[Photo] '65 Corvette Stingray Roadster Final

As I let go of pieces in my collection, I make an effort to get one last set of photos of the best quality I can get at this time. This one found its new home to a Corvette fanatic who I think didn't really care too much for the mods I did because he's just that much of a Corvette nut!





As I sell more models, more photos will show up here.

[Customs] '66 Corvette Stingray Grand Sport

At last the '66 Stingray is in the collection. The gigantic 5SPs definitely
did not sit right after seeing a gorgeous Exoto 1/18 version:



Can I make a replica of it? It looks possible. The wheels are very close to
the RR10SP ("Halibrand"-style wheels), or even the J5 wheels in size 1.
Let's start from the beginning. This is what a pretty mainline with bad wheels look like:




So indeed I tried shaving down J5 wheels and fitting RR hub tires on it.
Needless to say I filing down the wheels still leave extremely messy edges.
I still am unable to fit them in the metal tubing like other hobbyist, and honestly
up to this point, it baffles me why I'm unable to produce the same results.

Unable to get a single wheel in the tube, I got creative by working with size-2
J5 wheels where the rim would be shaven down and I could create the impression of
thicker tires. That much worked out, but the results still were not satisfying.
So I scrounged through the bin of unopened donor cars and took wheels off a Racing
Champions Nascar. IT's got thick tires AND it has print on it. It meets 90% of my
needs and I can settle on that at this point in time.



It is strange how the body can have all the brand name tampos but not have any tail lights.
The Fast & Furious mainline had something, so why it's not on this is beyond me. The front lamps
were coloured in through standard means, but topped with the Tamiya "Smoke", which is a
translucent black, perfect for creating the illusion of depth needed for the lamps.



Steering wheel's a bit on the sloppy side, but a plain cylinder piece of plastic leaves
a lot to be inspired. The silver stretching to the back is a nice touch though it's probably
not a feature on the real thing. Lastly, I topped the bonnet vents with flat black to give it more presence.



It wasn't fun dealing with paint bleeding into the negative spaces, but the results
are good enough. These wheels came off a Racing Champions nascar, one of the hundreds
of cars sitting in a bin waiting for its wheels to be taken. It's times like these I
don't regret stocking up on random cars for their wheels, despite it being money poorly spent.





Much more toned down unlike the first! The premise was simple, and the amount of work required was minimal.




On the real car, the series of openings at the rear lacks tampos. Come on, Mattel.
You already filled in 4 of 11 circles, why not do 'em all!?



What a difference that made.



Touched up the vents as well. Skipped the interior work. Now the whole car looks like it needs more.



Wheels look proper. Now that I review these photos, I feel the metalflake paint actually
takes away the impact the wheels put on the body. Perhaps I should revisit this and go for more. We will see.

[Customs] Quick Work pt.10

The SR-2s sadly don't have meaningful collector value, but it's not a terrible casting either (minus the large rear wheels). A retailer buff it shall be.







Pulled the wheels off a Johnny Lighting Dodge Viper. These wheels are made for this Corvette.







PR5s weren't working out with a race car. Notice the silver and orange on the headlights? Yeaaah I'm happy how these turned out.







Saw the opportunity to use Matchbox lace wheels for once. Also started trying out cubes as props instead of auto shop tools. Makes an imaginary modern space that works better with a gloss floor than a garage would.






Didn't want to use WSPs again. See several S7s having the sporty 5-spoke wheels, I aimed for that here.














Had several options lined up. Went with this in the end. This was funnily enough my original idea.







It was between these or steelies.

[Customs] Quick Work pt.7

I had quite a tough time picking between two set of wheels, but ultimately settled for white-line tires.
Regardless, I will definitely do another one of these with the other set of wheels too eventually.

















The results are getting better. Creating a good mix between the polish and thinner is no longer
as difficult as it was with the Diablo. This new diorama has pre-made diorama props for once.
Normally, I'm against it, but I wanted to give it a try. Lighting still needs a lot of work though.
It's looking more and more artificial.












Being one who wanted to reduce his collection, I had scrapped the Firebird Formula off the list,
despite how some part of me could not let go of this one with such an appropriate set of tampos.
About a year later, I pull it back out and fit different wheels on it. Simple change, still pretty as ever.















Being unsatisfied with how the Wild Thing turned out with the anodized metallic paint,
I wanted to give it a second try while holding the hypothesis of why the supposed colour-tint
metallic finish didn't show up last time I used that paint. Rest assured, I guessed right.
The silicone film that the Blue Magic leaves behind was likely the cause. This time,
I had washed the car down with water after using the polish and rubbed it dry with a dish cloth.
That should've gotten rid of most of it as the paint doesn't seem to react well with it.
The results are much closer to the colour-tinted chrome I expected, though like most people with
bad lighting skills, I myself have to borrow the excuse that the car looks a lot better in person!