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Playing in the Sandbox Group Build Sept 1, 2024 - Jn 1, 2025

Cobra Coupe - Le Mans - Model Factory Hiro 1/12


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Now I’d have been tempted to paint the covers gold because that’s how my Fairlane was originally.  Funny, one year change to ‘66 and the Mustang engine was the traditional Ford blue.  But the ‘65 Fairlane was black and gold.  Well, by the time I got it, grunge and gold! 
Of course I wasn’t having any of that.  I painted that thing blue and threw on a set of go faster aftermarket covers. 
45 years later and I still have those Cal-Custom valve covers in a box somewhere. 

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3 hours ago, DocRob said:

I´m more than a bit curious about your plan B, but it seems you are not willing to share it.

I didn't want to clutter up your build thread but here's the link. The price and shipping seemed very reasonable.

https://mezzo-mix-models.jimdo.com/modelparts-for-sale/ford-escort-mk1-race-version-in-1-12-scale/

There was a build of the kit on Britmodeler which is how I found out about it. After ordering the kit, Christian needs a 2-3 week lead time to print it out. He has several other models too and decals are available from another company. 

The engine in your Cobra is looking amazing. I'm still in awe at some of the details that MFH includes in their kits, such as the exhaust gaskets. 

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9 hours ago, Peterpools said:

The 289 looks fantastic and all the extra work right from the start has paid off. Looking mighty good.

 

9 hours ago, Bomber_County said:

Rob, looks amazing almost feel the weight and the brooding power…….

Thank you Phil and Peter, the weight is indeed something, which separates the MFH kits from others. Quality wise, I felt, the casting of the Crocker bike was a bit better, but nothing what can´t be solved arose until now. What you get for free with MHH kits is bleeding fingers :D, as you have to hold small parts during drilling, sanding and polishing.
 

Cheers Rob

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20 hours ago, ScottsGT said:

Now I’d have been tempted to paint the covers gold because that’s how my Fairlane was originally.  Funny, one year change to ‘66 and the Mustang engine was the traditional Ford blue.  But the ‘65 Fairlane was black and gold.  Well, by the time I got it, grunge and gold! 
Of course I wasn’t having any of that.  I painted that thing blue and threw on a set of go faster aftermarket covers. 
45 years later and I still have those Cal-Custom valve covers in a box somewhere. 

Wohowww, now it starts, what I feared since the beginning of this build, Scott. Friends of American low tech heavy metal, dwelling deep in nostalgia :D. I´ve seen a Cobra Coupe build, where the engine block was painted blue, but pics of my ride along the manual suggest black. The covers seem not to be polished, but that´s what I call artificial liberties.

Cheers Rob

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19 hours ago, CANicoll said:

Looking awesome!!  Wow, each bolt....

Thank you Chris and yup, each bolt. With MFH kits your drill bits are your best friends. I use three different pin vises, only, because I don´t want to change the bits every minute.

Cheers Rob

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19 hours ago, BlrwestSiR said:

I didn't want to clutter up your build thread but here's the link. The price and shipping seemed very reasonable.

https://mezzo-mix-models.jimdo.com/modelparts-for-sale/ford-escort-mk1-race-version-in-1-12-scale/

There was a build of the kit on Britmodeler which is how I found out about it. After ordering the kit, Christian needs a 2-3 week lead time to print it out. He has several other models too and decals are available from another company. 

The engine in your Cobra is looking amazing. I'm still in awe at some of the details that MFH includes in their kits, such as the exhaust gaskets. 

Thank you Carl, exactly those gaskets (ah, that´s the correct terminology ;)) gave me a bit of struggle. The holes for the bolts were to small and  had to redrill them. Aligning the PE to the holes in the block and inserting the bolts, without causing a CA mess was not so easy and the too small holes were very un-MFH.

Thank you for showing the Mezzo-Mix site. The Escort would be my choice as well, but I have one from Belkits in 1/24. The kits look absolutely fantastic and if they build up well, they would be a good representation of the originals. 1/8 Porsches, geez. Like you said, the pricing seems very reasonable for what is on offer.

Cheers Rob

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Rob, if memory serves me correctly, the 1965 and earlier 289 motors were black.  Went blue in ‘66 And Ford did have chrome valve covers on them. Here’s a pic I stole off the WWW of a ‘65 

 

IMG_1468.jpeg
 

Of course old Carrol wasn’t happy with those cast iron intakes and Motorcraft 4 barrel carbs (One of the best designed carbs in the history of mankind as far as I’m concerned!)  so everything he built got a power adder.  GT 350’s got an aluminum high rise and a Holley carb. Exotics got the Weber stacks. 

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On 7/20/2024 at 9:31 AM, BlrwestSiR said:

I didn't want to clutter up your build thread but here's the link. The price and shipping seemed very reasonable.

https://mezzo-mix-models.jimdo.com/modelparts-for-sale/ford-escort-mk1-race-version-in-1-12-scale/

There was a build of the kit on Britmodeler which is how I found out about it. After ordering the kit, Christian needs a 2-3 week lead time to print it out. He has several other models too and decals are available from another company. 

The engine in your Cobra is looking amazing. I'm still in awe at some of the details that MFH includes in their kits, such as the exhaust gaskets. 

Carl

Been to their website and some awesome looking kits. One shortcoming seems to be there aren't any decals offered with the kits and I've been looking for 1/12 962 decals without any success. 

 

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24 minutes ago, Peterpools said:

Carl

Been to their website and some awesome looking kits. One shortcoming seems to be there aren't any decals offered with the kits and I've been looking for 1/12 962 decals without any success. 

