So, after a stressful weekend of Whack-A-Squirrel
my 3D printed radiator showed up in the mail and it was time to tear down the Shelby.
This tear down wasn't mandatory but I really wanted to clean all the goop and crud off the plastic interior parts including the windows. I was concerned at first that there may been some CA glue fogging on the clear parts but a quick swipe with a Q Tip showed it to be some kind of grease.
I also wanted to do a more detailed survey of this die-cast to figure out how much I wanted to put into the rebuild. The first thing I noticed was that the factory in China must have hired Man Mountain Dean. ALL of the screws were torqued down super tight.
This put the condition of the interior into a better perspective- someone new had assembled this die-cast.
I had almost talked myself into flocking the carpets and surfed over to Detail Master to order the flock and some parts. Its a good thing I wasn't 100% committed, the black flock has been on back-order forever and all they had was Charcoal Gray, which would have goofed up the look of the interior. So, I'll just lay down a thick-ish coat of flat black enamel paint then stipple it slightly before it cures. This also makes it much easier to add a pair of "Cobra" floor mats.
DM's floor mats are made out of a kind of thick construction paper that looks convincing. They are also slightly over sized for 1/24th and 1/25th scale cars which makes them perfect for 1/18th and 1/20th scale.
All you need to do is lightly buff the floor mats with an eraser to raise the grain in the paper then add any folds. Finish up by gluing in place with either white glue or, better yet, Elmer's rubber cement. Elmer's doesn't glue the parts in place as much as it "tacks" them down. Just apply the glue to the mats and where you want to stick them on the floor, then allow the glue to dry until its tacky. Stick the mats in place and nudge them slightly into their final position, and you're done.
Engine and spark plug wires- On modern cars, this is a toss up. I've done this in the past where 10 hours of adding wires results in something you'll never see. I want to do a little more research on the real car, but I'm 90% sure I won't bother with wires.
The missing radiator- Basically, all I needed was something to cover the hole behind the lower chin inlet. It didn't have to look 100% accurate, it just had to
be there. A quick trip to EBay showed two possibilities, one was a 1/18 scale radiator/intercooler in resin from somewhere in Europe that looked really nice but was priced at "only an arm and a leg" while the other was a 1/18th scale 3D printed radiator with two electric fans for die-cast dragsters. Close enough.
I'll even add one or both of the electric fans, they look too good to go into the parts stash. Just some quick painting followed up with some panel liner, then drilled, pinned, and glued into place on the chassis. Job done.
Wheels and suspension- Pretty good but there was room for improvement. The model comes with turning cross drilled brake rotors and detailed stationary calipers. The rotors only need a little detail painting on the center hub and some panel liner to make the outer rotors "pop". Since this is 1/18th die-cast, it also features a solid metal rear axle that is a couple of cm's too long which results in a sloppy fit. I'll either cut down the metal axle or replace it with aluminum tubing.
Final details- These are well within reach and its easy to add some "easter eggs" that really make your model pop.
The main reason I wanted this GT 350 was because I wanted that unique Shelby gauge cluster on the driver's side of the A pillar. As it turns out, those three gauges are only painted silver.
Not to worry, this is why we stash decals.
Some 1/24th small gauge decals will fit nicely and I'm going to cut and polish some bezels out of some aluminum tubing, glue them to the sides of the gauges, then fill in the new "pocket" with some clear parts glue. Shazam! Accurate 3D gauges with glass faces. They are also more rugged than you may think, the clear glue for the gauge faces also bonds all the parts together into a solid unit.
After that will be some final details. The instrument panel and center console need some minor detail painting (I need to look up some pictures first) and I might add some aftermarket cloth seat belts and p/e buckles. Then, everything gets screwed back together ( 1/18th scale die cast is one of those hobbies where you want a couple of types of Loctite in your tool drawer).