Shelby 427 S/C Cobra by CDW - FINISHED - Fujimi - 1:24 Scale

[CDW]

When I finish my current project, hopefully by this weekend, I'll be starting this Shelby 427 S/C Cobra next. 

I'll build the kit primarily out-of-the-box, with a few aftermarket items such as hose and fittings and scratch built modifications here and there.

Hope you follow along and enjoy the project.

Edited November 12, 2023 by CDW

[Egilman]

You know, I still remember the days when you could trot down to the local ford dealer, plunk your 5 grand or so on the counter and three weeks later, one of these would be miraculously parked in your driveway...

 

American Iron, I'm down for this....

[Canute]

Sign me up.

[Jack12477]

2 hours ago, Egilman said:

You know, I still remember the days when you could trot down to the local ford dealer, plunk your 5 grand or so on the counter and three weeks later, one of these would be miraculously parked in your driveway...

I almost did that but chose a '65 Mustang instead as more practical. If only I knew then ....... 

[gsdpic]

Sweet, I look forward to following this.   I recently built the Revell 289 Cobra race car model.  It was a bit of a mish-mash.   The chassis/suspension seemed to represent a 289 (i.e. transverse leaf springs) but the body was a 427 body....there was even a "427" logo molded into the front fender.  The model as a whole was rather challenging.   Based on the info at scalemates, it does not seem that my Revell model is related to this Fujimi one (though Revell did sell a version of this model).  So, it will be interesting to see how it goes together. 

[mtaylor]

I'm in also..  Had thoughts back then about buying one, but several of my fellow Marines talked me out of it.  In some ways, I'm glad they did.   

[CDW]

In the Fall months of 1963, my dad was new car shopping at the Ford dealer. They had the roadster in the middle of the showroom floor behind ropes, so wouldn’t let you touch it. I remember it very well.

[Keith_W]

6 hours ago, mtaylor said:

I'm in also..  Had thoughts back then about buying one, but several of my fellow Marines talked me out of it.  In some ways, I'm glad they did.   

 

Why would marines talk you out of buying a model kit? 😄

[CDW]

12 hours ago, gsdpic said:

Sweet, I look forward to following this.   I recently built the Revell 289 Cobra race car model.  It was a bit of a mish-mash.   The chassis/suspension seemed to represent a 289 (i.e. transverse leaf springs) but the body was a 427 body....there was even a "427" logo molded into the front fender.  The model as a whole was rather challenging.   Based on the info at scalemates, it does not seem that my Revell model is related to this Fujimi one (though Revell did sell a version of this model).  So, it will be interesting to see how it goes together. 

I bought the AMT "race team" kit that comes with a 289 Cobra, a dual axle trailer and a '53 Ford pickup truck. Haven't opened the box to check the contents yet.

AMT GRAND PRIX '53 FORD COBRA RACING TEAM 1/25 SCALE MODEL KIT 849398019726 | eBay

[Javlin]

Now that's a motor!Back in the 80's when I worked in a machine shop I believe it's Big Daddy's in FL still had one of those in a crate

[Egilman]

1 hour ago, Javlin said:

Now that's a motor!

Yep a Shelby tuned 427 CobraJet.... (the Shelby tuned ford engine that won Lemans before there was a Shelby Cobra) There is a wrecking yard here in south pierce county that has three of them complete on their racks... (along side of a couple of complete 426 hemi's as well, one with the extremely rare six pack intake)

 

That was back in the days when racing was a big part of auto making.... not so much today....

Edited October 28, 2023 by Egilman

[CDW]

So we begin with the body this time. I want to finish it first so it has plenty of time for the paint to cure out before too much handling.

 

The body has some mold seam lines that need to be removed. The black marker identifies the lines and makes it easy to see when they are removed with a sanding sponge.

 

The bonnet, scoop, and trunk lid are molded separately so they can be displayed opened or closed later on.

 

 

There's a nice set of no name tires in the kit. There's a little mold seam down the center of each tire that can easily be dealt with using a fine sanding stick later.

 

 

Here I've sanded those nasty seam lines away in rather short order using 400, then 800 grit sanding sponges.

 

 

I'm focusing here on the louvers and an opening in the lower front of the body just below the grill opening. The louvers need to be opened up, and I want to also open up that area under the grill. As it comes from the box, that area has an oil cooler molded in the opening which I will replace later on after the area is opened up.

 

 

Here I've started drilling out the opening in the front of the body as well as drilled and cut out one louver. I may decide later to cut the louvers out completely and replace them with some made from scratch if i don't like the way they look after drilling and cutting.

 

 

I'm going to glue my trunk lid into a closed position but will leave the bonnet as a functional unit.

 

  

 

 

[Danstream]

Good start, waiting for another great model. My curiosity and interest for historic cars is increasing after your builds. I am thinking that after all for me this would be the only affordable way to own such fascinating cars.

Cheers,

Dan

[Old Collingwood]

Great  start  Craig,    that  body  has a  resin  look to  it  -  nice details.

 

OC.

[CDW]

Got finished with opening the louvers on both sides of the body as well as the area below the grill opening. I'm satisfied with the results so won't need to cut out and replace the louvers after all.

 

This is how I did it. First drilled many small holes between louvers using a micro drill bit and vise.