 

 

Peter, Christian at Mezzo Models told me to email Michael at:

scalegrafixx@gmail.com

for decal options. Apparently he's the one who does the decals. If the quality of the Escort is nice, I'm considering the 962 as well but probably the IMSA one especially if Lowenbrau decals are available. 

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22 minutes ago, BlrwestSiR said:

 

Peter, Christian at Mezzo Models told me to email Michael at:

scalegrafixx@gmail.com

for decal options. Apparently he's the one who does the decals. If the quality of the Escort is nice, I'm considering the 962 as well but probably the IMSA one especially if Lowenbrau decals are available. 

Carl

IMSA for sure. Shall do

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4 hours ago, ScottsGT said:

Rob, if memory serves me correctly, the 1965 and earlier 289 motors were black.  Went blue in ‘66 And Ford did have chrome valve covers on them. Here’s a pic I stole off the WWW of a ‘65 

Thank you Scott, yup, this engine looks very similar to mine. I found pictures of exactly my car with slightly matte covers and black engine block.

Cheers Rob

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Today, I prepared all the carburetor parts and finished assembling the first pair, which consists of almost thirty parts. The inox pipe in the middle of the funnel was pretty rigid. It had to be cut from a tube and the manual suggests rolling it under a sharp blade. I tried, but no success. I took out my mini mitre and razor saw and managed to cut eight parts, while loosing all the teeth on the blade. 
Again the holes on the PE parts were to small, to accept the bolts and needed to be re drilled. Pretty annoying, given it´s not brass, but very rigid stainless steel.

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I also added the distributor, where tiny rods of steel rod are glued into each connector for accepting the tiny rubber isolators. These needed to be drilled wit a 0,3 mm bit to later (hopefully) accept the ignition wiring.

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Cheers Rob

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Some.vwry impressive detail there Rob. For the inbox tubing, maybe try substituting similar diameter tubing from Albion Alloy? They make many sizes in aluminum which would have a similar finish but would be much easier to cut. 

The Japanese really love using stainless for their PE for some reason. 

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To cut tube and rods, I use a cutting disc in my drill (the one on the pedestal with a flexible shaft and foot control). Of course, they break easily under any kind of side load, but you can buy them by the dozen at a dirt-cheap price…

Hubert

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1 hour ago, BlrwestSiR said:

Some.vwry impressive detail there Rob. For the inbox tubing, maybe try substituting similar diameter tubing from Albion Alloy? They make many sizes in aluminum which would have a similar finish but would be much easier to cut. 

The Japanese really love using stainless for their PE for some reason. 

 

1 hour ago, HubertB said:

To cut tube and rods, I use a cutting disc in my drill (the one on the pedestal with a flexible shaft and foot control). Of course, they break easily under any kind of side load, but you can buy them by the dozen at a dirt-cheap price…

Thank you for sharing your thoughts, Hubert and Carl. I finally got the tubes cut and precisely to length, luckily. I thought about using the cutting disc on my Proxxon, but it would have been much more difficult to hold the tube in place and cut it exactly to measure. I would have put it on a brass rod for support, but luckily I got it finished in my mitre, without flying tube parts.
I have lots of Albion tubes, but most are brass tubes and I want to keep the tube material visually as thin as possible, which means without painting. Aluminum tubes, I have only for WW! turnbuckle diameters, but I guess the thickness of the material would have been also too much for me in aluminum.
Brass and aluminum tubes cut easily rolling under a sharp blade, but the stainless steel tube from MFH was a bit of a beast.

Cheers Rob

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Rob

Some mighty impressive work on the first of the carburetor parts - just seem MFH, could have created the parts with correct sized holes for the NBW's. Carl's suggestion of substituting aluminum tubing might be a better approach to replacing some of the s/s parts. Even Tamiya seems to love using s/s for PE on its WWII fighter aircraft line of kits.  I wonder why?

 

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7 hours ago, Peterpools said:

Some mighty impressive work on the first of the carburetor parts - just seem MFH, could have created the parts with correct sized holes for the NBW's. Carl's suggestion of substituting aluminum tubing might be a better approach to replacing some of the s/s parts. Even Tamiya seems to love using s/s for PE on its WWII fighter aircraft line of kits.  I wonder why?

Thank you Peter, I don´t know what happened with the holes in the PE. Maybe MFH chose to change the bolts, but forgot about the PE. Generally spoken, the Crocker kit had been a bit more refined, but maybe it´s easier to work metal only. Luckily it´s no major issues until now.
The stainless steel PE makes sense with the kit, as it is visible and doesn´t need to be painted. Brass would have been more work in the end.

Cheers Rob

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The engine got near finished, lacking the ignition wiring and the belts in front. To mount all the carburetor parts into the tub was extremely difficult, done by the manual, it would have been impossible. I spare you the details, but you should put in the four carburetor blocks at the same time, only connected with a fragile steering rod and then add the coil spring mechanism with no wiggle room. It took some thinking and manipulating of parts to get it right. 
The carburetor housings were beforehand accentuated with black panel liner. I also added some decals onto engine parts.

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Cheers Rob

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23 hours ago, Peterpools said:

A true test of your finely tuned skills, as the 289 looks incredible. If I didn't know, it is now close to passing for the real deal.

 

Thank you Peter and indeed, the final assembly steps were a bit higher on the cuss scale. Next will be the wiring, which won´t be easy too, but the detail MFH supplies is well worth a bit of suffering.

Cheers Rob

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