Scale-Master

The first 300-ZX GTP to be campaigned by a team other than Nissan. 1990 issue by Starter. Resin/multi-media 1/43rd scale kit. These are the "full instructions". The paint scheme is done entirely with decals.

The engine and chassis are straight out of the kit; very simplistic, not too detailed. Since this one is more about the exterior I left it all as is and added the underhood decals from the '78 sheet.

While doing a periodical mock-up of the main parts I noticed the front end had somehow incurred five fractures around the wheel well, headlight and driving light openings. I know this blue plastic is very brittle, but this was a surprise. As much as I intended to install the headlight buckets after the body was painted I went ahead and did so after repairing the damage for added strength.

Thank you Alan! I machined the AutoMeter gauge bezels out of aluminum. The air vent and lower gauge housings are brass.

I had a '65 with a 383 too, back in the early 80's. Not the most attractive car, but it did it's job and was a bit of sleeper even being bone stock. I used the Polar Lights kit since the real one was pretty rough around the edges too. I 'm sure yours will look better than mine.

Thanks Ray. New dash made from scratch, kit dash above (black).

I went with a full coat of Deep Metallic Blue to brighten the near black Dark Mica Blue.

I painted the hardware and made the belts. The little hook latches for the buckles will be installed later with some other details; they are too delicate.

The front half of the interior is box-stock except for the addition of the console and steering wheel decals from the same Pace Car sheet.

The shoulder belt adjusters, made from scratch.

Thanks Guys! The wheels and tires also benefitted from the same Corvette decal sheet. I used the crossed flag logos for the center caps too.

Rather than C/F or Kevlar I went with the main body color for the seat backs.

I added texture to the blue paint to "carpet" the blended area of the two interior pieces. The dash was hand detail painted and the gauges are decals from the Scale-Master '78 Pace Car sheet I drew for the Revell-Monogram kit.

I wanted a dark metallic blue, but this may be too dark… I'll think on it a bit.

I went with a Navy Blue undercoat for the Metallic Blue final coat. When I decide what shade I want to use…

I cut the rear off the Daytona interior and the front off the Gremlin's and mated them together. A decent amount of putty was needed to smooth the transition on the inside, but the AMC part fit into the Chevy frame like it was designed to do so.

Thanks Mike! The kit seats are both the same. I notched the inboard edges for shifter clearance and cut holes for the lap belts. They needed some cushion detail. I thought I could use the pre-scribed sheet plastic I used on the camper I built last month, but it was so brittle (old stock I guess) it kept snapping, and not just in the recessed lines. I hoped to do each in two pieces but it was more like eight per seat. The indentations needed to be scribed a lot deeper and some curvature added. Primed and on hold until painting.

Thanks guys. Yes, it will be a "no Ferrari harmed" version with the C3 chassis and driveline. I think the tinted glass works well with the delicate B pillar. To make the rear windows I used the Gremlin tinted pieces. I trimmed the back one down and cut the side windows out of the windshield.

Shoulder belt anchor bar. Shoulder and lap belt anchor hardware. And the buckle sets. All scratch-built.

When I built the Gremlin kit a few years ago I wasn't impressed with the soft and uneven molding of the body detail behind the quarter windows. I sharpened it up on this one with a couple strips of styrene. And a simple B pillar.

1/43rd resin kit by Starter. Not the best (accuracy) version in this series of 966s. But a pretty car for sure and a fun side project.

I started with a sealed kit of the Miami Vice roadster; the deck lid and right side door were scarred from one of the tires. 90% of the deck damage was fixed by cutting off the deck. I guess it was destined for this idea… The rest was filled and sanded out. About ½ inch of the leading edge of the soft top was used to mate to the windshield frame. The Gremlin roof was cut down height-wise and lengthened. The sides of the roof were reshaped and refined with strip styrene and filler. I changed the shape of the rear window and added trim. Instead of using the glass as the hatch I removed the hinges and scribed in new panel lines Like a Vega Kammback. Many wagon conversions suffer from poor tailgate/hatch design. To try and negate that issue, and to keep the theme of the original car, I integrated the Daytona trunk line on the back panel. Getting close to adding the B pillar…

I designed the spokes for the steering wheel in SolidWorks from a real one I liked and printed a master. This is a resin copy I cast from it with the aluminum rim I turned. I milled out three areas in the rim for the spokes to fit into. Dry fitted together.

The rear section seemed like it needed something more, so I freehand drilled a dozen holes in the rear panel. For a part that is based on a kit piece, I'm somewhat surprised how much scratch-work it has on it now. It didn't start out in my plans that way, but such is the nature of this project.

That was fun. Now back to work on the bigger project. Kind of like potato chips though, I'm in the mood to build another... Here's the WIP: http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/topic/162469-66-sunoco-corvette/