Monty

Ah, my favorite Eldorado. Love that color. Glad you were able to rescue this one!

Way to go! That'll show him! Erik, stick to your guns on this. They're your pictures and if feel they need to be protected from theft, by all means do so.

If you had the opportunity to own a real version of any of these variations, which one would excite you the most?

Another phenomenal build from Yuri? I'll buy tickets to that show any day of the year! What else can ya say? Fantastic work again! Gotta ask: 1) What kind of paint did you use on this one? 2) What techniques did you use to get the vinyl top to look that way? Thanks!

Dark red. I'm beggin' ya.

My younger brother has a 2nd shift job as a welder. Years ago, when he lived in one of Dallas' sketchier neighborhoods, he'd occasionally come home after midnight to find some "visitor" parked in his assigned, covered spot. These spots were convenient, being the closest to the buildings, but were clearly marked as "reserved" with signs indicating that violators would be towed. The violators got bolder over time because the apartment management folks left this part up to the renters. It got to the point where if he found a car in his spot, he'd just find a space in visitor parking then go inside and call the towing company. After four different people had been towed*, his assigned spot was never invaded again. *I'm sure the process is the same in most places, but Dallas seems to have a terrible reputation for high towing and impound release costs. The majority of people in this neighborhood weren't exactly loaded, so I'm guessing most learned their lesson the first time. Some apartment complexes now advertise the use of towing companies assigned to remove violators

I'm going to be replicating a JoHan Superbird street machine build I did in the early '80s except this time I intend to use a much more accurate chassis that doesn't have everything molded in. If you've done this conversion, please let me know which chassis works best as well as any other things that'll need to be done to make the swap successful.

Makes me long for the subtleties of The Proclaimers.

I've heard that Revell got everything but the date right on this hi-po small block, and since the kit's been out a while, I assume many of you have actually gotten a lot more done than just gluing the engine block halves together. I'm primarily interested in the factory-stock look, but if you built one that doesn't deviate too much, feel free to post your pics as well. Overall, were you happy with the parts fit and the details? Any improvements you'd suggest? (Is there an actual brace, or does this engine have a magic, floating alternator?)

Years ago, Odds & Ends actually offered a pewter, but they are virtually impossible to find now. (Can't even find 'em on ebay or Amazon). There are also some home-decorating paints (Rustoleum, Krylon) that have a pewter shade, but also feature a hammered finish, which is not what I'd want for a car model. So, any suggestions? I prefer to work with enamels, but I can deal with acrylics and lacquers as well. Part numbers and pics of something painted in your suggested shades would be greatly appreciated. This paint is intended to be the sole body color for a future build & should look something like this.

Looks like Erik just redefined "sinister" for us. What a knockout! Beautiful paint, modern power, and a sinfully suggestive stance. Add in Chief Joseph's wheels and tires and you can pave your own path to perdition with molten rubber and tire smoke. Erik, did you modify the stock suspension or use the lowrider's setup?

Scott, if you wouldn't mind elaborating, what aspects of this kit gave you fits?

First, congratulations on finding a complete grail kit @ such a reasonable price. That's the dream most of us have. Second, a couple questions: What's the secret for applying black & getting results like you did on your air cleaner and valve covers? Is this done with enamel or acrylic?

Phenomenal work! It's a virtual feast for the eyes. Thanks again for sharing your talents with us.

Welcome to our board! You and mangodart (another French modeler on here) have both shown us some excellent examples of your skills in assembly and painting. You certainly found some great colors for those three old Mopars. Hope you'll post again soon.

There are some very nice detailing touches in both sections. Thanks, Cameron!

I'd like to see how this looks. Any chassis pics you can show us?

Whoops! My error. I got to babbling on about the acrylics and forgot that you had mentioned that. If you end up using some of their other items (self-leveling primers, spray-on fillers etc) let us know what you think of them.

Be aware that the Mr Color paints probably won't match up with the paint numbers on your instruction sheets. Other than that, you should be pleased with their quality. Gunze offers all kinds of primers, fillers & etc. to work with these. I'm told they're pricey but well worth it. If you're looking for a reliable source for these paints via mail order, try Red Frog. I discovered them when I was looking for Humbrol enamels.

It's not so much about how much stuff you can add as it is about how much of your work is accurate. The first thing you need to do is get as many reference pics of the car in question as possible. That means body shots, interior shots, engine bay shots and if possible, chassis shots. (This may entail looking up professional restoration sites etc). Getting all the small details right help make the bigger details stand out.

I can't answer all your questions, but I can help you out on a few issues. Gunze-Sangyo offers both an aqueous (water-based) line of paints and a solvent-based line (Mr Color). You seem to be interested in the water-based paints, which I can say from experience are excellent for airbrushing. Your biggest problem will be finding them in the US since they pulled those paints out a number of years ago. When I wasn't able to find them here, including at hobbylinc, I ended up restocking all my favorites from some place in Australia, but I believe they are also available from the UK and Poland. Guys having the same issue on other forums are reporting fair prices on both paint and shipping. While Gunze offers a decent range of paint colors http://www.spruemaster.com/blog/file/GSI_aqueous_colors_LRG.jpg they don't have much in the various "metal" shades, if that matters. HTH

I agree, and even though I had a red 1:1 Corvette, it's kinda nice seeing them in other colors (not that I'd object to anyone posting a red one.) I should confess that I had an ulterior motive for this. In the original post, I specifically asked if anyone had had problems with this kit, and obviously nothing insurmountable has been mentioned. I asked this because an experienced, adult member of another modeling forum I'm on made a claim about a month ago that this kit was "unbuildable". He claims he'll have to break the chassis in half to get it in place where it can be glued together. No one has mentioned having to go to any such lenghts on here....hmmmmm. Having seen how these guys' builds turned out, I need to get mine moved up on the to-do list.

Danno, in the 20 years that I had mine, I encountered any number of other owners who didn't have the shielding element either, but for whatever reason weren't having any problems with their radios. A quick look at Google Images "1969 Corvette engines" will confirm that a lot of those shields are no longer in use, which suggests there are workarounds (aftermarket radio/tape player?) of some sort, if necessary. When I purchased my 'Vette, it didn't have the shielding either, and the radio continued to work fine, even with successively more powerful ignition systems. (Davis Unified Ignition stuff rocks, BTW). I complimented Erik for his wiring because it looked good and also because he avoided two modeling cliches (for lack of a better word) that we used to see on this board all the time. 1) It wasn't just a bunch of wires jammed in a tube. He made the effort to replicate the look of a real setup. 2) It wasn't the "angry spider" look that used to be so common a couple years ago. Even without the factory shielding in place, the wiring still goes down the back of the block, into two restraint loops, and then up to the heads. Lastly, judging by the custom paint and wheels, I'd say its doubtful that Erik's intention was to replicate a factory stock 'Vette in the first place.

Erik, I must say I like they way you enhanced what Revell provided. One of the first things I noticed was the plug wire routing. The wires appear to be in correct firing order and run correctly down the back of the block. Question: how did you get a part number stamped on the radiator hose?

Maybe it's just me, but it seems like metallic blue paint just rocks on the early C3 Corvettes. Nicely done, Paul.