4/k5w1_bSBjYY/s800/seatbelts.jpg

Also finished up various parts of the interior
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-62m9NB9aDTI/UwC_o7xLRDI/AAAAAAAAEck/a3jmd34YlDk/s800/interior_updated.jpg

Next i move on to the suspensions, thanks to the kind reminders and suggestions given by you guys. I have modified the suspensions as recommend by many here.

Since i was already doing modifications i might as well detail it up. This time using a metal wire coiled around a screw driver

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-kccSj6bG0FA/UwC_qMGQLLI/AAAAAAAAEc8/gjTaY2-Z-TE/s800/suspension.jpg

Also painted the chassis, before realizing that modifications are also needed to lower the front suspension. Anyway only a small part needs to be sanded. Will touch up after ride height is confirmed.

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-xT4VtXgN3vw/UwC_o-giEUI/AAAAAAAAEcg/h8xyDd7EoSg/s800/chassis.jpg.

Also didn't fancy the look of the brakes and the wheels. Thus i replaced them all. However quite a bit of modification is needed.

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-_dHuJWFEIV8/UwC_pki1aHI/AAAAAAAAEc0/VcmyDKVKyMk/s800/rim_brakes.jpg

That's all i have at the moment. Comments and critics are welcomed.

Wow! Great progress. Awesome details!

Very cool project! looking very nice already!

Another small update, albeit a long hiatus:

Engine Bay is almost done:

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-zkXNDULDn_c/U9UXZzBxcPI/AAAAAAAAEg4/TCJYhMXkxV4/s800/enginecompleted.jpg

Painted the rims and disc brakes, the rims look quite a number of hours and patience to complete .

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-ST7b8bARC0E/U9UOoVEJQPI/AAAAAAAAEgI/ohT66eLISL4/s800/rimsnbrakes.jpg

Also completed the suspension parts, tried abit of heat staining on the drive shaft as well as the exhausts (not Pictured).

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-LeEWVMkPlK8/U9UOoXYB9mI/AAAAAAAAEgM/LWphQLuIc-I/s800/suspension2.jpg

That's all for now. Thanks for dropping by. :)

Those wheels and braked look fantastic! Great job.

Great job! I built this same model last year, it's very well engineered. I also lowered the suspensions.

Keep the good work.

Many thanks for the kind comments.

I have currently run into a small problem: Despite efforts to lower the suspension and a test fit prior to painting which resulted in a ride height and stance which i was happy with. After painting and assembly, i found out that the ride height has been altered and increased during the process. Gonna have to find out what is causing this problem and hopefully return the ride height back.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-k3W7-0dD-kw/U9YkN211u5I/AAAAAAAAEjE/CNOQjuR0omQ/s800/problem.jpg

I think the wheels are to wide and are hitting the wheel tubs

Small Update:

I heeded advice from the other modellers and realized the wheels are a little too big. Therefore i have been working on modifying the body to lower the overall stance as well as to accommodate the wider wheels. After many rounds of sanding + priming

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-ZfAS4t2oRdM/VHcNgCdgTaI/AAAAAAAAEyc/dZ3VXIg9l4o/s800/2014-10-12%252016.28.20.jpg

And after even more rounds of priming and sanding...

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-Tso1SoW9-rs/VHcNgJ_GikI/AAAAAAAAEyc/tYtsXGm45kE/s800/2014-11-22%252022.26.55.jpg

I have also cut out the grills to make them see through but i have managed to destroy them. So i'm in the process of repairing them now.

interesting.

Now that is pretty cool!, I'm not a fan of the spoiler thouhg. I would go for something more like a ducktail.

Thanks for the kind comments.

Small update:

As mentioned in my earlier post, I managed to destroy the original air intake grills by tyring to thin them. So being quite bad at scratch building stuff I roped in my friend (DyDee) help. So most of this update is done by him. I have decided to make this a 2013 Gt500 model instead so this update will reflect the modifications.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-V90mcCqYvlQ/VIRfqfn97OI/AAAAAAAAEzI/ESJRCchq6Xg/s800/Air%2520Intakes.png

Also we did a quick test fit on the rear lights before doing more modifications. So far so good.

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-FbWVW7DbMyA/VIRfqcLjGTI/AAAAAAAAEzE/18SIfN0NOyY/s800/rear_lights.png

Good work!

I have been on leave for a couple of days and had the time to have some progress on this kit. I was planning to complete this by the end of the year but it looks like i cant make it in time. So no kits completed this year.*

Anyway its nearing completion and i think this should be my last update before posting onto the finish line.*

UPDATE:

The headlights are pretty straight forward, just minor mods to improve the appearance of the lights.

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-rudNqO0MZo0/VKPjvY4ATKI/AAAAAAAAE2I/HsvOmeEJiWw/s800/headlights.jpg

For I painted the body color for about 5 coats of paint and the laid the decals down. The white decals aren't very translucent, but the kit came with additional silver decals. Therefore in order to improve the opacity of the white, i laid the silver decals down first then the white ones over the silver ones. The white decals that come with the kit had a slight flaw. As seen from the pic the right side decal was printed with the words GT500 blurred. I emailed Revell to notify them of the problem and I'm waiting for their response. Nothing much i can do to improve it so i proceed to clear coat the body.

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-CGyrMTP8Ods/VKPjvfkNkEI/AAAAAAAAE2A/kWA-oWvNVCs/s800/body%2526decal.jpg

Finally i CF-ed all the body kit parts as well as the spoilers. I'm still a little not used to covering CF for weird shapes such as the front lower lip. I proceeded by using smaller chunks of CF and making sure as much as possible that the CF pattern lines up well. With this done I proceeded to clear coat these parts as well.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-iwXJ18wB-OM/VKPjvWayLmI/AAAAAAAAE2E/K20lo0jCnYE/s800/CF-parts.jpg

That's all for now. Items left: Sanding & Polishing, Rear lights, Exhaust tips, wire meshes and window trim.

Hi guys,


Small update: Sadly, despite being so near to the finish line i have yet to complete this kit. I have however made some slow progress. Mainly finished up polishing and painting of the black trimmings. Now moving towards assembling the finished parts. Hope to complete this soon.*

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-bCf2pvGZl8U/VajgwODc5DI/AAAAAAAAE_I/1XE1Dz_jTi8/s800-Ic42/Trmings.jpg

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-oqBSsYIAgNc/Vajgv7uYS7I/AAAAAAAAE_E/IJpuLAJDK8I/s800-Ic42/Final%252520Assembly1.jpg

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-RpteprmSDvY/VajgwChEryI/AAAAAAAAE_M/iMzvEDQqt7s/s800-Ic42/Final%252520Assembly2.jpg

Wow the front end with the carbon fiber and mesh looks amazing!! Keep us posted.

Wow fantastic job

Looks amazing!! Love the 2013 model year updates too!!!

Great work! Nice catch with the ride height! Paint job and cf work looks super!

Great job waiting for more, but can you tell us about that how u do your polishing? I mean what specifics you use ?