RoR Project PC1966 – Slice ‘N Dice

Twitt

RoR Project PC1966 – Slice “N” Dice

Figure 00
1966 Mercury Comet GT Indy 500 Pace Car

            This turned out to be one of those real intense ‘kit bash’ projects due to the availability of parts. The main components were the donor body and kit from the AMT 1967 Mercury Comet (kit #31761), Comet GT wheels from Missing Link Resin Casters  and resin castings from the original AMT Dealer Promo 1966 Mercury Comet GT. There is also a little bit of scratch building and some fabrication involved but the end results were worth the effort. You’ll also have to top this off with a set of Fred Cady decals.

            You’re probably asking why go to all the trouble of resin casting and hacking two bodies together when you can just modify an old AMT Promo model, right? That’s a great question. The answer is: cost, detail and the challenge! It’s hard to find an original Mercury Comet GT promo car in good shape for less than $75. On the other hand you can get the decals, donor kit and wheels for under about $25 delivered, by doing some careful eBay shopping. Once you’ve got the resin casting molds made you can make more of these for your friends.

The first thing I did was make the RTV silicone molds from my dealer promo car of the front and rear ends of the model. In this case I cast them at the same time by putting a putty and tape cowl around the front end and hanging the rear end into the base mold frame. You’ll need to cast the dashboard and convertible top boot as well.
Figure 01
Figure 1

            After the molds are set, pour your resin castings and let them harden. After they’ve cooled flex the molds and remove them.
Figure 02
Figure 2

            The main donor kit is the AMT 1967 Mercury Comet (kit #31761)
Figure 03
Figure 3

            Mark the body just behind the bumper cutout for removal. File off the body squarely and evenly on both sides.
Figure 04
Figure 4

            Square-up the back side of the resin casting at a similar angle to the body’s.  Use a little superglue to attach the resin to the styrene body to fix it in place.
Figure 05
Figure 5

            Do the same thing with the rear fascia. Note that the trunk deck lid is left intact from the donor kit and the resin section is fit into the notch there.
Figure 06
Figure 6

            Now you have the basic gist of what’s going to happen. You’ll get the crisp detail of the body and chassis for the donor kit with the necessary features from the 66 GT. Although I finished this off as a curbside kit (no opening hood) you could also complete the engine compartment if you wanted to finish that portion off too. I’ve also marked off the top to indicate where I’ll cut that off later to make the convertible top. Once the body sections are in place where needed – use some epoxy glue on the inside joins to secure them.
Figure 07
Figure 7

            Now add some modeling putty to blend in the jointed sections and sand to a smooth finish.
Figure 08
Figure 8

            Use a rotary cutting tool or micro saw to remove the top sections. Leave a little extra here to file/sand to final shape.
Figure 09
Figure 9

            Now you can see the basic structure of the convertible features with a light coat of primer to show where any fine sanding is still needed.
Figure 10
Figure 10

            The donor kit comes with a convenient separate front windshield/visor. Tape off the visors and paint them white like the rest of the interior.
Figure 11
Figure 11

            After final sanding and a tack cloth start to spray your model with some initial tacky coats of the final color.
Figure 12
Figure 12

            The paint used for this model was Plasti-Kote brand Cardinal Red. The same shade as the original pace car.
Figure 13
Figure 13

            Assemble and mount the interior pieces for a light coat of primer and then some bright white satin color.
Figure 14
Figure 14

            Detail the back end with some flat black in the center bar that’s been dry brushed to highlight the chrome lettering. Wrap the taillights with some Bare Metal Foil for the reflectors.
Figure 15
Figure 15

            Finish it off with a foil wrap on the bumper and paint the taillight foil with a translucent red.
Figure 16
Figure 16

            In this situation I used some chrome paint from Model Master’s on the lower portions of the windshield frame and wrapped the top half in foil.
Figure 17
Figure 17

            Bare Metal chrome foil was also used on the front bumper. The grill and headlights were simply painted with Metal Master’s chrome silver. The internal grill ribs received a blackout treatment of thinned flat black paint. Add a little insignia orange to the turn signal indicators and a couple appropriate length 1/16” pin stripes for the hood scoops and the front end is finished

Figure 18
Figure 18

            Mix up a little dark red tempra paint to fill in the panel lines. Using a small brush just paint it on and after it has dried you can simply rub it off of the raised body surface leaving the darkened panel recess to set off the panel.
Figure 19
Figure 19

            Now that the body is mostly finished you can add the Fred Cady decals.
Figure 20
Figure 20

            This is how the side of the car looks after all the decals are added. In cases where the decal crosses over a body panel you will need to let the decal dry then cut it at the panel line so that it sets into the crease and shows the darkened panel line recess. A little decals setting solution is helpful in getting the spliced decals to lay into the recess and stay put.
Figure 21
Figure 21

            Paint the steering wheel and dashboard red like the body then begin detailing it by blacking out the instrument panel and using a dry brush to add chrome paint to the instrument bezels. This model had a chrome plate across the width of the dash so use some foil and trim it to the correct dimensions along the dash section lines.
Figure 22
Figure 22

            Add some foil to the seat back brackets.
Figure 23
Figure 23

            Likewise, add some foil to the center console nacelle.
Figure 24
Figure 24

            The original car had a chrome plate on the door panels as well.
Figure 25
Figure 25

            Assemble all the parts in place according to the kit instructions and this is what you’ll end up with.
Figure 26
Figure 26

            Turning you attention to the underbody it time to decide whether to assemble the engine or not. I built this as a curbside model but I still feel that something needs to fill the engine bay for aesthetical purposes when you look at the underside of the vehicle. I made a soft mold from clay of a partially assembled engine and poured a resin casting of this “half engine.”
Figure 27
Figure 27

            Assemble the engine bay. Note that the firewall and radiator assembly are gloss black like the underbody but the inside fender walls are body color. The front half of the radiator assembly had to be trimmed off in order to fit it into the vehicle because of the thicker resin front end. If you wanted to make a full detail kit with an opening hood and assembled engine you would have to remove portions of the resin front end casting to allow room for the mating a sub-assemblies.
Figure 28
Figure 28

            Detail the underbody by painting the parts appropriately. See how the faux painted engine looks filling up that empty space.
Figure 29
Figure 29

            The tires for this model need to have the striped filled with some gold tempra paint to emulate the gold stripes on the original pace car. Wipe off the excess after it dries.
Figure 30
Figure 30

            Drybrush a round toothpick and use it as a rolling pad printer to add highlights to the “Firestone Wide Oval” radials.
Figure 31
Figure 31

            Assemble the wheels with those Comet GT wheels from Missing Link Resin Casters. Add a little blackout treatment to the flats on those GT wheels to look just like the originals.
Figure 32
Figure 32

            To secure the chassis in position to the body I used a little bar stock and secured it with some screws to the chassis.
Figure 33
Figure 33

            A view from the underside shows the placement of the fasteners.
Figure 34
Figure 34

            Drill some equally spaced holes in the rear bumper to accommodate the pace car flagpoles then glue them into place.
Figure 35
Figure 35

            Use a small drill to locate the place where you radio mast will go.
Figure 36
Figure 36

Figure 37
Figure 37

You can almost see yourself sitting there in front of the pack in that big block Mercury that sunny day on May in 1966 with the sound of racing engines revving up for the big race behind you!