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I am really baffled by the drastic differences in decal sheets between the US and Euro kits. I am really curious what's Revell's reasoning behind this?

Amazing work. Are you going to have it at the ACME show?

Very nice work so far. When I saw your first picture, before I read your description, I was going to ask what paint did you use to create the effect of the running lights strips. Then I saw you said it is a decal. It looks very realistic. Unfortunately the decal sheet in the US market model I am working with does not include these decals and those lines will have to be painted. I really don't understand why would Revell do this.

You are absolutely right. I was just thinking about that right after I uploaded my post. When I consider prepping and priming parts, then spraying a black coat and then chrome by Alclad for example, all the airbrush cleaning and drying times, the $30 for a can doesn't seem so bad after all. Besides, I never managed to achieve that good of a chrome effect with Alclad as I did with the Revell spray. So, until something better comes along, this is going to be my go-to solution.

Looks amazing. My problem with projects like this is simply space. I have ran out of display space in my house years ago. And what's the point making a model like this if it can not be displayed. I watched the video. They really went above and beyond on this model it seems. Included all the LEDs too. My wife laughs that if we were to win the lottery the underground space dedicated to my hobbies would probably dwarf the living space in our house. I would need a large basement just for my LEGO desires. Then one for my die cast collections and then a third for my plastic models.

Whaaaaat? 1/72 scale Millennium Falcon? That thing would be the size of a kitchen table.

You can use acrylics pretty much over anything. But you pretty much can't use anything over acrylics.

I want one.

As ace already said, there is absolutely no need to go beyond 800 grit when sanding primer. Here are some basics you need to understand to make your life a lot easier. First, there are two different kinds of bond you can have between plastic and paint or plastic and primer, primer and paint, paint and paint or paint and clear. Those are mechanical or chemical. This is where the whole sanding , drying, curing, recoating thing gets confusing. You can spray a coat of primer and depending on the thickness of the coat it can feel dry, but it doesn't mean it is cured. Here it gets tricky. You can have few thin coats and not long after them you can spray paint over it. This will allow the paint to "burn" into the primer and create a chemical bond. Basically fusion. In this case you don't need to sand it at all. Or you can wait for the primer to fully cure, but then you need to sand it to create a "raw" surface for the paint to bond, which would be mechanical bond. In either case the idea is that whatever coat you are applying it can not have stronger solvents than in the coat beneath it, or it will penetrate it and cause a myriad of possible problems. I find the whole polishing of every layer before its covered by the next utterly stupid. Pretty much any paint out there, no matter manufacturer or purpose will fill in 600 grid scratches without a problem as long as you sanded properly. And that is in circular motion with no pressure, letting the sand paper do its job. You don't even have to wetsand primer, as long as you clean it really well. And duplicolor actually has a cool waterborn product just for that. The main goal is to have even layer of primer EVERYWHERE on your body. The most common mistake I have seen is people spray few solid layers of primer and then sand imperfections or body work in the process of preparation and then just spray a thin coat of primer covering everything. But now they have areas where there is quite a buildup of primer, versus areas where there is very very thin coat of primer. And then when they spray a hot paint over it, it finds a weak spot and creeps under the primer and then you have a disaster on your hands. Which is exactly why I prefer chemical bond if possible. But for that you need to learn to lay a perfect coat of Primer. And that can be achieved only with practice and experience. My suggestion for you if you want to get into the whole multilayer game of primer, color, clear etc., is to not waste your money and just buy yourself a can of nice Tamiya grey primer and use their colors. Those two are designed to work together and have a proven record. By the time you run out of color options from Tamiya, you should have mastered the spray can primer game and have few quite well finished models on your shelf. Then you can start branching into other brands and types of paint. But as far as ease of use with proven results, nothing beats Tamiya. I would just recommend to be very careful with their clear, which will eat through decals and is extremely hot. So, don't be afraid to go get a cheap model and build it box stock just to practice. I believe that you will find a whole new level of joy in building models

