'65 Chevelle A/FX

[papajohn97]

I used the Revell 1/25 '65 Chevelle Z16 396 SS stock kit and the excellent Slixx decals to build Kelly Chadwick's original (non-AWB) A/FX super stocker.  I made the following mods/ additions:

- I sawed out the molded-in battery at the front end of the engine bay and cut and bonded sheet styrene to cover over the holes. Battery would have been in the trunk  on an A/FX in ‘65.

- Lifted the front and rear suspension using Evergreen styrene tubes to approximate the stance from a few photos I found online. I know, it's a hokey way to go, the actual car likely replaced the stock A arms and coil springs in front with a straight axle and leaf springs in both front and rear, but it was a lot quicker and less hassle than fabricating complete new front and rear assemblies from scratch/ donor parts.

- Headers were scratch built using 2 mm solder and styrene sheet and tubing. They ended up looking a little oversized so I may look for some slightly smaller diameter solder next time I do this in 1/25

- I used a cross flow dual carb manifold from the AMT 62 Bel Air kit and tried to increase the height slightly using sheet styrene.  Fireball resin Holley carbs were bonded to the manifold and throttle linkage fashioned from photo etch parts and wire along with 0.5 mm solder for the fuel lines.

- I used a Detail Master distributor and plug wire set.  I had to fake installing each plug wire to the block after assembling the engine + headers into the chassis (reference photos show the plug wires going between and under the exhaust header pipes on these BBC's).  I also need to start directing these plug wires in proper firing order on future builds.

- The front steelies were taken from the '62 Bel Air kit and the rears were some Fireball resin parts I ordered for this build, both airbrushed using Alclad Chrome over gloss black enamel.  Front and rear tires are from the same AMT Bel Air kit. 

- I scratch built the roll bar, added an angled back seat cover panel and a large aluminum tach.  I added a five-point seat harness on the driver's seat and a standard belt on the passenger side, not sure about the NHRA seat belt rules for this period but I'd sure want a five pointer if I had to pilot this machine down a 1/4 mile.

I airbrushed Scalefinishes "Regal Red" chevy factory color on both the body and interior with TS-13 clear coat finish.  The Slixx decals are excellent but will still ghost over dark colors so I used a 1:2 mix of white glue and Micro-Set beneath each decal to avoid ghosting.

This Revell kit assembles pretty easily except for the front and rear splash guards above each bumper as well as the bumpers themselves, all very easy to misalign.  Also be careful bonding the chrome trim piece to the front of the hood - I didn't bond it forward enough so the hood fit could be better. The Revell '64 GTO 1/24 kit assembled much easier IMO. I do like these early '60's super stocks when they still somewhat resembled street cars.

Sorry for this long winded post. I welcome any/ all constructive criticism and suggestions. Thanks for reading & looking. John

The photo above is of the AWB version but was used for an approx. ref.

Edited April 22, 2021 by papajohn97
Added content, corrected spelling and grammar

[cobraman]

Looks good, well done.

[Scott8950]

Very nice

[TransAmMike]

Looks great John. Looking at the first pics I was gonna ask about the high stance but now seeing the actual AWB car not an issue.  I do wonder why the real car sat so high tho.

[larman]

Love this! The stance is perfect, great details, those headers are really cool!  

[Reegs]

Great work. I'm sure that Chadwick jacked up the stock suspension. Tube axles wouldn't have been legal in A/FX.

[afx]

Very nice.

[mustang1989]

And that's how it's done right there folks! OMG I don't think there's anything that I don't like about this build. I mean....it's all there. Great paint, fantastic detailing and just an all around good lookin' build. Way to go John.

Edited April 23, 2021 by mustang1989

[ChrisR]

Looks great!

[PappyD340]

Very nice, excellent detail!

[ksnow]

Awesome car! The interior and engine detailing are very, very nice.

Those are some massive tires for that car, lotta lift to get clearance for those tires.

[papajohn97]

Thanks guys for the atta boy’s. You are correct Reggs, A/FX required suspensions with stock or manufacturer’s aftermarket mods so my A/FX window decal is almost accurate for my hokey suspension mods on this build (I used the stock parts!). I suspect a lot of pics of Kelly’s jacked-up (and AWB) Chevelle images I’ve found on the web may be when he ran the car as an unclassified match racer or some other class (A/XS?). For others asking why SS cars were so jacked-up during this period, I believe it was all about shifting weight distribution towards the rear tires.

I love this period of drag racing not just because of my own childhood nostalgia but also because the technology/ art was advancing so quickly with noticeable changes being made on a monthly and even weekly basis between ‘64 -‘66. Dyno Don shifting wheel base and taking a hacksaw to the fenders of his ‘65 Comet a few hours before qualifying....cool days! 

[bogger44]

Oh man is that ever nice!  Awesome work from top to bottom.  I've been tempted to drag mine out of the pile lately but just don't get any building-style vibes for it, but seeing yours now gives me some ideas.  Maybe something along the lines of a street freak...  Thanks for sharing this and creating some inspiration in me. ?

[Deuces ll]

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[TarheelRick]

You have presented a model of my all-time favorite car - the '65 Chevelle SS; doesn't matter the livery or build style.  Now back to your build, it is a masterful piece of work.  Very nice attention to detail and an overall clean build.  I also grew up in those days and fondly remember the onslaught of changes in "street" appearing drag cars.  Love this build.

[slusher]

Looks great!

[echo]

Looks great, nice detailing all over the car. The Fireball carbs add so much realism to an engine.  Liked it a lot.

[bisc63]

Very nice build, it really does capture the spirit of the time, and looks totally believable to me! You have a clean building style, and this thing looks ready-for-race-day real. Well done.

[Altered Ego]

Wow, very good job.  I may have to copy this one for my collection.

[Mike F.]

Wow! Nice work. Best dashboard I've seen.

[Tortuga Kustomz]

super work man, love how this project turns out, i like the seatbelt hardware that you use on it

[Zippi]

Really nice looking.  Great job.  Love the engine detail.

[MADmodelDOCTOR]

Look's good! Nice job. Great job on the suspension fake! 

[Bills72sj]

Yes! What everyone above said.

[Gizzy]

Excellent build.I have one of these I've been working on for 2 yrs.This may get me motivated to finish mine.