55 Chevy Bel Air Hardtop: WIP (Photos Restored)

[mopar01lee]

Davin,

It's that you're awesome getting your daughters involved in the hobby. Especially the older one who wants to build!

Thanks for sharing the photos.

Regards,

David G.

man thanks an they came to me about buildin.......lol

the funnyest thing in the world is mt 18 month old son ..walks around my workbench goinn brooooom brooom broooom..an pointin at evey model he sees ...

it makes life so much fun....

later days bro

Davin

[David G.]

Just a quick update.

I've got the interior done for the most part.



I've decided to build this one as a care-worn daily driver that's driven by somebody who no longer cares that much about it. Not severely neglected, just a bit rough around the edges.



I still have to dirty up the dash and steering wheel.

As always, thanks for looking and feel free to offer up any comments, tips, etc.

David G.

Edited June 13, 2021 by David G.
Photos Restored

[Jim Gibbons]

I like the look, but you'll have to dirty the exterior a bit, too! You need some empty cigarette packs, food wrappers, and empties, too. (Well, it is 70's vintage!) What color did you use or mix for the dash? It looks somewhat close to the coral color Chevy used that year. I have a '55 convertible I want to do in coral and grey.

[David G.]

I like the look, but you'll have to dirty the exterior a bit, too! You need some empty cigarette packs, food wrappers, and empties, too. (Well, it is 70's vintage!) What color did you use or mix for the dash? It looks somewhat close to the coral color Chevy used that year. I have a '55 convertible I want to do in coral and grey.

I was going to dust up the outside with earthtone pastells. That's mostly what the interior's done with- that and a thin black wash. I'm working on the litter now, trying to get my printer to produce some 1/25 trash that looks decent. The dash & seat color is Model Master ROT RLM 23 enamel from a jar lightened with about 20% white. Chevy's 1955 Coral is just what I was trying for. I must've hit it pretty close!

Thanks,

David G.

[LAone]

it actually looks good in the pink/white combo. lady draggin on the strip, that's how my friend met his wife.

i like the rake and home made lift shackels. now some traction brackets to finish the rear off would be a nice touch.

[John Teresi]

David......look`s REALLY REALLY good.........fine job your doing bud.

[David G.]

it actually looks good in the pink/white combo. lady draggin on the strip, that's how my friend met his wife.

i like the rake and home made lift shackels. now some traction brackets to finish the rear off would be a nice touch.

Traction bars! I'm surprised I didn't think of that. I'll have to look around and see if I can find some.

Thanks.

[David G.]

David......look`s REALLY REALLY good.........fine job your doing bud.

Thanks John. I've seen some of the amazing models you've built, and I value your comments.

[Dave Ambrose]

I like the color. The two-tone paint job gives it that fifties feel.

[Jim0205]

Looks good and nice amount of weathering on the seats. I will be interested to see how the body finishes up.

[David G.]

Thanks guys, I hope to post some more pics later today.

[David G.]

Time for another brief update.

For a daily driver / beater, the interior was still too clean for my tastes...


...so I made some trash to trash it up with.




As always, please feel free to offer comments tips, etc.

Thanks for taking the time to look.

David G.

Edited June 13, 2021 by David G.
Photos Restored

[Jim Gibbons]

I love it...PBR empties, BK wrappers, Marlboros on the front seat...wow, talk about flashbacks, lol! To quote the movie "The Warriors," (and a good movie that your car might have just left the drive-in from,) "Caaaaan you dig it!"

[David G.]

I love it...PBR empties, BK wrappers, Marlboros on the front seat...wow, talk about flashbacks, lol! To quote the movie "The Warriors," (and a good movie that your car might have just left the drive-in from,) "Caaaaan you dig it!"

Thanks!

I can dig it! I was there too!

David G.

[David G.]

This one is beginning to grind me down. I wanted to use the tri-power 348 from Revell's 58 Impala in place of the 265 that came with the kit. After building the tri-power, I found that it was going to be too long and too tall to fit properly into the engine bay. OK, no biggie, I'll just build and install the kit motor. After spending two or three days building that one, I found had almost exactly the same fit issues!

Back to the tri-power, then. I spent more time than I wanted to modifying the body, frame and interior- all of which had been, for the most part, already painted and assembled! I had to move the fire wall in under the cowl just a bit. I removed the engine-mounted cooling fan so the engine could be moved foreward, then removed the stock radiator and replaced it with a parts box race type unit mounted in front of the core support. I also had to extend the transmission mounts to support the transmission.

After all that, I needed a couple of days away from it.

So what do I have to show for all this effort? Right now, not too much. Of course, after moving tha engine foreward and the rear axle down, I had to lenghten the drive shaft. While I was cutting tubes, I decided to whip up a couple of mid 70's style glass packs for the exhaust.

So, here are the lenghtened driveshaft and glass packs.




Thanks for taking the time to look.

Regards,

David G.

Edited June 13, 2021 by David G.
Photos Restored

[Railfreak78]

Looks fantastic so far my friend! Where did you get the small details like the beer cans and smokes? I like the Cherry Bombs too I need to try that some day.

[David G.]

Looks fantastic so far my friend! Where did you get the small details like the beer cans and smokes? I like the Cherry Bombs too I need to try that some day.

Thanks Brian, I'm glad you like it!

I made the beer and oil cans using Paintshop Pro and my color printer. After printing the can labels on paper, I cut them out, glued them into cylinder shaped tubes, then glued the tubes to aluminium foil to make the ends. The BK bag and cup I printed, cut, and glued into shape- just like their 1:1 counterparts. The cup lid is Scotch tape. I drew the Marlboro pack on a bit of styrene with Sharpies and stuck a bit of BMF to one end then clear coated it. After everything dried, I trimmed the bottom off to get the right size then touched it up. Easy Peasy!

David G.

[oldscool]

Wonderful work!

oldscool

[David G.]

Wonderful work!

oldscool

Thanks!

[David G.]

A bit of an update:

I've got the undercarriage mostly done, complete with glass packs and lengthened driveshaft installed. Obviously, I have yet to blacken the fender wells.

 

I've also got the gritty rusties about where I want them.


As always, thanks for taking the time to look, and feel offer tips, comments and/or critiques.

Thanks,

David G.

Edited June 13, 2021 by David G.
Photos Restored

[Jim Gibbons]

As we used to chant in Army basic training, "we like it, we love it, we want more of it!" Looking good!

[David G.]

I have a question about this kit. I know it's fairly common for model companies to reissue kits in configurations and make-ups, thus including parts that don't get used in all the versions. This kit has a few of those, most of which I recognize. There are, however, two parts that I don't recognize.

 

I know a bit about cars and hot rods, etc, but these have me stumped. My best guess is that they have something to do with the rear axle and/or suspension. I don't plan on using them, so this isn't a maker-breaker, I'm just curious.

Thanks,

David G.

Edited May 30, 2020 by David G.
Photo Update

[Jantrix]

Looks like an X brace for the chassis in two pieces. Notches for driveshaft and exhaust.

[Jim Gibbons]

As Rob said, it's the chassis X brace for the convertible version; here's the instruction page from Drastic Plastic's site:

http://public.fotki.com/drasticplasticsmcc/instruction_sheetsh/instruction_sheets/revellmonogram/55-chevy-indy-pace-/rev55chvpc01c.html#media

[David G.]

Ah, that makes more sense! I was trying to envision how they could be used to enhance traction or something like that!