Spex84

I almost couldn't believe it when it became clear that yes, a mid-engine 'vette was actually going to happen! It's been so long, so many rumors and pie-in-the-sky concepts. But here we are. I don't have any problem with this car moving upscale to become a true halo car. The Camaro can be the new Corvette (affordable performance, front engine, RWD etc) and the new Corvette can play with the NSX, McLarens, Porsches, etc. I'll never be able to afford one, so it's all the same to me. Over the years the Corvette aura has greyed with the hair of the boomer generation. A more youthful, cutting-edge appearance and level of performance could give the brand new life. The Viper is gone, the Challenger is a brick with a zillion horsepower...that leaves the Mustang and Ford GT. Of those, the GT is the only one worth aligning against for a car of Corvette's stature (let the Camaro handle the Mustang). I do worry that the new Corvette won't look "right", that it won't carry its heritage in a satisfying way. But that ship sailed years ago when the 'vette became a Viper with rectangular taillights. Time for something new! We'll always have the '64 Sting Ray to look fondly upon.

These are great Gotta love the quote marks around random words: "chrome" (because it's actually electroplated plastic?) and "flames" (because they're actually scallops??) Also, I get a kick out of how on-the-nose old ads can sometimes be. Like that Monogram ad: "Because it's nice to have 'in' things". Lol. Imagine if ads were like that today: "A Very Expensive Sports Car, because women are no longer attracted to you but maybe you can trick 'em....with this!" Dig it, man!

Hey, nice save! Looks like things have pulled together nicely. The re-built drip rail is a welcome change. I think the drip rail is a big part of these trucks' personality.

I like the irony of a hearse packed with unbuilt kits. Morbid but hilarious!

Good to know, thanks!

Brilliant. I'm looking forward to seeing more details on the centrifugal caster, too. I was going to ask about it, then thought "nah, I'll just google it" but it would help to see exactly how you achieved these impressive results!

Wow! That's an incredibly clean tudor! Seems pretty accurate in terms of body shape, too. Great parts choices and tweaks (like the headlight bar, wheels etc)...probably as good as an AMT deuce can possibly look! Well done. I thought the Tudor in the double kit had a section job and molded fenders?? Is this a different body, or did you return it to stock? That would be a ton of work... I see you built it RHD too, that's cool

Wicked Looking forward to seeing more! I love the wheel/tire package.

Fantastic stuff! I'm impressed by the windshield frame, it really sets off the curves of the car. Watching this project progress has been very inspirational.

Looks sinister! Any thoughts on color?

Thanks for the recommendations Chris! I have a list of stuff to do, and not enough time to do it I can add those things to the list. Grilles are tricky--the 3D printing service I use doesn't produce prints fine enough to truly capture fine grille bars. Photo-etch is probably still the best option for those. That's why the '50 Meteor bar works well; it's a very chunky piece. I don't own one of the Galaxie Ltd Chevies unfortunately. I'd read that the front corners of the body were maybe too angular. What feature of the kit grille is incorrect?

I recently received some parts and have been spraying some primer on them...excited to start incorporating them into various projects! First up, a '50 Meteor grille bar and some tractor seats...

Pile-on greed and Ebay Global Shipping have pretty much killed Ebay shopping for me. I much prefer to buy kits from other modelers or outlets that offer reasonable shipping and sane kit prices. A lot of Ebay stuff is moonshot-priced..."Well, somewhere out there, someone is probably willing to pay $400 for these dusty 90s Wal Mart kits; I can wait". I recently scored some glue bombs, parts, and unbuilt kits for $20. And I sadly missed out on a garage sale of $5 MPC muscle car built-ups in '70s boxes...which apparently sell for $80-180 on Ebay depending on condition. They're out there...it's just a matter of being in the right place at the right time.

Well, don't mind if I barge in! Shapeways is a 3D printing service/ E-store that allows content-creators to host their designs in their own individual storefronts on Shapeways' site. Customers can then order parts from those storefronts. Shapeways prints and ships the parts, taking a cut of the proceeds. They do take credit cards! This way, Shapeways can cultivate a wide range of products without having to design everything themselves, and creators can make a little cash without having to print, package, and ship the parts. Win-win. Also, Shapways offers discounts to creators in order to motivate them to buy their own stuff--like I just did, haha. Looks like Impalow is "Impalow's Scale Auto Parts" on Shapeways: https://www.shapeways.com/shops/impalow-s-scale-auto-parts

Where DON'T I find inspiration?? Seriously, absolutely everything is so inspiring. Movies, car magazines, spending time outdoors, manual labor (gets the brain wandering!), books, car forums, random research for unrelated stuff...firearms, vintage machinery, landscapes, fashion photography, video games and concept art, science fiction novels, National Geographic, deep sea creatures, trees and flowers, you name it! I bookmark car magazines with little paper slips with notes written on them. This only works if I review the collection from time to time, and sadly I've mostly ignored them in favor of the internet. I assemble reference and inspiration images and notes into "moodboards" that convey the details and general feeling of the idea. Some of these become models or completed artwork; often they just sit until I'm ready to look at them again. This helps to distill a lot of vaguely related imagery into something with a definite direction. I keep a list of "parts notes" that records all the little things I notice about kit parts that fit other kits, might work in a new configuration, etc. Caffeine. Lots of it. Just this morning I spent some time looking photos of: The Brubaker Box kit car, Maserati Boomerang interior and wheels, 70s concept cars, Cyberpunk neon-drenched city scenes, utilitarian Russian sub-machine guns, punk fashion, electric cars with a "skateboard" style frame, prosthetic limbs, and race car diffusers. I'm hoping to put it all together into a finished artwork. We'll see. I often lose interest when the caffeine wears off. Sometimes the toughest thing is not finding inspiration, but managing it-- for me, at least, the firehose of ideas generally results in a big puddle.