Turning a blank Latemodel Stock Car into a Beautiful 2014 Corvette

Kinja'd!!! "Harris Lue" (luecreative)
10/17/2013 at 01:28 • Filed to: corvette, stingray, c7, c7 corvette, chevrolet, nascar, latemodel stock, stock car, whelen all-american, martinsville, martinsville speedway, Martinsville Virginia, Virginia, Graphic Design, Livery, Photoshop, shopped, illustrator, vinyl, decals, designs

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Since this will be my first post on Oppo, allow me to introduce myself! I am Harris Lue, 21 year old Graphic Design Student at East Carolina University with a huge passion for all things car, and I work for my best friend !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! ’ race team designing his cars and all promotional materials.

I was tasked last winter with developing a new design for !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! . We wanted to develop something different and more exciting than their 2011-2012 Red/White Impala Design.

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When I finally bellied up to the drawing board I was quickly inspired by the design of the, newly released, !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! . I immediately went to work finding the highest quality press photos to develop the headlights, grille, taillights, and rear facia. I then created a 2d template that developed into a full car illustration displaying the direction we wanted to go with the graphic placement.

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At the time it was a difficult task because no one had truly gotten their hands on the new Sting Ray and photography was scarce, but I found images that would work and got started on manipulating the dimensions to fit the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! latemodel stock Shell.

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Once It was all mocked up and printed we started wrapping the car using 3M vinyl and all of the individual pieces that were either printed or cut.

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Once “Sting” was on the wheels at Martinsville Speedway for the Virginia is for Racing Lovers 300 she was one amazing sight to behold!

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It definitely turned heads and was more than I could’ve ever imagined from my first full wrap. It was a great learning experience and one hell of a journey. I hope you guys enjoy it and please leave your questions and comments below!

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All Photographs were personally taken and edited by me: Harris Lue

LUE Creative 2013

luecreative.com


DISCUSSION (57)


Kinja'd!!! For Sweden > Harris Lue
10/17/2013 at 01:31

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This is good work, kid.

Don't get cocky.


Kinja'd!!! Milky > Harris Lue
10/17/2013 at 01:34

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The work looks quality enough, I just can't like the idea of wrapping a blob with corvette graphics. But thats not necessarily your fault, more like stock car/nascar's.


Kinja'd!!! pdthedeuce > Harris Lue
10/17/2013 at 01:34

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welcome .


Kinja'd!!! Harris Lue > For Sweden
10/17/2013 at 01:36

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Thank you man!

And I wont...

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Gotta stay on target!


Kinja'd!!! Tyler's SVT Focus Hates Him > Harris Lue
10/17/2013 at 01:38

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NEEDS MOAR VENTS. Seriously though, it looks really good man! Especially the front fascia, the lights are just the perfect distance apart. Keep up the awesome work!


Kinja'd!!! Harris Lue > Milky
10/17/2013 at 01:39

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Yeah, The "Blob" Impala body is really hard to work with, but after 4 years running the boring Impala graphics in a swarm of others with the same graphics It was a fresh take on something that had become so dull and dated!
But its mandated by the NASCAR rulebook and Vinyl is the only way to spice anything up visually so we picked the C7 and ran with it.


Kinja'd!!! Harris Lue > Tyler's SVT Focus Hates Him
10/17/2013 at 01:43

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Actually I have the renders of the side scoops that were supposed to round out the 2014 Stingray Graphics package, but thanks to NASCAR's required Contingency package there was no room on the side smh.

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It's rough because it was nixed after measurements, but you get the idea!

But thanks a lot man, stay tuned and I'm sure I will have more to show oppo here in the future.


Kinja'd!!! Bird > Harris Lue
10/17/2013 at 03:18

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Looks nice! I think the rear lights really work well.


Kinja'd!!! 123456 > Harris Lue
10/17/2013 at 07:48

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Did you have to get any licensing from Corvette to use the lights, branding etc.

Did you just take the highest quality images. Do some illustrator/photoshop work on the car and print it in 320ppi?


