Snake45

Thought some of y’all might enjoy seeing some of my C2 resto projects. All of these are original annuals, no reissues. AMT ’63 Coupe #1: Got this one in the early 2000s from a model airplane friend who was helping a neighbor clean out an attic. It came with the original instructions and many extra parts, and the outside side exhaust was originally on it, which I removed long ago (notice the glue boogers on the rockers). I originally planned to strip and rebuild it as stock, but then decided to restore it as the survivor that it is. The ancient paint polished out nicely, except of course for the runs and bubbles (which I tried to at least level out with careful color-sanding), but it is what it is. Since the color is nonstock, and the interior has a definite custom vibe, and the rockers are glue-roached, I stuck with the builder’s original intent of a mild street & show custom. The vinyl tires toasted the stock ’63 wheel covers, a pity, so I sustituted some wheels and tires appropriate to a 1963-64 era custom. Recently finished the restoration, and hope to have finished pics posted “Under Glass” soon. [URL=http://smg.photobucket.com/user/Snake45/media/Model%20Cars/Corvettes/63VetteAMTOrig01_zpsxmej6ja5.jpg.html][/URL] [URL=http://smg.photobucket.com/user/Snake45/media/Model%20Cars/Corvettes/63VetteAMTOrig06_zpsy1nphgd9.jpg.html][/URL] AMT ’63 Coupe #2: Bought this one off eBay recently mainly because it seemed to have most of the original custom parts in the box. Body didn’t look like much in the pics but I was pleasantly surprised to find a near-perfect black paint job on it. Even the chrome trim the guy did on it isn’t bad at all. Hadn’t planned to do a black coupe, but I’m just gonna finish this one up as a survivor—for now, at least. Original builder painted the interior in some kind of metallic dark green, which isn’t authentic, but I’m not a huge fan of any of the factory ’63 interior colors for a black exterior (white wasn’t offered), so I think I’ll just go ahead and go with the green. Although the box had most or all of the cool custom parts, and all the stock body parts (including the taillights still on the trees) it had no tires, no stock wheels, no wheel backs, and no glass. I can source all that stuff from common ’63 reissues. [URL=http://smg.photobucket.com/user/Snake45/media/Model%20Cars/Corvette%20Restos/AMT63VetteHTB02_zpsxq6poyo1.jpg.html][/URL] AMT '67 Coupe #1: Bought this one recently at the local Toy & Train show for $8. I think the vendor thought it was either a common MPC reissue, or maybe a common AMT '63, but either way, I recognized it as an original annual AMT '67 and almost sprained my wrist reaching for my wallet. Upon closer examination at home, I discovered it's not quite as cherry as I first thought. Turns out the Original Builder had cleanly sanded off the rear deck Corvette emblem, and the crossed flags on the nose. And filled in the rotating headlight panel lines. So it can't be restored “stock” as-is. And of course the paint (some kind of very dark plum/purple) is a nonstandard color. And the wheels aren't AMT '67s, they seem to be '68+ MPCs. Ah shucks oh well. Still worth way more than eight bucks. It's in such clean shape, it's gone to the head of the line here at the Snakepit Sting Ray Rescue & Resto shop. Only thing I've done to it in these pics is, I've polished off part of the badly-done silver paint on the windshield frame, along the top. It's still on the A-post to give you some idea of why it had to come off. Rubbing alcohol wouldn't take it off, as it sometimes will, so I had to polish it off with Wrights. Fortunately, the paint, whatever it is, seems VERY tough and durable. Judging from overspray on the inside of the body, it's some kind of candy purple or candy red over black primer. The color looks quite “plum” in these pics, which I lightened a little for better netposting. In real life, it looks black—unless you set it next to something that's really black, or look at it in strong light, and then purple/plum-ish tone comes through. [URL=http://smg.photobucket.com/user/Snake45/media/Model%20Cars/Corvette%20Restos/AMT67VetteHTB02_zpsd0vt6cni.jpg.html][/URL] [URL=http://smg.photobucket.com/user/Snake45/media/Model%20Cars/Corvette%20Restos/AMT67VetteHTB04_zpscvyrenyp.jpg.html][/URL] More to come, if anyone's interested....

Don't think I've ever seen better, sharper pictures of this model. Over the years I've considered buying one just for parts, but have never been able to find out if they're good enough to make it worth it. I'll be watching for the details as you go. Drive on!

