AMT Dodge Viper gts coupe

[Whosurdaddy209]

I have decided to give this kit another shot, I swear it’s like Eleanor was to Randal Rains in gone in 60 seconds, for me. I’ve attempted to build this model half a dozen times before but it always has a fatal flaw either the body won’t fit the chassis, the frames are warped, the suspension is to far forward in the front and to far back in the rear, the hood is at least an 8th inch away from the bumper, there’s always a ton of flash, needless to say I have a good amount of these things in my parts bin. But on a positive note I have managed to piece together the very best parts to have a good starting point, just took the better part of 5 or so kits to get here, also the gts wheels and brakes go pretty good on resto mods, but with all that said the best frame I could scrape up is still a bit warped, crossing my fingers that this can get finished this time after 15 years of attempts.

[Mattilacken]

Nice to se one getting built! It’s a real pitty that both the AMT and the Revell kit is hard to build and need a lot of attention to be built and represent the 1:1. 
I will be following! Keep it up! 

Edit: dug my Revell out.. chassi is not to bad bent and sow on at least

Edited May 7, 2021 by Mattilacken

[Mister 4x4]

Wait!  That kit might be more accurate than you think.  😲 

Apparently, there is a known-issue with the hood-to-bumper alignment on the 1:1s.  I was talking with a new Viper owner a few weeks back at a Cars & Coffee gathering, and he said the hood lines up fine, but the bumper lining up to it has all sorts of issues he's been struggling with since he bought the car.  His is a yellow RT/10, BTW.  I'm more a fan of the coupes, myself - they remind me of the '63 Ferrari 250 GTOs (one of the most beautiful cars EVER).

[carl63_99]

Built back in 1997, took a bit of work to get the hood/nose right. But made a really nice looking model.

[Whosurdaddy209]

19 hours ago, carl63_99 said:

Built back in 1997, took a bit of work to get the hood/nose right. But made a really nice looking model.

That’s a really good looking car, I like that color, I’m torn between viper steel grey, and   2002’s dark sapphire, I do know I want to do a brown interior

[Whosurdaddy209]

Ok, so I have decided to build two vipers simultaneously. I have a GTS coupe and RT/10 roadster, I figured if I’m gonna go through the steps of building one why not do two at a time. They are basically the same car other than the roof, I have started assembling the frames and getting them straight, the RT/10 came molded in yellow, not sure how that affects the plastic but it is a bit more ridged than the grey plastic, so not as many warped parts on that one. Both cars have some very heavy mold lines, now that the frames are glued together I’m going to clean up the joints and mold lines hopefully sneak a couple coats of paint on them today.

[Paul Payne]

Here’s a tip- swap out the AMT wheels and tires for the Revell ones- proper wheel diameter and better tires.

[Whosurdaddy209]

1 hour ago, Paul Payne said:

Here’s a tip- swap out the AMT wheels and tires for the Revell ones- proper wheel diameter and better tires.

I was just looking at that, and revell has better brakes, I have a set of revell gts and rt/10 wheels, but my revell rt/10 is a complete car, how ever the gts is not, so I might swap those onto the rt/10. I also have a set of 2009 ZR1 wheels from revell that would look good on the gts.

[peteski]

3 hours ago, Paul Payne said:

Here’s a tip- swap out the AMT wheels and tires for the Revell ones- proper wheel diameter and better tires.

Neither kit has a really good set of wheels/tires.  Revell tires are better, but the rear wheels don't have deeper offset (they look identical to the fronts).  AMT has better wheels, but the tires have the wrong profile (the sidewalls are too tall).

