Scale-Master

Actually Harry, there is an easy way to apply then dry too, but floating is even easier.

The tread looks like it might be good for sand buggies, nothing for the tarmac would use "tread" like that, but also there is no sidewall arc. I don't think I have ever seen a car tire without a bit of bulge to the sides. It looks a bit two-dimensional, and awfully tall.

Yes, Dave is correct, I used a plotter. As to Harry's other query, even though they are technically stickers, I floated them on like waterslide decals. Monty, I can only assume this kit is a rebodied C2 Corvette kit with a C3 interior with a slightly modified earlier steering wheel. Still no excuse for that battery...

Also got the wheels and tires done last night. I made decals for the center caps, but cut vinyl rings for the red stripes and used Tamiya flat white acrylic for the lettering and flat black for the slots in the rims. I have found photos of both silver centers and black centers; I like the look of the black better. The chrome isn’t the greatest, it has some wrinkling, but then it is 34 years old and photographs well.

Forgot to post the update... Chassis, suspension and engine are pretty much done. Clearly this part of the kit is based on an earlier ‘60’s era Corvette. No catalytic converters for one thing, and get a load of the 50’s era battery.

As I stated in the first post, this is an original 1978 issue, not a re-issue. This is very similar to the car I am doing: Maybe the labeling they used is incorrect? But the badging on the kit parts says "Silver Anniversary" in the engraving. The decals are clearly for the Pace Car. And the instructions give you only two choices. Black & Silver Pace Car or just Orange with a Tan interior. No mention of the Pewter & Silver Anniversary scheme in the instructions, but a photo of the Pace Car on the box. I use talc (baby powder) for the texturing. I add it to the paint and spray. The more talc, the coarser the texture. And it makes the shop smell lilac fresh... with just a hint of lacquer.

These are coming along very nicely. Great attention to detail.

That is some nice clean detail painting, (as said before). As for the decals, I'd recommend a little solvent to help with the fender contours over adding more clear to them.

I used a frisket material to mask the paint edge so I could get the small radiuses at the front and rear of each wheel well smooth as well as keeping the main arches uniform. It is stiffer than masking tape tape (kind of like thick 3M Magic tape) so it holds the shape better. I made a pattern and cut the frisket and then applied it to the body so I would not have to worry about cutting into the silver paint. Too bad the wheel wells are not symmetrical from side to side, so I had to do some massaging to split the differences. Once I had the paint line where I wanted it, I masked off the silver with 3M blue and regular masking tapes. The frisket material is also blue and it is hard to see the difference between the two blue materials in the picture. The pattern I made for masking the silver/black line will also be used to make the red pinstripe that goes just below that color break.

Thanks. I think one of the reasons the interior colors work is the different sheens help accent the different colors more than if they were all satin or flat. Here is the body masked off for the black to be applied. I spent between 3 and 4 hours masking this and the bumpers off, or the better part of two movies...

Thanks guys. The shifter pattern is not small, and it is crisply engraved. Now the numerals and the R denoting the gears... They were easier to hand paint than to make decals for, even having the art on hand.

It came with the gauge decals, but not all the dashand console controls labels, horn button, etc, but the detail is so weak (and somewhat incorrect) that I decided to just use what came with the kit (not add any decals) and paint the molded in details such as they are.

To those who emailed me directly and those who offered public support, thank you. Anyone who has questions about things discussed in this thread other than about the Pace Car are welcome to PM me directly. I'll be glad to discuss it, but let's keep this thread on topic and going forward please. The Dash and steering wheel are done… And installed to the finished interior...

Those are fun little kits, but the "instructions" do require some additional thinking compared to a mainstream injection molded kit. The decals are the other possible weak link in the kit.

I thought you had read the first sentence I posted stating it was an "Older Monogram original issue kit I intend to just build Out-Of-The-Box". OOB would negate adding any non kit parts.

Thanks. But that gave me a little chuckle. You have to remember this kit was produced in 1978, PE was just beginning to show up in cottage industry moldels, (mostly as windshield wipers, pedals and wire wheels), it would be quite some time before PE made it into major production kits. This is a very simplistic kit.

The engine is complete and ready to be installed into the chassis…

I'm sure if there were people in them, they were idling. Have to power the A/C with the engine... Is it political to point out blatant hypocrisy?

There are some kits that hold zero interest for me, and I would likely never build for myself, but, I have built some that fit into that category for others. But often once the project is done, I find I have gained some appreciation for it. A few never do it for me though... There is something to be said for the freedom that mentally comes with a free kit when it comes to experimenting on it. Scale does not bother me as it does others; subject matter and quality mean more.

I textured the intake manifold, alternator and A/C pump… The lump that is supposed to represent the Rochester carb will be hidden by the air cleaner, (thankfully).

It turns out the body was not as nice and smooth as I originally thought, not really bad, but lots of little imperfections that are hard to hide with silver or black paint. After several days of sanding-priming-sanding, I shot a base coat of Gloss Aluminum and a top coat of Mica Silver for the bottom areas of the two tone paint job.

The engine/trans is a traditional two halves affair and rather simplistic and low on molded in detail. I textured the block and transmission but left the oil pan and timing cover smooth. The overspray on the bell housing is intentional; as is the seam I left on the trans to replicate the casting line. I textured the heads and exhaust manifolds too, at different levels of coarseness.

I cut the letters out by hand and put them on the sheet styrene plate. Careful build up of paint helped create the fillet around each character that makes it look stamped, not cut out.

You are seeing that correctly, the lettering is raised to replicate a stamped plate. It is reflective with proper (also reflective) tags too.

Actually, it has clean synthetic in it / on the stick… If none exist… what about that one in the photos?