Hello Mustang People!

Im not going to bother lying to you, so i will say right out that i know little to nothing about the sexy world of ford mustangs. I ask everyone therefore for help, my father often talks about his first a vehicle: a canyon red 1984 Ford Mustang GT with a t-bar top; he also says it was like a special edition???... i think it had a 1985 engine in it or something... unfortunately he sold it with no idea of how much it was worth and has regretted it ever since. :P

I recently decided to make him a diecast (or plastic...) model of his first car for a special occasion but found that apparently such models do not come in kits... So i was wondering if anyone else had taken on a similar exploit and may have some ideas for me... Perhaps several sets that may be used together? I know that the body of the 83 was similar except for its lack of fog lights, and the SVO was similar except for the... that thing on the hood... K, i'm making a pretty big fool of myself, i know, but its for my dad. Anyway the hood thing is in the opposite direction on the GT. And then obviously the T-bar top.

I was thinking of a 1:24 model however i would settle for just about anything.

Thank you very much for your consideration. Please help me if you can.

 

Okay

So you want to make a model of his car for him?

Diecast is out of the question as molds will cost 1000s of dollars

a better option: A program called soldworks and a 3 axis cnc. Draw up all the parts you need with soldworks 3d modeling program and then have them cut from a block of foam,plastic, aluminum, wood.
Cons: You have to know how to use solid works and have access to CNC if not also very expensive to have it drawn for you

you could always make it from clay.

or

you could use Balsa wood blocks and special superglues to make the model
this is highly effective but requires some skill... I built a whole UAV for agricultural and farming management from some balsa sticks, sanding blocks, and glue. This thing carries video cameras and other sensors over large plots of land. Hopefully by the end of the summer it will fly its self over the fields without my having to pilot it it.
Cons: I think building a model car from this method would be tougher then building the UAV [&:]

Those are some options if you were serious about building the model

-Gun

 

http://www.steedshop.com/servlet/the...-GTdsh-/Detail

That is the closest thing I could find.
I wish that a diecast company would start taking custom orders... like you could tell them the year, make, model and send in a pic of your paintjob, rims etc and they would do their best to replicate it.
I would imagine there is a company out there somewhere that would do it, but you gotta pay... it wouldnt be cheap. I think the best thing to do would be to try to find the correct model year and then try to paint or modify it to look like your Dads old car. I just dont know if anyone makes diecasts or models from 83-84???

 

Indeed, custom order would be a huge asset... And thank you so very much for finding that model, unfortunaltely Ford changed the mustang build in 1985. (Im going off what my dad has told me.) however, thank you again for finding that one... its beautiful...
Now Solidworks, i have to look into it. i have never used this program before.

Thank you both for your help!

 

Keep an eye on ebay. MPC made an 84 T-top mustang model.
http://www.scaleautomag.com/sca/obje.../sbm040446.pdf

 

They can't do that Bay because of the dies themselves.

A diecast process it setup for mass production of parts exceeding a million units or more. This is because a single die set can cost well over 100,000 dollars depending on the complexity...large car models are complex.

Why does the die cost so much...Im not really sure.

The solidmodel software with CNC is nearly limitless but if you dont know how to use the software its expensive to hire someone. Some complex parts might require 4 axis CNCs and time on the CNC is expensive.
A cool idea would be to CNC all the parts from wax then use the wax to make an investment casting from. The wax could be worked very quickly by the CNC and using the lost wax process an exact steel part could be cast from the wax part and its also not very expensive for the casting which is often done in plaster which is heated. This method would yield the most accurate and nice looking results for the cost.

-Gun

 

I am a model maker from way back. If you have a bit of sculpting talent in you, wood may be the best way to go. Balsa and Basswood are easy to work with but soft. I have made models by laminating up strips of mahogany with Elmer's wood glue (the yellow stuff). I even restored a 4-1/2 foot long wind tunnel model made in 1939 which was used to develop the Japanese KI-43 Hayabusa "Oscar" fighter. It was rescued from certain destruction at the end of world war 2 by my father. Attached is a before and after. That model was orignally made of laminated mohogany and I used the same materials and methods and the original builders.

[IMG]local://upfiles/82474/4B0FD02E90664A3FABE3D5B33AC98F4E.jpg[/IMG]

 

Gary H: i'm amazed i hadn't found that yet! thank you very much, i can't find anyone selling those sets yet though... but now i know that they do (or did) exist.

Gun Jam: i definately do not have 100,000 dollars for a model car, haha... i am looking into the Solidworks thing. And uhh... you keep saying CNC, i'm afraid i don't know what that is... (embarrased)

You are very talented Mr/Mrs Honeygoldcoupe. i may resort to scuplting, however, with my car knowledge (or lack thereof) it would definately not look as good as it might from a set or other model.

 

CNC is Computer Numeric control...Which probably doesn't help much either.

Just think of it as a electric motor that a computer can control how far left, right, up, down it moves. as it moves in a given direction it uses a special cutting bit that cuts away the material as it moves across it. So you start with a 4 inch X 4 inch x 1/2 inch block of whatever (plastic) when its done you have a model hood for your car that is an exact replica of the actual hood or as close as you drew it in soildworks.

Your probably better off getting that model that gary showed you...unless you dont have a job. I say that because once you learn how to use soildworks you could get a job doing solid modeling. Then maybe it would be a cool project to lean on.

-Gun

 

just buy him an 84 gt with t-tops

but seriously, that one kit that gary h found looks pretty dang close