1958 to 60 Corvette Conversion

[The Nomad]

So for my very first work in progress post I’ve got Revell/Monograms “Pro-Modeller” 1958 Corvette. I picked this kit up this past April from a vendor at our local annual scale model show. It was sold as “started, as is” asking $10.00, I paid $8.00 for it.

 

The body had a so-so paint job in what I think was generic parts store White lacquer and the kit was missing the fuel injection unit and the trunk lid. Neither of these omissions were of concern as I plan on building it as a 2X4 car, and I have Norm Veber’s conversion set (which include corrected hood, trunk lid and interior) to convert it to a 1960 Vette,.

 

My initial thought was to do it in Ermine White with a Silver cove as a tribute my good friend Ron, who owned a 1960 Vette in those colours before he sadly passed away. However, rooting through my paint stash I found an unused 2 oz bottle of Tasco Turquoise lacquer from MCW. My references tell me that was the second rarest (after Cascade Green) colour for that year Corvette, so I think I’m going to go that route. I haven’t decided yet whether to do it solid Turquoise or to paint the cove White.

 

The body spent the past four days in the Purple pond and the White paint and underlying Primer came off fairly easily. Next steps will be to inventory the parts to make sure nothing else is missing, then I’ll scribe the door seams to deepen them before hitting the parts with Primer.

 

[Len Woodruff]

I was going to use the 59 Version since it already has the correct hood & deck lids. I do have the R&M seats.

[Speedpro]

Great choice of color. I used that on a build and I was really happy with it. I used gray primer under the paint and found it was perfect. And it was the enamel also. If you want to see what the color looks like, check out the cover of MCM #224. Nice start on your vette.

[Kenmojr]

Will look forward to this build...

[250 Testa Rossa]

I'm digging it already. MCW paint is the bomb!

[The Nomad]

I’m making steady progress on the Vette, even though recent bench time kept getting interrupted by various domestic chores. 

One thing that I found annoying with this kit is the fact that almost every major piece has a fine flash along its edges that needs to be removed. This surprised me as I believe this was the original issue of this kit so I can't imagine that the molds would be worn. The flash removal took a a fair bit of time to deal with, the frame alone took about 45 minutes to clean up. I then filled four depressions in the side of the frame rails with thick Black CA glue and sanded them smooth.

Assembled the basic engine and transmission next and that’s when the next issue made itself known. I bought the kit “used” and several pieces had already been removed from the trees. When i looked for the valve covers so I could strip the chrome from them I found that one had been snapped off the tree leaving a chunk of the mounting flange behind. After stripping the chrome I filed the broken edge straight, glued a small piece of .015 styrene to it and then once set carefully sanded it to shape.

Like many of us, I tend to have three or four projects in the works at once, so while I was painting the engine & trans for the Vette, I also did the small block for a Revell 64 Impala SS and the big block for an AMT 67 Impala SS, both of which are waiting in the wings. I’ll do the same when I paint the frame and suspension semi-gloss black, doing the corresponding pieces for those kits.

Body and interior pieces are primed and sanded; I’ve decided to paint the cove Ermine White to contrast the Tasco Turquoise exterior and have picked up a couple of Vallejo acrylics that I think will do a decent job for replicating the Turquoise interior.