1978 Corvette.

[Rich Chernosky]

Another Corvette off the assembly line. This one is MPC's  offering of the 1978 Corvette. Color is a Pearlescent ink call Birdswing copper. I used Krylon latex clear over this and added a little red to it to deepen the color.  Don't know when this one was painted but it is at least 12yrs ago. This particular clear dries rock hard and build up to a fairly heavy coat. When cured (about a month and a half) it polishes out to a very high shine. the solvent of the water base clear doesn't eat into the finish and muddy the color up. I have used it a lot. Can't say much about the quality of this kit. Lots of cleanup and fitting.  In particular the engine mounts did not have a positive glue attachment and the body had to be pinned down in four places to get the stance right. Both involved some interesting engineering and a lot of curse words. Comments below the photos. 

Model on its wheels and it finally looked about right. Two of the pins to locate the body to the chassis are visible in the rocker panel just below the door seam. Interior and glass didn't fit so hot and required a lot of grinding , fitting and more swear words. Interior is a very very dark black green.

Rear end veiw and the camera really picked up on the color. When I bought the kit it was missing two of the red tail lights but the spares stash supplied some suitable replacements. It really pays to hoard parts.

Kit came with these two removable T-tops. Anyone who has ever owned a T-top car knows that they always leak but somehow nothing quite beats a nice warm summer nights drive down a winding back road with them out. I extensively re-worked the side pipes and sprayed them with AK chrome. Better than the stock option.  Gotta luv those Astro wheels. Among my favorites and only available on the Vettes....I think.

Engine was halfway decent and I opted for the tuned exhaust pipes. Getting it to stay in place....that's another story.  Thanks for looking and comments welcome.

[ford fan]

Pretty !

When I saw this new post, I expected to see the Monogram '78 Vette, I had completely forgotten this one.

Your build is right, all the problems that you met during assembly don't appear on the finished model.

Edited yesterday at 08:06 PM by ford fan

[stavanzer]

Fantastic Build.

I really Like the colour!

 

Good Show.

[Jim B]

Great looking Corvette. Well done. 

[espo]

Outstanding paint color and great smooth finish. Like the side exhaust. T-Tops, beyond the leaks the loss of structure rigidity the noises that they make can be unnerving. 

[Monty]

Love that color.  Personal opinion: Wish GM had offered that back then instead of a color that doesn't belong on any 'Vette - tan.

Curious about the year you say your car represents as the front and rear end "caps" are from the '80-'82s.  

1978, carried over virtually unchanged into 1979.

My '80.  This front & rear "cap" configuration was used through 1982.

Nice job on the glass.  The MPC's windshield is an extremely poor design and takes extra effort to be even remotely correct.  MPC also ignored the top of the dash, skipping the speaker grilles altogether.

The 1:1 t-tops are a great example of DEI engineering.  They leak like a sieve and I never found a good fix for the problem.  OTOH, like you, I liked the stock YJ8 aluminum wheels enough to keep them on for the 20 years I had the car.  99% sure you're correct that GM only put them on C3 Corvettes.

Thanks for telling us about the Birdswing Copper.  Hadn't  heard of it but always like exploring options.  

[STU111]

Sounds like the little vette put up a fight, but you certainly prevailed to produce a great looking build. 👍🏻

[beeRS]

Very nice indeed. Great paintwork. 

[PappyD340]

Looks great!

[70 Sting]

The paint and gloss are awesome - especially in the second photo.  I hate when kits make you fight to finish them well.  You won the battle..

[Rich Chernosky]

18 hours ago, ford fan said:

Pretty !

When I saw this new post, I expected to see the Monogram '78 Vette, I had completely forgotten this one.

Your build is right, all the problems that you met during assembly don't appear on the finished model.

I've done the Monogram version and it was a complete joy compared to this one.  Thanks for the compliment. 

 

18 hours ago, stavanzer said:

Fantastic Build.

I really Like the colour!

 

Good Show.

Over the years I have collected a lot of bottle paints. Its fun to play arouind with all of them and occasionally you come up with a winner. Glad you like it and thanks. 

 

18 hours ago, Jim B said:

Great looking Corvette. Well done. 

Thank you Jim

 

17 hours ago, espo said:

Outstanding paint color and great smooth finish. Like the side exhaust. T-Tops, beyond the leaks the loss of structure rigidity the noises that they make can be unnerving. 

Thanks David. I owned an MR2 with t-tops and took them out whenever I could. Even solved the leaking problem. 

 

11 hours ago, Monty said:

Love that color.  Personal opinion: Wish GM had offered that back then instead of a color that doesn't belong on any 'Vette - tan.

Curious about the year you say your car represents as the front and rear end "caps" are from the '80-'82s.  

1978, carried over virtually unchanged into 1979.

My '80.  This front & rear "cap" configuration was used through 1982.

Nice job on the glass.  The MPC's windshield is an extremely poor design and takes extra effort to be even remotely correct.  MPC also ignored the top of the dash, skipping the speaker grilles altogether.

The 1:1 t-tops are a great example of DEI engineering.  They leak like a sieve and I never found a good fix for the problem.  OTOH, like you, I liked the stock YJ8 aluminum wheels enough to keep them on for the 20 years I had the car.  99% sure you're correct that GM only put them on C3 Corvettes.

Thanks for telling us about the Birdswing Copper.  Hadn't  heard of it but always like exploring options.  

Monty..thanks for all the information and the photos.  About the year....the box art and instructions were printed in 1978 and based on that and all the photos I looked at , I came up with the year. It was a best guess thing. Admittedly I don't have your intimate knowledge of Vettes so I appredciate the info.  Your 80 Vette is simply gorgeous and it must have been a real heartbreak to finally part with it. Thanks again.  More Vettes to come BTW.

 

10 hours ago, STU111 said:

Sounds like the little vette put up a fight, but you certainly prevailed to produce a great looking build. 👍🏻

Thanks, its the ones you win that count. 

 

9 hours ago, beeRS said:

Very nice indeed. Great paintwork. 

Thanks Sonny

 

5 hours ago, PappyD340 said:

Looks great!

Thanks

 

3 hours ago, 70 Sting said:

The paint and gloss are awesome - especially in the second photo.  I hate when kits make you fight to finish them well.  You won the battle..

Thanks Harry.   I find it interesting that as I was fighting with this kit and getting more disgusted that when it was finally done ,it all came together and I was pleased with the result.  Some fights are worth the effort.

 

[ChrisR]

Very nice.