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AMT/Revell '55 Chevy Kitbash


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Been trying to work on an AMT '55 Chevy 2DS and the whole front end is just a mess. Have a couple whole evenings trying to fix it and I've got it looking better, but only about half as good as it should be, and I don't think I can do more. Thinking of buying a Revell '55 Chev hardtop or convertible kit and swapping on the front clip from that. It almost HAS to be more accurate. 

Anyone ever done this, or tried it, or thought about it? I don't have the Revell kit and have no interest in it except for this sheetmetal swap. Could someone who has both kits eyeball the bodies and see if it looks like it's do-able? For example, are they the same width? Do the hoods come anywhere near swapping? 

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^^^  That sounds like an intelligent approach. Getting a front clip from one manufacturer to fit a body from another manufacturer opens innumerable worm-filled cans, not the least of which is the seeming inability of kit-design teams to all come up with the same numbers when they measure something...even within the SAME manufacturer during the SAME time period.

Grafting a roof, however, eliminates many possible sources of throw-it-against-the-wall frustration...and the resulting seams should definitely be easier to fill / hide / disguise.

The key is careful advance measuring and evaluation of where to make the cuts...preferably where the factory dimensions are the closest to each other.

In general, the roof-swap idea, even from two different manufacturers, has worked very well for me on several projects.

DSCN8152.jpg

Image result for ace-garageguy 50 olds

Edited by Ace-Garageguy
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Well, I don't want to hack up a Revell '56 Del Ray body, as that kit's a little hard to find at the moment and who knows when/if it will be reissued again. So that's out. 

As far as grafting the AMT 2DS roof onto the Revell body, I'd have to go much farther down than the roof, as the hardtop/convertible doors and quarters are different from the 2DS. I'd have to go a third or halfway down onto the body, and then I might as well drop the cut line aft of the rear wheel openings and just take the whole lower quarters and trunk/rear panel too. Now I have to fight not only possible body width problems, but door length as well. (I'm removing the side trim, so at least I don't have THAT to worry about.) Not that it COULDN'T be done,  but I'd think it would be a lot easier to either swap the whole front clip, or just the front inch or so of the front end. Here too, I'm taking off the front fender trim so that's not a problem. 

1 hour ago, Ace-Garageguy said:

PS. Another easier way out of dealing with a misshapen front clip is to just make it into a gasser with a flip-up nose, representing a fiberglass race part that's not particularly accurate.  :D

Not an option for this particular build. Definitely a stock steel front end. 

Think I'll keep my eye open for a Revell '55 glue bomb at the next local toy show in a couple weeks.  Hmmmmmm....B)

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7 minutes ago, Snake45 said:

...I'd think it would be a lot easier to either swap the whole front clip, or just the front inch or so of the front end. Here too, I'm taking off the front fender trim so that's not a problem....

That seems like the best option then. Maybe only the first 1/2 inch, if you can get away with that. Definitely probably easier and less grief than trying to get an entire clip to fit at the door lines, and the hood line at the cowl.

If the widths are within a few millimeters of each other, it should fly quite nicely with very careful measuring and cutting. And most of your original hood would fit everywhere but the very front...easy enough to trim or shim as required.

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1 hour ago, Ace-Garageguy said:

And most of your original hood would fit everywhere but the very front...easy enough to trim or shim as required.

:lol::lol::lol:  The AMT '55 Chev 2DS hood doesn't fit NOW. It's way too narrow, and rattles around in the opening. I might end up being better off using the Revell hood outright, or perhaps a kitbash mashup with the AMT hood, with some widening on the sides. B)

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17 hours ago, Snake45 said:

Been trying to work on an AMT '55 Chevy 2DS and the whole front end is just a mess. Have a couple whole evenings trying to fix it and I've got it looking better, but only about half as good as it should be, and I don't think I can do more. Thinking of buying a Revell '55 Chev hardtop or convertible kit and swapping on the front clip from that. It almost HAS to be more accurate. 

Anyone ever done this, or tried it, or thought about it? I don't have the Revell kit and have no interest in it except for this sheetmetal swap. Could someone who has both kits eyeball the bodies and see if it looks like it's do-able? For example, are they the same width? Do the hoods come anywhere near swapping? 

I used the body from the AMT kit and the chassis from the Monogram convertible kit.

Picture009.jpg

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2 minutes ago, Mike999 said:

Here you go. I snapped these pix just now.  Excuse the quality but I was in a hurry.  (It's cold in the basement!)

That's the Revell '55 hood sitting on the AMT '55 2DS body.  As you can see, it's a very close fit.

 

55-1.jpg

55-2.jpg

Fabulous, that's exactly what I need to know! Looks like the contours are close enough to work with.  Thanks so much  for the pics--I owe you one sometime! B)

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