|
|
Post by Joel_W on Sept 6, 2019 9:55:23 GMT -8
I received a gift of the BHP Resin trans kit of the 1997 Cobra Mustang that Tommy Kendall drove in the Trans Am series that year. So I've started the trans kit with the intent to paint the resin body and carefully get the vacuum form front and rear windows to fit before I move on with the build. Some how I managed to get both to basically fit, so I'm confident that I can finish that task without ruining either of them.
I cleaned & washed the shell, and then discovered that in my research I don't have any overall pictures of the interior. From what I can kind of tell the roll cage is gloss White, the dash & seat are Black and that's about it. I have no idea what the shell interior color is.
Does anyone have any information or can point me in the right direction?
Joel
|
|
|
|
Post by Chris K. Hale on Sept 7, 2019 6:38:04 GMT -8
Joel, I meant to answer last night but I couldnt stay awake ..ooooh well. Based on my fading memory on this car, They were re-skinned versions of the previous few years so your chassis, engine etc should be the same as any Rousch car. I searched my files and couldnt find any under body shots as to what color they were, I do know most were a off black some grey like I said that's from memory, I lost all those files from a PC break down a few years back..and I had a ton. Most Trans am cars had a white chassis as you had stated, some had body color or contrasting colors. I think my new favorite saying would apply TLAR ! or That Looks About Right.. I am pleased you are taking monster steps by building your first resin kit so far I have to say you are in track to a great looking model.. Chris
|
|
|
|
Post by Joel_W on Sept 7, 2019 7:51:10 GMT -8
Chris,
Thanks so much for the reply. Like you, I regularly fall asleep after dinner while watching tv in the bedroom, a sure sign of an early pm nap. Then of course when I do wake up and what I was watching is long over, falling back to sleep after I take my night time meds isn't always easy or even possible. Such seems the life of an old timer just getting older by the day.
About all I've been able to hobble together about the Mustang is that the interior of the shell looks like a neutral primer Gray. The roll cage is gloss white In the pit area, the dash aluminum, and the Instrument panel looks like Black CF. Seat is going to be Black Resin, seat harness Red just for some much needed added color, and all the Aluminum sheet will be various shades of Aluminum. The fun really starts with the trunk area as you can see it through the rear window. I'm planning on primer gray shell, tubing Gloss White, and the Aluminum stays Aluminum.
I do have plenty of pictures for the JPS Mustang, and what's Gloss White with the All Sport car is now. Gloss Black. Just not going to drive myself crazy over this, as the focus will be on the overall model presentation.
Joel
|
|
|
|
Post by Joel_W on Sept 9, 2019 6:05:40 GMT -8
As I mentioned earlier, I was able to aquire the out of production 1/25 scale BHP Transkit to replicate the 1997 SCCA Trans Am Tommy Kendall All Sport Roush Cobra Mustang, as well as the out of production Slixx All Sports Decal sheet. I'm just praying that it's still ok, and won't have any suprises for me when I get to the decal stage, which will be much sooner then later, as I've started to work on the shell.  Now keep in mind that I've never built a transkit, nor even worked with a resin body either for cars or aircraft. All I've ever done is struggle cutting off a pair of rotary aircraft engines off their molding blocks, and nearly screwed those up. Also the kit's front and rear glass is clear vacuform parts. OH NO, another major issue. I've never successfully got one to fit aircraft builds after trying a few times, and eventually just gave up. So my Mojo and confidence levels was rapidly taking a nose dive to nearly 0!! But still I was going to give it my best shot. I started the Transkit with major issue #1, the front and rear vac glass. Literally I had no idea of how to accomplish this where both would fit and look the part. Here's what the rear glass looks like:  And the front glass just to make it a little more interesting has the carb intake ducting is molded in. That's going to be a whole new experience working with sheet plastic to simulate the Aluminum ducting on top of the vac glass as it's the only support for it. Well, I cut each side off about an 1/8 of an inch from what looked like the actual window part, then fit snip test, fit snip test, what seemed like hours. But eventually I actually got the rear glass to fit pretty good. It still needs some final work but I'm home free there.  