It's good to see this one back in the race. I wouldn't thin any paint with off the shelf lacquer thinner by the way. I do buy it in bulk, but the only thing I ever use it for is cleaning my airbrush. Tamiya grey primer is my number one choice and what I use the most. 2K primer is second best choice, when I absolutely don't want to take any chances. As much as I love Tamiya product, I would never use their acrylic jars for spray painting a body. I use that stuff only for brush detailing. Your issue looks like some sort of cross contamination. I had a different issue, but equally disastrous involving silicone. I go to my local pharmacy and ask them for the plastic generic syringes, which is what I use for getting paint from my cans of automotive paint or for mixing 2K primers or 2K clear. This one time they gave me new syringes and I didn't pay attention that they had a very thin layer of silicone on their piston. That wrecked havoc with my 2K clear and it took me repainting the model three times to figure it out. It was a diecast model for a client and I took the messed up body to the shop that used to mix paint for me. The minute the guy there laid eyes on it, his reaction was "silicone contamination". Anyway, I am glad you figured it out now and you can continue on this killer build.

That looks really great. Everything on it is spot on. I gots to gets me one of theeze bodies.

Thank you Jason. And yeah, some models do that to us. But then the satisfaction when we are finished is totally worth it. It reminds me of when I used to race downhill bikes. On the way down you are holding on for dear life, cussing yourself how stupid you were to decide to do this and as soon as you get to the bottom of the mountain and your legs stop shaking, you are immediately thinking "Lets do it again"!

Another first for me is using Tamiya's dark brown panel liner. I liked how good and crisp the detail on the interior panels was, that I wanted to bring it up a little. Looking at it now, I think that it should be toned down a little, but that train has left the station. The kit comes with the GT2 option seats, which is a great choice that I am glad Revell went with. They are not the plain Jane standard seats, which are kinda mehhh, but they are not the "competition" seats either. I hope Revell is saving those for an upcoming Z06 model. Or dare we dream - a ZR1. The seats are comprised of two pieces each, the back being separate, which means painting it black (or color matching it) becomes a breeze. The decals for the headrests are one of three different color options and there is a spare included on the decal sheet. I have to note here, that the decals are excellent, with no clear film around them at all. I mean perfectly printed. However, for some reason Revell decided to cram them so close to one another that it can be a chore cutting them out. I mean, they could've made the decal sheet just an inch or even half an inch wider and give some space. Still, I would take the cramped decal sheet over an eight of an inch of clear film around every print any time of the week. The door panels are really well detailed, relying also on some decals for the silver speaker panels. Silver decals are also included for the buttons under the grab handles, but I just painted those. Which also goes to show how great the silver finish on the decals is. It looks pretty convincing. The dash is pretty much one piece. Well two actually, because the "hood" over the instrument cluster is a separate piece. I personally, would have preferred if it was separated into upper and lower half, which would have made painting the black vents and silver trim on the front much much easier and also replicating a two tone interior would not require as much masking. But this is nitpicking. The dashboard detail is great and you have a choice of four different instrument cluster screen set ups and four more for the center screen. The start button is a separate decal and there are three different color options for it too. Because you know, not everyone is a fan of the bright red nuclear launch start button I opted for. Center console is equally well detailed and everything fits absolutely perfect. What I really like is that there is even a separate part for under the trim under the halo, which also serves the double function of hiding the rear hood hinges. I still have some touching up to do on the interior and on the pictures is missing a piece that goes between the seats and has another great solver decal on it. And now, we are just waiting on a body.... Must resist carbon fiber, must resist carbon fiber, must resist carbon fiber...

As I have said earlier, I am trying some new things with this build. I have heard a lot about different chrome finishes and the never ending pursuit of creating a realistic AND durable finish. Something I have run across few times was the Revell chrome spray can, which has received some great reviews. When I stopped by the only hobby shop anywhere near me (still an hour away) a couple months back, I noticed three cans of the Revell chrome. I picked one up and was ready to check out, when I saw that it is $30 per spray can. I decided that this is too rich for my blood and put it back. But then again some people in comparison videos on YouTube were swearing by it. So few weeks back I had to go by the hobby shop anyway, so I decided to stop by and get me a can of "the magic stuff". Now, whether $30 for a small spray can is worth it or not is subjective and I am not the making that decision for anyone. I can only share my opinion of the product. And it is indeed magic stuff. I have played around with all of the chrome products out there, but nothing compares to the effect and ease of use of the Revell Chrome. Amazing shine, mirror reflection and perfect coverage straight from the can onto the bare white plastic. No primer, no sanding, no base coat. With perfect result. I am after a certain look for this Corvette, so I wanted chrome wheels. These were the very first time using the Revell Chrome. I think they look great with the yellow brake calipers behind them. I have finished the interior too, but need to process the pictures.

