A couple years ago I found these tribute Mustangs that Ford does For charity auctions. There’s 2 that match planes in my collection. Since I’ve already built the F-16 I decided to pull this out of the stash to complete the set.
Starting with Revell’s 2014 Mustang GT I’m going to recreate the paint scheme. No major body alterations on this one, like the wide body kit on the actual tribute car. There’s a great skid pan on this one that really makes the underside pop. Will save that as a reveal for later in the build 
The kit comes prepainted so 1st off sand it all down and primer it in white. Fortunately the windows are all one piece, they come installed so a little force was required for removal. Out intact so no wo there.
No decals of course so doing the best I can will the Cameo. From a foot away the Thunderbirds logo will look the part.
Decided it’s not custom without bringing the stripe under the hood. Couldn’t find any pictures but it does say there is a supercharger under there.
Now onto the chasis for the week…
That’s all paint work?[:D[
That is very cool. I have to love it being an AF vet I am required to love all Thunderbird things.
BK
I didnt realize ford did these. Fun project. Looking good
Wow thanks guys! Glad I started posting my wip. I’ve been practicing. This is my first one without tiger striping the paint so I’m especially thrilled with the response! Cars are a completely different technique than my aircraft - that gloss requires a wet coat to go down and that’s taken some getting used to. With aircraft I’ve always avoided that because of losing the details in rivets and panel lines.
BK didn’t know you were Air Force. Glad you’re along for the ride [hdphns]
Lee, yep that’s all paint work so far. The practice on my Thunderbirds planes is paying off here [:)]
Moving right along as there are surprisingly few parts in this kit. Spent till midnight painting parts and the interior. Today should be alot of assembly line. Here’s the engine in Thunderbirds Blue [H]
looks like the chrome needs another coat maybe?
Here I sprayed a coat of satin lacquer, then filled the lettering with Vallejo Metals acrylic chrome, followed by a quick scrape with water and my thumbnail on the surface to remove the excess. Comes off the clear coat pretty well. Shows the soft edges on the lettering tho but it seems to add something from normal viewing with the mk1 eyeball [;)]
Like Brandon, I’m an Air Force veteran, 1966-1970, so yeah, Thunderbirds! Looking forward to the finished car. It’s going to be very cool…
Welcome to the car show fotofrank!
Got some pics in the sun to show the custom interior. The one I found of the actual car only has black recaro seats with a small Thunderbirds emblem on the headrest. I thought America’s Ambassadors in Blue needed more presence in the interior. See what you think of this.
My thought was to be subtle. To do that the blue is over a black primer rather than a lighter grey shade. If you compare the seats to the engine the difference is clear in the shade difference. What do you guys think?
My opinion is that it needs a wingman! Like this one from Ford a year or so ago:
While this project is completely badazz…wouldnt a Ford Thunderbird be more appropriate? 
Nice work!
Edit- sorry for apparent dupe. Got bit by that stupid ad box when posting the last one and it appeared it didn’t save. Turns out it was just the 19 web pages about winning a spin that buggled it up.
Mississippivol that looks sweet! Haven’t seen that one. might just have to do it if I decide to do the whole set of these.
Justinryan I wish they made them again for sure. It would be better with a Thunderbird. maybe that’s another good idea for a what-if build. Just the opposite of the P-51 Mustang they do in what-if Thunderbirds motiff. Wonder why they keep trying to make Mustangs into Thunderbirds is what you have me wondering now [8-)]
fotofrank you’ve got the era matched up for sure. Would have to be an original Thunderbird, not that Thunderchicken they did in the 90’s lol
Here’s where I’m at this afternoon. The interior is put together. I found a pic of the interior and it was a let-down. Just black Recaro’s with a logo on the headrest. I went just a little further with dark blue interior inlays. Oriignally I went for suttle so as not to take away from the car. Using a black primer instead of light gray created a different hue. You can see the difference between the engine and the seats.
Now I had this idea for the steering wheel but didn’t consider the overall theme. I say that as it feels somewhat bold against the rest of the interior. Opinions please?
When I first saw the interior, my eye went right for the steering wheel, do you think you can do it on the headrests too?
Looks great and moving right along!
I think red and white stripes (either down the center or two sets in the center section) on the blue would be eye catching. But not the subtle look you are going for. But the paint schemes on the a/c aren’t subtle either.
Along with the other guys, I was AF from 72-76. Saw them twice once at Beale and at Shaw. Phantoms and Talons
Goldhammer and fotofrank got me think’n! Looking through all my Thunderbirds decals now to see what I can use on the interior. Which also reminded me it should have pilot and Crew Chief names on the roof!
Question - I have these 1:24 Forgiato wheels for the car. One of the only accessories I’ve ever bought for a car as they were an exact match for what Ford has been putting on these. Now the problem…they didn’t come with tires. Do any of you guys who build cars routinely know where I can find tires for this? I just don’t know the good sites for car accessories.
