Hawk312

Thanks so much everyone! I really appreciate it! Yep, they are the kit wipers, believe it or not. They absolutely require bending to get them to fit right though. Without modification, they stick out about a scale foot from the windshield.

I know I`ve said other projects have made me want to quit building, but this was by far the most challenging project I`ve had yet. It shouldn`t have been so difficult, but it seemed to have fought me every step of the way, taking almost 5 months to complete! Anyway, the guy who is getting this is the same guy who got the Burgundy one, so no mirrors or door handles again since this is going cross-country. Building this had me on pins and needles since he wanted the JL-8 brakes on this, and he sacrificed a $600 FM `67 Corvette die cast to send these to me. He also sent me the resin wheels, which have some real mass to them, and are much wider and heavier than the stockers. This meant alot of frame modifications, which was fun, without looking like anything was modified since he still wanted a factory appearance. The exhaust also had to be re-bent with an open flame, and then sectioned off to get it to fit. Shocks had to be moved to the inside of the springs. The kit plastic axles needed to be replaced with aluminum. Another real challenge was the black stripes, which are completely masked off this time. No decals. The color is PPG Sebring Silver. He wanted red interior, which I thought was unique. And of course, the period correct window sticker, and California plates and inspection sticker this time. Sorry for the lousy pics. The weather isn`t cooperating here in the Northeast, and I need to get this to this guy. The lug nuts:

I think this one has been even more challenging then the L-88. The buyer of this one wanted this one to be Sebring Silver with black stripes. The kit only comes with the white ones, so the black ones had to be masked, which was alot of fun. The silver is correct PPG laquer. This person also wanted the special order JL-8 disc brakes all around for this. He had a set that he shipped to me, and yes, these are the brakes from the $600 Franklin mint `67 Corvette! :eek::eek: He actually sacrificed the die cast for me to put them on this model! He also had a set of mini-lite wheels and tires, which you can see in the chassis pic below. The rear tires were wayyyyy to wide to fit in the stock rear chassis, which meant alot of modification! The interior had to be red as well, which was even more difficult than the white, but I think it was worth the effort. The interior was sprayed using interior dye, which I think came out pretty convincing. Again, painted wood grain, flocking, etc.... The engine in the chassis....pretty typical. Notice the cutting that was needed in the rear, now covered with white plastic. Let`s see...the wheel wells needed to be cut out and widened. The frame rails needed to be cut back around the gas tank and then reformed with styrene strips in order to narrow them. The shocks need to be moved to the inside of the leaf springs to make room. I just switched the right and left leaf springs to get the mount point on the inside. Notice the driver`s side exhaust pipe is shorter than the passenger side. I needed to heat the pipe over an open flame to bend it, and then cut a section out and splice it back together to get the proper length. Notice the minilite wheels, which are resin molds. I am not sure who makes them, but the need a lot of work to get them right. Here are the JL-8 brakes. Because of the extra weight of the tires (solid resin) and the wheels, I had to use aluminum tubing for axles.

Thanks again! I`ve seen your incredible work on these kits as well, so i really do appreciate the compliments! Since it looks like I may have some major free time in the future with the way things are going, you will have to let me know when you guys are meeting up again. I want to make one of these meets!

Thanks everyone for the kind words! I hope the new owner is just as appreciative.

Ok...so I am pummeling you guys relentlessly with these. Anyway, this is for a customer who is actually buying two of these from me, possibly three. He wanted this one to be just like it would come from the factory (the other will be modified). It is a little different for me, as this is the first time I tried the white interior, which is alot of fun when you are trying to cover the molded black plastic, and when you are dealing with super messy black flocking that is attracted to the white painted seats. This is also my first burgandy car, which was mixed using the paint code from `69 and is PPG laquer this time. This is also the first time I used the body color bumper. As usual, period correct window sticker, chassis markings, firewall markings, "text" on hoses and wires, brake lines, painted wood grain detail, etc.... Also, this person wanted a motor city license plate, which is why I chose Michigan for the license plate (correct `69) and made it a personalized custom plate for him. Since I will be shipping this cross-country, some of the chrome pieces (mirrors, door handles, etc)will be shipped separately, which is why they are not installed. Let me know what you think.