Rub N Buff comes in Gold, and I think perhaps Brass as well. The stuff can work pretty well on small parts, once you get the hang of using it.

Nice! I recently picked up one of these and will be following along.

Shiny!

Yeah, it's pretty bloated looking, even compared to some 1/24 diecast 1G Camaros I have. I recently bought an old Monogram glue bomb JUST to harvest the roof for a 1/25 '67 Impala-to-Biscayne conversion, and I don't think I'll have to widen (or lengthen) the roof at all.

I think they also were the source of a couple of 1/48 airplane kits, Hawker Fury and Gloster Gladiator (and maybe some others). These were issued by Pyro and, more recently, Lindberg. They're very impressive kits for their age and even today are fairly well regarded.

I recently got a can of Krylon Matte Clear which is pretty flat. I'm thinking of decanting some and brushing it on the spokes of chrome wheels to get an unpolished effect like what you're looking for.

Well that's different and therefore interesting. There's something about it that makes me think it would look right at home parked next to the Munster cars. Very cool!

Animal House Deathmobile?

Get a Time Machine. Go back to the '70s or '80s and stock up on all the Pactra Flat Aluminum you can find. Wonderful stuff. I've never found anything I like half as much, and missing it still makes me cry.

Newbaum Turk's '65 Elky from Hollywood Knights?

Yeah, along with fish scales, "freak drops," cobwebs, acetylene burns, endless lines, and so forth....

Still haven't seen a '30, but there was yet another '29 on the shelf at my HL last weekend, after being missing for 2 weeks. (I already bought 3, which should be a lifetime supply of them for me.)

I haven't seen the gray in a couple months, just the black and white, but they went through this a couple years ago--no gray for a while. Dunno if it will come back again or not. I just tried the black for the first time. It's kind of an off-black, maybe not far from the beloved old Pactra Hot Rod Primer. I think I'll be using it to paint the tread area of plastic slicks. I didn't have very good luck with the Walmart cheap Gloss Black, but then I only tested it on bare plastic. Maybe it would work better over their flat black primer.

You are inspiring me to drag mine out of the Snakepit and get to work on it. And I noticed last week that Hobby Lobby has Testor Italian Red in the can, too!

Great idea! I'll take a look for them.

Don't worry, the blue one stays as-is. I've cleaned and freshened it up at least twice over the years, and it's about due for another one of those treatments, but I'll always keep it that way. I have another glue bomb that I might rebuild exactly the same way--a "then and now" thing highlighting my improved model-fu skills. I have several of the dirt-tracker kits, and I'm planning to do one as a full custom with the leftover original '66 kit parts. Thinking of doing another one as a 4WD funny car a la Hurst Hairy Olds, too, maybe. I've noticed that only two of the four stock wheels are usable, but I have several of them. Didn't know about the difference between Skylark and Riv wheels, though--I'll have to take a close look at that. Thanks!

You could put me down for at least one of those. Of course I'd kitbash it into a '65, but I'd buy it.

This thread inspired me to get one of these. Thought they'd be common, but they're harder to find than you might think. Finally found one on eBay for a semi-reasonable price. Decided not to wait for a cheaper one and pulled the trigger. Looking forward to building it. I did a Monogram 1/24 in this exact scheme--dark green with tan guts--but prefer 1/25, and I think the Revell snapper body is the best shaped '70 you can get.

I had one in 1968 I was doing as Dick Landy's. But then I screwed up the paint, and then lost it in our basement fire that December. I miss it so. When I get in the mood to build the new one, I'll probably look at a lot of Google images and see if some particular color catches my eye. Maybe a dark blue.

Very clean work, very impressive! Drive on!

Hella cool! I was able to do the same think on this one, which I built in 1969 or so. And I can relate to your crazing problem. I have one that way now. The Skylark emblem on the right rear fender is almost gone, and I don't even remember if the pinstripe is savable on that one or not--haven't looked at it for several years. And then I have this one, an absolutely perfect mint body which someone, for some unfathomable reason, cut off the lower front fenders. I'll fix that someday and drive on with it.

You're exactly right, it's way too big. And also not typical of the sort of lace patterns that were actually used back in the day.

Very nice! And you're right, that paint does do a passable impression of Crocus Yellow.