ismaelg

Excellent craftsmanship!

What? You didn't remember me? I'm offended!!!! I'm leaving! Sorry, couldn't resist I know these gentlemen are on a separate league... Welcome aboard Len! Thanks,

Bob, What's the rush? Don't you love the smell of paint for a few days? That is looking very good. I'm a very slow builder and you are a very fast one so probably you'll finish first. That'll be another great build from you. Are those wheels Fujimi BBS RG346 by any chance? I ordered them for my F430. Thanks,

Bob, Welcome to the club I had to touch up many spots many times, after the first color coats. I don't know if it has anything to do with the softer plastic, but they didn't show during primer. As you said, mold lines, tool marks etc. Something you wouldn't expect from a new mold. So yes, there is a lot of prep work before and after initial color coats for those of us obsessed with perfection. Thanks,

Hello again, The final coat of clear has been airbrushed. I took this pic this morning, about 48 hrs after the last coat was applied. Now, the body will be put aside for a nap. Lacquer can be polished as soon as 2 or 3 days, but I like to wait at least one full week before polishing. Anyways, I still need to work on the interiors and other stuff, so most likely it will be more than a week before I start polishing it. I like how it is progressing so far. If I don't screw it up, (like I usually do), this could be my best yellow paint job to date. Thanks, Ismael

Hello, The 2006 yellow Z06 is sleeping now for a week until the clear dries. I'll post pics of that one later on. In the meantime, I started polishing the 2004 C5 Z06 Grand Sport. Just to get an idea on how it will look, I polished just the hood. The white stripe shines beyond my expectations. It looks great. This is my first 2 tone paint job. The stripes (all of them) are painted over the LeMans blue paint. Now, on to the rest of the body.... Thanks,

Hello, Fellow modeler and Corvette enthusiast Al Superczynski created a home brewed decal sheet for the C5 Daytona / LeMans Pace Cars. As you may remember, these models came with pre-painted checker pattern bodies, but decals were peel and stick instead of waterslide. With this decal sheet you can make either the Daytona Pace Car, Le Mans Pace Car or the blue LeMans safety car. It includes PACE CAR, SAFETY CAR and DIRECTION DE COURSE door decals, LeMans and Daytona trunk decals, Rolex 24 and ACO (Automobile Club De L'Ouest: LeMans Sanctioning body) event decals, plus the windshield banner, instrument panel, a Chevrolet Bowtie license plate and 6 C5 emblems. The sheet is very well done and even includes a separate black windshield banner decal to go under the white lettering for opacity. I haven’t got the chance to use them yet, so I can’t comment on how thin or delicate they are, yet Al told me he has used them without any problems just like any other decal. They should work without any additional steps but a mist coat of decal clear can be used as a safety precaution. He printed a few sets so if you are interested, you can contact him at: modeleral@swbell.net Thanks,

Art, As a certified diagnosed patient of overcomplicaditis, I know the feeling That is looking very good, but I have to ask, did you find the Hupmobile? :wink: But don't worry: As soon as you finish it, it wll be available in kit form Thanks,

Chris, I haven't even looked at the engine cover on the Gallardo. Most likely it will be the regular one. I've already decided on the colors: (and I have them already all from Cobra Colors of course.) Ferrari 308 GTB: California Azurro Metallic (Blue) Ferrari F430: Argento Nurburgring Metallic (silver) Lambo Gallardo: Giallo Midas Pearl tricoat (Pearl Yellow) Not shown: Ferrari 288 GTO: Rosso Corsa (red Red RED) Porsche 911 GT3 (converted to a 2003): Cobalt blue Fujimi Ferrari 575M Maranello: Rosso Corsa (RED!!!!!!) Tamiya Enzo and Tamiya Testarossa:..... hmmm let me get back to you on these two These are all my non-Corvette projects. That should be good for at least 5 years in between Corvette projects Thanks,

Hello, In between coats of clear on the Z06, I went on a primer rampage today! :shock: This does not necessarily means these are the next ones, but I can call them officially started Monogram Ferrari 308 GTB. (Following the advice of Bob Downie) Revell Ferrari F430 (BLESS white plastic!!!) Fujimi Gallardo MY05 These are in addition to some others already in primer from my last primer rampage We can now go back to our regularly scheduled Corvettes on the bench Thanks,

FOUND IT!!!! This is getting interesting I found this in the book "Corvette: America's Star Spangled Sports Car" "Hooper's sinister-looking black coupe made a 20.5 second pit stop for thirty-one gallons of gas and a quart of oil, then held off a late race challenge by Jay Hill's Porsche RSK to take the victory for Chevrolet" I found the following in the Leffingwell book: "Bob Bondurant, Dave McDonald and Jerry Grant drove the three cars, a silver , a white and a bluew coupe, out from the St. Louis factory to break them in while another car was trucked out earlier"... .."the fourth Corvette, entered by Mickey Thompson and driven by Doug Hooper won the race" From this, we can conclude that Dick Thompson did not raced in that event, and probably it refers to Thompson (Mickey) the owner.... The car was black. End of the mistery, my job here is done, I'm outta here Thanks,

Pat, I'm by no means an expert on this subject, but 119 xp was driven by Doug Hooper and I understand that after that race the cars were re-classified as A production instead of xp class. Thompson did not finished that particular race. Would it be possible that Thompson raced that car later? Thanks,

