AMT March 86C Kevin Cogan

[kyledehart5]

Pictures below if you prefer to avoid the reading.



More open wheel stuff. Another build of the old AMT kits. My first attempt at the March. I am aware the rear suspension is not accurate but I didn't want to get into this build that deep so I have not rectified that. Never been a fan of any Rahals so this is one of those "wish it would've won" situations. Cogan always gets a bad rap but he had his days when he was fast. Another reason I wanted to get this built was just because I've always though the 7-eleven livery was just really nice looking. So a nice one to have up on the shelf.



As far as the build went, I didn't have too much trouble. Broke the front wing and had to pin and repair that. Forgot to install the rear axles before putting the engine halves together so I had to cut and remanufacture the center section of the axle. No big deal on that stuff, just my own incompetence. Mostly box stock, I just added some ignition wiring to the Cosworth and then I cut some rear wing end plates to replace the triangular kit ones. Fine for Al's winning car but the Cogan car had more normal wing end plates. Quick and mostly painless when I could get out of my own way. Another self inflicted wound was taping the separation of blue and white. I taped it a little too low. This came back to haunt me during the decal process, of course. I considered stripping it and doing a repaint, but ultimately decided it wasn't worth it. I just had to adjust a couple of the decals on the sides of the nose. Overall I am happy with it and it looks good in the display case. Thanks for looking.

[tatocorvette]

Very nice!
You did a great job on this one.
The car that almost won the '86 Indy 500, finishing second.  Unfairly, Kevin Cogan's most famous moment was the crash in '89... which I've been replaying over and over for over 30 years.

Thanks,
Ismael

[kyledehart5]

Mar 7, 2023 19:38:43 GMT -8 tatocorvette said:

Very nice!
You did a great job on this one.
The car that almost won the '86 Indy 500, finishing second.  Unfairly, Kevin Cogan's most famous moment was the crash in '89... which I've been replaying over and over for over 30 years.

Thanks,
Ismael

Thank you Ismael!

[arcticwolf]

Kyle, you certainly got the body to fit better than I ever could. Nice job of what is a very basic and crude kit, you made it look good!

[kyledehart5]

Mar 8, 2023 7:23:26 GMT -8 arcticwolf said:

Kyle, you certainly got the body to fit better than I ever could. Nice job of what is a very basic and crude kit, you made it look good!

Thanks Paul. The kit certainly leaves some stuff to be desired. I put as much work into making it fit together as I was willing to. Ha! I think I have two more of these in stash too. 🤦🏻‍♂️

[pnance26]

If I might offer a piece of advice though Kyle on the decals... the red stripe on the left side of kit is very wavy and compared to the right side, doesn't fit very well. Also, the blue paint isn't as crisp as it could be. Use a piece of very narrow tape like from tamiya to help guide you with that. It keeps what could be a very good looking build from being just that little bit better. Decals and getting lines straight are the bane of modelers.

Never sell yourself short by deciding something "isn't worth it" because it really is. Look at your progression as a kit builder and use this as an example of "something I don't intend to repeat". Keep that in the back of your mind and remember, that criticism from me is always well intended and never mean or spiteful. We all learn only when someone tells us of our mistakes.

I've got two other AMT 1/25th IndyCar kits if anyone wants them... I think they are both March kits, one of Bobby Rahal and I can't recall the other off the top of my head. You pay for shipping and they are yours. I'll never build them.

[kyledehart5]

Mar 8, 2023 17:46:08 GMT -8 pnance26 said:

If I might offer a piece of advice though Kyle on the decals... the red stripe on the left side of kit is very wavy and compared to the right side, doesn't fit very well. Also, the blue paint isn't as crisp as it could be. Use a piece of very narrow tape like from tamiya to help guide you with that. It keeps what could be a very good looking build from being just that little bit better. Decals and getting lines straight are the bane of modelers.

Never sell yourself short by deciding something "isn't worth it" because it really is. Look at your progression as a kit builder and use this as an example of "something I don't intend to repeat". Keep that in the back of your mind and remember, that criticism from me is always well intended and never mean or spiteful. We all learn only when someone tells us of our mistakes.

I've got two other AMT 1/25th IndyCar kits if anyone wants them... I think they are both March kits, one of Bobby Rahal and I can't recall the other off the top of my head. You pay for shipping and they are yours. I'll never build them.

Hey, I’m always open to advice. I am not a great builder. Just try to learn a bit every time I get into a kit.

As far as the left decal goes, I had it straight and then clearly moved it while not realizing it. Something I no doubt could have avoided if I would have taken my time on the decals a bit more. Overhandled it before they set. I should’ve slid it on and left it alone until the striping was totally dry.

The paint work I was pretty happy with. I thought my blue line was pretty crisp and straight. I used Tamiya’s thin tape to mask it. It’s actually much straighter than my decal work. Michael’s stripes include the thin white pinstripe under the red stripe so when I messed that left side up it made both the white and the red crooked.

Patience with a build is never my strongest suit. I get to the bench and just want to build and build and continue on. I have mostly managed to master this but sometimes I catch myself out. I don’t mean to sell myself short by saying it wasn’t worth it to fix my painting error. Perhaps that was wording it wrong. I’m not sure. I picked this kit up for 5 dollars at a flea market. They’re really not great kits to begin with but at that price I couldn’t turn away. Maybe what I should’ve said was I had put forth as much effort and time into this build as I was willing to. And didn’t want to use more supplies fixing something that isn’t really going to bother me. I do appreciate the feedback. And I do intend to make each build better than the last. Doesn’t always work out but I try. I will keep your advice in mind as I go into my next build.

[pnance26]

That’s all a person can do!

If you invested in Michael’s decals, then you put more into than just a swap meet kit.

Don’t get discouraged if you make a mistake. Lord knows I have several projects “set aside” because I got frustrated. And then they get tables indefinitely.

[kyledehart5]

Mar 9, 2023 8:43:24 GMT -8 pnance26 said:

That’s all a person can do!

If you invested in Michael’s decals, then you put more into than just a swap meet kit.

Don’t get discouraged if you make a mistake. Lord knows I have several projects “set aside” because I got frustrated. And then they get tables indefinitely.

Ah, I rarely get discouraged. This is supposed to be fun after all. 😂. My shelf of doom is currently empty and I try to keep it that way. I make more mistakes than I ever do things properly. Always in awe of everyone’s skill and attention to detail on this site.

[Joel_W]

Kyle,
I really like the overall look of your AMT March 86C. Well done.

I've got two of them in my stash that I keep on telling myself to just build one already.

joel

[kyledehart5]

Mar 10, 2023 7:55:01 GMT -8 Joel_W said:

Kyle,
I really like the overall look of your AMT March 86C. Well done.

I've got two of them in my stash that I keep on telling myself to just build one already.

joel

Thank you! I think they’re fun little simple builds.