Kinja'd!!! Harris Lue > 123456
10/17/2013 at 07:53

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Since the decals were for personal use only and are not being resold licensing isn't really an issue. These are the only decals of their kind and yes I took High qualty press photos of the C7 and manipulated the proportions and dimensions to have the correct presence on the Latemodel Stock car body. They were then printed on a large scale Roland vinyl printer and laminated to preserve the ink.


Kinja'd!!! DaveStruve > Harris Lue
10/17/2013 at 08:02

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I dont believe this is really true. I believe thats more of an exception with regard to use for educational purposes. This becomes a copyright and trademark infringment issue, especially when you are using the car as a selling point for sponsorship.


Kinja'd!!! iamxpl > Harris Lue
10/17/2013 at 08:04

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i agree, the tail lights fit the bill well! good job sir.


Kinja'd!!! ED9man2 > Harris Lue
10/17/2013 at 08:14

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Why do they even bother trying to make these resemble production cars? It seems really stupid to me. It's obvious they are all the same and completely unrelated to production cars.


Kinja'd!!! Drakkon- Most Glorious and Upright Person of Genius > Harris Lue
10/17/2013 at 08:16

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So convinc... wait no.

Anyway. More fun is happening on the track than off.


Kinja'd!!! Kookanoodles > Harris Lue
10/17/2013 at 08:30

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First post on Oppo, first front page ? Well done.


Kinja'd!!! Eggshen2012 > Harris Lue
10/17/2013 at 08:32

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Looks great and looking great is half the battle!

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Kinja'd!!! GearHeadfromBrazil > Harris Lue
10/17/2013 at 08:36

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The only thing it tells me at the fron that this "is" a Corvette is the name on that bumper.

But the rear looks great. And I liked the fake exausts. Gives the car some personality. Good job.


Kinja'd!!! The-Ever-Socially-Apathetic TBAL > Harris Lue
10/17/2013 at 08:40

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Seems silly when the stock (I mean OEM Factory) car is likely faster in every way.


Kinja'd!!! Fred (FreddsterExprs) > Harris Lue
10/17/2013 at 08:41

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The front looks a bit odd, especially from the side, but that's because of the cars shape. The rear is spot on though, very well done.


Kinja'd!!! ryanturner103 > Harris Lue
10/17/2013 at 08:55

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Holy crap, that looks spot on.


Kinja'd!!! Turbineguy: Nom de Zoom > Harris Lue
10/17/2013 at 08:55

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Won't Wert be surprised when he cozies up to those quad-exhaust tips, only to find it's a decal...


Kinja'd!!! toyotasupraman > Harris Lue
10/17/2013 at 09:03

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Does it have to "look" like a production car? It does look nice, but...

If you could make any design for it (without having to put lights and grills and stuff) why not go for an alien HotWheels car? Or a jet fighter? Or an animal? Or paint an open wheeler, kinda like this:

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Kinja'd!!! mcseanerson > Harris Lue
10/17/2013 at 09:17

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I didn't know there was an East Carolina, thought they only went north and south. Good job on the stock car, would've loved to see it somewhere like summerville speedway if it still existed.


Kinja'd!!! ubertakter > Harris Lue
10/17/2013 at 09:23

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Looks better than I thought it would. I know it's not easy to get something that looks good on those cars.

Put out any designs for iRacing? I think there are a few people that make a little bit of money off that kind of stuff. Looks like their template and the one you posted are nearly identical.


Kinja'd!!! RazoE > Harris Lue
10/17/2013 at 09:30

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I prefer this.

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Kinja'd!!! ZR2TEN > Harris Lue
10/17/2013 at 09:38

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Did something happen to the car on Saturday? I don't remember seeing him in even the heat races on Sunday. Hope to see yall at Langley next year. I work for the Edwards brothers there.


Kinja'd!!! MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner > Harris Lue
10/17/2013 at 09:38

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Apparently you hit your first post out of the park. nice work, that's one of the most badass stock car designs ever, it actually transforms the look of the body into something more "sleek" even though it's the same shape.

Good work!


Kinja'd!!! meccapanzer > For Sweden
10/17/2013 at 09:41

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Kill'em all.

