This is my first time ever posting something like this, so feel free to provide constructive criticism on how I could write these better.
I don't consider myself a skilled modeler, so I hope that the pictures will help you to decide for yourself whether or not this kit is worth getting (and what you could possibly do with it). I will still state my opinions about the kit.
Until I am skilled and experienced enough to provide a thorough review I will post these simply because I could not find much about these kits online and hope this will help other modelers to decide whether or not to commit to these.
Also, forgive me if I get my terminology is wrong, although I like cars I wouldn't consider myself to be much of a 'car guy'.
Review
So I recently acquired this second-hand kit for $25 (CAD) from my LHS (Burnaby Hobbies). I bought this not because I'm a mustang fan, but I respected its place in automotive history and I felt it was a steal, at the time, for that price.
The box measures 14.5"x10"x3.5". The contents can be seen in pictures below. The kit includes optional parts such as tire white walls, Cobra-marked engine performance parts (intake system and oil pan), performance exhaust headers, raised rear suspension, custom rims, large performance tires, custom steering wheel and rally pac gauges for the interior. It even includes an extra set of stock tail lights (chrome bezel and clear-red lens) if you want to give it custom quad tail lights. There's also some custom decals for side graphics. Lastly, there's thin and thick vinyl tubing for ignition wires and radiator hose. Although I haven't played with the hoses I imagine the thick radiator hoses will be quite stiff and difficult to work with.
Initial Thoughts & Observations:
**EDIT: The side of the box says this kit was issued in 1990 but it's clear the molds are much older. Doing some searching online, I couldn't find the date of its first issuing. The oldest I could see was branded under Matchbox and was described as being from 1979. I couldn't find the date molded on any of the parts either. Considering the impact the original Mustang had, it's quite possible this kit was released shortly after 1965.**
When considering a large scale kit I expect opening doors and hood, steerable front wheels and complete engine bay detail (battery, radiator, reservior bottles, etc...). But that's probably because I'm spoiled with the Minicraft/Entex/Bandai 1/16 kits, which are superb from what I hear. I don't expect details such as brake lines and engine bay wiring nor opening trunk. Do tell me if you think I'm still expecting too much, though.
However, not only does this kit not have steerable front wheels, but it uses a metal rod to form the front axle, which means you'll get a metal rod through the engine block. The front suspension consists of vaguely detailed upper and lower arms with a block sandwiched in the middle (not the outer edge) of the arms for the metal axle to run through. There isn't anything resembling steering knuckles, which is odd at this scale. It does have coil springs though (plastic part, not actual metal springs)
It has 'complete' detail (interior, underside, engine bay, but no trunk) but the level of detail looks as though they took a 1/25 model and simply upsized it...and simplified it further. Take a look and you decide.
Ok, now for the pictures. Take note that I got this pretty much new but buy the time these photos were taken I'd already started on it.
nstruction sheet. Paint guide isn't very clear, and many times incorrect. For example, the engine is said to be painted blue but from my research the stock '64.5 mustangs (as listed on the box and instructions) had black engine blocks, header blocks and oil pan.
Here's an example of the detail level of this kit. The box near the top is the stock carburetor
As with most American kits (all, from my experience) the chrome plating is excellent. Despite the box art, the light buckets aren't chrome plated, but are flat and molded into the body.
Body with the doors and hood installed. Body measures about 10.5" long
Door panel fit.
Interior. Front seats are hinged with the hinge pins clearly showing. Note the pedals are molded on to the floor, which is pretty lame at this scale. If you're considering making new pedals note that these photos don't show you that this part of the floor (usually the other side of the firewall in real cars, if I'm correct) sits 5/8" behind the firewall, which would be 10" on the real car. So making separate pedals may result in the pedals being absurdly close to the seats.
Engine. the hole in the side is for the metal axle to go through. The front metal axle is much thinner than the holes in the block (less than 2mm thick). The kit includes a chrome plated stock air filters but the valve covers aren't plated, which means you can't properly depict the 289 HiPo of the 64.5 Mustangs. I just found it odd. I'll be building mine as the regular 289 (gold filter and valve covers). Note that the block top, front and bottom had to be filed before gluing the intake manifold, timing cover and oil pan. They don't fit that nicely out of the box.
Engine bay. There are other details as well (see instruction sheet) that aren't shown in this picture. Also, the hood is not hinged, but is removable. Optional open-position hood hinges are included to build the kit with a permanent opened hood.
The exhaust system, excluding the headers, consist of 2 pieces which join together at the rear muffler. This is after quite a bit of filing, but it had some serious seam lines. And of course, the usual thick seam lines around the pipes were also cleaned up before this photo.
Rear suspension assembly. Pictured are the custom raised leaf springs. I'll probably use the stock ones. The leaf springs wouldn't fit properly on the axles and needed trimming to align properly. Shocks and diff case were also cleaned up before this photo.
The underbody mostly dry-fitted together. Exhaust tips were manually drilled as they come flat.
Tires/wheels. I like how they included the steel rims beneath the hub-caps. The white walls are hard plastic but seem to fit ok over the stock tires. One thing to note, though, is that the kit includes 4 performance tires, but the front custom mags are molded narrower and only fit the stock tires. Also, this kit does not include brakes...at all. There's just the flat inner face of the rims you see when you flip the car over. Also, there's a large post protruding out of the inner rims for the metal rods to slide into which makes it look real toyish.
Final Thoughts - Like I said, look over the photos and decide for yourself...but here are my thoughts:
Despite the many flaws of this kit, I'm glad I bought it (for $25, that is). I'll probably add some engine bay wiring, separate pedals and maybe rear window cranks (I think they had them). The most I'll do is add a steerable front knuckles, but won't go too crazy on the scale appearance. Maybe even add brake details.
If you're looking for a nice large-scale model to build you may want to look elsewhere. Minicraft reproduces Entex/Bandai kits which are thoroughly and beautifully detailed (I have the 1/16 Ford Model A). There's also the Revell 1/12 Shelby Mustang GT500. These are just some examples.
I also wouldn't recommend this to beginners since the fitting issues may be frustrating and the low level of detail is not-at-all impressive. The parts are big, though.
If you're a Mustang fan or an advanced modeler you'll probably look past all this and see potential. In that case I can't really say much (except for what I said I'd do with it).
Either way, I hope this helps. Seeing as this is my first ever review, do let me know if this helps and if there's any details I could've listed.