Revell 1953 Corvette

[Spiny]

Time to unveil my second car build since coming back to the hobby which was completed last August. It was actually the first car I bought, but the Mustang looked easier so I started with that one.

 

When you open up the box and look at the kit, you can see it's date-stamped 1982 and unfortunately it is showing it's age a bit. The first thing to jump out was that whereas the modern sprues tend to have some sort of struture to them, on this one the part numbers just jumped apparently at random between sprues (ok, I know that's still the case on some of the newer Revell kits, but not to this extent) and the runners often had a habit of just sort of petering out; at first I thought some of them had broken in two before realising this was just how it was meant to be. I also feel that the model is maybe a bit too wide for the length, but that is a lot less noticeable now it's built and it could just be my imagination.

 

So, starting at the beginning of the build, here's the engine bay. Not a great start to the build as the two halves of the engine block don't quite align properly - I did sand down and fill the underside which is visible, but probably not by enough. I chickened out of mixing the colour for the engine block, and instead used some Prussian Blue from a reconnaisance Spitfire covered in clearcoat. I like the finish (quite 50's mechanical there), but the colour isn't blue enough now I've looked into things deeper and it does bug me a little bit. Not nearly as much as the fact that I didn't put the Blue Flame decal in the right place - what was I thinking?! On this project, I also stripped chrome for the first time to allow better painting of the carbs and float chambers.

 

IMG_6170 on Flickr

 

Moving inside, and this is the part of the build I'm most happy with and really pleased with how it turned out in here. The Molotow pen definitely earned it's stripes in here The photo doesn't really show it, but the matt and silk reds complement each other quite nicely.

 

IMG_6163 on Flickr

 

Onto the outside, coming up are the four quarter views.

 

IMG_6178  on Flickr

 

Both front angles show the issues with the windscreen, but the one below probably shows it best. It's the last piece you fit on the car, and a real sting in the tail. Just when you think you've wrestled the car into shape, you're presented with a clear piece of plastic with only a vague resemblance to the shape of the chromed plastic it's meant to sit in. Clearfix didn't hold it, but it did leave fingerprints on the screen. Fortunately, I managed to get them removed, but still had to fit the glass in the frame. Even superglue struggled to hold it in place, and in the end I superglued all the way around the frame, pushed in the screen and hoped it would stay. It did, and having messed up the chrome in the process I went over the whole lot with the magic chrome pen and covered up the glue where it showed. But the windscreen isn't as clear as it could be - good job it's a convertible!

 

IMG_6177  on Flickr

 

When I first opened the box, the back of the body had all sorts of sink marks that shouldn't have been there - it almost looked as though it had been rear-ended at some stage. So I got the putty out and got it something like the right shape. There were also quite a few mould lines on the body, but fortunately they were mostly in easy to remove places.

 

IMG_6175  on Flickr

 

Almost round it, and the problem with this corner is entirely my own doing in that I managed to snap the rear bumper, but fortunately it's pretty close to being back in the right place. None of the bumpers on this have any positive placement, but they do have a place where they feel right when you fit them. Just got to be very careful you don't get glue everywhere trying to find that place.

 

IMG_6173  on Flickr

 

The front view is just because I like the 'face' of the original Corvette. I did consider painting on the headlight wiring, but decided to go with the kit decals and they don't look too bad. Almost got them lined up properly too... Just a shame that the headlights don't sit as snugly into their holes as I would like.

 

IMG_6179  on Flickr

 

Home straight now, and here it is with the roof up, just sitting loose and not glued on. If it was to be glued on, it would sit slightly further back, but as it's loose I needed to use the windscreen frame to hold it up.

 

IMG_6181  on Flickr

 

And finally a gratuitous sunny pic

 

IMG_6365 on Flickr

 

Hope this isn't too long, apologies if it is. I'm definitely glad that I didn't so this kit first on returning as I did need to put into practice quite a few of the lessons I learned with the Mustang. The kit does show it's age, but it's not terrible (windscreen excepted) and does build up into a nice-looking model. I don't know if it's the white colour, or the chrome, or just the shape, but it alwasy catches my eye when I look at it. It might have been hard work at times, but it gives a sense of achievement when you finish it. Worth a build if you like this version of the Corvette, just needs a bit more work than the newer kits.

Edited March 24, 2018 by Spiny
Proof-reading

[JeroenS]

Well, Spiny, I'd be very happy with a "second build" like this. The combination of body colour and the red interior, with the matching wheels, looks great. Nice one!

 

Jeroen

[Spiny]

Thank you, but I can't claim any credit for the colour scheme. All dues on that score below to Chevrolet as all the Corvettes made in 1953 were white with a red interior (as far as I'm aware anyway). The kit does also include decals and parts for a '54, which would widen the colour scheme to white or blue, but I wanted to go with the original.

[Thud4444]

Wow man she's a looker alright. As far as I know your correct about the colors. I did see a black 53 once that the owner claimed was orginal. My brother tried to prove him wrong by taking the paint back to  fiberglass and all the colors were indeed black.  But that could have been faked with a replacement  body. 

 

 

[Spiny]

Thanks, glad you like it.

 

Just wondering whether that black one was actually a '54, maybe one registered in 1953 as I know there is a tendency in North America for the next model year to appear around September. Or is that a more recent phenomenon?

[Plastheniker]

Always nice to see one of those classic kits!

[TonyW]

Very nice indeed. Not an easy kit to get right, especially, as you say, the windscreen.

I believe it to be of Monogram origins, I had a Monogram plastic kit in the seventies and a metal bodied one a bit later. Quite why Monogram thought a fiberglass car model should be cast in metal is beyond me!

[Spiny]

Thank you for the kind comments, as you say not an easy kit and of the ones I've done so far I would say this is probably the one which comes closest to the description of "fits where it touches".

 

Like you, I'm under the impression that this is an old Monogram kit - the date stamp inside the body said 1982 so it is an old kit, and the fact that the scale is shown as 1:24 rather than 1:25 does also imply it was originally Monogram rather than Revell. As for why your later kit was metal, I presume that was late '70s to early '80s? From what I can gather, Revell did some metal kits then due to the rampant oil price making the plastic raw material quite expensive.

[TonyW]

Monogram did three metal kits. The Corvette, MG Roadster and I think a '56 or '57 Thunderbird. I hadn't made the link with oil prices at the time, but that makes sense. Up to that point the box cost more than the kit in many cases!

 

Tony.