CabDriver Posted November 26, 2020 (edited) Itās a long standing tradition (that I just came upĀ withĀ this week)Ā that I build a kit over thanksgiving. Ā Like those 24 hours of Daytona builds that some people do, but with more days and more turkey sandwiches. My wife gave me this 1/32nd AMT Vette kit as a gift last month, and Iāve been wondering how to build it, so I figured this would be a good skills-challenge toĀ see if I can make something shelf-worthyĀ between tonight (Thanksgiving Eve) and Sunday evening. To further add to the challenge, and partially because I couldnāt decide on a color,Ā I figured Iād let my wife pick a paintĀ from my airbrush stash for me to use. Ā I figure thereās not many colors you could paint a Vette where it wouldnāt look great anyway, right? Hereās what she chose: Welp, I wanted a challenge, and apparently āit reminds me of mermaidsā is a valid reason to chose a paint color, so Iām gonna get thinking on some paint ideas with this color as a base. Guess weāre not calling this one factory stock (although my stash of 1/32 spares is exactly zero parts, so it canāt stray too far from whatās in the box...). This kit is REALLY low detail, as youād expect from the scale and when it was originally issued, so Iāll be doing some fiddly detail painting over the next few days. Ā As you can also see here, the front and rear valances are moulded into the chassis, which seems like itāll make it tough to get the bodywork nice... So, some razor-sawing later I split those parts off the āframeā and attached them to the body instead: Better! Ā Iāll let those set up over night and then get to doing some bodywork tomorrow - and shooting some of those color over some spoons to see if I can find a base coat that makes it look decent. More soon, happy Thanksgiving to yāall! Edited November 26, 2020 by CabDriver Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
cobraman Posted November 26, 2020 Interesting "little" project. I will be watching. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Modlbldr Posted November 26, 2020 I'll be checking in on this one. If for no other reasons than it is a 63 Vette, the time limit is short, and I'm interested to see how the color turns out. Looks like fun! Later- Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bobthehobbyguy Posted November 26, 2020 Cool project. Will be watching. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Snake45 Posted November 26, 2020 Hey, a purple '63 Vette might look pretty cool! Happy Thanksgiving and drive on!Ā Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
CabDriver Posted November 26, 2020 Thanks fellas! Ā Happy thanksgiving! Ā Hope youāre all having a nice safe day doing thing youāre thankful for with people youāre thankful for! Dinner eaten, family hung out with - back to work here š¤ŖĀ Smoothed out the body and got it in primer - used a real thin coat just to give the paint something to bite onto: Then, a base of Createx sealer: I messed with some spoons this morning and tried the paint Iām using over some different bases and it looked kinda cool over a black base, but MANNN does it look nice over a Corvette body compared to a plastic spoon šš Front and rear shot... Those lines really set off that color! šÆš Shot the underside in the same shade, although Iām definitely going to have to do plenty of detail painting on that... Got a fun idea for a paint scheme on this one...this is just the first step...more soon! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TransAmMike Posted November 26, 2020 Very interesting color there Jim.Ā I started a Createx tread several days ago and it got pretty length but very informative. So since I have a Createx interest, would you mind telling me whichn of the Createx line you used there? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TransAmMike Posted November 26, 2020 Oops, looks like you used Folkart craft for the topcoat. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
CabDriver Posted November 27, 2020 4 hours ago, TransAmMike said: Oops, looks like you used Folkart craft for the topcoat. Yes sir! Ā Thinned with Createx reducer though, so I could airbrush it - and the black Createx sealer is my favorite airbrush black so I used that as a base. Small update - shot a couple of coats of clear on the body - that purple pops in gloss! Assembled these tires and got them in primer - will need to do some smoothing out tomorrow before I paint them... And shot the interior tub in some black, a nice candy blue on the rim of the kit chromed steering wheel, added a little tinted gradientĀ to the windshield and shot the dash to match the body, just because I was looking for something else to paint in this color š¤Ŗš More soon, soon as Iāve done more! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bobthehobbyguy Posted November 27, 2020 Wow. What a great color. This is coming along nicely. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
slusher Posted November 27, 2020 Very nice Jim, sharp color! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Spottedlaurel Posted November 27, 2020 Sparkly! Looks great, doesn't seem to need much/any polishing? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Modlbldr Posted November 27, 2020 Moving right along! It's looking great! Later- Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TooOld Posted November 27, 2020 These smaller scale kits canĀ be lots of fun ,Ā cool to see you building one !Ā Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TransAmMike Posted November 27, 2020 Looking great Jim.Ā What clear did you use?? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
CabDriver Posted November 28, 2020 (edited) Thank you all!! Ā 22 hours ago, Spottedlaurel said: Sparkly! Looks great, doesn't seem to need much/any polishing? The lacquer shrunk down a little overnight, which I was expecting it would so itās not QUITE so shiny right now, but itāll buff up ok Iām sure 11 hours ago, TransAmMike said: Looking great Jim.Ā What clear did you use?? Just Rustoleum lacquer clear on this one. Ā I like enamel clear normally, but seeing as this oneās a weekend build kinda deal I didnāt wanna wait weeks before I could polish it...this lacquer will probably be good to polish out tomorrow I would think... Little tiny bit of progress today, seeing as a lot of the major stuffĀ is done now until I can polish the body up. Ā Masked up the frame with some Silly Putty so I could shoot a little silver on the exhausts (and a little on those front wishbones, for a little interest) Ā Silly Putty is GREAT for these kind of jobs - works just how youād want it to, and is easily reusable and you can smoosh it into all the cracks and crevices with a toothpick or similar. A little silver and some light washing and detail painting later, we have a slightly more interesting frame than we did... Iāll do a little more airbrushing tomorrow to bring it out a little more, but honestly Iām never going to flip this thing over once itās onĀ the shelf anyway, so... Oh, and I got my first chance to see this color in daylight - it was too dark here yesterday by the time I have some clear on it š. Little vid below...more soon! IMG_2168.MP4 Ā Edited November 28, 2020 by CabDriver Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
NOBLNG Posted November 28, 2020 It looks super nice in the video! I like that silly putty masking trick too. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
CabDriver Posted November 28, 2020 7 hours ago, NOBLNG said: It looks super nice in the video! I like that silly putty masking trick too. Thank you sir! Ā Needed some polishing once the lacquer shrunk down but nothing too major - good enough for a weekend build and something fun to put on my shelf. Speaking of which, decided to give those skinny stock tires some ridiculous full-height whitewalls, so I cut a mask and shot them: Polished out and waxed the body, and got the glass (and then interior) in there: Got the frame under the whole shebang: Wheels on (man are they a sloppy fit š): And a couple of chrome parts later this thingās about done, except for going over it again tomorrow to see what I need to tidy up once my eyes are fresh: Id like to build a 1/25 version of this now that Iāve seen it in smaller scale - do one where I can really get all the detail done how Iād like, but this was a fun little 2 and a half day project to mess with over thanksgiving! Ā And we still have left-over turkey left! š¤Ŗš Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites