Scale-Master

Thanks Joe. The glass is in. The wheels and tires are done. The engine and chassis, (such as they are…) are finished. The interior is done and the inner panels are installed too, except for the shifter that went MIA after I painted it last night. I guess I’ll just make one from a shirt pin like we used to do when this was a new kit.

I'm having fun with it Pete, but then I didn't set the bar as high as you did on yours... I’m going for a worn looking interior to a certain degree. The wood flooring has been distressed and the front section grungy’d up.

Thanks guys! I'm going OOB and curbside on it. At least with the doors molded in it is easier to deal with. I am mounting the rear axle a little differently than called out to jack up the rear a little so I didn't have to cut out the rear wheel wells. I have built a couple of them before, in fact I built this one for the box art photos: I'm wondering if it is the same model used on the side panel of this kit (the lower one) with the silver and graphics Photoshopped onto it.

Harry, you might be amazed at how affordable used Corvettes are and how well maintained many are. I'll have a hard time getting near the 10 grand mark for mine even with the history on it and the fact that everything works and it is well under a 100K mileage car. C4's in very nice shape are easy pickings at 5K all day long. I know several people who have bought sound C4's for 3 grand, and a couple for even less. 17 MPG around town, 30+ on the highway, and you don't need premium, (although I use it). Even C6's had a significant price drop in recent times. And thanks again all. Very kind comments.

Thanks guys! It is a very comfortable car with enough performance to satisfy most people, especially as a basic transportation vehicle, and it gets very decent mileage. Surprisingly they are not as expensive to own as many people are led to believe, especially if you can turn your own wrenches. Now tires are pricy compared to most other cars, part of why I keep the traction control on...

Thanks John! All the body decals have been applied, unless I change my mind…

A little weathering and a few decals… My own decal solvent concoction worked well with these decals over the flat paint.

Good to know, I think it will have Sergeant stripes on the roof... I used a technical pen to draw the black things in the camo.

You are on to something Ed... A darker green was airbrushed on for the camo pattern.

Light Olive Drab was sprayed as a base color.

I picked this up last night to be part of a group build. Something simple... First I fixed the cowl and windshield trim where there were two chunks missing where the hood hinges go. Could be a short shot, could be just a well-worn mold. Then I rescribed all the door lines as they shallow and uneven. Next the drip rails were shaved because one side was barely there and the other was very prominent. The rockers were sanded to look about the same side to side; there was a flange on the left, a ghost of one at best on the right. The hood had to be shaved and trued (or I could have filled it) along the trailing edge. The rest of the parting lines were not too bad compared to the other issues. A coat of primer and quick wet sand and it looks like it is ready for paint.

A replica of my daily driver. WIP Thread: http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/topic/114801-’98-corvette/?page=1

I made valve stems for the wheels and painted the caps blue like the real car.

I made the underhood light with a big drop of the unmixed part of the top of a bottle of white paint. My car has fake C/F on the little triangular parts in front of the windows, so I used “real” C/F decals.

The glass is in. The windshield fit fine, but the rear glass was apparently warped since it was too wide at the front edge to fit. I have built a few of these kits and this is the only one I had this issue with, and it was a sealed kit when I started it. To make it fit I put it in a bar clamp to bring the edges in and hit it with a hair dryer, then let it set overnight. It fit just fine then. The lights are also installed. The rear side marker lights protrude a bit, but the others fit well.

Thanks guys! I painted most of the black trim, so far all by hand brushing. I’ll probably spray the A-pillars…

Thanks a lot Chris! All the decals were applied a week or two ago and since I was shooting my Corvette, I shot the clear on this too.

The last of the decals were applied and then it was cleared. Shot my Camaro replica at the same time…

Thanks guys. I used Tamiya for the white paint.

Hashing it out…

The red & blue hood stripes (with LS 1 badging) have been applied…

Glad to help Monty. 1: Silver (Testors enamel) for a base. Titanium Gold (Tamiya acrylic) for the front section; diluted for the cats. Black (Testors enamel) for the rear section. A wash of Tamiya Flat Earth and a little Black (acrylics) for the dirt. 2: All Tamiya, only because I had them handy. I cut the mix with lacquer thinner, so they sprayed like enamels. And thank you.

I pre-shaded the panel lines before shooting the Arctic White.

The brakes are on and the chassis is done. Then engine bay is also complete.

After mating the chassis to the interior I added a couple custom made decals (from the original art I did for the kit) to the battery and master cylinder. And some more dust and road dirt… The grey for the interior color was trickier to match than I expected. It is a warm shade and I used acrylics to mix it from JN Light Gray, Flat Earth, Flat Aluminum and Black. I made decals for the gear selector on the boot and the shift pattern knob. Yes, it is a four speed auto with a six speed manual pattern.