2019 Corvette Grand Sport

[ajm]

Onto the wheels -- shown is a pic of the 1:1 machined faced 'Cup' wheels --Plazmos has a great set of Cup wheels for the C6, which are the same as the wheels on the C7, rear are 20" and front are 19". I painted the wheels Modelmaster Polished Al, then AB'd the wheels with Mecha Gunmetal acrylic and wiped the Gunmetal from the spokes and rim to give the 'machined face' look. Speedway also made me some very small 'Corvette' decals --that I was trying to replicate the Corvette on the inside of wheel --opposite of the air valve stem -- pretty hard to see. Wheels were then Clear coated with Tamiya Clear acrylic. again, C7 wheel center cap decals from Speedway. rear tires are from Ukrainian scale Auto Production, nice 20" Michelin pilot Sports, fronts are Pegas tires from their IROC wheels.

[ajm]

Interior build -- The car has a two-tone LT2 interior, decals again from Speedway. Mecha 'Gray Z' for seat inserts, dash, door panels. Used Testors Flat Neutral gray enamel for the front carpet section. Photo reduced Corvette GS logo floor matts and a GS logo for the console cover.

[Joel_W]

The wheels just blew me away. Great job. And your interior really does look the part.

Joel

[ajm]

Joel -- Thx for the comments, they are much appreciated.
Onto to the chassis/ engine -- I added a throttle control cable from the engine beauty cover to the fire wall. On the top view you can also see the seat belt retainers that were added to the seats.

[ajm]





Bottom view of the detailed chassis and suspension/engine. I used small plastic 'spacers' on the rear and front disk brake assemblies to get the proper 'track width' of the wheels. This was donewitht he body attached, to get the correct centering of the wheels in the wheel wells. I set the car on the wheels and used 5 min epoxy to set the front and rear hubs in place.

[ajm]

Used a suggestion by Bob Downie, he wrote in a recent issue of SAE on using Automotive Touchup line of paints -- their web site and service is excellent, you can order by yr/make of vehicle. So I ordered Arctic White and they also had the Carbon Flash metallic black --the metal flake does not look out of scale. Mixed the paint with Mr. Color leveling thinner and AB the spoiler, rocker skirts, mirrors, front splitter and the also painted the center stripe on the car as well as the tail light surrounds and rear valance.

[ajm]

'Carbon Flash' badging decals were added, the body was clear coated with AT Clear(single stage) and then the front fender hash marks were AB with Mecha Gunmetal. The LED head lights were painted Tamiya 'Smoke' with silver details added. Also, added 2mm strip styrene to the front wheel well arches to simulate the 'stone guards'.

[ajm]

in the below you can see that I opened up the rear brake air inlet and also applied strip styrene for the trim around the inlet, which was painted black. you can also see the rear valence with the 'black' corvette lettering and exhaust tail pipes which were flared to look more  like the 1:1.

[Joel_W]

The level of detailing and details you've added is just beyond my scope of modeling. Even such small details as the seatbelt retainers, stone fender guards, and that carbon fiber touch of paint just make your build a joy to follow. I'm going to get some of the CF touch up paint as it's perfect in it's look, solved my continued failed attempts at using decals.

Looking forward to your next update. And please add your name to your avatar or your posts as I would like to direct my comments to you rather then using nothing at all.

joel

[ajm]

Joel - -Thx for the compliments -- a lot of trial and error, researching and reading many of the posts from many of you on this forum and trying new things to keep expanding your skills. I've seen some builds that I can only aspire to do. But do your best and most of all enjoy the hobby! 
Onto the build, speaking of some frustration, the 'kit' glass looked like it was going to pretty easy --but it turned out that with the side rear windows attached, it was almost impossible(for me anyway) to get them to seat properly and in the process i chipped some of the paint and clearcoat -- the fix(which btw, I found in an issue of SAE) was to cutout the side glass and glue in separately. I also used the inside rear view mirror from the 1/24 Maisto, added some visor decals and also a decal on the mirror itself, but it can't be seen! A couple of views of the body mated to the chassis --thx Al

 

[Joel_W]

Al,
She's looking as Tony the Tiger would say: GREAT !!!!!!!!!!!!

I've also had those pesky glass fit issues with the infamous 1 pc cover all the glass for the interior that the American kit makers were/are famous for. Just never even thought about cutting them apart, but in my much younger days, I just lived with it. What really gets to me is when one of today's major kit manufactures has single pc glass that just doesn't fit no matter you do. Usually some sanding solves those problems, but rarely I do get a front or rear glass that just won't fit no matter what I do.

Looking forward to your next and most likely last up.

Joel

[ajm]

Joel --thx again  for the comments. Well, after almost a year on the bench, '19 Corvette C7 Grand Sport is completed!! Some pictures below of different views of the Vette. 
Well now onto the next project -- 2013 60th Anniversary 427 Corvette C6 convertible --stay tuned! Thx for watching, Al

[afx]

Impressive work Al.

[tatocorvette]

Hi Al! What a beautiful job!

[Joel_W]

Al,
Just an overall fantastic build. Paint and finish is definitely top shelf.

Joel