WIP - Customer's 1970 Mustang Grande

[tigeraid]

Hoo boy... here I was thinking this was gonna be a nice stock build:





... and then I saw the kit:



This kit is way, way older than me. Check out that box!

But man, it's a 3n1 kit before 3n1 kits existed--a separate roof! I'm going to have to glue it on and do a lot of filling to get rid of the separation line... And sand off the partial vinyl top.

The whole thing is moulded in TRANSPARENT green too! ... The biggest problem is this though:





It's hard to see in the pic because the colour's the same, but the sides of the front fascia don't line up with the curves of the front of the fender.... but if you look at the pic of the real car, there IS a panel line there, so I can't simply fill it in... not sure if I should try and sand it to match, and risk taking too much material... or fill it in completely and rescribe the lines...

[rsxse240]

so here's what you do.

step 1: cover the ends of the grill with bare metal foil so it's wrapped completely around the ends, this is going to keep filler from adhering to the grill shell.

step 2: mix a small amount of your favorite quick dry epoxy putty (I like the tamiya quick set stuff myself) and apply it to the fenders so it can fill the gaps.

step 3: now, before the putty has time to set up, mash the grill shell into the putty, and position it where you'd like it to be permanantly. move the putty where it needs to be to fill any gaps weren't filled and rough it into the body so it is built up a little (building in room for error).

step 4: LET THE PUTTY FULLY CURE! yes, this is the hardest part.

step 5: with the grill shell in place rough sand the putty to the right contour of the body/grill. then follow that up with a much finer sanding to get a "finished" shape.

step 6: CAREFULLY pop the grill out (the BMF will have kept the putty from adhering to the grill shell) and remove the BMF. now sand a VERY SLIGHT bevel on the leading edge of the fender where it meets the grill shell. this will produce the seam line.

now you are ready for final prime/sand/prime/sand/prime/sand/prime and paint.

if you have any questions about this method, I'd be happy to help you out. I wish I hadn't already built my '70 notchback 'stang, I'd show you how I did it with pics.

this method can be used to get perfect fitment of any body panel. so have fun with it!!

-Ken

[eph2]

Hum.. big project, big problems! Good Luck... but this project is gonna be cool!

[tigeraid]

Tremendous idea Ken, thanks! I'll have to give that a try.

[rsxse240]

it would probably work just as well on the roof line that you need to remove, just don't bevel the joint.

[tajoe]

WOW that's going to be a lot of work. I would go find a newer kit! But i'm sure you will do an awsome job. Good luck.

[tigeraid]

Originally Posted by tajoe

WOW that's going to be a lot of work. I would go find a newer kit! But i'm sure you will do an awsome job. Good luck.

I know, but the only newer kit that exists of this car is a resin body from AF/X Resin... and if you've followed conversation in the main modeling forum lately, we've been having a fair bit of trouble getting parts from AF/X lately

[tigeraid]

Some quick updates... got the roof and a-pillar roughed up. The only significant problem I see is that the a-pillar doesn't sit behind the fender lip, but on top of it.... don't see any real way to fix it, just poor kit design. We'll see the what the customer says. Vinyl top has been removed as well. This will, btw, be my first kit with opening/detailed trunk.

[suicidehummer]

Never heard of the Mustang "Grande" before.

I hope your charging him extra, maybe $10 per problem??!!
I would!

[tigeraid]

Got the c-pillars filled out, I think... Should turn out okay in the end. Got the clamps in place with a thick piece of styrene across the cowl, because it's friggin warped. These old kits really are awful.

[suicidehummer]

Wow that sucks.
How old is it?

[tigeraid]

Originally Posted by suicidehummer

Wow that sucks.
How old is it?

1969.

[quadzero]

The old plastic is really interesting. Keep up the good work here.

[eph2]

Nice Progress!

[Midtenn]

Originally Posted by suicidehummer

Never heard of the Mustang "Grande" before.

From what my dad has told me, the "Grande" package was a more upscale model that came in notch back. He had a '69 model Grande I've been trying to get him to duplicate in 1:1.