Scale-Master

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.

My buddy gave me this one well worn. I straightened the A-pillar and cleaned it up. The rear louver doors were too far gone so I made new ones. The wheels needed to be replaced as well.

The rear sway bar does not physically match my car nor does the placement as called out in the instructions. “Torsion bar must slide under the exhaust and glue to the lower suspension system.” Nope, the sway bar goes on top (when the car is upside down) of the exhaust. I cut the two ends off outside the mounting brackets and installed the center section to match my car. Then I swapped the ends and cemented them in the proper place as well. Actually an easy fix that is correct, and a lot less hassle than trying to jam it under the exhaust.

Thanks guys. It only uses pump gas and I leave the traction control on. At $500.00 per tire I don't want to roast 'em.

The rear suspension and exhaust were painted to match the photos… and then installed into the chassis.