Hi-Po Posted January 8 Posted January 8 (edited) Just finished this today and thought I would share with the forum members. My inspiration for this build came from doing some research on the 1962 Corvettes. One of the Corvette books that I was using had some photos of Zora Duntov and his '54 Corvette test mule. So, I checked in my stash and sure enough, I had an old AMT '53 Corvette on hand. Modifications to the kit are as follows - scratch building of the headrest/fin and the fiberglass tonneau cover using sheet styrene and epoxy putty. Cut down windscreen was made using clear plastic sheet. Taillights were made using spare red sprue. The headlight buckets were filled in using kit supplied parts and then I scribed in the chrome surrounds which were later Bare Metal foiled. I use black decal sheet to represent the black tape that was used on the car to seal off certain areas. Bare Metal foil was used on the side trim while other kit chrome parts were dechromed and then recoated using Alclad chrome. Tamiya True White was used for the body and different MM paints were used for the red interior and other areas. I am not sure what the black tape in front of the hood opening was for or the small string-like piece off to the right of the hood but they are in the photo of the real car, so I put them on. This was planned from the beginning to be a curbside, so no detail was done to the parts box V-8 that I replaced the kit inline six with. This is not an exact replica as I did take a few liberties with some details, due to the fact that I found very few photos of the real car. But hey, it looks good on the shelf and it kept me busy for awhile. Thanks for looking. Edited January 8 by Hi-Po 11
Bainford Posted January 9 Posted January 9 Interesting subject, and nice rendition. Looks cool all taped up and ready for test & trials. Nicely done. 1
Gluebomber Posted January 9 Posted January 9 Outstanding subject and great execution. Really nice work! 1
mustang1989 Posted January 9 Posted January 9 Sounds like a LOT of work that you put into this kit to achieve this result Terry. A great effort and a terrific outcome. 1
spencer1984 Posted January 10 Posted January 10 (edited) Great job recreating this piece of history! Edited January 10 by spencer1984 1
Hi-Po Posted January 10 Author Posted January 10 Thank you to everyone for your comments. They are much appreciated.
karbuildr Posted January 10 Posted January 10 Outstanding build, very historical as mentioned by others. I always enjoy knowing more about historical Corvettes and development mules. The string you refer to may very well have something to do with Zora's interest in aerodynamics. I'm certainly no expert on the subject, however, I found this information: "In aeronautics, tufts are pieces of yarn or string, typically around 15 cm long, attached to an aircraft surface in a grid pattern and imaged during flight. Their motion can be observed and recorded to locate air flow features such as boundary layer separation and reattachment. Tufting is, therefore, a technique for flow visualization." No reason it can't be applied to automotive development. 1
James2 Posted January 11 Posted January 11 Historically correct modeling is very rewarding, I did two of the Grand Sport Corvettes years ago. Your looks great, I like how you accomplished the tape, the foil work is well done and the scratch made taillights and fin are outstanding. In the last picture there is a comment at the lower left stating "the snow-tired car" I'd love to see that pic. Could you share the title of this book? 1
NOBLNG Posted January 11 Posted January 11 Great work on researching this one and it shows in the authentic look of the finished model.👍😎 1
Hi-Po Posted January 11 Author Posted January 11 3 hours ago, James2 said: Historically correct modeling is very rewarding, I did two of the Grand Sport Corvettes years ago. Your looks great, I like how you accomplished the tape, the foil work is well done and the scratch made taillights and fin are outstanding. In the last picture there is a comment at the lower left stating "the snow-tired car" I'd love to see that pic. Could you share the title of this book? Hi James2, The title of the book is Corvette America's Star-Spangled Sports Car the Complete History by Karl Ludvigsen. Published by Automobile Quarterly Publications. Hopefully, you can find a copy and thank you for your comments on the build. Terry
Hi-Po Posted January 11 Author Posted January 11 18 hours ago, karbuildr said: Outstanding build, very historical as mentioned by others. I always enjoy knowing more about historical Corvettes and development mules. The string you refer to may very well have something to do with Zora's interest in aerodynamics. I'm certainly no expert on the subject, however, I found this information: "In aeronautics, tufts are pieces of yarn or string, typically around 15 cm long, attached to an aircraft surface in a grid pattern and imaged during flight. Their motion can be observed and recorded to locate air flow features such as boundary layer separation and reattachment. Tufting is, therefore, a technique for flow visualization." No reason it can't be applied to automotive development. Hi karbuildr, In my research I did find mention that Zora had done some aeronautical testing using tufting but I was unable to find any photos showing it applied to the test mule. In fact, the three photos in the book were the only ones I could find of the car in that configuration. Thank you for your comments on the build. Terry
karbuildr Posted January 12 Posted January 12 7 hours ago, Hi-Po said: Hi karbuildr, In my research I did find mention that Zora had done some aeronautical testing using tufting but I was unable to find any photos showing it applied to the test mule. In fact, the three photos in the book were the only ones I could find of the car in that configuration. Thank you for your comments on the build. Terry Zora was a truly fascinating guy. I'd read some references over the years about this car, but your build and the book photos you posted are the first I've seen of it. Just goes to show the Corvette's history is very rich and I and new information comes to light regularly. 1
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