Here was the inspiration for this model guys: http://www.autoblog.com/gallery/2007-rm-au...88-corvette/#11

Thanks guys!! You all are too kind! And the antenna is being removed. Thanks Harry. I really don`t have any real secrets other than just follow the same process as you would with a real car. Typically on this kit I will use all duplicolor paints and primers straight from the can. The one exception this time was the blue stinger, which is testors laquer. So I usually start with bout 3-4 coats of primer, sanded with 1000 grit when dry. I try to sand in "X" formations to keep it as flat as possible. If I am concerned about bleed through from the red plastic (I was on this one with the light blue), I will follow up with a couple coats of silver. Otherwise, I usually follow up with about 6-8 coats of color, sanded with 1500 when dry. Next is the clear, another 6-8 coats at the very least, sometimes up to 10 or 12. I usually allow it to cure for a month, then wet sand carefullly starting at 1500 then moving to 2000. Follow that with 3M rubbing compound, then meguires swirl remover, then tamyia compound. Thats pretty much it.

Ok, first a little background on the subject. In `67, you could order a vette with several engine options, but rarely was the L-88 option selected, as it was basically a racing engine installed in a street car. It was notorious for it`s overheating issues and was just plain unfriendly to the average buyer. But it was fast. In all, a total of 20 L-88`s were made in `67, and many of them became race cars. If you have a real one of these today, there is no way you would accept anything less than $million for it. So, this one is a little unique compared to what you normally see from me. I`m sorry guys....I must be driving you crazy with all the 1/12 Corvettes and Camaros. :icon16: Anyway, I took the L-71 tri-power 1/12 `67 Corvette kit and converted it to an L-88. I also wanted a rare color scheme, and to my knowledge, only 1 L-88 was made with this color scheme, and only 4 other non L-88`s were made in these colors. Since the kit doesn`t come with blue decals, I had to mask these off and paint them on. You`ll have to forgive my photography skills. For some reason I can`t get my camera to properly capture the blue stinger. It is much more blue and less aqua in real life. There were alot of modifications needed to convert this kit. The radio details had to be sanded off, and since it is in such a tight location, it was really difficult to do this and not damage the dash. I sanded and puttied and primered it like 4 times to get it right. The firewall needed to be modified since these cars came without heaters. The overflow tank was scratch built. The radiator needed modifications and the radiator shroud was correctly not installed. The filter on top of the carb required more creative scratch building, and took forever to get right. The foam around the edge is real foam. And of course, wiring and plumbing with "text" were added, and labels and chalk markings were added to the chassis. And, as usual, a correct `67 window sticker and license plate were added. Please let me know what you think!

So true. I had a 2001 Trans Am, and off the showroom floor with just an air lid and nothing else, it ran 13.1 at 111mph with a 2.2 60'. For those who can`t appreciate those numbers, a Ferrari 360 will run close to the same at 12.9 at 114mph: http://en.allexperts.com/e/f/fe/ferrari_360.htm My current hawk with just a $100 LS6 cam and springs, tune, and full exhaust easily smokes the Ferrari, still sounds stock, and still gets 28 mpg on trips!

Niiiiiccce!!!! WS6`s are intimidating to begin with, and that black makes it so much more ferocious.

Thanks again everyone! The weather was nice today, and I decided to take some more pics, since I wasn`t happy with the way the others turned out. Here you go!

Thanks again everyone! 93Z, the detail set is great, and I can`t imagine building one without it. It is frustrating sometimes when gluing the emblems on, but worth it in the end. The emblems also have a goldish tint to them, so I usually end up spraying them with chrome paint for an accurate look. The weather was nice today, so I decided to take some more pics, since I wasn`t happy with the way the others turned out. Here you go!

Thanks 99. I managed to find an engine pic here, but it`s not very good. I have an engine pic in the thread for the orange one, an they are pretty much identical:

This one is basically the same as the black one, so I will just copy and paste from that thread: This is yet another build up of the Monogram 1/12 Z/28 kit, with alot of detail and scratch building added. My goal again was to create these as new from factory as you might see them on the showroom floor. The license plate, inspection sticker, registration, and dealer window sticker were all reduced versions of the real thing from 1969. The Model Car Garage photo-etch detail set was added. I also added brakes lines, wound springs, and aluminum exhaust tubing. I tried to simulate accurate labels and chalk markings on the firewall, exhaust, axle, and front and rear springs, as well as other spots on the chassis. "Lettering" was added to the ignition wires and heater hoses, and any other hose or wire I found on the engine that could use it. Simulated wood was painted on the dash, steering wheel, and center console with a very small brush. The interior was flocked for an accurate carpeted look. It was painted with many coats of color and clear lacquer (I forget how many, but ALOT), and then wet-sanded and rubbed out with three different grades of compound. Bare metal foil was used throughout. Also took some pics of them together:

