Mark, The Master Modeller

Stage 100!! Yeah!!!! We get the last of the engine details and finish the model!! As the expert suggests, remove the bonnet! It makes access so much easier and is easily refitted. Fit the Radiator hose and the oil cooler pipe. Now fit the oil vapour canister pipe. Then the small radiator hose. And the carb linkage. Now fit the canister set the fender liner, pushing the pipes down through to the underside of the model. The pipes push onto the battery box. I needed a little superglue to hold these securely. Fit the radiator bottom pipe. The sway bar has also been screwed to the wishbones in this photo. Secure the sway bar with the two brackets, Push the exhaust pipes onto the manifolds. Secure the exhausts to the chassis, and they look amazing!! Re-fit the bonnet, fi the gear lever is you left it off earlier, and fit the hood support bar if this was removed during assembly. That finishes the car!! Here's a couple of shots of the finished car. Sorry that they are a bit untidy but as I said, moving house is hampering things a little at the moment! Of all the 1/8 partwork model cars I've built, this is hands down my favourite! A simply stunning model from Agora!

Stage 99. More engine details, and the body gets fitted to the chassis. Apologies for the delay in posting this - I'm in the process of moving house. I'm currently trying to get decorating done before we move furniture in! The wheels get removed to make fitting the body easier. Then a pipe gets fitted to the flywheel cover. This just pushes in and the other end is connected later. Now make sure that the battery cable isn't crossing the square recess as that is for the brake switch. Now we start connection the rest of the cables. The headlight cables are fed through from the front of the chassis and the remaining cables between the chassis and body are connected. Check that the cables are all tidy as you close the chassis on the body. Pay attention to the rear of the transmission tunnel. Make sure that none of the connectors are sitting int he tunnel as that may stop the chassis and body mating properly. If all goes well, the chassis is now sitting neatly in the bodywork and the screw holes all line up. Tighten all the screws and refit the wheels. Check that the air trunk is properly located, connect the steering column then add the steering shaft top cover plate and the front cage left bar. Push pipe 99c into the fire wall and fit pipe 99a. Then fit the fuel pipe into the firewall. Now very carefully fit the other end of the fuel pipe into the fuel pump. Be very careful not to dislodge the plug leads in the distributor, or you can look forward to hours of fun trying to refit them. Go on, ask me how I know!!

Thanks Wyatt. I’ll get the last couple of stages posted soon. Spoiler alert! The finished car looks amazing!

Thanks Pierre! You could be right, but I’m not sufficiently familiar with the car to say either way. It struck me as an odd place to have an air cooler, but I’ve never seen a rear diff oil cooler either.

Stage 98 Engine details Firstly, put the connectors onto the pipes and push them onto the canisters. The instructions mention one pipe being longer, but mine were all the same length. I'm not sure if this was a design change or a packing error, but either way, the final assembly went fine. So no worries if yours are all the same length. This instructions then say to connect some of the cables. Sorry, I forgot to photo this stage, but there are photos of the wiring in a later stage.

Stage 97 some more details and we fit the cockpit into the bodywork. This is a long stage with lots to do even though there aren't many parts supplied. The air cooler goes in first. Then the fuel filler cap is assembled and fitted. Nice and straight forward although clipping the clasp in place with a little tricky. On to the boot... sorry, trunk lid. Put it in place and hold with masking tape. Now turn the model over and fix the hinge bracket in place. Next we install the fuel tank assembly. Feed the LED cables through the gaps either side of the trunk, then lower the trunk assembly into place. Check that no wires are trapped and it's seated fully, then fix it with a couple of screws. Now the cockpit assembly is fitted. This needed a firm push to get fully located. I think the sides of the seat were rubbing against the bodywork a bit. Needless to say, make sure all the cables, seatbelts and any other dangly bits are where they are supposed to be, and not trapped. Here is the rear end. Note the screw is in place (bottom of the pic) and the cables may be untidy, but are not trapped. The front is somewhat tidier, but not screwed in place yet. Back the right way up again, the roll bar back stay bracket and stay are fitted in the trunk. Now add the roll bar and screw it in from underneath. Finally, fit the screws to hold the front of the cockpit.

Stage 96 Some fiddly details! Let's start with the mirror. Use tweezers to place the reflective sticker accurately, then push the mirror in place. Now the windscreen goes on. This is screwed in from underneath, and it fits very accurately and securely. Now the wipers are screwed in place. These are a bit fiddly and it helps to pre-thread them to make it easier to get the screws in straight. You can see that ~I've left the masking tape in place to tame the hood.

Stage 95 the head lights The lenses clip into the reflectors, then they are screwed in place on the body. Very easy. The LEDs are saved for later.

Stage 94 The Anti-sway bar and hood support The anti-sway bar goes on easily. The hood support clip clips in place nice and firmly. The hood support locates easily and could be held in place with masking tape. However, I found it easier to leave it off for now as it can be easily fitted at the end of the build. Here's where to put the tape if you choose to fit it now.

Stage 92. Left indicators and rear light. The front indicator assembles easily and clips in place without any drama. So does the rear light cluster. The LED wasn't the tightest fit in the world, but a piece of masking tape solved this and kept the cable under control. Stage 93 is simply a repeat of the last stage.

Here is the build of the last pack. Stage 91. Grill and jacking points. This is an easy stage. The two jacking points are screwed in place. The grill goes on easily too. Put the hood in place and taped it down so it doesn't fall open. Use masking tape as it comes off without leaving any residue. Now fit the radiator assembly as per the instructions. It's a little fiddly to get right, but it does locate solidly and holds the hinges firmly.

