1965 Comet bracket racer

This build has been 6 years in the making. It is a model of the drag car I build with my dad and son.
I sold the real car a couple of years ago after moving to Kentucky. I will always have a soft spot for that old Comet.

I like to build models of the cars I have owned and this one was no different but I could not find a 65 Comet kit anywhere back in 2010. I found a resin body and tried to use it but it was from what looked like a very worn out mold and was not very good. I had not worked with resin much either so it was going to take more skill than I had to make it look as good as I wanted it to. Then I found out in 2014 that Moebius was releasing a 65 Cyclone kit. I pre ordered I and waited, I waited a year and still no release, I preordered 2 more and I waited, I waited another year and finally I have my kits in styrene! During that time period I was able to collect all the detail parts I wanted in order to copy my real car as much as possible.

The kit is a hardtop and my car was a sedan post so I had to change that but other than that I have a kit that will be based off of the Comet. Well, while I am extremely grateful that Moebius modeled the 65 Comet, they didn't model the stock car.

The box gives all the indications that it is a bone stock 65 Cyclone. It's not. Moebius will be soon releasing an AFX drag car based off of this kit and that is what this kit is. The engine compartment is not stock Comet it is the factory AFX conversion with the Fairlane shock towers and the front end is jacked way up. The lower control arms are molded in there full extended position. The rear wheel houses are huge (all ready prepped for big slicks). Very disappointing for Comet head like me. In fact it looks like they copied a lot of the engineering of the AMT 66 Fairlane on the chassis and interior kit design.

Still this kit gives me a starting point I never would have had.
I started off by cutting the top off of a Revell 64 Fairlane Thunderbolt to give me the basic shape of the sedan top I needed. The Cyclone top looks to be just a fuzz too short compared to the real car.

I have started carving up the front end to move the lower control arms up and change to more stock shaped shock towers. I also cut up the rear of the car chassis pretty much the same way I did the real car in order to make room for a narrowed 9" and 11.5 slicks.

I scratched up a Funnel Web intake and am using a resin C4 transmission with the Moebuis kit small block ford. I scratched up the electric water pump and changed the angle of the oil filter. I am using the excellently molded HEI distributor from the brand new 83 Hurst Olds kit.

I will be posting pictures of my real car along with the model wip for comparison.

If you suffered through that ramble, here are the pictures.

Brilliant Mitch. 

Excellent subject and a great start. I like the mix of 1:1 pictures and the scale pictures. Great Stuff.

You seem to have excellent access to reference pictures. Great job!!

Thanks guys, here are some more pictures. Some of the body work sanded and a resin hood I found in the parts box that I am going to use on one of the other Comet Cyclone kits I bought.
Custom decals I had printed and a couple more of the real car.

Thanks Shay,

I wasn't satisfied with shape and angle of the C pillar so I did a little more trimming and shaping. I think this looks a little better. Its not perfect but it's close enough for me.

I also played around with my new "Chrome Pens", They are amazing. I did some testing on another piece of plastic so I can see how durable they are. This may be an answer to places that are really too small for BMF.

Its snowing today so I plan on staying in this weekend and hope to have all the basic modifications done so I can get to painting and building. I am very anxious to use my custom decals.

Here is a mock up of the stance, I think I need to use a slick with just a bit lower profile.

Great bit of surgery, Mitch. Looking good.

What brand of chrome pen is it? It looks pretty good for small parts - will it touch up sprue attaching points on kit chrome?

Looks like a great build. I got the latest issue of Scale Auto in the mail yesterday. They have an article on building this car.

RetiredMike wrote:Great bit of surgery, Mitch.  Looking good.

What brand of chrome pen is it?  It looks pretty good for small parts - will it touch up sprue attaching points on kit chrome?

Here they are Mike. I think the would be perfect for touch up.

WOW, you REALLY know your stuff, both in 1/25th and full size. I'm floored at your skill and dedication on this one. This is a great tutorial on modifying for drag racing. Thank you!

Thanks Harron.

Here is some more from last night. These new pens I got are really something. I used them on the valve covers.

I made springs for the front end and got the first coat of primer on the body.

Looking great Mitch, those pens do seem awesome. Will have a look for them. 

Very nice Mitch....!

That work on the roof (C pillar) and trim looks sooo challenging and tedious!!!! You have more patience than I ever had.

Geoff knows where to get them Gary, I'v'e lost the link, I'll get on to him.

German version.


http://www.molotow.com/products/marker-ink/liquid-chrometm/

Thanks Shay. Great online store with some amazing products. I will soon be a few quid lighter. 

Hold on they're in here somewhere. UK site.


https://www.graff-city.com/

Maybe you could put the two sites up on Suppliers links Gary?

I got mine from a place called Bombing Science.

https://shop.bombingscience.com/molotow-liquid-chrome-1mm.html

Sorry for the high-jack there Mitch!

You got it Shay. Will put it on suppliers links.

https://www.graff-city.com/markers-c79/molotow-liquid-chrome-marker-p955

dublin boy wrote:Sorry for the high-jack there Mitch!

No High Jack Shay. These pens are awesome.