Then I went to work on the front windshield. Same method, but more time needed for the duct. I also got that to fit pretty good, but more finessing is going to be needed as well. Sorry, but in all my excitment I forgot to take a picture of it taped into place. But you'll see it soon enough. Next up was dealing with the chassis and the resin parts that are added to it. The Revell pan had huge sink "channels" on the bottom side that ran opposite the molded on chassis rails on the topside. Never seen that before. I used several coats of Tamiya Gray filler sanding in between applications till I got it filled and smooth. Of course I still need to seal all the filler as it's porous to even my poor eyesight. In the process of sanding I managed to remove all the molded on Dzus fasteners which really don't make much sense to me as why they're there in the 1st place. But since I didn't have a single picture of the bottom of the pan, I made new ones out of punched out .010 sheet plastic. I also managed to completely sand off the support plate at the front of the chassis for the mounting bracket from the kit. So that was made from plastic strip. Now I had to deal with my 1st resin parts. the extensions of the lower pan that is the attachment points to the body shell. Well, one fit ok, and the other wasn't close. So on with the respirator, and sand, check, sand check, etc. till it fit. Well, I was a little to agressive in places, so after gluing both sides into position with CA Gorilla glue and taping, the following day came filling the main gaps with CA Gel, letting it dry for several hours, then a coat of Tamiya filler. The following work session I sanded, and polished both sides. For some reason the resin sides are thicker then the molded pan, but again I have no references to prove that right or wrong, so I left it that way.   As per my usual build method, I like to do the body shell 1st for a closed wheel car. So I had to really decide on exactly what car I was going to do. Well, it wasn't to hard to figure out, a real no brainer for me. Tommy Kendall was one of my favorite Trans Am drivers, drove the 1997 All Sport Roush Cobra Mustang. I had the Slixx decals for Kendalls car, so it's a double plus. The car is Black with a molten Greenish trim, so I went with a light Gray primer. I had decided to test out MCW pre-thinned primer as I had bought two bottles when I bought the correct colors needed for the Folgers car, and the Valvoline March Indy car that Little Al drove (a build for this winter). My usual primers have always been Mr. Hobby's #1500 Gray & Black, and Tamiya's White, while I use their gray as a brushed on filler like for the putty work i mentioned above. I mix the #1500 1:1 and it's pretty thin but not like the MCW primer, as it's like water. But I went with it as a lot of the pre-mixed lacquer primers are that super thin consistency. I used my Grex AB/.5mm setup with a flow rate of 16 psi. Usually just two coats were all that is needed, but this time4 coats were needed with about 5 min between coats. Then I usually apply 2 wet coats. I also needed 4 good wet coats. I also did the inside of the shell as that's the color the fiberglass is in my references. I ended up using nearly a full bottle, I'm sure that Zero's primer is the same. Come to think of it, these primers are the same consistancy as their paints, which I do love. So I'm sure it's just me. But honestly for a primer, it's just to expensive using these premixed ones. I can always thin #1500 a little more, but I do prefer the 1:1 thinning ratio for ease of use. I gave the shell a full day to dry and cure. With all the primer I applied, the surfaces were certainly more then a little rough. So I wet sanded with Tamiya's #3,000 sponge as usual, but it needed a lot more lite sanding. The end result is just right for the color coats.   So far so good. My confidence and Mojo levels are rising with each job completed. I just might actually get this model across the finish line. Joel |
|
|
|
Post by Joel_W on Sept 10, 2019 5:16:59 GMT -8
Bill,
Thank you Sir for the offer, I'm truly thankful for it. All the tires I've done to date are either by decal which is the same exact process as regular decaling with clears. The trick is that the rubber/vinyl needs to be as inflexible as possible, and they have to be already mounted on the wheels. With these tires there's raised lettering which for me has always been a crap shoot where the final look leaves a lot to be desired. So your offer of borrowing your stencils sounds like the perfect solution. I'll pm you with my details.
Again thanks for the offer, it's greatly appreciated.
Joel
|
|
cc
Full Time Ride
Posts: 141
|
Post by cc on Sept 10, 2019 13:13:18 GMT -8
Hi Joel, just had a few and checking found your next build here. Sounds like your going to relish building this Trans Am Mustang. Ill be watch on your progress. So far looking good. Your old Slixx decals should be ok. I have used some that were 10 years old and no problem so hoping good luck to you.
