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George Barris Villa Rivera and RTS RR


dragmodels44

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I wanted to do a couple of customs so I’ve been working on these two. I know there’s a couple of others doing I needed a couple of customs and their’s were the inspiration. The Riv was based out in silver, Testors diamond dust and revving red with HOK pearl added in the clear. It will get the white pearl added to the roof. The RR was a mix of flaming orange and hemp orange, white lightening with HOK pearl in the clear. Thanks for looking!

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Very nice paint!  I just watched an episode of Chasing Classic Cars that featured the Villa Riv.  I looked more into it and I am going to look on Netflix to see if they have the movie it appeared in available.  I also think I will pick up the kit.  Looking fwd to seeing yours done!

BTW, assume you meant Hemi Orange and not Hemp Orange, but hemp is getting pretty popular these days!!!  :)

Edited by Chris in Berwyn
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Thanks and yes Chris, I meant hemi, (stupid auto correct ) ! I wish I’d seen that episode! Here’s the RTS RR. I still haven’t finished the tail lights yet. They wont be exact but neither is the paint stripe at the back. I had a tough time with it and at over 2 hrs I just ran the stripe around the back. Later I realized I could’ve used bare metal foil and cut it out. Oh well... Here’s a few more pics.

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5 hours ago, Chris in Berwyn said:

Very nice paint!  I just watched an episode of Chasing Classic Cars that featured the Villa Riv.  I looked more into it and I am going to look on Netflix to see if they have the movie it appeared in available.  I also think I will pick up the kit.  Looking fwd to seeing yours done!

BTW, assume you meant Hemi Orange and not Hemp Orange, but hemp is getting pretty popular these days!!!  :)

The movie was "For Those who Think Young". It was on TCM a few days ago, I PVR-ed it and actually just finished watching it.  It will be on there again on the 19th. according to their website.

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Gerry, the Villa Riviera also has the nose and tail extended, plus the hood is extended in the center. There was an old magazine called "Super Customs and Hot Rods" that mentioned the amounts of extension. I remember that they were different, and somewhere in the 10 to 12 inch range. When I did mine that was in the Oakland Roadster Show diorama, I used two kits.

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Thanks. I thought the taillights didn’t look right and when I looked for the hood fins all i found was a decal. Here’s an update on the paint, I got the pearl white applied to the roof. It was tiresome as I realized I also had to mask off the inside of the roof.

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8 hours ago, Vince Nemanic said:

Gerry, the Villa Riviera also has the nose and tail extended, plus the hood is extended in the center. There was an old magazine called "Super Customs and Hot Rods" that mentioned the amounts of extension. I remember that they were different, and somewhere in the 10 to 12 inch range. When I did mine that was in the Oakland Roadster Show diorama, I used two kits.

Thanks, forgot about that.  Away from home and all my reference material.  Personally, I think the kit custom parts look nice just by themselves.  Only matters if you are trying to replicate the actual car.

If I remember correctly, it was actually in two movies with different color schemes, one all white and the second the red/white scheme

 

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Here's a link to the Kustomrama page on the car. Although I suspect most people would have already seen it.

https://kustomrama.com/wiki/George_Barris'_1963_Buick_Riviera_-_The_Villa_Riviera

The car was pearl white with red on the roof in "Those Who Think Young" and must have been repainted red right after filming because it's red in promotional shots of the opening of the movie. Also the tail lights have the red section on top in the movie and on the bottom in all shots after. 

It was also burgundy at one point without the chrome hood ribs and early Firebird tail lights and a different grille treatment. That version would be easiest to build from the kit. There's also pics of the car in what is supposed to be a very dark blue but it looks black to me. Looks really good too.

It should also be noted that the real car was built from a brand new '63. The interior was stock except for the added gadgets. Barris' shop put the headlights in the fenders. Production Rivs wouldn't have that until '65.

Edited by Can-Con
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