1981 "Fast 111's" Corvette 1:32 Scale by MPC: WIP

[David G.]

Hello Everybody!

While waiting for weather, opportunity and willpower to meet so I can put another coat of paint on the Lamborghini Countache, I decided to occupy my time and satisfy my urge to build with this 1:32 scale Corvette. I received this built-up model along with more than a dozen others in a "Model Car Junkyard" that I bought off eBay back in 2010 when I reentered the hobby. This was back before those kit-breakers started opening the classic model kits and selling them one piece at a time. ?  It didn't come boxed, I lifted this photo from the internet.

 

As near as I can guess, going mostly by the color it's molded in and the brittleness of the plastic, this is an original 1969 release. Not that that really matters.

(edit) As it turns out, my original guess was incorrect. Prompted by observant comments from @cobraman and @peteski I did additional research and came up with some different results that are most likely correct. It seems that this is probably the MPC "Fast 111's Jet Vette" issued in 1981. 

 

My plan is to disassemble and refurbish it with new paint and maybe some added details. And give myself something to work on while I wait for paints and adhesives to cure on the Lamborghini Countache I'm also currently working on.

 

It's a very basic kit. Intended as more of a toy than an accurate scale model. That's not a bad thing but it does limit one's expectations of detail and accuracy. The challenge I face is not making it more than it is, but making it as much as it can be.

My plan is for this to be a quick build. More of a diversion than anything else.

 

As always, thanks for stopping by for a look and please feel free to express your opinions, thoughts and observations.

David G.

 

Edited March 8, 2023 by David G.
Corrected some information

[cobraman]

It looks like a 1980 or 81 body ?

[peteski]

Yeah, with that large rear window,  and urethane bumpers, it sure isn't a 1969 Vette.

Edited February 18, 2023 by peteski

[David G.]

11 hours ago, cobraman said:

It looks like a 1980 or 81 body ?

 

11 hours ago, peteski said:

Yeah, with that large rear window,  and urethane bumpers, it sure isn't a 1969 Vette.

Thank you Gentlemen, you are indeed correct. 

There were some things in my research and conclusion that just didn't add up, this clears it up quite nicely. I've edited my original post with correct information.

Thanks for helping to clear that up for me.

David G.

[Rob Hall]

‘Fast 111s’ were a line of 1/64th diecast by Kenner in the early 80s, their gimmick were unique license plates.  
 

 These 1/32nd snap kits were cross branded product with MPC.  Vaguely remember them.  Supposedly there were 4 in the series.  

[David G.]

22 hours ago, Rob Hall said:

‘Fast 111s’ were a line of 1/64th diecast by Kenner in the early 80s, their gimmick were unique license plates.  
 

 These 1/32nd snap kits were cross branded product with MPC.  Vaguely remember them.  Supposedly there were 4 in the series.  

Yes, that's just what I found Rob.

In addition to the Corvette "Jet Vette" there was a racing truck called "Evil Eye", a funny car called "Piston Pusher" and a sand rail called "Dirt Digger".

I'm always impressed by the knowledge base that's represented within this community!

Thanks,

David G.

[David G.]

Hello Everybody!

Work continues on the (now correctly identified) MPC 1:32 scale Corvette. 

The first step in the disassemble and refurbish process is of course, disassembly. It's a snap-kit so it came apart rather easily with only some minor damage. Nothing I can't fix.

 

In the tradition long established by generations of automotive modle kit assembly directions, we start with the engine. A simplified casting with a modest level of detail and some alignment issues.

 

Reshaping the misshapen oil pan with a CA and baking soda compound. More work is required but this is a good start.

 

A new coat of paint for the air cleaner assembly and ignition box.

 

As I said, this should be a quick build but that's all there is for this round.

As always, thanks for taking the time to look and please feel  free to comment.

David G.

[David G.]

Hello Everybody!

The past couple of weeks have been keeping me rather busy with household issues. At the end of January, our dishwasher sprang a leak and caused damage to the kitchen floor, the cabinets and the dining room carpet. Even having to deal with a couple of contractors and the insurance company, I've still managed to get some bench time in.

Actually, I think I needed it to help preserve my sanity.

So here's the update:

After several rounds of filling, filing and sanding, I have the lower end of the engine looking a bit more like it's supposed to look. It's now ready for paint and detail.

 

 

I wanted a dark base to add some richness to the color to the color I plan on using. So after washing and prepping the body, I sprayed it with some black Rustoleum sandable primer. This was the result. ? 

 

I'm not sure what caused the crazing so I'm blaming it on an interaction between the paint... the Rustoleum paint and the plastic. I've had trouble with Rustoleum in the past but I've also had it work well often enough that still I occasionally use it. And it still occasionally gives me problems.

I've also heard of builders sometimes having trouble with orange plastic. ?

Oh, well. In the tank it goes.

 

That's all for this round. As always, thanks for taking the time to look and please feel free to post your thoughts, opinions and comments.

Thanks,

David G.

[David G.]

Hello Everybody!

I've made more progress on the Corvette restoration.

Here we are fresh out of the SuperClean tank. Once it's all cleaned up and dried off, the spots where the paint attacked the plastic can easily be seen.

 

The mild abrasions come from the Barkeeper's Friend cleanser that I used to remove the paint and pigment that the stripping couldn't. The next step is to spray some primer and start sanding.

 

That's it for this update, I hope to have more to post soon.

As always, thanks for taking the time to look and please feel free to comment.

David G.

[David G.]

Hello Everybody!

I got a little more work done over the weekend.