CC
|
|
|
|
Post by Joel_W on Sept 10, 2019 13:28:05 GMT -8
Hi Joel, just had a few and checking found your next build here. Sounds like your going to relish building this Trans Am Mustang. Ill be watch on your progress. So far looking good. Your old Slixx decals should be ok. I have used some that were 10 years old and no problem so hoping good luck to you. CC CC, Thanks for stopping and checking out my Cobra Mustang. So far so good. But I'm not fooling myself that once past the vac glass things should go easier. To use the incredible resin BBS wheels, there's surgery needed on both the front and rear axle hubs, then a slight modification to adjust their heights to center the wheels. That should be real interesting to say the least. Right now I'm painting the shell and hope to start the decaling this weekend or next week. Glad to hear that the Slixx decals should be fine. I'm really looking forward to them as I've never used them before. Just one question, will the Microscale system work well with them, or should I go another route? Joel |
|
|
|
Post by 2lapsdown on Sept 10, 2019 17:30:00 GMT -8
I envy you for having this kit and decals, it will yield a great looking car. Thank you for sharing the process.
John
|
|
|
|
Post by Joel_W on Sept 11, 2019 5:18:34 GMT -8
I envy you for having this kit and decals, it will yield a great looking car. Thank you for sharing the process. John John, When I started to focus on a few Trans Am and GTO kits, I just thought that it was just the Revell Mustangs of the 1980s and their Camaro kit as well, which is basically the Mustang kit with a different engine and body. The BHP Transkit for the 1997 Mustang was a gift that literally I didn't even know existed. I'm just hoping that I can do it justice, but it's going to be a real challenge to say the least. For that matter the same goes for what Indy/Cart cars are out there. I have a few AMT kits, and now am eyeing some of the superb Resin kits that are available. The same issue holds true for them, buy now or miss out on owning them at a reasonable price. Joel |
|
|
|
Post by starfighterace on Sept 11, 2019 5:23:49 GMT -8
Looking good! I'm another who missed out on this kit. Loved this car. Remember very well when it raced. I had always hoped Revell/Monogram would have issued this on an updated chassis. Like so many historical US racing cars, they took a powder.
|
|
|
|
Post by Joel_W on Sept 11, 2019 5:51:47 GMT -8
Looking good! I'm another who missed out on this kit. Loved this car. Remember very well when it raced. I had always hoped Revell/Monogram would have issued this on an updated chassis. Like so many historical US racing cars, they took a powder. Mark, Same here, but both of those companies were falling on hard times, and only produced models that would appeal to their largest markets. Road racing wasn't one of those. You might want to post in the wanted section here and search ebay just for the shell transkit, then pickup the Revell Mustang kit for the donor parts. I've gotten pretty lucky at times with kits I thought I'd never own. Joel |
|
|
|
Post by Chris K. Hale on Sept 11, 2019 6:24:51 GMT -8
 For all the guys who missed the kit, Gene at Slixx sells Competition Resins version of this car for $33. plus shipping and several sets of decals for it too. Although just a body, I have checked it out and it does drop right on to any GTO Mustang kit by Revell with the usual minimal modifications. A lot more work than Joel's Transkit but at least you could build a reasonable replica.. Chris |
|
|
|
Post by Joel_W on Sept 11, 2019 8:36:43 GMT -8
Chris,
That's great news. Just one question, does it come with the vac glass? Not sure if the 1985-7 glass from the Revell kit would fit. Maybe I shouldn't be so lazy and check it myself as I have the full Revell kit for a GB coming up.
Joel
|
|
|
|
Post by Joel_W on Sept 11, 2019 13:19:57 GMT -8
Well guys, today in between a million family issues I managed to air brush the MCW gray primer on the chassis. And as I feared, it barely covers putty or different colors. I lost count of how many coats I needed for full coverage, but the finish is horrendous. Hopefully, I can sand and polish it out without having to strip it off and start over again.
One thing is for certain, the remains of the 2nd bottle is in the trash, and I'm going back to Mr. Hobby's #1500 cut 1:1 with #400 leveling thinner.
I'm sure that there's plenty of modelers that can air brush primer as thin as water, but I can't.
Joel
|
|
|
|
Post by Chris K. Hale on Sept 11, 2019 18:04:32 GMT -8
I really dont know but looking at it it would not be hard to cut some sheet clear to fit.. I am kind of lazy when it comes to primer and actually prefer Duplicolor Spot Filler primer on most resin and plastic, I might have used AS-12 Tamiya Bare metal Silver as my primer/base coat on that chassis to make it all the same base color and keep the detail sharp.. Chris
|
|
