Snake45 Posted August 9, 2021 Share Posted August 9, 2021 Some months ago I bought this Monogram '65 Vette off eBay under embarrassing circumstances I detailed on page 1182 of the “What Did You Get Today” thread. Put it away waiting for inspiration to strike. It did last month at the local toy show when I bought a cheap Monogram '57 Chevy with the rare and very cool American 200-S “Daisy” mags on it. Bought the whole model for $5 just to get the wheels. I have a bunch of “distressed” AMT '63-'67 Vette coupe bodies and have long thought of Snake-slapping one of them into a street goon model wearing gray primer. Lately I've been binge-watching past seasons of Street Outlaws on Discovery and have become fond of the flat black look as seen on Murder Nova, The El Camino, The Crow, and Shane's Vega. So when I tore this glue bomb apart, I had it in mind to either polish up the black plastic if it would take it, or if not, just squirt it with cheap Touch-N-Tone black primer. After stripping and close examination, the body turned out to have some glue damage that would have been too much trouble to fix (for a polish job), so murdered out it would be! Most of my model cars have a “storyline,” and here's this one: There's a guy who wanted a Sting Ray coupe from the day he saw his first one as a kid in 1963, but was never able to afford one. At the absolute low point of C2 values/prices (late '70s—early '80s?), he lucks into a '65 that's been parked on blocks behind a garage for a few years. There's no engine or tranny, wheels or tires, and the paint is weathered and shot to hell, BUT it's in one piece, no animals have been living in it, and the price is right—less than a used but running Pinto. He trailers it home and is just an engine, tranny, wheels, tires, and a case of Sherwin-Williams rattlecan flat black primer away from from having a cool badass street ride! Could life get any sweeter? Back to the model: I carefully removed all the body molding lines, and then corrected the too-flat roof by holding it over a steaming teakettle and pushing up on the underside with my thumbs. Didn't get it quite up to where I wanted it, but made a noticeable improvement. The front turn signals didn't come off cleanly so I drilled 'em out and am calling the holes brake cooling vents. After prying the glass out, had to file/sand/polish a few stray glue marks off. Didn't come out perfect, but more or less okay. The body got one wet coat of the Touch-N-Tone Flat Black Primer, which I then rubbed out with an old flannel shirt for a slight sheen. Disassembled the interior, filed the glue seams in the seats, and then squirted the whole interior with Krylon Saddle Tan covered with Krylon Satin clearcoat. The dashboard got the flat black spray and minimal detailing was done with Silver Sharpie. I'd planned to use the '57 Chev wheels with the Vette's tires, but the wheels were too big to fit into those tires, so had to use the '57's tires too. Unfortunately I didn't have the '57 wheel backs, so had to re-use the Vette's too-small wheel backs, shimming them up to size with about five wraps of masking tape strips. (Improvise! Adapt! Overcome!) I brush-painted the wheel spokes with Folk Art Brushed Pale Silver Matte acrylic paint, one of the better “flat aluminum” paints I've found in a couple decades of searching. I'll be using a lot more of this stuff! Body trim was done with Silver Sharpie. Reassembly of the whole hot mess was a lot less trouble than many of these projects are—everything seemed to want to go back together just for a change. I kinda dig the look of the evil thing, for no more work than I have in it (maybe 8-10 hours total). Thanks for looking and as always, comments welcome! 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mattilacken Posted August 9, 2021 Share Posted August 9, 2021 Looks good! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stef Posted August 9, 2021 Share Posted August 9, 2021 FLAT BLACK TO THE FUTURE: > Love it, @Snake45 > Your detailing really sells it; fantastic job > You make me wanna whip out my 1/8 Monogram 65, and finish her up just like this! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snake45 Posted August 9, 2021 Author Share Posted August 9, 2021 23 minutes ago, Stef said: > Your detailing really sells it; fantastic job > You make me wanna whip out my 1/8 Monogram 65, and finish her up just like this! Thanks! Interestingly enough, Oldmopars recently started a "barn find" build of the 1/8 '65 Vette, which kind of spurred me on to get mine done before he did so I wouldn't be accused of copying him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spencer1984 Posted August 9, 2021 Share Posted August 9, 2021 Nice recovery! I have one of these, and there was always something "off" about it but I wasn't sure what it was. After reading this, I bet it's the roof. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pack rat Posted August 10, 2021 Share Posted August 10, 2021 So sinister-looking! Beautiful transformation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michelle Posted August 10, 2021 Share Posted August 10, 2021 nice work Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hmann68 Posted August 10, 2021 Share Posted August 10, 2021 Nice work as usual! This Vette couldn’t be any tougher looking! 👍👍 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stef Posted August 10, 2021 Share Posted August 10, 2021 8 hours ago, Snake45 said: Thanks! Interestingly enough, Oldmopars recently started a "barn find" build of the 1/8 '65 Vette, which kind of spurred me on to get mine done before he did so I wouldn't be accused of copying him. Just checked that thread; looks like it'll be a nice build. Nothing compares to flat black; it makes everything look tougher. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zippi Posted August 10, 2021 Share Posted August 10, 2021 Nice save on that Vette Snake. The wheels & tires look nice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FLHCAHZ Posted August 10, 2021 Share Posted August 10, 2021 Wow. You can almost smell the gasoline and hear the glass packs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
