Post by Dennis on Apr 19, 2021 0:35:09 GMT -5
Since returning to model car building in 2008 I have built nothing but late 20's and 30's Hot Rods with the exception of a "curbside" 1953 Ford Pickup Custom a couple of years back. I'm in the process of wrapping up a 1927 T Hot Rod currently but I'm stuck on that project until I paint and clear it in the coming week. With that I decided to start a new project this weekend and I also decided I would take a break from the early Ford's and try something out of my comfort zone, a '57 Chevy! I built the classic AMT kit as a teen in the 90's and was given another a couple of years ago from a friend. That first one is long gone so I thought it would be fun to revisit and it's a pretty simple kit so I won't bog myself down on going crazy with the details. In fact, I'm not even going to bother detailing the chassis. Instead I'll focus on the body and interior but it won't be a true curbside as it will have an engine as well. After brainstorming for several days I settled on a plan and with the weekend finally here it was time to get started...
The first step was to smooth out the body shell. This meant removing all of the side trim, hood and trunk emblems, the trim from the tops of the tail fins and the molded-in windshield wipers. I also scribed the door and trunk panel lines deeper as in some spots they were barely visible and overall probably would have ended up being very faint after body work, primer and paint.
Up front I am using the kit supplied custom headlight housings and front rolled pan/grill surround. Time was spent making sure these pieces dry fit nicely before permanently attaching making the blending easier and minimizing the need for any filler afterwards.
I also decided to fill the hood "gunsights" with pieces of the kits parts sprue and blend the filler pieces into the existing hood bumps.
The kit also provides a custom rear rolled pan and custom taillight housings but they end up extending the already LONG quarters so I didn't care to use them, not as-is at least. Instead I decided to make use of the existing cavities in the rear of the fins and blend the rolled pan in so that it didn't stick out. To start I cut off the back edge of the fins vertical...
I then cut the "pods" off the ends of the rolled pan pieces, trimmed them down and then attached them flush...
I then added some material to the ends of the rolled pan and permanently installed it between the two "pods" so that it blends into them. I added some partitions separating the taillight lenses into 4 pieces. That crescent shaped lenses come in the kit and are meant to go in the rolled pan. The triangle shaped lenses are also found in the kit and are remnants from some other custom body options from the original issue that are no longer in the kit. I sanded those red triangles slightly and fit them into the cavities in the ends of the fins. (I still need to fill the little voids above them.)
I selected the rolling stock. The shallow & deep chrome wheels are from The Modelhaus while the tires and slicks are AMT Parts Pack items.
And finally some crude mock up pics. This is the stance I'm going for. The kit gives you the option of slamming the front like this so I'll just have to lower the rear which is easy. The idea here is a customized '57 with a really healthy 409 (more on that kit-bashed engine next time!) that not only looks good rolling down the road but can also throw down with some whoop-ass when needed. So a cross between a custom and a street machine all in early 60's flavor.
That's all for now but plenty more to come. Let me know what you think. I know a lot of you '57 Chevy purists are gonna hate that I cut off the angled fins and that's fine! I like it so that's what matters, LOL!
The first step was to smooth out the body shell. This meant removing all of the side trim, hood and trunk emblems, the trim from the tops of the tail fins and the molded-in windshield wipers. I also scribed the door and trunk panel lines deeper as in some spots they were barely visible and overall probably would have ended up being very faint after body work, primer and paint.
Up front I am using the kit supplied custom headlight housings and front rolled pan/grill surround. Time was spent making sure these pieces dry fit nicely before permanently attaching making the blending easier and minimizing the need for any filler afterwards.
I also decided to fill the hood "gunsights" with pieces of the kits parts sprue and blend the filler pieces into the existing hood bumps.
The kit also provides a custom rear rolled pan and custom taillight housings but they end up extending the already LONG quarters so I didn't care to use them, not as-is at least. Instead I decided to make use of the existing cavities in the rear of the fins and blend the rolled pan in so that it didn't stick out. To start I cut off the back edge of the fins vertical...
I then cut the "pods" off the ends of the rolled pan pieces, trimmed them down and then attached them flush...
I then added some material to the ends of the rolled pan and permanently installed it between the two "pods" so that it blends into them. I added some partitions separating the taillight lenses into 4 pieces. That crescent shaped lenses come in the kit and are meant to go in the rolled pan. The triangle shaped lenses are also found in the kit and are remnants from some other custom body options from the original issue that are no longer in the kit. I sanded those red triangles slightly and fit them into the cavities in the ends of the fins. (I still need to fill the little voids above them.)
I selected the rolling stock. The shallow & deep chrome wheels are from The Modelhaus while the tires and slicks are AMT Parts Pack items.
And finally some crude mock up pics. This is the stance I'm going for. The kit gives you the option of slamming the front like this so I'll just have to lower the rear which is easy. The idea here is a customized '57 with a really healthy 409 (more on that kit-bashed engine next time!) that not only looks good rolling down the road but can also throw down with some whoop-ass when needed. So a cross between a custom and a street machine all in early 60's flavor.
That's all for now but plenty more to come. Let me know what you think. I know a lot of you '57 Chevy purists are gonna hate that I cut off the angled fins and that's fine! I like it so that's what matters, LOL!