'63 Riviera by Goldvarg

I know some people are still anxiously waiting for this model to reach them. Well, I got a call from Mike Coupe of Spa Croft Models (a regular contributor to the Forum) late yesterday afternoon, telling me that six months after he ordered his Rivieras they had finally arrived. Just when I was starting to worry if they would ever appear.

To make up for lost time, Royal Mail did an excellent job of delivering the package by 10.30 this morning.

It is every bit as nice as expected. Accurate, flawless paint and tidy detailing.

Side windows are open to give a view of the interior

And of course the wheels and trim are nicely done, as ever. Maybe a light black wash would improve the definition of the wheel trims even further?

Mine has a VERY early number

Must have been in the very first batch to go out the factory door and into a shipping container. Mind you, it took a while for it to get any further.

From the point of view of variety in my collection I may have made a mistake not ordering the Teal Blue version instead, because the red is virtually identical to the Franklin Mint. Obviously the Goldvarg wins out on delicacy of detail, but side by side on a shelf, at a reasonable viewing distance, the FM holds up pretty well.

I've just dismantled a spare FM with a view to re-spraying it Ivory White. An interesting exercise because, unusually for a diecast, the interior was assembled with a variety of small screws of different sizes. I may never get them back in the right place, so the result will be an accurate reflection of Detroit assembly standards of the time.