I am not a car guy, but I am a Bond guy. I have always liked this Mustang that was featured in Diamonds Are Forever. I think I will always remember the iconic car chase through downtown Las Vegas. I have taken a couple of weeks off from modeling so I can rearrange and sort my hobby room, and then I planned to start building two WW2 German planes. During the reorg of my room, I managed to misplace all of the PE, masks, and decals for my projects, so I plugged this car build while I was trying to find the missing stuff.
I have wanted to build this car for a long time, and I was spurred on by the recent release (or re-release?) of this kit. I read an article on this kit which said this was a new release with new molds. When I checked Scalemates, they said this kit was from 2023, with new parts in 2024. Not completely new, but new enough to have some really nicely molded parts with no flash. The decals are what I think of when I think of the old AMT decals: thick and lots of extra clear film. These decals were also slightly out of register, but useable. There are 80-90 decals to place on this model, making it a lot like putting the stencils on an F-4C.
I am building in sub-assemblies, and pre-painting as much as I can using rattle-can paints. I have found that the decals work fine as long as I cut away as much of clear film as I can and use plenty of strong decal fluid on them. Once the decals are dry, I spray the part with clear flat. I don't plan to add anything to the kit that isn't already provided, so I won't embarrass myself by trying to add all of the spark plug wiring and any other wiring not included in the kit. I also found the files to print a Sean Connery 007 figure standing in one of his iconic poses, so I have printed the figure, which I plan to paint and add to a small diorama with the car.
I have ordered the Cobra Automotive Paints from Ammo for this kit. They are lacquers, and the clear is a two-part lacquer consisting of the clear and a hardener. It looks like it might produce a really nice exterior finish. If the paints don't arrive in time, then I will continue to use my ready-steady Tamiya rattle-can paints.
Today was my birthday and I spent most of the day with my kids and my granddaughter. I will be watching the Super Bowl later, so not much done today. Should get some more done tomorrow. Cheers.
8 attached images. Click to enlarge.