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Kinja'd!!! Harris Lue > ZR2TEN
10/17/2013 at 10:04

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Yeah man we were 10th fastest in practice and ended up qualifying 68th. They gave us a 299 compound tire, which if you guys ever got one this year you know what they can do to a car, and it ruined our efforts so we backed out to keep the brand new car in good shape for next year! We hope to see you guys up there next season. We love Langley!


Kinja'd!!! Harris Lue > RazoE
10/17/2013 at 10:07

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If only we could've modified the body we might have had something similar! That thing is awesome!


Kinja'd!!! Harris Lue > MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner
10/17/2013 at 10:16

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It seems like it man!! Hopefully I will keep the front page posts coming.
Thank you so much man even though I think you might be going a little far by calling it "one of the most badass ever" I've got a lot of room for improvement and cant wait to do even more in the future. The appreciation I'm getting from this one(My First Ever) is mindblowing and I cant thank you enough!


Kinja'd!!! Harris Lue > toyotasupraman
10/17/2013 at 10:20

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Ohh, there are tons of possibilities with a blank canvas such as a racing body! Keep in mind that this was my first wrap ever and it was geared towards the taste of the team and the Driver. I would love to to some wild stuff on the cars I hope to design in the future.


Kinja'd!!! Harris Lue > ubertakter
10/17/2013 at 10:22

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I've never done an iRacing design, but it's something that I would love to get into. It seems like It would be a great place to try my hand at many different body styles and help me get the hang of measurements for a various selection of racing series.

Do you happen to know where to find these templates?


Kinja'd!!! Harris Lue > mcseanerson
10/17/2013 at 10:24

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Haha its East Carolina University located in Greenville, NC! The racing team, however, is located in Bullock/Oxford, NC and we mostly race at South Boston and Langley Speedways in Virginia! We have raced in Myrtle Beach a time or two tho, so we've been down around your area a couple of times.


Kinja'd!!! Harris Lue > Eggshen2012
10/17/2013 at 10:30

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Thank you! Kenny put me in charge of making him look great while they worked on the speed. Here's the Suit/Helmet Design and the Autograph Cards!

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Kinja'd!!! Harris Lue > Fred (FreddsterExprs)
10/17/2013 at 10:38

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Yeah working with the big bubble front and having to deal with creating a center grille, from scratch, to fill the body lines really made the front deviate from the original. And thank you! Ended up having to move the Exhaust up into the place of the Plate Bracket and manipulating the height to fit on that rectangular rear bumper, but it ended up working out just fine.

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Kinja'd!!! MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner > Harris Lue
10/17/2013 at 11:00

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As for as bland stock cars go, it was really creative to go in the direction of making it a Corvette.

The obvious/easy route would be to turn it into the new Chevy SS...which has equally boring styling. That's why I called it so badass. I wish you could have slide the headlights out further, but I know the nascar "sticker/ads" have to go there, it's really the only thing I'd change.

Anyone that can make a blob stock car interesting and exciting again has done some damn good work.


Kinja'd!!! Harris Lue > MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner
10/17/2013 at 11:25

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Well, thank you man! It really means a lot. The SS was the route of many other teams with new cars and this one done for Lee Pulliam.

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I agree with the headlight placement, but those pesky Contingency stickers ruin everything! Including the side vent decals I had designed ( You know NASCAR and their money) Plus I believe that the Grille I had to design, to place in the dimple on the nose, changed the look of the front and broke up the Stingray look as well.

Thanks again! Exciting and fresh is what we were going for and it's good to hear someone appreciates it.


Kinja'd!!! onerunjunior > Harris Lue
10/17/2013 at 12:36

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It's not your fault, but that's a shitty rectangle with stickers on it that mimic Vette headlights. It's looks no different than every other shit circle track racer with a rectangular body. Good effort, but it's not possible to overcome the garbage racecar shape that NASCAR has.


Kinja'd!!! quattrofl > Harris Lue
10/17/2013 at 13:10

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This only made clear that parts of the new Corvette would look better elsewhere, on bigger cars :D


Kinja'd!!! ubertakter > Harris Lue
10/17/2013 at 13:20

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tradingpaints is the site that handles custom paint jobs and... yes, they have a list of car templates. Looks like they have the suit and helmet templates as well.

http://www.tradingpaints.com/page/Resources


Kinja'd!!! Harris Lue > ubertakter
10/17/2013 at 13:24

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Thanks a ton buddy!! If you're on iRacing and need a design or know someone that does, just let me know!

rlue50@gmail.com


Kinja'd!!! Argent > Harris Lue
10/17/2013 at 13:41

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Looks great! Way better than the loads of Impalas and SS'.

