D, the Corvette looks great - the combo of the colors and the foil - wow!! On the road to a great build!

Cheers
Nick

I am determined to get one more build across the line for 2019, and I'm thinking that it will be the '53 Corvette. There are only a couple of minor finishing touches to add and it's there.

Tonight I finished the BMF by doing the windscreen wipers and the seat back trims.


I also fitted the glass cover to the rear licence plate.


Overall I'm happy with the way this has come up so far, I just need to fix the windscreen and rear view mirror in place and then the wheels.



Cheers, D

D,
Now that's one impressive 1953 Vette for sure. Looking forward to you crossing the finish line before 2020

Joel

Looking good. Mine's still in the paint shop getting the old blue paint removed.

Well I managed to get the finishing touches on this one tonight! Red decals for the wheel trims, glued the wheels on, and the windscreen and rear view mirror.

I'm happy with how this came out considering how hard it fought me along the way.










It is on the display shelf now waiting for the '54 to come and sit beside it!

That makes 6 completed builds for 2019, my most productive year for a very long time. Many thanks for the support and advice along the way guys. Always much appreciated.

Cheers, D

D,
Wow !! 6 finished models in one year, now that's truly impressive.

As for the '53 Vette, she came out looking simply stunning. A build very well done my friend.

The only thing I would have done differently if I lived in Australia is try to find a Aussie License Plate

Joel

Wouldn't mind cruising up the PCH in that.

Oh wow!

She's absolutely beautiful Damian!

From a time when car designs were truly works of art.

Congratulations! That's 6 for 6 finishes!

Wow, that looks amazing D. One of the best(if not the best) car model you've build. Just love that color combo.

Thanks for the feedback folks, I'm glad you like how this one turned out. The photos hide a few issues that I would like to tidy up, like the windscreen frame sitting further back than I thought so some of the dashboard red is showing in front of it, and a couple of little chips in the paint from handling. Time to get the '54 back on the bench now!

Of course the next problem I have is that the '55 Corvette is the same body with a little 265 ci V8 dropped in. How can I possibly have the '53 and '54 side by side on the shelf and forget about the '55?

I know exactly where this is heading

Cheers, D

Cleaning up and sorting the parts for the '54 in preparation for primer. Some of these will get the grey, some the black, both Mr Surfacer 1500.




There is a gap of about 1mm between the dashboard and the instrument panel which I will need to fill out with some styrene strip, and I still need to trim and join the sway bar. Before and after shots to follow soon.

Cheers, D

D,
Looking forward to your '54 build. Outside of Nick, you've got some assembly line going.

Joel

I managed an hour or two on the '54 today. The front sway bar was too bent out of shape to simply trim and join, it just wanted to spring back out to a weird angle, so I cut a small piece of styrene tube to slide the two ends in to and cement in place.



Then it was Prime-Time!





The body work I did on the front and rear came out very well, not much work required. A few small ghost seams and a top coat of primer, then a god wet sand and ready for top coat.



Cheers, D

D,
Nice repair on the sway bar.

Both primer coats really look quite smooth. Looking forward to seeing some color on the shell

Joel

Fix Or Repair Daily you say. That's quite the patch.

Is that the MR Finish Surfacer on the body or the SMS stuff?

Hi D - that finished model looks great!

Cheers
Nick

Mark, it's Mr Finishing Surfacer 1500 Grey, thinned about 50% with MLT and sprayed at about 25psi through a 0.3mm needle. One light coat and two solid coats.




Thanks Nick, much appreciated.

Cheers, D

For those of you with a keen eye, you will notice that I have changed the title of the thread yet again! I have decided to complete the trio here by picking up a third kit, and I will source a small block V8 from one of my other kits to drop in it to represent the '55 model which had the same body and interior as the '53/54. There were only 700 '55 Corvettes built, most with the 265 ci V8 and a few with the 235 ci straight 6. A few of the late production V8s had a 3-speed manual option.

I will do some digging to find the colour options for the '55 (I believe that there were at least 5 body and four interior colours available), but I'm leaning towards red for this one.


Cheers, D

EDIT: CORVSPORT.COM - great reference website!

D,
Ok, I'll confess that I missed the thread name change.

Really looking forward to seeing this build taking shape.

Joel

yes, definitely red for '55

what an excellent website for reference... it looks like there were a few more than 700 '55s built though?

Of course the 'vette just keeps getting better and better looking IMHO...

Progress on the engine for the '54. A mixture of airbrush (the base blue) and hand brushing (the black details and the brass on the carbies). I still need to do some work with a Q-tip and mineral spirits to even out and tidy up the PLW, but it's coming together nicely so far.







I wasn't satisfied with the reworking of the body either side of the boot lid, so it has had a brushed-on dose of Mr Surfacer 500 in the trouble spots. It's curing for 24 hours then it will get a severe talking to, and some fine sanding.

Cheers, D

Howdy D,

The engine - wow! Looking good. The variation in colors on the carbs seems to make the whole thing really pop against the blue. I think your paintwork is really elevating the appearance of that engine.

Looking forward to seeing what you do to it next
Cheers

Nick

D,
The Big 6 really does look quite good.

Joel

looks good Damian. A little wash really makes a difference.

LOL that's the same Citadel paint I used for my Vette too.