1970 Corvette

[70 Sting]

Good Evening,

I've been wanting to build a kit to match this '70 Vette... it didn't turn out perfect, however I'm generally happy with the final result. The body is Donnybrook green with a light saddle interior. The car has an automatic transmission powered by a 350 with 300 hp and 3.08 rear end (a cruiser). The paint dramatically changes appearance from full sun to shade.

 

The build:

To match the green I mixed TS-43 Racing Green, TS-16 Yellow, TS-29 Semi Gloss Black and X-31 Titanium Gold (Yeah, I know... acrylic mixed with lacquer. Don't know what I was thinking.) The interior is a custom mix of colours I blended months ago - I don't recall the formula. The carpet is Ranger marigold embossing powder. The gauges are from BestModelCarParts on eBay. Used some photo etch parts from Model Car Garage.

 

What I learned:

1.  Second time building this AMT kit: the first one was loaded with flash and required trimming/sanding of nearly all parts; this one was much cleaner with the only issues being several sink holes on the body and a twisted interior tub.

2.  I filled in the hood 'vents' as the kit is an LT-1/ZR-1. Tamiya putty was a real pain this time as I continually got ghost seams after filling, sanding and priming.

3.  The parking brake is weirdly moulded into the console, I cut out the bottom section to make it look more realistic. The kit comes with a manual transmission so I converted it to automatic by making a new shifter and plate.

4.  Made my own antenna out of hobby wire - it's a little on the thick side but it was smallest size my hobby shop carried.

5.  First time using a little pin to hold the side mirror to the body - will definitely be doing this going forward!

6.  I opened up the front grills for a more realistic look.

7.  First time doing a little plumbing in the engine. Finicky work.

8.  Changed the shape of the washer fluid jug by adding putty.

9.  Sanded off the Firestone decals and replaced them with BF Goodrich decals from Fireball Modelworks.

10.  Printed my own license plates on gloss photo paper and coated them with Microscale Liquid Decal Film (for a little protection, I guess)

11.  Used black acrylic paint diluted 1:1 with water for panel liner.

 

If you've made it this far, here are the photos:

 

Plus a few outdoor shots:

 

Thanks for your time :^)

 

 

[happy grumpy]

Wow Harry, this one's a true eye candy. Great attention to details.

[larman]

Beautiful work! The interior detail is outstanding!

[AMT68]

That is an impeccable build right down to the carpets and engine bay. Great work on the paint finish. 

[charger74]

It looks great 

[kelson]

Great color and interior!Corvettes in the 70's had some really nice color choices.?

[Kah puts]

Super clean build. 

[Street Rod]

Outstanding Corvette! Great job on the paint and details!

[FLHCAHZ]

Great looking 'vette!

[cheyenne93]

Nice clean build, Love this body style vette. ???

[David G.]

Fabulous Work!

Clean, tight and pretty, it looks great from every angle. The interior is especially nice.

David G.

Edited September 21, 2022 by David G.
typo

[Peter Lombardo]

Very nice, well done.  It certainly was worth the extra effort you put into it, oh so clean and well presented.

[catpack68]

Nice work!?

[landman]

12 hours ago, happy grumpy said:

Wow Harry, this one's a true eye candy. Great attention to details.

I agree.

 

[Nosferatu]

Absolutely beautiful work! 

This is the best Corvette model I've ever seen! 

Dave

[ChrisR]

Looks great!!

[Dave Darby]

Looks great! Next time, instead of hobby wire, pay a visit to your local music store and ask them if they have any old used guitar strings. Tell them what you're doing with them and more likely than not they'll just give you some. They come in a variety of sizes, including thin enough to make a convincing scale antenna.  I'm using a couple sizes up from the smallest for these radiator braces.

[drodg]

Wow, We have in city where I live a green 70 or 71 Corvette that color.  The guy who owns it doesn't really keep it that pristine but it seems still in good shape.  It looks to be survivor.  Anyhow your build is fabulous.

[espo]

I agree with everyone else on how good the finishes look, and especially the interior detailing.    

[Roger U]

Great looking model. The exterior and the interior detailing are beautiful.

[mustang1989]

Man.....you just did such a beautiful job with this kit. I mean, you really nailed it. 

[spencer1984]

Looks great, especially nice touch with the grilles!

[TransAmMike]

Well Harry, you have done us C-3 fans proud. That is one great looking model, superb in every way?

[Jim B]

Great looking Corvette.  Very well done.

[70 Sting]

21 hours ago, happy grumpy said:

Wow Harry, this one's a true eye candy. Great attention to details.

Thanks Mario, means a lot coming from you. 

20 hours ago, larman said:

Beautiful work! The interior detail is outstanding!

Thanks Larry. I cut the tub doors off to better access the interior. Unfortunately most of the interior can't be seen once fully assembled.

20 hours ago, AMT68 said:

That is an impeccable build right down to the carpets and engine bay. Great work on the paint finish. 

Thanks Tom. I spent more time on this kit than my previous models.

20 hours ago, kelson said:

Great color and interior!Corvettes in the 70's had some really nice color choices.?

Thanks Curtis. Green, especially those close to British racing green were certainly popular back in the day.