Revell: USRRC 427 Cobra- WIP

Peter Hardy
Comes with seam lines you couldn't just make over

Tom ...
Yeah they were pretty severe. Thankfully they were over curved surfaces so it was relatively easy to scrape and sand them to a nice finish. If there had been any detail it would have been a nightmare.

Chris Greathouse
What's your dechrome of choice Tom, those look great.

Tom ...
I had already de-chrome these pieces but there was a fairly thick "lacquer" coat remaining so now that I have brake fluid on hand I'm using it to clean up the pieces more. It's working but rather slowly. Probably leave it overnight...

Tom ...
Chris, Super Clean of course. Don't leave home without it 🙂.

Spanjaard
certainly in 🙂

Tom ...
Argh, so annoyed! Just realized the clear pieces are missing from this kit! Bah humbug!

Spanjaard
scratchbuild?

Karel Doležal
Model soup 🙂

Christian W
Holy moly! Those seam lines are huge! I used to know some kits with fat seam lines. But those are really heavy.
What is missing?

Tom ...
Hi Christian. There were a lot of seam!

Unfortunately the glass for the "windshield" and headlights were missing. I do have the red tail lights.

Thinking of using epoxy to make the headlights. Won't look that great but better than nothing. For the windshield I think I'll just leave it off. Don't really have any other option at this point.

Tom ...
One thing I like about this kit is that the instructions give alternate "colors" to use for the chrome pieces. I've not seen this before. In this model over half of the chrome pieces are recommended to be aliminium, one piece gold and one black.

Christian W
That is what I'd do too. With the glasses of the headlights.
For the windshield you could take a piece of a plastic container. Dominik did it on his BMW Z8 (BMW Z8 R - R for Roadster | Album by Dominik (1:24)) I think the windshield of the Cobra is that easy too.

Your Color Looks amazing! I painted mine a couple of weeks ago in nearly the same colot 😮

Chris Greathouse
👍

Tom ...
So annoying. The hubs will not fit into the tires. I thought the tires were rubber but they are very hard and have no give in them. Need to strip the paint and dry fit. Bleh!

Christian W
Sometimes it is hard to get the inner or outer rims into the tire. Especially at the old Monogram based kits. And the Cobra is one. You can see it not only in the history. They had this click System for the wheels on the pin and those massive, hard tires. When I see them without knowing, which kit it is, I can tell, it is Monogram.

Tom ...
Tried putting down the decals. Unfortunately they are so fragile that they tear with the slightest force. Had to scrap the stripes. I guess I could try to paint them on....

I made this kit 20 years ago and had no problem with the decals so I guess it's the age that has degraded them.

Spanjaard
blue looking great. it should be possible to pain the white over, or maybe you can get some white decal and cut the shapes you need

Tom ...
I need to strip the wheels. What should I use to remove the future clear coat? Under that it's Alclad Aluminium and gloss base.

Spanjaard
to remove future, you can simply use IPA (pure alcohol), probably it will take some of the Alclad too. i think i have read that future can also be removed with Windex with you probably have access to in US. never tried that one myself

Chaz Gordon
At least the stripes are straight without a pinstripe, you could easily make replacements by cutting strips of white decal paper.

JD
Water dissolves Future aka Pledge quiet easily I learned, to my dismay... 😠

Chaz Gordon
I thought Future was supposed to be the panacea for applying WATERslide decals. I bought 4 Litres of the stuff. Now it seems not so great!

JD
I'm sure it was probably my fault while struggling placing decals, maybe taking too long, too much rubbing, too much water I dunno, it wasn't immediate, but it began turning white before it dissolved...

Christian W
The chassis looks great!

Peter Hardy
Chaz, you cannot buy Future or Pledge in Oz. Opening there for an enterprising entrepreneur!

Chaz Gordon
Can't get the specific formulation in the the Land of Hope and Glory either, I bought 2 Litres over from the Colonies last time I was there, and have another 2 in my storage unit there.

Chaz Gordon
It's banned in the EU because it's crystal clear in the bottle, and someone might drink it by accident! (But clear Bleach is OK???)

Greg Baker
The ammonia in Windex will eat through Future like nothing! Of course, it will likely also eat your paint. Once dry, water shouldn't be able to remove it, but one thing I've found that removes Future... is Future. If you need to remove it, brush a bit more on and then gently rub it off. A bit of water will also help once it's softened up.