This is yet another build up of the Monogram 1/12 Z/28 kit, with alot of detail and scratch building added. My goal again was to create these as new from factory as you might see them on the showroom floor. The license plate, inspection sticker, registration, and dealer window sticker were all reduced versions of the real thing from 1969. The Model Car Garage photo-etch detail set was added. I also added brakes lines, wound springs, and aluminum exhaust tubing. I tried to simulate accurate labels and chalk markings on the firewall, exhaust, axle, and front and rear springs, as well as other spots on the chassis. "Lettering" was added to the ignition wires and heater hoses, and any other hose or wire I found on the engine that could use it. Simulated wood was painted on the dash, steering wheel, and center console with a very small brush. The interior was flocked for an accurate carpeted look. It was painted with many coats of color and clear lacquer (I forget how many, but ALOT), and then wet-sanded and rubbed out with three different grades of compound. Bare metal foil was used throughout. I`ll be posting another one shortly.

This one is basically the same as the black one, so I will just copy and paste from that thread: This is yet another build up of the Monogram 1/12 Z/28 kit, with alot of detail and scratch building added. My goal again was to create these as new from factory as you might see them on the showroom floor. The license plate, inspection sticker, registration, and dealer window sticker were all reduced versions of the real thing from 1969. The Model Car Garage photo-etch detail set was added. I also added brakes lines, wound springs, and aluminum exhaust tubing. I tried to simulate accurate labels and chalk markings on the firewall, exhaust, axle, and front and rear springs, as well as other spots on the chassis. "Lettering" was added to the ignition wires and heater hoses, and any other hose or wire I found on the engine that could use it. Simulated wood was painted on the dash, steering wheel, and center console with a very small brush. The interior was flocked for an accurate carpeted look. It was painted with many coats of color and clear lacquer (I forget how many, but ALOT), and then wet-sanded and rubbed out with three different grades of compound. Bare metal foil was used throughout. Also took some pics of them together:

This is yet another build up of the Monogram 1/12 Z/28 kit, with alot of detail and scratch building added. My goal again was to create these as new from factory as you might see them on the showroom floor. The license plate, inspection sticker, registration, and dealer window sticker were all reduced versions of the real thing from 1969. The Model Car Garage photo-etch detail set was added. I also added brakes lines, wound springs, and aluminum exhaust tubing. I tried to simulate accurate labels and chalk markings on the firewall, exhaust, axle, and front and rear springs, as well as other spots on the chassis. "Lettering" was added to the ignition wires and heater hoses, and any other hose or wire I found on the engine that could use it. Simulated wood was painted on the dash, steering wheel, and center console with a very small brush. The interior was flocked for an accurate carpeted look. It was painted with many coats of color and clear lacquer (I forget how many, but ALOT), and then wet-sanded and rubbed out with three different grades of compound. Bare metal foil was used throughout. I`ll be posting another one shortly.

Wow! Nice work! Now if we could just get Revell to offer some car kits to build around these engines.

Thanks everyone! The color on this one is Testors dark bronze metallic. It was a nice color to work with, and I am thinking of doing one of the new Challengers in this color.

Thanks everyone. Sorry, I forget the name of the color. I do know that it was Dupli Color touch up paint from a can though, with DupliColor clear.

Thanks everyone! The traction bars are from the Baldwin Motion kit from AMT, and the Cragars are from MRC. Thanks for the correction on the wheels Custom.

I know this kit is the kit everyone loves to hate, but I really like building it, and it looks pretty convincing in real life, IMO. I hope to build a couple more of these if get the chance.

This is the Revell 71 GTX kit with the Road Runner "strobe" decals. The paint is Testors Custom Lacquer with Duplicolor clear. The right side view mirror broke off just before taking these pictures. :frown:

Sorry I`m late posting these here. I posted these on the other boards.... didn`t mean to leave you guys out. First off, you guys will have to forgive the quality of these pictures. I just got a new camera, and am still trying to figure it out. Anyway, I wanted to build something that would make Al Gore and friends toss cookies. :lol2:. I built this one around the time of the election here in the states as sort of a protest project. It is basically a box stock build with the Cragar SST`s and traction bars added. The engine has some added detail, but nothing special. Paint is dupli-color. It is actually 99% complete, as I didn`t get around to putting the side view mirrors on.:icon16: