My 1957 Corvette SCCA Racers!

[dreinecke]

I can't take credit for these projects - some of the amazing work done by Jim, Harry, Lee, and others really forced my hand to make a few of these myself.

I had 2 Ninco Corvettes - the Sebring and SR2 cars - both of which were nice, but contained so many errors, I decided that as a non-collector, I had ZERO problem butchering these for my needs.



I had a few criteria though: while the cars would be fantasy liveries and "period" correct, they had to use real colors available in 1957, they had to look like weekend warriors, and they had to be a joy to drive. I decided to make one look fairly stock and for one to look really race-prepped.

A quick order was put into my favorite folks at Slot Car Corner for some of their fantastic aluminum wheels, wheel inserts, Slot.it gears and axles, and I was ready.

I began by completely stripping both cars. Well, really just the red SR2. The white car could not be stripped with a sand blaster. I finally hit it with steel wool just to give primer something to bite into.

I wanted to fill the back bumper and license plate holes on the prepped version, open up holes for a roll bar on each, and I wanted to lose the interior covers and the rear fin on the SR2. I then filled the holes on the dash of each left over from the cover. Why? Well, to re-use the small "cockpit"-style windshields of course! I then cut holes for the glass to fit into:



Next came the paint - I wanted Onyx Black for the prepped car, and Arctic Blue with a silver cove and a red interior. Like I said - I wanted them fairly legit.

After laying the paint and waiting for it to dry, I turned to the chassis. Both got the complete SCC/Slot.it make over, weight, the motor was glued in, and the chassis was trimmed to enable float. The race-prepped one was trimmed further for some heavy body floating and has larger 15x8 wheels on the rear. Both run absolutely fantastic!



After decaling and clear-coating, I bent some brass rod for roll bars and put them back together. The result? I freaking LOVE these things!

So forgive me for spamming HRW with my work, but here goes!



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And finally, the entire grid of classics:



And yes, that Healey is next on the list!

[J Y D]

Both cars look great!
But I gotta tell ya ... the Black one is out of this world! ! !

Great Work ... J Y D

[HomeRacingWorld]

Good Mornin'!!!

Just incredible. I love the look of these, you really nailed it. The windscreens are just perfect as well as the overall finish.

Thank God these are not made in RTR form. They would never sell.

You just raised the bar sir...well done!!

[ListerStormGT]

Dave, WOW those came out great! I like both of them and they fit right in with the SCCA cars. That is a great looking field of cars you have. Can't wait to see what you do with the Healey!

[goosenapper]

As pretty as these cars are, what impresses me most is that they were assembled by a one-armed man!

[dreinecke]

Thanks for the kind words - I'm no HRWJim or ListerStorm, but it'll do. These were really fun to do and I am chuffed at how they turned out. I've got a few projects before the Healey, but I cannot wait to tackle that one!

The cars are two of the few that I actually cut and buffed the paint on before decals and clearing. The blue car doesn't really show that due to the metal flake, but the black one looks much better than it did after spraying.

Harry - I'm not sure what bar you are talking about - I visited one a few weeks ago... Thankfully no company will do RTR's of these...enough said ;)

Goose - I take exception to that remark! I am Mr. 1.5 arm to you, Sir! That comment almost made me spit my coffee out my nose. These were the "test" projects to see how the wing was doing and if I could actually do fine motor-skill work yet. With few exceptions -such as casting resin :) everything is getting better. I'm about 50% range of motion now.

Jeremy - these are coming with me if I get to visit you sometime!

I really have to credit HRWJim though...I think he's done 3-4 of these Corvettes and the ones he brought with him to HRW in June were the deal breaker for me. For a guy that claims his stuff isn't that great, he's a liar! His Corvettes were beautiful and ran fantastic!

[dreinecke]

Great...I'll keep on the inside lane AWAY from that car. Dude is a nerfing fool!

[Lou E]

Those are just gorgeous, very nice work. The black one will be the inspiration for a similar project that has sat for far too long.

[jmsh54]

Greetings, now those are great looking cars. You did good. Also nice to see your cars in the current issue , 66, of MRC. Regards, John

[waaytoomuchintothis]

Rats. More inspiration. Now I have a pile of Mustang projects, a pile of resin projects, and a pile of Vette projects. You even used one of my planned paint jobs so I have to think up a new one. Rats!

Oh yeah, and I really like them. You did great. Phooey.

[dreinecke]

John - glad you liked the article in MCR!

Rob - my job here is done! I am not responsible for any of your projects!

[HRWJim]

David these are nothing short of amazing. You knew I would love these cars. I always enjoy your attention to detail. I like the Allan Green decal, very cool and what did you use for the gas cap on the black one? Also I am interested in how you did the grill? Did you just cut out the center and put in a plastic insert or is it bare metal foil? I like the SCCA decal on the blue one and the windshield on both. They have inspired me to do at least a couple more. They are too much fun to build and run. Great stuff David. Jim

[dreinecke]

Jim - I don't know about amazing...luckily they are short of it.

I did know you'd like these, that's why I did them ;) I'm also very interested in your current collaborative effort with a certain gent in Florida at the moment...that is going to be stunning!

The gas cap was one I had floating in my parts box...I think it was an extra from a Revell/Mono Ferrari 275. I used the hole that was there from the fin on the SR2. The grille is the original with the center cut out. I didn't paint it, that's the original chrome. I used a Sharpie marker on the inside lip to hid the sanding removing the chrome. The decals are all just left-overs I keep from other projects. I figured simple was best with these after doing some research. The Alan Green decals were from a set of Cheetah decals from Matt (9CarFan) and I thought they just looked right on the race-prepped car.

The race prepped car was also lowered quite a bit. I ended up moving the wheels slightly inboard to get the body where I wanted it and I had to shave the bottom of the interior paper thin to do so.

[Fast Co.]

Two great looking cars Dave! Nice work!

[baford1]

Nice work on both of your Vettes turned out real good , the black one looks very sinister & they suit the rest of the cars in your sports car field nicely

Richard