MrObsessive

Well! This is the first model I've actually finished in some time! There are a couple tiny details I may want to add, but for all intents and purposes...........she's all done!

There are a couple nits I have with the kit................I wish Revell had added more taillight detail. They chose to mold the headlight buckets separately giving some nice detail, but the tailights are nothing more than plain red lenses giving it somewhat of an econocar appearance. It would have been nice if Revell could have molded the lenses with some detail in red, and also molded the taillight housings separately as they did the headlamps with chrome plating.

Also, the chassis particularly the rear suspension was somewhat fiddly. It didn't help matters that I used different wheels than what was given in the kit-------but I simply don't like the Viper's standard wheels! They're too busy looking for sports car, and don't really look well to me in model form.

Anyway, here are the pics..........enjoy!

Thanks for lookin', and now it's back to the '59 Chevy!

So I don't suffer burnout (it's happened before), I've decided to put the '59 Chevy on hiatus for the time being, and start something much simpler. Actually, I started work on this model before I started on the Chevy, but I decided to go full speed ahead on the Chevy as I wanted to fix that wacky roof on it.

This is Revell's 2003 Viper in which I've had this kit since it was intro'd around 2005 or so. I don't know why I didn't build it years ago, as it's a VERY nice kit! It's also another one of those dream cars that more than likely I'll never own, but it's nice to have a decent replica of one just the same.

OK.........I went by the script this time (instructions), and started on the engine. I didn't want just a lump of an engine sitting in the engine bay, so I added a few details such as ignition wires, and the fuel rails that are prominent on Viper engines.

The intake, block, and transmission were airbrushed with Alclad Aluminum, and the valve covers were painted Viper Red which I had mixed at our local automotive paint jobber. The exhaust manifolds were painted Alclad Iron (I think).

The ignition wires are 30 gauge kynar wire and the tiny wires below the fuel rails are Detail Masters. The fuel rails are stainless steel tubing, and I used references and pics off the 'net to place 'em as best I could where they belong.

Moving on to the chassis, this is one area which gave me no trouble at all! Everything went together well, and it looks realistic enough to me without having a thousand and one pieces to get together.

Like the engine, the suspension arms were painted with Aclad Aluminum, and the exhaust was painted with their steel for contrast. The brake discs I'll add later after they're painted, and the wheels will eventually be dechromed and repainted in a similar fashion.

Usually I have the interior painted and together before I start to paint the body, I strayed away from my routine this time, and prepped and painted the body. The interior tub fits well inside the chassis, and I did test fit the body to avoid any surprises..........so far so good so on to the paint work.

One thing I did first after getting rid of the mold lines and such was give the body parts a light coat of Plastikote Gray primer. I got this trick from Bob Downie (aka Zoom-Zoom) as I wanted to add a good coat of BIN Zinser sealer. This strays away from my usual spraying of Future, as I wanted something that was not quite so runny, and would not give me much fuss to deal with. Future is good stuff, but I didn't want to have to deal with runs around the edges, and the fast buildup of the stuff if you leave your airbrush in one spot for more than a millisecond!

Here's the body after the BIN was airbrushed on...............

I have to say I REALLY like this stuff as it went on VERY smoothly, and since I wanted a white undercoat, I'd say this is darn near perfect! One reason I'm going to stress a barrier coat on kits of late------and this may be helpful to newbies. Since the middle of the last decade or so, the model manufacturers have switched to a newer, "softer" plastic.

Regular paints which did not craze the plastic before, can do so in a heartbeat. It's a good idea to take the extra time and add a barrier coat-------this will save you a lot of headaches (and heartaches) by doing so. I remember a thread on another message board where it was stated that Revell couldn't duplicate the problem as there were LOTS of complaints. Well I can tell you that just the appearance of the plastic alone said enough for me that some sort of barrier coat was MANDATORY!

Well here she is all nice and painted up. I thought I asked the paint jobber for a single stage paint, but it appears as though this may be a two stage. Just the same, I'm going to rub out and polish what I have as I really hate to clearcoat solid colors. It's wholly unnecessary in my opinion and experience.

I have a bit more, but I'm at my pic limit so stay tuned!