Thank you guys. I managed to clear coat everything, but since then it's been on the back burner. I need to finish it up.

Thank you and you're welcome, Terry. You won't be disappointed from the kit. I really wanted to build this kit and I do want it to come out good but I am not afraid to experiment on it. And the Smoke over Silver Leaf was exactly that. I wasn't sure what the effect would be, but I like it and will definitely use it again. My parts were sprayed straight from the can and not airbrushed. And my Smoke can nozzle was not right, as it has been used numerous times before. If decanted and properly airbrushed on, the effect of the smoke over the silver would be more controlled and probably a little less would look even better.

Very nicely done. I love the light interior. What color is that?

Thank you John. I just have to paint the body and I’ll be on the home stretch. I stumbled upon it fee years back. Krylon used to make a cool craft “mini” spray cans that were called suede. They had the perfect micro texture to imitate alcantara in scale. I was trying to find a can, altho I knew it was discontinued. That’s when I stumbled upon this stuff, which back then I just bought to try. It is too coarse and not uniform enough to use for alcantara or vinyl tops, but I’ve been using it for “carpet” ever since. If you are building a model to enter in a box stock class at a show where flocking is not allowed, this is your ticket. I believe Krylon makes it also in black, grey and maybe like brick red.

Looking good. MFH make some great stuff, but they are way too pricey for my taste.

Thank you. It is a very nice indeed. I would highly recommend it to anyone.

Beautiful build so far. I personally like the wheels on the right, as the ones on the left are rather generic, used on more than one model. About the Ferrari customer program it is technically called Ferrari Atelier. They offer their regular list of options, color combos and specs, but then you can go outside of that and have truly one off spec made to your taste. People call it one on one because you go in and sit down with a design rep and go over all the details one on one. This way you can get stuff not normally available. Through that program there is a Ferrari LaFerrari painted in Honda Orange for example. And what is apparently the craze in the Middle East now - two tone fades front to back. They can even create custom colors and name them after you.

Quite a bit achieved today. First the chassis plate was primed and then shot with Tamiya Matt Black. All engine components were shot with Tamiya Matt Black, then the engine assembly received a couple of coats of Tamiya Gloss Aluminum. All the interior pieces received a couple of coats of SEM paint in my favorite leather color. This was shot straight from the can into bare plastic. SEM does not like primers or other paint, while it does not attack plastic. It could be used as primer, as it can handle almost anything applied over it. That stuff literally cures in 15 minutes, which made me put a quick interior mock up. Meanwhile all the exhaust components were covered with tamiya Matt Black followed by Tamiya Silver Leaf. That stuff is really shiny and a lot brighter than the Gloss Aluminum. When dry, the headers were masked off. All the exhaust components have a particular weird looking finish on all the pictures I've seen on the net. To mimic it, I sprayed Tamiya Smoke over the Silver Leaf, which gave me exactly the finish I was looking for. The little piece of the muffler that is molded into the chassis plate was carefully masked off and treated the same way as the other parts. It's a shame really, as pretty much all of that will be hidden from view once the model is finished. The exhaust pipe assemblies received brass rods as lokating pins to ease instalation later on. All control arms were painted Tamiya Bare Metal Silver, while the shocks received some Gloss Aluminum and Semi-Gloss black. All the parts were first painted Tamiya Matt Black as a base, including the axles, which had the shafts done in gloss black, while the rubber boots were left flat. The floor plate was color detailed and all the suspension was installed. The engine received a nice black wash from Tamiya and some paint detailing. And then the drivetrain and the exhaust were installed in the chassis. Pretty nice detailed package. Such a shame it will be hidden. On a stock Corvette the entire plenum, air filter assembly and engine cover are just plain black plastic. However there are plenty of options to dress up your engine in 1:1. I wanted the engine cover to pop and not just disappear. So, the air filter box was painted Tamiya Semi_Gloss Black, while the engine cover was sprayed with Tamiya Mica Blue and the plenum underneath was painted aluminum. Decals were applied and I have to say that I am impressed with their quality. I painted the valve covers in the same MIca Blue and installed the induction. Now it looks "money". And those beautifully detailed headers, completely disappear under the heat shields, which actually doesn't matter, as after the model is complete we won't be able to see the heat shields either. The disc brakes were painted with Tamiya Silver Leaf. The calipers were done in Tamiya Yellow and then detailed with the provided decals. Cool thing is Revell gives you five of these in case you mess one up. And they provide five more decals in white lettering with red detail in case you want your calipers black. Cool stuff. The radiators were painted with Tamiya Bare Metal Silver and detailed with Tamiya black wash. After putting them in place and gluing the brakes, the chassis/drive train is now complete. The only reason why it is not sitting on its wheels/tires is that wheels are still curing. Next will be the interior, which I will tackle tomorrow or the following days. Today I just managed to spray on "the carpet". It is my favorite solution for carpets when I don't want to use flocking. It's a cheap Texture paint from Walmart by Krylon. It comes in three or four different colors. This one is called Textured raw clay. Not bad for a day's work me thinks...