Stage 89 Electrical wires These just clip together, matching the numbers. Stage 90 Grill and front jacking points. The grill goes on with one screw. The jacking points each go on with one screw. Finally for this stage, a gratuitous shot showing the car loosely assembled!

Stage 87 left inner side panel. The chrome trim clips into the side panel, and the panel is fitted to the body with 3 screws. Stage 88 right inner side panel. Same as above! Now fit the firewall. This clicks into place and locates positively, but it's bit fiddly to get in. A couple of screws makes sure it isn't going anywhere.

Stage 86, assorted details. Firstly, the wing mirror (or side mirror as it's an American car which has fenders not wings, and fender mirror just sounds silly!!) Assembly the mirror, using tweezers to add the reflective sticker. Then screw it in place. Be careful not to damage this while the car is upside down. It's a little vulnerable. Add the hinges to the hood. Then attach the radiator bracket and mounting plate. Easy stuff. Finally retrieve the Shelby emblem from your box of parts, digging all the way back to pack 1, and fit this to the body. This completes stage 86.

Stage 85. The one we've all been waiting for!! And it is worth the wait. Not only is it one of the best looking sports cars ever designed, the finish is brilliant. It's just gorgeous. Now let's get to work! Firstly, put down cloth of some sort to protect the paintwork when you're working on the body. I use a towel. You don't want to scratch the paintwork. Fitting the door catches is easy, but add a drop of lubricant to the screw holes to help the screws go in without stripping the heads. Now add the dashboard. The fitted nicely with just a couple of screws. Fitting the doors. I like to fit the doors when they are in the closed position as it helps to make sure the fit properly. Put the door in position, then hold it in place with some masking tape. Note, masking tape, not Cellotape, or parcel tape, and most definitely not duct tape! Masking tape will come off cleanly without leaving a residue. Other tapes may leave sticky marks or even worse, pull the paint off. Anyway, once the door is taped in position, fit the screws and then carefully remove the tape. Make sure it opens and closes nicely. They look the bees knees !

Stage 84 gives us the expansion tank and air inlets The air inlets screw to the rad assembly. The base of the expansion tank is screwed to the bracket on the engine. The cap is screwed to the top, and then the top and bottom clip together. That completes stage 84.

Pack 11, and we get a huge and gorgeous body!! Stage 83, Oil cooler brackets and hoses. The two brackets click in place and are secured with a screw in each. Now we screw the radiator in place. Now fit the two hoses. A tiny drop of superglue will hold them if they are loose, but only a tiny drop! Make sure you get these the right way round. That's this stage completed.

Thanks Wyatt. I'm really enjoying this one. Can't wait to get stages 11 & 12 now!

The track should still work perfectly OK. You'd have to have very sharp eyes to spot one small link fitted upside down too!

Stage 16, we move to the back of the turret. These details fit to the rear of the turret. Then these brackets are pushed on. I guess this is a cable reel of some sort? It pushes in place. This one is tricky as it's quite tight in the holes, and it's in a recessed space. Can be done though. Finally, the turret rear base is screwed into place. Here's a gratuitous 'it looks like this!' shot. Sorry, it's not a great photo. I'll do better next time! Promise!! That's it until Pack 3.

Stage 13 gives us the smoke dischargers. These screw in place easily Stage 14 gives us some stowage baskets. This little detail is pushed on. This detail is pushed onto the basket. The baskets are kept to be fitted later. Stage 15 gives us turret details. I guess this is the camera for aiming the big gun? Possibly range finding as well? Is there a tank expert in the house? The aiming gadget is assembled and ends up looking like this. Then it's fitted like this. Now the elevation servo bracket can be fitted. Followed by the servo itself.

Pack 2!! Stage 9 and we continue with the barrel. The LED pushes into the tip of the barrel. I assume this is to 'fire' an infra-red shell if you want to have battles with a friend. Either that or a flash when you fire the gun. Time will tell. Feed the cable down the barrel and then the tip pushes into the barrel. Then the barrel base just slides on. I won't repeat construction of the tracks and it's all the same as before. Stage 10 gives us the servo that presumably 'recoils' the barrel. Slide the white nylon peg into the barrel, making sure that the cable goes in the slot. Screw the barrel in place with the HP screw. now screw the servo in place with the CP screws. Finally add the two plastic washers. Stage 11 gives us the cover that covers the top of the barrel where is hinges in the turret. The LED is fitted to the cover and held with a bracket. Perhaps this the the IR LED for 'firing' at an opponent, or perhaps this is a light. Not sure. Time will tell. Then the hinged cover is fitted. The pins just push in, but they need a bit of force. I did actually resort to a gentle tap with a small hammer. Screw the side piece in place. Put the spring in place, then fit the barrel assembly with the 2 brackets and 4 screws. Don't be tempted to push the hinged cover in place as it's very difficult to remove!! Getting big now! Stage 12 i the barrel elevation servo, but this isn't fitted just yet.

Tracks! No point in putting them off any longer! However, they are a bit fiddly!! Start with putting the pins through 2 track links. Follow the instructions carefully to make sure everything is the right way round! Add the centre link with tweezers. Then push the pins the rest of the way through. The instructions say to use a hammer to secure the remaining link. This works OK, but I prefer an alternative approach. I prefer to put the link in a smooth jawed vice and squeeze the links together. I find this gives me a bit more control. This is the end result.

The main body of the turret and the barrel are metal. The smaller pieces of armour and the details are mostly plastic. The tracks are metal, with rubber pads, exactly as the real thing would be.

Those are not the engine mounts. They are the top of the front suspension. You can see in this photo that the engine is further back. I hope this helps.