Monty

If you want to save some money and make a paint booth to suit your personal preferences, you may want to post a request for instructions over on the Spotlight Hobbies board. There's one person in particular (kind of an unusual name that I can't recall) who has used his engineering skills to design one that does everything well & can be built by the average peron. As you might expect of an engineer, he'll tell you what size of fan(s) you'll need & what kind of fan(s) to buy to avoid explosions. I had a friend who built his own booth, and he incorporated a lazy-suzan type platform that could be spun from underneath so he could move the model to a more optimal angle for spraying. OTOH, I don't think I've ever heard anyone complain about a Pace booth except for tightwads like myself who balk at the price.

John is apparently a practitioner of styrene alchemy - capable of turning a mediocre kit into a worthwhile build. Nice job! John, what paint did you use on the body?

Well, that's humbling. You only need three days to knock out a build that looks like it just rolled off a showroom floor, while it takes me three weeks to decide on a color. Couple questions if you don't mind: 1) Did you also use the '69 Chassis? 2) The paint gives it a very factory stock look. What paint did you use.

I hope nobody is taking my engine/paint comments as criticism of Josh's kit. MPC obviously either didn't know or didn't care about the lack of a big block for the 1975 'Vettes, and in regard to paint color options, I don't think Chevrolet ever made a Corvette body that wouldn't look good in black. Jeff, the original engine in my 1:1 '80 Corvette was a smog-crippled L48 with 190 hp and 280 lb-ft. of torque so I kicked around the idea of swapping a big block in there too, but I was concerned that the extra weight would diminish its handling. My solution was a GM ZZ4 roller cam small block with (make Tim Allen grunting sounds here) Twisted Wedge aluminium heads, Hooker headers, Jet spec-built Q-Jet and DUI ignition. Josh's build has inspired me to dig out my MPC kits and see if I can replicate my '80. Hope my paint turns out half as nice as his.

I wouldn't call yours boring. I've seen too many C3s ruined by applications of too much money and not enough forethought. If you've ever seen Corvette Summer, you know what I mean). After seeing how your build turned out, it makes me think Chevy erred by not offering black as one of the paint options on '70-'76 Corvettes. IMHO, MPC did OK on the chassis. It just takes a little research to get things accurate. Fortunately, I belong to a great forum, http://corvetteforum.com so it's easier to find info on any year 'Vette I happen to be building. You're a far better modeler than I if you can coax an amazing paint job like that out of a Testors rattle-can. I'll never trust a Testors nozzle again.

Josh, for a C3 lover like myself, it's always nice to see one built without all the usual tacky add-ons. I've got one of these kits stuck away somewhere, awaiting a donor small block (1974 was the last year big blocks were installed in Corvettes). Gotta ask: What all did you use to pull off that immaculate paint job? Tamiya lacquer?

Lookin' good! Did you use Humbrol #19 for the car color?

You seem to be one of those resourceful people who sees model-use potential in everything (a commendable trait I seem to lack). Looks like this project will be worth watching. I appreciate your posting the olds engine color info too, as that can be confusing. If you don't mind, I'm hoping you will explain what you're doing with the headlights. In the third picture, it appears that you've cut them out and backstopped the hole with flat, white styrene. If memory serves, this is one of the few kits MPC designed that has headlight recesses and engraved clear lenses to cover them, as opposed to their usual chrome-plated headlights molded with the rest of the grille. Was MPC that far off or is this a 442 / Cutlass "S" difference?

Nailed it! Well done!

Very clean build, great interior / exterior color combo and nice detailing touches (carb linkage rocks!) I'd love to see what you could do with the Lindberg '67 442. Ever thought about it?

I love your choice of paint colors. Did you happen to buy the paint from scalefinishes.com? Mine will look similar to yours with the exception of the stripe color. If things go as planned, mine should look like this when it's done. My compliments on your chassis and underhood detail as well.

Thanks, Mark! Those look phenomenal (as usual).

I'm well aware that Testors makes a few "fabric" sprays, but AFAIK, they're limited to a couple colors & to my way of thinking, it would be a waste of money to buy their "paint" and spray over it if my theory works. Basically, I was wondering if I could create my own version by reducing a flat enamel, adding baking soda for "texture" and airbrushing it. Has anyone tried this?

I've got a project that I'd been planning to use this paint on because it was a standard GM color in the 1960s, but apparently it's been discontinued. If it looks good in scale I'll have to get busy and scrounge some up somewhere.

Fantastic concept! I have a thought for the paint: Shelby offered red or blue stripes over a silver body. I think this would look great if you used the stripe color as the main color and used silver for the stripes. I have yet to see a real Series 1 up close, but every picture makes the red/blue stripes look like a candy paint. Are they somewhat translucent?

I've got a '67 Impala street machine which I've relegated to its box for over a decade because I can't figure out how to finish it. The original plan was to build it like the picture on the box (blue body & interior) but in various forums and magazines I noticed that the majority of modelers building this kit were doing the exact same thing, so now I'm looking for a way to make mine different from theirs without being garish. The interior is already done in blue and white so I'd like to two-tone the body in those colors as well, but the body lines don't seem conducive to doing that. Has anyone figured out a tasteful way to do this? Important distinction: This will be a '70s-style street machine, not a donk or lowrider, so please keep that in mind with your recommendations.

For some reason I can't seem to find any info on this. Got a link?

Yea! One of my favorite old-school exotics! About 10 years ago you could buy a decent 1:1 (non-GT) for around $25,000, and I was extremely tempted to grab one. Mark, what kit is this?

Tyrone, I like where this is going! Couple questions: 1) What silver(s) did you use on the part of the dash surrounding the speedometer? (Testors enamel? ModelMaster Metalizers?) Looks like you nailed the look. 2) Did you do anything to enhance the door lines? (Rescribe? Darker primer?) They look very realistic. I look forward to seeing your next update.

Does anybody have pics of the "stock" engine from Len Carsner's board build? (I found the thread, but it looks like all the pictures have expired). I doubt if I'll ever buy the kit, but I'd like to see the engine so I can determine if the flaws plowboy mentioned are something I can fix.

Copyright issues might take a while...

I was surprised there was no Chappaquiddick kit. Maybe they'll cross that bridge when they come to it...

Can you elaborate on the holes in the block (pics?) and the other "issues"? I read several other reviews of this kit and followed Len Carsner's build-up on this site, and other than the technical glitch of putting a 1970-LT-1 engine in a 1969 model, I don't recall any of this. Are you perhaps thinking of the axle holes in AMT's 350 block?

Nice job on this. Mine is about 1/3 complete,so I was hoping you'd have some engine & chassis pics so I can see how it looks when assembled.