Original Kit:
Hot Wheels Corvette Z06 Coupe
Made By:
Revell (kit #85-1942)
Scale:
1/25
Other Comic Models

1950s Batmobile
1960s Batmobile
1970s Batmobile
1980s Batmobile
Ctrl-Alt-Del Zeke
Dilbert Carbicle
Judge Parker Corvette
Misfile XR4Ti
Misfile Acura RSX-S
Misfile Nissan 240SX
Misfile Jaguar XKR
Misfile XR4Ti Monster
PvP Dexter Jettster
PvP Mini Cooper
Other Corvette Models

‘64 GS
‘70 Comic Book Batmobile
‘72 Comic Book Batmobile
‘98 Corvette
‘05 Indy Pace Car (Review)
‘06 Indy Pace Car (Review)
‘06 Corvette 1 (Review)
‘06 Corvette 2 (Review)
Corvette Fighter Craft
The Dead Pool R/C Corvette
Judge Parker Corvette
Mako Shark Show Car
Revenge of the Fallen Sideswipe
Rush Hour Corvette
Stingray 1965 Corvette
Transformers G1 Tracks
Transformers Vector
Truth be told, the only time I read Judge Parker is when it appears on the pages of Josh Fruhlinger's The Comics Curmudgeon. But after having not visited his site for a while, my return visit happened to be the same day that included a splash panel featuring Parker's Z06. So while this model technically reflects a single comic strip, it was built more as an homage to the Curmudgeon's work.
It also provided me with a good excuse to build the current Corvette in one of my favorite colors, Atomic Orange. I never cared much for the classic Ontario Orange, but the updated color looks really cool. So after a trip to the hobby store to pick up a Snap-Tite Vette and a trip to the Chevrolet dealer for a can of touch-up paint, I was ready for a quick weekend project.
Alas, that was not to be the case. The model was progressing nicely right up to when I shot the color coat. Apparently my preparations were not sufficient, and the hot automotive paint wreaked havoc on the styrene body. So I was left with a finished interior, nearly complete chassis, and a cracked and wrinkled body. I wasn't sure if it could be saved or not, but I was willing to give it a try.
It needed several baths in stripper interspersed with periods of sanding, scraping, and washing. The damage also meant that it needed a few spots of body filler, but careful sanding was able to minimize this. In the end, it took over a year of soaking and elbow grease to get the Corvette body back to presentable condition. It seems like a lot of work for what was supposed to be a quick build of an obscure reference, but sometimes that's just how the hobby goes.
Once it was ready for round 2, I took a few extra precautions with the base coat and re-shot the color coat. It worked out much better this time. Once that was dry, I painted the rest of the body details, and shot it with several coats of Future to give it a nice shine.
Other than the supreme amount of effort needed to repair the body, the work done here was pretty straightforward. The only modifications I made were adding brake calipers, opening up the grille, and adding the vanity plate (the Curmudgeon's URL). Everything else was built straight from the box.