Shelby Cobra 427, Fujimi (vs Revell)

[PauliusLiekis]

I wanted to make Shelby Cobra for a while, but I wanted something street/sporty/modern looking. Eventually bought Fujimi and Revell kits.

Fujimi looks great on the cover. If it looked like that when assembled I would have zero interest in making any mods.

Unfortunately, the actual stance of the car is nowhere near what you see on the cover. It's closer to what you see in the instructions:




The package and the instructions are much closer in the Revell model:




It feels like Fujimi didn't bother making tires for this kit and just reused it from some other model, as they are the same size and are not even wide enough to cover the rims. Revell did a more solid job of actually making tires like they should be (Fujimi 2 on the left, Revell 2 on the right):


Also, the front arcs in Revell have a slightly smaller radius, which helps the overall look.

However, I would to point out, that the Fujimi kit has way better quality overall otherwise.

I decided to proceed with Fujimi in the end and just make some mods using a 3D printer.

[PauliusLiekis]

I experimented with printing wheels for the model. Just using regular extrusion printer and printing ABS. Mostly experimenting on direction of the print:


The final results are pretty decent:

And here is the painted result:

I bought a bunch of "GOOD YEAR" stickers that were supposed to be for 1:24 models, but it felt like all these stickers are more likelly for 1:18 models or for truck tires. Or maybe I'm just missing something.

[Mark1]

Nice.

[minitnkr]

Goodyear racing tires have much larger print than their conventional tires.

[PauliusLiekis]

My approach was to find a free or cheap 3D model online and then model any modifications on top. This is just the 3rd car model in my life and the first where I'm trying to make the modifications, so I'm kind of trying to figure out the ropes as I go :smiling3:

I wanted some wider arcs, so I modelled and 3D printed them. They do not match the model exactly so any misalignments are adjusted with epoxy putty. I just recently learned that epoxy putty exists and I find enjoying myself working with it :smiling3: You could make the whole arc from it, but the 3D printed part gives a more accurate outline and you just need some epoxy putty and ten regular putty where these two parts meet.

The last photo shows the fitting of the wheels. I printed special support parts that allowed me to preview the wheels on the model. I had a lot of doubts about the size of the wheels. IIRC, in this photo they are not the final ones - I made them slightly smaller, as the model looked very cartoonish, almost like a go-cart from Mario game So yeah, I had lots of doubts about it. Somehow the wheel felt very different in 3D renderer vs the real model. However, in the end, it came out fine.

[Tworrs]

That’s looking brilliant, Paulius.

[PauliusLiekis]

I wasn't sure if I wanted to have trunk and hood open, so I decided to make it openable

Special part for aligning drilled holes:

[PauliusLiekis]

I didn't take many pictures of the painting process, but I really struggled with painting the black stripes on the body. Either black paint was getting under the mask, or masks was ripping of the paint when you peal them. I must be doing something wrong. What's the trick?

[Ian M]

Tape is to sticky, so will pull paint if the paint is not 100% cured.
If the tape is not burnished down at the edge or in and over details as can be seen in the picture above the paint will get under it.

[PaulTRose]

One trick I learnt was to apply the tape then brush a little kleer (or similar) over the edge to seal it

[Andy T]

One trick I learnt was to apply the tape then brush a little kleer (or similar) over the edge to seal it

That

Or put a light coat of the underlying colour on first to seal the tape edge. If it does creep it'll be hardly noticeable.


As for the tape ripping the paint off - do you mean the black that you've just applied? If so you may be letting it dry too much before removing the tape. It's best done as soon as it's touch dry really so that it shears better along the tape line. Also always remove the tape along, or slightly angled away from the edge (hard to explain)

[PauliusLiekis]

As for the tape ripping the paint off - do you mean the black that you've just applied? If so you may be letting it dry too much before removing the tape. It's best done as soon as it's touch dry really so that it shears better along the tape line. Also always remove the tape along, or slightly angled away from the edge (hard to explain)

oh, this makes sense! I mean waiting for it to dry too much.

[PauliusLiekis]

The final shots. Some notable things: custom hinges for trunk and hood, custom trimming for seats plus seatbelts, and wider arcs and wider tyres as mentioned earlier.






The paint job and finish in general could be better - I'm still in the process of learning

The bigger tyres might be a bit exaggerated and give it a bit of a cartoonish look, but I like it

[minitnkr]

Loveit, loveit, loveit.

[vizenz]

Looks fantastic! I would love to take a ride on it!