P.S.

Great to see another Greenvillian on Oppo!


Kinja'd!!! Fred (FreddsterExprs) > Harris Lue
10/17/2013 at 13:42

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Yeah I noticed the difference in height but I would argue that it looks better and more agressive now.


Kinja'd!!! BullManUGA > Harris Lue
10/17/2013 at 15:06

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There is no god.


Kinja'd!!! BullManUGA > Harris Lue
10/17/2013 at 15:12

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My other comment notwithstanding, it is a cool exercise and I think the paint scheme looks good.


Kinja'd!!! LXA_KA_1287 > Harris Lue
10/17/2013 at 15:15

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I love seeing Late Models with decal sets outside the normal Impala SS, so I appreciate you going with the Corvette!

Couple of the Late Models from around here (Northeast Ohio) have chosen to go with Cadillac decals and I love it because it's different.

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Have seen a lot of Camaro decals too though. Pretty slick.

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Another one I've seen and liked too was a Challenger grill on an Outlaw Super Late Model (Same as the Camaro above)

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Kinja'd!!! lucky's pepper > Harris Lue
10/17/2013 at 16:10

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A 21 y/o car nut and working for a race team, good for you. Nothing like a head start on your dreams. That body (nothing to do with your work) is one of the ugliest messes on a race track anywhere. Having said that I like what you did with it, especially the rear. I do question the front though, specifically the fake grill sticker where the crossed flags sit. The Corvette's grill is on the bottom of the front fascia where the racecars actual grill is, right? So what's with the grill sticker left over from the Impala? It destroys the Corvette illusion for me.


Kinja'd!!! Harris Lue > lucky's pepper
10/17/2013 at 16:34

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Yeah its pretty awesome getting some early hands on experience! But the body comes stamped with the Impala Grille dimple and without anything there it looked even weirder than after we placed in the Grille with the Crossed Flags. Trust me, If there had been any way to smooth the front out and nix the grille sticker we would've done it.


Kinja'd!!! lucky's pepper > Harris Lue
10/17/2013 at 16:44

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I see the indent in the panel, just seemed to me that if it was left body colored it would have nearly disappeared. But if you already tried it... And I didn't mean to sound like a Monday morning quarterback because it's still nice work and you're having way my fun at your job then I am at mine.


Kinja'd!!! Harris Lue > lucky's pepper
10/17/2013 at 16:59

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Ohh no! you're fine haha. I'm in art school so criticism is nothing new to me and I accept every bit of it!


Kinja'd!!! ZR2TEN > Harris Lue
10/17/2013 at 17:04

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Yeah that was probably a good decision. I don't think there was I clean car left after that race. I'm kind of glad neither of our cars went. The 34 Sears car that stays in our shop sometimes was there & got pretty torn up but I don't work on that lol


Kinja'd!!! lucky's pepper > RazoE
10/17/2013 at 17:05

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No criticism of the C7 because I love everything about that car. But does anyone but me wish someone at Chevy could figure out a way to make a street legal version of this car and come up with a business model where a small run makes sense? This is one of the best looking cars GM has ever designed!


Kinja'd!!! Harris Lue > ZR2TEN
10/17/2013 at 17:08

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Yeah we stayed and watched the race from the stands and after the first heat race we stood firmly by our decision to back out. It was quite the demolition derby and I might've been heartbroken had this car come home in pieces.


Kinja'd!!! XJguy > Harris Lue
10/18/2013 at 00:07

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Kinja'd!!! Harris Lue > Argent
11/03/2013 at 19:53

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Dude! Nice to meet you. Are you a member of Greenville C&C? I designed the logo and the flyers for it.


Kinja'd!!! Argent > Harris Lue
11/04/2013 at 12:53

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Unfortunately I've only attended it once. I always seem to be busy on Sundays.