1970 Superbird

Resin kit by Starter in 1/43rd scale.

Not a bad casting all things considered. After cleaning up the flash I started scribing in the panel lines.

I'm not sure why there was a panel line molded into the hood just ahead of the hood pins, but I filled it. (Still needs a little more attention.)

https://i.imgur.com/ec5BaU7.jpg

The wing uprights were warped, but some creative clamping and heat did a decent job of correcting that issue. I added steel pins for strength and drilled the fenders with oversized holes to limit the friction. I expect the wing to be very fragile.

https://i.imgur.com/k6iK65R.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/lZtCtnX.jpg

The raised edges at the base of the vinyl top on the B pillar were molded unevenly, and not prototypically. I replaced them with some 0.010 x 0.020 strips of styrene.
https://i.imgur.com/Kz0OCfh.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/bpfxjbF.jpg

The wheel centers are white metal that is chrome plated. I shot them with clear flat and then painted the centers of them metallic gray. The outers are plated brass and they shined up well after polishing.
https://i.imgur.com/GJVoAel.jpg

The rear wing is a thin strip of brass cemented to the resin fins. It is very delicate.
https://i.imgur.com/4AKxpUg.jpg

The kit provides decals for the Goodyear lettering, but they are the wrong size and style. I made new era-correct ones and added the Polyglas lettering too.
https://i.imgur.com/TyKcEoW.jpg

I drilled out the stub for the antenna and filled the hole for the passenger side mirror.
https://i.imgur.com/mY7itzR.jpg

I went with Tamiya Pure White even though the correct Alpine White color is not as clean. Sometimes smaller scales need a little boost in contrast.
https://i.imgur.com/IvDExzf.jpg

The seal on the nose is very prominent on these cars, and making it the only black panel line looked wrong. So I blacked out the hood, cowl, trunk and door lines too.
https://i.imgur.com/Oj8lci0.jpg

Then I went back and airbrushed white over all the panel lines except the nose seal to balance the contrast.
https://i.imgur.com/34FgTHo.jpg

I noticed the magenta color was not printed in the Road Runner bird decals so I printed a new set from the art I designed for the Revell/Monogram Superbird. I also made the other badging and used the same license plate.
https://i.imgur.com/XsqnZJh.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/u0rP6h0.jpg
The decals are on the body and the trim & details are painted. After they dry for a while I'll add the vinyl top texture and color. I'll apply the black panels on the nose after the top is done. I also removed the Pentastar from the driver's side.
https://i.imgur.com/Uzj53rg.jpg

Nothing too special about the interior. I added woodgrain to the console.
https://i.imgur.com/q13bsdR.jpg

Very clean work so far. I like painting over the panel lines to lower their contrast, but the trick of painting the edge of the roof at the chrome trim before doing the texture is very clever, and I'll have to remember that. Great work, as always.

I have been making my vinyl tops by spraying on the texture since the early 80's; even done some with tape. But this time I did it by freehand brushing with acrylic black paint. Very easy and no masking needed.
https://i.imgur.com/Y8htjHa.jpg

One of the first things I did when I started this kit was to deal with the windows. They were yellowed quite a bit, (like most of these kits are now). After I cut the individual windows out I put them in the sun for a couple weeks to try to get them a little clearer.
I planned to not use the door windows so I did not put them in the sun so I could compare later. The contrast between the yellow tone on them to the others that have been sun-bleached is quite noticeable.
https://i.imgur.com/ATMa8gq.jpg

I thought I'd use the kit decals for the black panels on the nose because they were printed in flat black. Unfortunately one of them broke into a few pieces when I went to apply them. So I had to make new ones.
https://i.imgur.com/8FtUFAl.jpg