espo Posted August 10, 2021 Share Posted August 10, 2021 Looks great. Nor many so called sports cars can handle a black primer paint job and a set of nice mags. Nice save here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gramps46 Posted August 10, 2021 Share Posted August 10, 2021 Bravo my friend!! I agree the wheels really set it off and the tan interior is a good choice. Never noticed the roof line till I compared your before and after photos and I think you nailed it. Well done and thanks for sharing the photos and your experience with this model. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snake45 Posted August 11, 2021 Author Share Posted August 11, 2021 On 8/9/2021 at 4:18 PM, spencer1984 said: Nice recovery! I have one of these, and there was always something "off" about it but I wasn't sure what it was. After reading this, I bet it's the roof. On 8/10/2021 at 3:27 PM, Gramps46 said: Bravo my friend!! I agree the wheels really set it off and the tan interior is a good choice. Never noticed the roof line till I compared your before and after photos and I think you nailed it. Well done and thanks for sharing the photos and your experience with this model. Thanks for the kind words! I always wonder if anyone actually bothers to read my deathless prose, and it's good to know that somebody does. Thanks so much and model on! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott8950 Posted August 12, 2021 Share Posted August 12, 2021 It looks great... never knew those wheels were rare I think I have several sets . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PappyD340 Posted August 12, 2021 Share Posted August 12, 2021 Great looking rescue Snake! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doorsovdoon Posted August 13, 2021 Share Posted August 13, 2021 She cleaned up nicely, great little rescue. Been thinking of doing a rescue model for a while, they pop up here from time to time, but haven't taken the dive of confidence yet, I've seen what work they need sometimes! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snake45 Posted August 16, 2021 Author Share Posted August 16, 2021 On 8/9/2021 at 12:10 PM, Mattilacken said: Looks good! Thanks Matt! On 8/9/2021 at 8:49 PM, pack rat said: So sinister-looking! Beautiful transformation. Isn't it though! Thanks! On 8/9/2021 at 8:55 PM, michelle said: nice work Thanks Michelle! On 8/9/2021 at 8:56 PM, Hmann68 said: Nice work as usual! This Vette couldn’t be any tougher looking! 👍👍 Thanks Hmann! On 8/10/2021 at 12:41 AM, Stef said: Just checked that thread; looks like it'll be a nice build. Nothing compares to flat black; it makes everything look tougher. Yeah, I'm already planning a couple more. Stay tuned. On 8/10/2021 at 7:10 AM, Zippi said: Nice save on that Vette Snake. The wheels & tires look nice. Thanks Zippi! On 8/10/2021 at 7:15 AM, FLHCAHZ said: Wow. You can almost smell the gasoline and hear the glass packs Awwwwwwww, Yeahhhhhhhhh! On 8/10/2021 at 2:24 PM, espo said: Looks great. Nor many so called sports cars can handle a black primer paint job and a set of nice mags. Nice save here. You know, I think you're right. Thanks so much! On 8/11/2021 at 8:23 PM, Scott8950 said: It looks great... never knew those wheels were rare I think I have several sets . I've seen several posts on here asking where you could find those wheels. I think these are the only ones I've ever seen. Thanks! On 8/12/2021 at 8:02 AM, PappyD340 said: Great looking rescue Snake! Thanks, Pappy! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snake45 Posted August 16, 2021 Author Share Posted August 16, 2021 On 8/13/2021 at 1:30 PM, doorsovdoon said: She cleaned up nicely, great little rescue. Been thinking of doing a rescue model for a while, they pop up here from time to time, but haven't taken the dive of confidence yet, I've seen what work they need sometimes! A true "rescue," as I define it, doesn't really take all that much work, it's just a matter of fixing or improving little things. If it takes a lot of work, that's a full "rebuild" in my book. Generally speaking, only rare or valuable models are worth the effort of a full rebuild. The whole trick to a successful "rescue" is selecting the right subject. You want something with "good bones," something that's basically complete with a paint job that can be saved. I've done a couple rescues with a repaint, but I call those "rehabs." I guess I should consider this one a rehab instead of a rescue, but the flat black paint was so relatively effortless that it's closer to the rescue category. The flat black paint was much less effort than the paint polishing and touchup I do on most rescues. Thanks for the kind words! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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