I was quite surprised to find my first delivery of Ford Mustang Shelby partwork in the mail today. That was quick! So without further ado, here's the start of my build diary.

Delivery 01, Issue 01

The pack contains parts to make the car's front. They are neatly packaged, and the screws are easily identifiable thanks to the coded stickers on the bags - which is a blessing and a curse, as I'll explain later. The paint quality is great.



The first step is to install the front grille. Easy enough, it's held by two screws:





Next comes the front bumper, which is made of chromed plastic. It's quality is ok, although I would prefer a metal part here. It's also held by two screws from the back.



The front lights proved to be two first fiddly bits. I didn't like the fit of them very much, it wasn't well defined and required several tries to find an alignment that felt more or less right. They are then screwed with a single screw each from the back.





The last step in this part was to install number plate. It was the step where the trouble begun.



Basically, with the smallest screws, the thread in metal part is not of a very good quality. I screwed and unscrewed the plate several times, and still wasn't able to get the screws fully in. I stripped two screwdrivers' tips (one might say they are not of a very good quality, but I had no problems with them before). I tried the screwdriver included in Issue 02, but with no luck either. I'll try to get some better tools later and update if it improved the situation... Right now the number plate still has a bit of play.

Delivery 01, Issue 02



I have to start with the sad fact, that I didn't complete Issue 02 in full. Reason was the same - very poorly made threads for one of the tiny screws included with this issue.

The first thing to do here was to install the brake shield onto another metal part, then add the plastic brake disk, brace them together with a (plastic) brake caliper, and screw in the single tiny screw that should hold all parts together. Mission failed.







On the second photo above you can see the brake disc is a bit off-center, that's fine as it will be centered in the right place when the whole assembly is mounted on the wheel. But first... the tiny screw visible on the third photo above needs to be fastened properly, and for now, it proved impossible. Again, I will get some better quality tools, and update if I had any luck with them.

This pack also contains the wheel and tyre, but I left the fitting exercise for later.



All in all, I have mixed feelings about this new partwork. The visual quality of parts is great, especially the external paintwork. This is a model that I always wanted to build - an iconic car that I really love. On the other hand, the threads of the screw holes could have been of much better quality, making the build more enjoyable. I think I'll try to get some better quality screwdrivers, made of some hard alloy, and I'll wait for the second delivery. I hope the fit will get better with time, or that I can solve the problems with better tools.

The thing I would do immediately at this point, is to get a set of good quality, precision taps. I would but I can't - all the screws types are coded with a combination of letters and numbers that have nothing in common with their sizes. As I said, it's both a blessing and a curse - it's easy to find the right screw for the task at hand. It's impossible to tap the holes as the screw sizes are never mentioned.

Stay tuned for the next episode...

Good idea and I'll try it as soon as I get new screwdrivers as all three I had are now gone - including the one incleded with pack 02. The holes seem to be deep enough.

Very nice build diary will be following this one when I get started. What a car todo hope to do the newer gt500 as well they will look allsome side by side time will tell.

Lovely start and judging by what you have done so far this is going to be a stunning model

Top tip by Andy with regards to screwing the screws in first to pre thread the holes, another couple of methods I have used before that has proved succesful is to either spray a small amount of WD40 into the screw hole or use a bit of Vaseline on the thread

A good set of high quality screwdrivers will make your build much more enjoyable, I have assembled this model up through #11 and have had no issues getting the screws all the way in. Due to the high cost of shipping to the US I only purchase groups of installment issues, waiting for issue #30 to be available now.

Ok, I got some high-end screwdrivers that should arrive early next week, and I'll try to add some lubrication. Hope it will be enough. After sleeping on it I'm much more optimistic about this build and already have some small mods in mind :-)

Glad you got it sorted Mick, I just hope you dont need to pick any glass shards out of your feet

Hi Michu with the tyres have tryed putting it in hot water thanks Ian

Yesterday I received another pack for this model, and without much hesitation I got on with the build.

Delivery 02, Issue 03

In this issue we start to build engine. The first step is to mount the rocker covers.





This is followed by completing the air cleaner assembly.









Next we attach two carburetors to the engine block (in the photo one in place and one on its own), and top it all with previously built air cleaner. The last step is to add a rocker cap.









Delivery 02, Issue 04

In this pack we can find the bonnet that really shows the scale of the model. This thing is huge, and the paintwork once more is wonderful. Nothing to do with that part just yet, it's to be carefully wrapped and put aside.





Next we mount Shelby logo to the front grille, and then attach the grille to the front assembly started in delivery 01.









The last step is to add another two lights to the front. They are just pushed in, I have to admit the setup feels a bit flimsy and might need to be reinforced with glue - but I will wait until I know how it all fits together in future before I go with that option.





That's it for this pack, next one in a month or so :)

Happy modelling!