 

 

Next use an XActo knife with a fresh blade to slowly and carefully open the space between the holes that were drilled.

 

 

Using a piece of scrap photo etch fret or some similar thin gauge metal, glue/attach a piece of sand paper to create a fine file. Carefully work the tool between the slots that were cut with the hobby knife, then file these openings smooth. 

 

 

Here are the final results.

 

 

I'll give the body a coat of primer tonight so that it has plenty of time to set up before I work with it some more tomorrow.

 

 

 

[king derelict]

Great work on the louvres Craig. Really fine work 

Alan

[Canute]

Opening the louvers and intake on the front really enhance the looks of this Cobra. 👍

[Landlubber Mike]

Great start Craig!  Nice work on the louvres!  At first I thought you'd end up replacing them but they came out fantastic.

[CDW]

Here's the body all primed out in black. As you've probably guessed by now, I won't be finishing it in traditional blue color as seen on the box art.

 

 

The engine assembly is a straight forward and simple affair. I like the way the simplicity resulted in a good fit, but was disappointed the plastic was molded in a very smooth finish and lacked the texture of a cast block and transmission. To correct this a bit and add some texture before painting, I dabbed on Mr Surfacer 500 using a stiff brush.

 

[gsdpic]

1 hour ago, CDW said:

I won't be finishing it in traditional blue color as seen on the box art.

I am both a little disappointed but also excited to see what alternative you have in mind.  I did the traditional blue with white stripes on mine though when done I decided my stripes were a little too wide.  I defined them with 10mm wide Tamiya tape but they should have been more like 8 or 9 mm.

 

Looking good so far; interesting treatment on the engine block.

[CDW]

1 hour ago, gsdpic said:

...also excited to see what alternative you have in mind.

 

I've done a custom mix for metallic gray. Will be doing my stripes in black. Heavy on the clear coats and polish to follow.

 

 

[CDW]

I forgot to mention, the front and rear of the body has raised detail where the Cobra decal emblems go down later. I cut those raised areas away and sanded them smooth as I can cut sheet styrene for the emblem decals and add them at the end of the build. It will look better and not interfere with the masking for the stripes.

[CDW]

I wasn't happy with the way my metallic gray went down, so I stripped the body down and started over again.

 

 

This time gloss black was applied over the primer surfacer.

 

 

Last I sprayed on my metallic gray with some gloss clear mixed in.

 

 

The stock windscreen frame looks horrible in my opinion. I filed it down to a more aesthetically pleasing shape. The shape of the bottom of the windscreen does not evenly conform with the shape of the body. In a later step/s, will correct this problem with Tamiya epoxy putty.

 

[CDW]

The intake manifold has the distributor molded in and rather poor in detail. I’m going to drill it out and replace it with this aftermarket distributor.

[CDW]

Painted the stripes today. A couple of small places on the metallic gray paint had a peculiar reaction to the Tamiya masking tape. I will try to work these out as best I can but will live with it. Don't intend to strip it down and start over a second time. Odd thing is, this only happens to me when I'm using the 10mm Tamiya tape. At first, I thought it was because of an old roll I was using (on a different model) and I threw the old roll away and started with a new, fresh roll. But here is the same problem again this time on another model using 10mm tape. Never happens with other sizes of Tamiya tape, only the 10mm. Weird.

[CDW]

A cardinal rule when build a model kit is to test fit everything in advance. In this case, I failed to test fit the windscreen frame before starting the body work. This came back to bite me in the rear end, but fortunate for me, I had another Fujimi Cobra in the stash. This allowed me to use the body of it (identical bodies) to correct the ill-fitting windscreen frame.

 

 

The bodies have recessed locations underneath that are supposed to be opened up to fit the windscreen. The instructions don't tell you this, but you figure it out once you try to fit the parts together. Unfortunately, if you open the holes you'll find out the holes don't match the locating pieces on the windscreen. I marked these locations on the bottom of the kit body. Don't open these holes! 

 

 

To get an even, smooth fit to the contour of the body, I've used Tamiya epoxy putty on the bottom of the windscreen where it meets the body.

 

 

I kneaded up a small amount of the 2-part putty then rolled it into a small diameter "snake". Then placed the putty snake along the bottom of the windscreen. Before setting the windscreen into place on top of the body, smeared a light film of vaseline on the body to serve as a barrier, or else the putty when it dries would stick to the body. I set the windscreen in place over the light film of vaseline then pushed it down to fit the body contour. The excess putty that squeezed out both sides of the windscreen was carefully trimmed away well before the putty set up. I'll now leave this in place until the putty cures, then remove the windscreen for painting and inserting the glass. It's a nice smooth fit now, no gaps between it and the body.

 

 

As soon as I remove the windscreen, I'll wash and clean the body of any vaseline before packing it back into the model box. The windscreen will need washing and cleaning as well, maybe a light sanding, we'll see.

 

[CDW]

2K Clearcoat, Custom Creations paint.

 

 

[Egilman]

Beautiful job, a modern paint on a venerable classic....

[Old Collingwood]

That  paint  finish  is  Amazing.

 

OC.

[CDW]

Don’t want to spend a huge amount of time on the engine. Along with the wired distributor will add some hose clamps where appropriate. Once the engine compartment gets built out, I think it will be okay.