Pat, You really stumped me on these questions The 119 xp was driven by Doug Hooper. That picture is from the Riverside race in Oct 13 1962. That was the debut of the car and Doug won the race. The car was owned by Mickey Thompson. That was also the race where the Shelby Cobra debuted. Three other Corvettes were in that race, but the 119 is the only one I don't know the color I'll dig in my references. Thanks,

Bill, The paint is pre-thinned for airbrush. I thin it a bit more because of my weather conditions (High heat / high humidity) and personal preferences, but you can use it right out of the jar. Go ahead, tell him I sent 'ya! Thanks,

Hello, The Z06 is slowly progressing. Paint was finally approved by the PQRB (Paint Quality Review Board aka me) after 6 or 7 failed inspections requiring minor touch ups. The project has been "cleared" for the next step: Clear coat These 2 pictures were taken after the first coat of clear was dry. I usually do 5-6 coats. Because of time constraints, I can only do 1 per day, in the morning before going to work. Cobra Colors Moon Mud primer / Cobra Colors Velocity Yellow / Cobra Colors Ultra Gloss Clear Moon mud protects the soft plastic against almost anything short of nuclear reaction. Any comments? Thanks,

Bill, Thinking out loud, as rock hard as Future dries, it is still an acrylic product. I would worry about using it under lacquer or hot enamels. It may eventually crack or "spider web" destroying the finish. I don't know, just a thought... Thanks, Ismael

Ken, MOST DEFINITELY!!! I posted some comments about this a few days ago. I've been fighting this since the first C6 came out last year and it was a hot topic on the "other" board where many of us come from. The new plastic is very soft and will craze at almost anything. Since I use automotive lacquer paints (Cobra Colors 99% exclusively) I use their primer, Moon Mud, which works great on the new plastic. I've tried Plastikote T235 as well with good results, but Duplicolor did not pass the test. Even hardware store enamel spray cans can cause the plastic to craze if applied too heavy. I opted for using Testors enamels only for everything else other than the body. Acrylics will be safe as well. If you are going to use Testor's Metalizers, spray a barrier coat first like aluminum, steel etc. Metalizers on the new bare plastic will craze as well. I've only built C6 and Z06 recently, but I've been told the new Mustang and the new Viper have the same problem. I didn't see that problem in the Revell Germany Ferrari 612 I finished a little while ago. Depending on the severity of the crazing, it can be sanded away and start all over again. Bottom line: Be patient, careful and test whenever possible...... I hope this helps. Thanks,

Hello, The chassis of the 2006 Z06 is almost done. The only pending parts are the exhaust tips and the brakes. I like it so much I may display it upside down Think of any metal shade of Testor's color and I probably used it here. It looks all the same metallic color in the pic but there are many shades there, as well as many shades of black from dead flat to gloss to everything in between. The floor boards are darker than in the coupe or conv C6 due to the different materials used. What do you think? Your comments are appreciated. Thanks,

Bob, Thanks to you I now have a new appreciation for those old monogram simpler kits. Both your 904s look great as well as all the others. The concept of "speed building" is so mind boggling for me it hurts I mean, it takes me about that long just to sand the mold lines on a kit and the instant I rush something, I screw it up and have to start all over again. :roll: Looks like you had a ton of fun! Thanks,

What do you mean first ever? That looks very nice, and even more impressive the fact that it is a 20 hour build. It would take me that long just to sand the mold lines Thanks,

Bill, Millenium yellow was the 2005 color, like in previous years. It is a pure solid. For 2006 it was replaced by Velocity yellow, which is the one I'm using. Here is the description of Velocity Yellow from Cobra Colors: Yellow solid. Replacing GM’s popular Millennium Yellow, Velocity Yellow is a much brighter shade of yellow that comes with a very special twist – a light touch of fine silver-gold metallics. While hardly apparent, the subtle metallics in Velocity Yellow enable a rich depth never before seen on what is considered a solid color finish I have both colors and if you put the bottles side by side, you'll notice they are very similar, but Millenium is a hint more "orangy". I can't see the metallic particles in the Velocity but after clear is applied and polished, it should be nice and deep. Here is a model I did in Millenium Yellow, but I added a pearl coat between color and clear. Thanks,

Hello, Some more progress on the 2006 Z06. The first 2 coats of color showed a few tiny little imperfections that I didn't see in the primer. So the options were to take the risk and fix or leave it like that since they were small. HA! You know me. And this is how it looks after touch up color. This is ready for final inspection. Only then it will be ready for the next step: clear. Thanks,

Marc, That's coming along beautiful! I also like the wheels. Where are they from? Thanks, Ismael

That came out really nice!

Hello, Sorry to hear that. I should have said so before. The new palstic Revell is using is VERY sensitive and soft. Not only the Z06 but also the original C6, and I've been told that the Viper and new Mustangs as well. The new plastic will craze even with metalizers heavily applied. I found that even Duplicolor primer crazed the plastic. I use Testors hobby enamels for interiors and details, and they work fine. For bodies, since I use real lacquer, Moon Mud Primer from Cobra Colors works great. I've also used Plastikote T235 primer on it without problems, but for some reason Plastikote vanished from the face of the earth, at least here. Of course acrylics are safe on anything, but not UNDER anything. Don't dispair. I had some crazing while doing my C6 coupes and stripping and a light sanding fixed it. Hope this helps. Thanks, Ismael