For decals, I usually spray or brush on some Future and then let it dry completely before getting anything wet. Then apply water slide as normal. After wards brush on just a bit over the decals. It will self-level, and mix with the coat under the decals. So once it's dry, it basically encases the decals and protects them.

Spanjaard
yep, i have applied future and then water decals without any trouble (and cover all of it with future afterwards)
it may be ban in EU, but you can buy it via Amazon in UK/FR/DE (I had mine shipped to France, and got it from there)

Christian W
I agree with Spanjaard: Via Amazon it is possible to get "Pledge". That's (on my point of view) the same stuff.

Chaz Gordon
I have seen the Amazon.co.uk Pledge in the clear bottle, it is the US Spec that was formerly known as Future. The Stuff in the White Bottle is UK spec and not the same as the fabled Future. I got mine in the US because it was $6 a bottle, Amazon are charging £15 for the same product. (Fair enough it needs to be shipped, but when you have baggage allowance....)

Spanjaard
yeah, i had to pay extra, but It was my only option at the moment.

Spanjaard
some sellers even resell it in tiny bottles making a very nice profit....

Tom ...
Finally got the wheels done and finished the assembly. Not happy how it all turned out. I was missing some pieces and the decals crumbled on contact.

Definitely going to build this Cobra again but need to find a better kit. Also next time I think I'll paint the white stripes as I think there is a real easy way to do this that will look much better than decals.

Chaz Gordon
Fine line automotive tape.

However, the model looks great, Not all Cobras had racing stripes. And the Driver's expression is priceless, exactly how you'd expect someone to look after they'd just taken a new Cobra for a quick shakedown blast round the track before the Livery is applied.

Chaz Gordon
Display with a mechanic applying the first piece of white stripe......

Neuling
Schön!!!

Bill Newcomer
Tom, I have that exact same kit. Other than the decals did it give you any troubles? Should I scan the decals before getting them wet?

Torsten
I like the driver so much 🙂

Tom ...
Torsten, I can't claim credit for the driver. Came like that with the kit. I guess I could weather him a bit but I'm over this build.

Bill, it's nothing terrible. In fact it's pretty decent. I think I'm just getting more fussy. It does have lots of seams and I don't like how the chassis connects to the body. Makes it hard to have proper alignment and the radiator doesn't seem to fix into its space. Make sure to dry fit the cockpit and chassis before glueing the cockpit/tub in place. The hood/bonnet assembly requires some carving to make it open and close well and there is a lot of fiddling about to get the hood assembly positioned so it works. I love the body (apart from having to remove the outrageous seams) but I do wish the roll bar had a better "seat" for glueing on but then the kit allows you to build different configurations, i.e. without a roll bar, so I guess there's no getting around that.

Oh and DON'T glue in the steering wheel if you are going to be putting Ken in the driver's seat or there will be no room for him to fit. Put him in and then jam the steering wheel into its hole.

Oh and theTires! Dry fit the hubs in to the tires before you paint them. I had to carve out a good amount of the inside of the tires to get the hubs to fit.

I think what I mean by a better kit is one that is more detailed and advanced. This is one car I'm willing to spend a bit of money on. I don't care too much for modern race cars but there's something about this Cobra and its ilk that I really love.

Bill Newcomer
Thanks for the tips Tom.

Chaz Gordon
A proper roll bar on a cobra should pass through a hole on the body and bolt to the chassis, there is a gap to allow flexing without rubbing, so accuracy would demand a hole larger than the hoop tube, but then you'd need to extend the tube.

Spanjaard
beautiful blue color

Christian W
Now I watched your built long enough without showing you my Cobra. Two months ago I restored it. Funny thing: the color. First I wanted to paint it steal grey that it fits to my Viper QP. Then I changed my mind:
[img1]
[img2]
*lol*
Yes, the little windows at the sides are missing. I've had the Cobra for more than twenty years. It wasn't painted and during the long running other builds I grab one and restore it.

To your Cobra. Under the body it is definitely better than mine 😉 Very good. Like it.
Then I saw the driver and the first person which came into my mind: Jacky Ickx. He looks so familiar. A pair of gloves where cool. Those with the free nuckles 🙂

Tom ...
Nice one, Christian! It looks sharp and clean! The dashboard and steering wheel are perfect too.

Christian W
Thank you. I'll do a gallery hopefully this week.