There's not really much detail to paint on this engine but I picked out what I could and gave it a quick black-wash. I do want to hit it with some flat clear to mute the shine a little before final assembly.

 

I'm also pleased with the way the oil pan turned out.

 

 

As always, thanks for taking the time to look and please feel free to comment.

David G.

[FLHCAHZ]

Looking good!

[David G.]

19 hours ago, FLHCAHZ said:

Looking good!

Thank you Chaz!

David G.

[David G.]

Hello Everybody!

More progress on the Corvette.

Here it is with another coat of primer. Though it's not easily seen in these photos, there are still visible signs of crazing.

 

One more round of sanding should take care of the crazing problem. 

 

As always, thanks for looking and please feel free to comment.

David G.

[David G.]

Hello Everybody!

I've been making progress on the Corvette. I'm calling the engine (such as it is) done.

 

 

There aren't a lot of details to work with and I didn't really want to go through the time and effort to add any. Reconfiguring the mismatched seam on the oil pan was quite enough effort for this build, thank you.

So this is what I was able to get done with some detail painting and a quick blackwash.

 

The updates should be coming more quickly now as I make time to edit the photos.

As always, please like, comment and subscri...

Oops, sorry. Wrong platform!  

Thanks for taking the time to look and please feel free to comment.

David G.

[David G.]

Hello Everybody!

I have a little more progress to post on the Corvette, so... Here it is!

I masked the chassis and painted it with flat black and Duplicolor Medium Quasar Metallic. Which is the color I've chosen for the body. This blue was painted over gray primer but I'm going to do some spoon tests with both silver and black base colors before I shoot the body.

 

Here are the engine and chassis mated. Yeah, it's not much but progress is progress.

 

I'm glad I did the spoon test. The main color I'm using is DupliColor Medium Quasar Metallic and I wanted to try it over a couple of basecoats. The spoon on the left is the topcoat over Duplicolor Basic Gloss Silver. The center is the topcoat over Tamiya gray primer and the spoon on the right is sprayed over DupliColor Basic Gloss Black.

Though I like the richness of the blue over black, I feel that this combination is a little too dark for the size of this model. It's not bad over straight primer but the silver gives the blue just a bit more lift than the primer. Unfortunately, the extra pop doesn't show that well on camera.

 

As always, thanks for stopping by for a look and please feel free to comment.

David G.

[FLHCAHZ]

Looking great David!

[David G.]

22 hours ago, FLHCAHZ said:

Looking great David!

Thank you Chaz!

David G.

[David G.]

Hello Everybody!

It's not often that I have two builds going at the same time and am able to make progress on both of them, but here we go.

I'm not very happy with the way these turned out and will likely redo them But for now, Wheels!

 

Some modest dash detail. Which, given the steep angle of the dash and the confines of the interior, will never bee seen again.

 

Here is the painted and assembled interior. It's a very basic interior so I kept everything very basic using only detail painting. I tried some flocking and just couldn't get satisfactory results this time around so... paint.

 

That's all for this round. As always, thanks for taking the time to look and please feel free to comment.

David G.

[David G.]

Hello Everybody!

In the midst of life, the universe and everything, work continues to progresses on the 1:32 Corvette. And here's proof.

This is the primary color test. It's DupliColor Medium Quasar Metallic over their basic Gloss Silver. I think it's a good Corvette color.

 

As always, thanks for taking the time to look and please feel free to comment.

David G.

 

[cobraman]

I think the colors you picked look very good.

[TarheelRick]

Enjoying watching you resurrect this build.  I have a few 1/32 kits I need to work on: the original issue 63 Vette that is paint crazed and needs sanding, I believe I can salvage it; the Watson Indy Roadster, missing the exhaust and nerf bars, but then again there is Plastruct and Evergreen in all the correct sizes, so that should not be much of an endeavor.  Maybe if I were to get some of these out I would be more inclined to dig out my workbench and get my area back in working order.

[FLHCAHZ]

Colors look great!

[David G.]

18 hours ago, cobraman said:

I think the colors you picked look very good.

Thanks Ray, I appreciate that.

Ultimately, the whole car will be blue like the roof, the silver is just a basecoat. When I sprayed the silver, it revealed some flaws that I wanted to correct before going on. The roof was the only part that didn't require additional attention so I rewarded it with some blue paint.

17 hours ago, TarheelRick said:

Enjoying watching you resurrect this build.  I have a few 1/32 kits I need to work on: the original issue 63 Vette that is paint crazed and needs sanding, I believe I can salvage it; the Watson Indy Roadster, missing the exhaust and nerf bars, but then again there is Plastruct and Evergreen in all the correct sizes, so that should not be much of an endeavor.  Maybe if I were to get some of these out I would be more inclined to dig out my workbench and get my area back in working order.

Thank you Ricky, it seems like you have a lot of fun and interesting projects in mind.

7 minutes ago, FLHCAHZ said:

Colors look great!

Thanks Chaz, I'm hoping it will look even better when it's all in blue. But there's some bodywork between now and then.

 

Thanks again for taking the time to comment.

David G

[David G.]

Hello Everybody!

Here's the next update on the Corvette.

 

I got some body work done on that little sink mark.

 

 

Nice and smooth, we're ready for paint!

 

 

I found some bits in my model railroad box to use for covering up those ugly gaping center holes in the wheels.

 

Not fabulous, but much better than what I started out with.

 

As always, thanks for taking the time to look and please feel free to comment.

David G.

[KWT]

I don't know how I've missed this.. looking good!