'67 Sting Ray Roadster (and bonus '63 Coupe)

[Snake45]

I’ve been seeing these cheap diecast ’67 Corvette 427 roadsters around for over a decade, and always passed them up because I didn’t think the shape was good enough. Finally a few month ago I broke down and bought one for $10 or so, figgering I could fix it up a little, to be good enough for a paperweight at work.

The interior came molded in a pukey grayish-brown color that really looked like the cheap plastic that it is. I like tan interiors but after some thought decided that it would be much easier and quicker to repaint the guts in black than in a better tan. It wasn’t until I disassembled the thing to paint the guts that I realized that one main factor that made the body look so fat and clunky was that the Sting Ray's distinctive rocker panels—which in 1967 were black, with a thin chrome trim strip along the upper edge—were missing completely.

[Snake45]

After disassembly, I rattlecanned the interior with Krylon satin black, and then hand-brushed Model Master Black Chrome Trim on the door panels and kick panels. I masked off the rocker panels with masking tape, and hand-brushed more Black Chrome Trim on the lower body sides. The chrome trim strip was made of cheap Walmart aluminum tape cut into thin strips.

Other body/trim/detail improvements included:

*Painted backup light Testor Aluminum.

*Painted taillights Model Master Acryl Clear Red.

*Painted front turn signals Testor Orange, then Model Master Turn Signal Amber.

*Painted “open” front portion of “stinger” hood scoop black.

*Painted grille (what little there is of it) black.

*Painted chrome “runners” between the taillights and rear bumpers Testor #3 Red to match the body.

*Touched up windshield and vent window frames with Silver Sharpie.

*The side exhausts are quite inaccurate, so I've simply left them off for the moment, till I can figger out what I want to do about that.

The wheels were also a problem. The ribs weren't deep enough for a black wash to have worked well, but leaving them all chrome wasn't an option either. I ended up painting the whole spoked area with Model Master Steel. Not a perfect solution, but looks much better than full chrome. Perhaps someday I'll replace these wheels and tires with something else.

Here's a few pics of the improved diecast along with another cheap diecast '63 Coupe I similarly improved in small ways. (Perhaps I will paint the interior of that one sooner or later.)

I don't like the way the bumper and license plate cover up so much of the grille. I removed it and painted the area behind it black. It might actually look better with no grille at all. Maybe I can find some kind of custom Vette grille in my parts box that would look good in there.

As always, thanks for looking, and your comments are welcome.

Edited June 23, 2015 by Snake45

[chunkypeanutbutter]

Looks good! I'm getting into custom diecasts more lately due to the availability.

[AzTom]

Nice!

I enjoy redoing one more than building one from a kit.