I went ot work on this kit right away, pushing all my other projects to the side. I can't explain it myself, but I have not ben this excited about a new kit in a long time. I don't even know why, as I am not a fan of the real car and I have plenty other models to work on. It is going to be a simple build, straight from the box. I am tempted to add some carbon fiber decals and different wheels, but I think I'll menage to resist. LOL. First the engine. In this case most of it is going to be completely hidden, which is a shame really, as Revell did an amazing job with all it's details. It consists of 23 separate parts, not counting headers, axles or heat shields. I did some research and pretty much everything is aluminum color. So I assembled the whole unit before paint, to be sprayed all together, as it will be a lot easier. The headers are made of two pieces each and they get together into the cat/exhaust pipes, which are made up of two pieces each also. The instructions show you to to put together the headers and then glue them to the heads, before butting the heads on the engine. There are not very good location pins on either the heads nor the headers and I consider this assembly and its instructions to be pretty much the only weak point of this kit. I always study the instructions in detail before I start a kit I'm not familiar with. Not because I really need them, but to gain a better understanding of how the kit is engineered, so I can create my own plan of assembly and paint. So I mocked up all the pieces and decided that is would make my life considerably easier if I assembled the headers and cat pipes and glue them together first. This will make painting these parts a lot easier too. Same logic was used on the plenum and air filter. This is a four piece assembly, which I chose to glue together before paint. On the stock car, everything in this assembly would be plastic black. I am thinking about color matching the plenum cover, so maybe I should have left just that piece separate, but oh well... The chassis consists of basically a floor plate with lower control arms molded in and four fender wells, to which the upper control arms and shocks attach. The instructions call for the pieces in the wells to be assembled first and then the wells glued to the plate. I disagree with that sequence and glued the wells onto the plate first. This will help align the shocks with lower control arms better, while it will not complicate final assembly. Save for threading the steering rod and rear axles through the slots, which is why I understand the sequence in the instructions. Gluing the wells to the plate first also will help tremendously with the painting and with the strength of the assembly. The body is comprised of the main shell, separate pieces for the side intakes, targa roof, the "halo" behind it, rear hatch and the rear bumper. I glued the side intakes, the halo and the rear bumper together right away, so I can paint them all together. These pieces had to be molded separately due to limitation of angles. But there is no reason why should they be painted separately before assembly. As I always do with all my kits, I re-scribed all panel lines with the back of an exacto blade and sanded everything smooth with a Tamiya 600 grid sponge. Now the body is ready for primer. I took these shots of the engine assembly after primer, to show the excellent detail. This engine looks like it came out of a Tamiya kit. Off to paint we go...

I need one of these kits, but I can't find one at a decent price.

Very nice looking custom. I have used mixed media to build models before (styrene kits+diecast) and it is no picnic. Your results are nothing short of impressive.