[Whosurdaddy209]

I usually think of shocks and struts as an after thought, however as detailed as this suspension is in this kit I decided to try and upgrade the struts a little. I start by painting them flat aluminum, then drill a small hole at the top of the coil, then thread some small gauge wire through the hole and tightly wind the wire down the coils. Then cut the top of the wire and slowly unscrew it off the strut. Sand the original coils off and paint the inside black, then slide the wire coil back over it and glue it in place. It’s not crazy detailed like making them from scratch with styrene rod, I’ve done that before too, but I feel this is simple and looks good, plus I’m pretty sure I’m the only one who’s gonna look that close lol, but I know their there😏

[Whosurdaddy209]

Good progress on the frames today, and I got most of the suspension painted base aluminum, next step is to detail it all. 

[Whosurdaddy209]

So after being snake bit by the yellow viper rt/10 for a couple months I finally made some progress on the gts, I got the suspension built and centered I chose some better disc brakes out of my parts bin, and decided to go with the wheels from a 2009 ZR1 hopefully I’ll be able to get the chassis on its wheels in the next few days

[lilcraigford]

Looks good! Are you going to fiddle with the ZR1 wheels to "hide" the 5-lug bolt pattern or just leave them as is?

[Whosurdaddy209]

17 hours ago, lilcraigford said:

Looks good! Are you going to fiddle with the ZR1 wheels to "hide" the 5-lug bolt pattern or just leave them as is?

I forgot all about the viper being a 6 lug lol, I think I’m going to fill them in and paint the rims  dark charcoal or black.

[Whosurdaddy209]

I got the gts on its wheels today, I’m pretty happy with its stance, was a bit concerned at first with it being to high, but after test fitting the body the ride height is pretty good. I did the brake calipers in metallic orange, still not 100% on a body or interior color, I know for sure I don’t want black or red. But now that the suspension is built I’m going to move on to the engine.

[Mattilacken]

Looks stunning! The wheels suits it well! 

[Whosurdaddy209]

On 7/28/2021 at 11:04 AM, Mattilacken said:

Looks stunning! The wheels suits it well! 

Thanks

[DiscoRover007]

Big fan of the original viper. I had this kit once but was turned off by the fact that mine didn't have any headlight housings inside the lens. I find that neither Revell or AMT did the headlights realistically at all. I hope maybe one day we can get a real nice 1/24 version from Tamiya or Aoshima.

[Whosurdaddy209]

3 hours ago, DiscoRover007 said:

Big fan of the original viper. I had this kit once but was turned off by the fact that mine didn't have any headlight housings inside the lens. I find that neither Revell or AMT did the headlights realistically at all. I hope maybe one day we can get a real nice 1/24 version from Tamiya or Aoshima.

I agree, the original viper was a beast especially in the 90s, who ever heard of a 450 hp v10 with no door locks or even handles lol, plus huge 17 inch rims. Rounded bodywork in a time everything was square, it looks kinda tame by today’s standards but the original car is an absolute icon, and deserves a quality model, I mean it was designed by Carol Shelby. figment seems to be the biggest problem I’m having, it’s almost like doing a real alignment just getting the wheels straight, test fitting after every part is put on, but it seems to be paying off, the wheels fit the body properly this time around, the ZR1 wheels kinda give it the ACR look, I’m hoping to get the issues worked out on the RT/10 so I can finish both at the same time

[Whosurdaddy209]

I got the engine complete and in the gts chassis, the rt/10 engine is built but still waiting on a few parts before I build it’s chassis. Other than that everything seems to be going smoothly now

[Mattilacken]

Looks great! 

[Whosurdaddy209]

I haven’t posted on this car in a while, I’ve got the body fitted properly, I had to take a break from it for a little while. But I should be painting it in the next couple weeks.

[Whosurdaddy209]

I’m gonna try to revive this project, it’s been sitting for a little over a year, but I think I can manage to complete them now. I’m thinking I’ve decided to paint the rt/10 bright orange/brown. And the gts black pearl/Napa red interior.

[Slotto]

Very cool. I've always liked the Dodge Viper. I bet that orange will turn some heads

[Whosurdaddy209]

After test fitting the windows I realized there is no way to attach them without getting glue on the body, so I made some channels out of some .020 styrene. After that I reset the body on both cars and lined up the bumpers to the hood.