1999 Mustang SVT Cobra Convertible

[StanGlover]

Since Monogram/Revell never made a New Edge Mustang convertible, I will be making one myself! I’m combining a Monogram ‘94 Cobra convertible with their ‘99 Cobra coupe. I originally built this ‘99 when I was probably 13-14. It was one of my better childhood builds… but it still left a lot to be desired. The ‘94 was an open box I got cheap from eBay. Sadly it was missing the Batman comic book haha. 

My idea for this project started when I was planning to simply rebuild my ‘99 coupe. But then Ollie’s recently released a new issue of ‘99 Cobra coupes, so I bought a new kit to build as a coupe and decided to hack up my childhood build. I forgot to take a before picture of it.I chopped the roof off the 99 along with the 1/4 window trim. The door window trim will be my reference point.The ‘94 is donating it’s convertible roof base trim, up top and interior tub.  Both kits share identical interior parts including the seat pattern. I’m not sure if that’s accurate but the real New Edge interior didn’t change much from the SN95 so it is what it is. I’ll use the fresh ‘94 parts here.A younger me was pretty liberal with model cement… no chance separating the coupe interior from the ‘99 chassis. 
Luckily, the ‘94 chassis is essentially the same as the ‘99, except for the transmission mount and the front engine bay corners. I filed down the corners on the ‘94 inner fenders and cut out the ‘99 crossmember.Just like the real cars, the IRS swaps right in to the ’94 chassis. The windshield, frame and cowl are slightly different between the two, so my plan of cutting the frame and cowl out and swapping won’t work easily. I’ll probably just leave the ‘99 frame in place and trim the former roof down to fit the up top. 
Here’s a quick mockup of the roof base trim. The trunk edge needed some shaping and filler will be needed where the rear roof pillar met the fender.The body and ‘99 Cobra-specific parts are ready for a soak in the purple power bath. 

Thanks for reading, hopefully I’ll have a follow up soon!

[metalhead]

That's quite a project you have! Following along with interest!

[StanGlover]

Some progress! I got the paint stripped and some sanding on the body. 
To give the convertible roof trim somewhere to mount to, I cut a strip from the trunk lid of the ‘94 body and glued it under the trunk lid of the ‘99 to give it a lip.

I of course managed to break the passenger side A pillar before even touching the windshield frame, so I glued it and added some supports out of scrap sprue. 

While rinsing the body, I snapped off the driver’s side mirror and it went straight down the drain. Luckily the ‘94 mirrors are identical to the ‘99, just like the real cars. I re-glued the mirrors to give more strength to the A pillars. The trunk edge will need some fine tuning but the roof trim is starting to look like it belongs there!

Needed another mock up of the up-top! I am definitely nervous about trimming the top of the windshield frame. Might add more scrap sprue to reinforce it. 

[vamach1]

Looking good.  My son and I have owned four new edges and it’s a shame there are no kits for 2000-2004.

[StanGlover]

8 hours ago, vamach1 said:

Looking good.  My son and I have owned four new edges and it’s a shame there are no kits for 2000-2004.

Definitely! The Terminator Cobras, Mach 1, Bullitt, and GT convertible all deserve to be kitted up.  Don’t get me started on the S550 only having the child’s toy snap kit from Revell or the expensive race-version-only from Tamiya….

[Pierre_tec]

On 7/21/2023 at 8:23 PM, StanGlover said:

Definitely! The Terminator Cobras, Mach 1, Bullitt, and GT convertible all deserve to be kitted up.  Don’t get me started on the S550 only having the child’s toy snap kit from Revell or the expensive race-version-only from Tamiya….

Will love to see an recent 2018+ Mustang, beside would be a nice motivation for younger to see a models that can be easily seen on streets.

[mustang1989]

Good lookin' build going on so far. Will be lookin' in on this one. 

[StanGlover]

Windshield frame is complete! I managed to get it cut and sanded without any more damage to the A pillars or header. I did manage to crack the windshield itself while trying to polish out a glue blob. Luckily these kits are $13 at Ollie’s right now so I grabbed another. I’m probably going to use all of the parts (except for the body) from the new kit instead of trying to save my old glue bomb parts. 

The ‘99 windshield does already have sun visors molded in so that’s a nice detail I won’t have to come up with. Plus they give a place for the up-top to rest on. 

[slusher]

Really nice work going to be a great build!  

[mustang1989]

Looking as close to perfect as it gets Zack. Good score on the extra kit for 13 bucks too. I saw where they've got 1970 Vette kits on for the same price now. I wished I would've known about THAT sooner. lol .

Progress is looking good man.

[StanGlover]

Another update: the body mods are done and it’s ready for primer! I haven’t set up my paint booth yet after my recent move but hopefully I’ll get this primed and painted soon.

[mustang1989]

Looking forward to seeing the paint start flyin

[StanGlover]

I haven’t decided yet on colors. My heart says Rio red over black… but I already have three red Mustangs completed and 4th in the queue, a 007 ‘71 Mach 1. I’m also leaning towards Zinc yellow even though it wasn’t available on ‘99 Cobras, but it was on ‘01 Cobras. Mineral Gray is another personal favorite for New Edge’s, but again not available until ‘01. There were only minor visible differences between ‘99 and ‘01 so I might take a little liberty with the model year ?

[kelson]

Maybe go with Electric Green?.

[StanGlover]

22 minutes ago, kelson said:

Maybe go with Electric Green?.

I thought about it, but a member here did this kit in that color a couple years ago so I want to do it in a different color. 

 

[mustang1989]

On 7/29/2023 at 11:44 AM, StanGlover said:

I haven’t decided yet on colors. My heart says Rio red over black… but I already have three red Mustangs completed and 4th in the queue, a 007 ‘71 Mach 1. I’m also leaning towards Zinc yellow even though it wasn’t available on ‘99 Cobras, but it was on ‘01 Cobras. Mineral Gray is another personal favorite for New Edge’s, but again not available until ‘01. There were only minor visible differences between ‘99 and ‘01 so I might take a little liberty with the model year ?

How bout black? Anything looks good in that color and if it's done right it'll look as smooth as a mirror.

[StanGlover]

@mustang1989 Hmm I might try black after all. I haven’t had the best luck with black in the past but it’s worth another try. 

[StanGlover]

Quick update: wheels are done. I’m going with full chrome even though I don’t think it’s factory… just a simple black wash in the lug nut holes. I’m using the Goodyear Eagle tires from my O.G. release over the new Ollie’s special, since the new kit tires have no sidewall detail. 

[mustang1989]

20 hours ago, StanGlover said:

@mustang1989 Hmm I might try black after all. I haven’t had the best luck with black in the past but it’s worth another try. 

You could practice on another car body in the stash to perfect your method so you don't get frustrated if it doesn't turn out like you want on your project here Stan. Looking forward to more and the wheel/ tires assemblies look great!! 

[StanGlover]

I’ve made some progress, primed the body in pink to help cover the red plastic parts. 
At this point I was still leaning towards red or yellow but I decided to go with black. I should have done another primer coat in gray or black, because my black gloss coat didn’t flow into the body seams so now there’s pink showing through. I’ll try a black wash in the seams to cover it I guess?I’ll have to wet sand and do another color coat anyway so we’ll see how it goes. I might have to strip this one and start over. But I’m loving the triple black look so I’ll see it through!I did prime the chassis in gray and gave it a black overspray coat. Interior, chassis and drivetrain parts are painted and curing in the dehydrator. Detail painting to come!

[slusher]

Black looks really nice on your Mustang!

[StanGlover]

I haven’t forgotten about this build! I got the engine and chassis detailed and assembled. I’m still summoning the motivation to finish the body paint job but it’s going to happen soon.

[dino246gt]

Looking very good!

I have the same dehydrator, but I cut the top two shelves half off so I can sit taller stuff on the half of the third shelf.

Black with red interior???

 

[StanGlover]

42 minutes ago, dino246gt said:

Black with red interior???

Nah it will be triple black!

[StanGlover]

Another quick update: engine bay is now complete with decals.

Along with the interior. I painted interior in Tamiya NATO black for a more charcoal-black look with primer black carpet and some of the trim in Tamiya flat black acrylic.

 I test fit the body. I will need to shave the firewall down a little because the front half of the body isn’t sitting down quite right. 

Preview with the top in place. I still need to sand the body down and reshoot another top coat. I think I can get away with not stripping it down to bare plastic. It doesn’t look too bad in pictures but I can do better. I’m excited to get this one done!