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'55 Chevy Bel Air A/GS -Finished!-


W-409

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Well as I said on my '61 Impala thread I wanted to build a fast and simple & easy (?) build that I could relax with a little. The other projects I have going right now (Like the Don Nicholson Impala or Grumpy Jenkins' Nova) require a lot of modifying and scratchbuilding, which means they will take a lot of time and work to complete. The idea with this is to get it done pretty fast without huge modifications.

 

As I was choosing a subject for my Summer Project I came across the Monogram (Or nowadays Revell) '55 Chevrolet Bel Air StreetMachine kit that I got in a trade last year. It's a pretty simple kit with not too many parts, but still it's possible to turn out into a very nice model. My plan is to keep it pretty simple, but to do a couple of little modifications to make it a bit better. I'm going to build something that could Race nowadays in Nostalgia Events with Chevy Big Block and a Straight Axle. I will swap the kit's tires and maybe wheels too. I will use 9" Slicks on the rear and white walls in the front.

 

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When I opened the box I saw immediately that the kit will need some work, but not anything impossible. I've built one of these before and there are no big fit issues, only problems are with the mold lines and that kind of stuff. The body alone has pretty much mold lines and other stuff to clean up. That will be no problem, but as seen on the third picture, part of the door line is missing. That is a problem as I've never re-scribed them...What should I use and how should I do it to get it right?

 

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Sanding is required between the door handle and side trim, too...

 

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...Then there are regular mold lines to be cleaned.

 

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This is the basis of the engine. A Glue Bomb BBC from some Monogram kit. It had a single 4bbl carburetor with original steel intake manifold, so I decided to replace that with a Blower from another version of the same Monogram engine. Now the engine is in paint stripping,

 

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The chassis is nice otherwise, but it has molded in exhaust pipes. A Drag Car should not have them so I decided to get rid of them. First, I cut the mufflers away with a saw and then using knives and other tools which names I don't know in English, I removed the actual pipes. Here in the pictures I have rough sanded the areas with 400 grit sandpaper. I also filled other muffler hole with styrene, other one still to go. Then I can start the putty work...

 

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Comments and Ideas are welcomed!

 

Here We Go! B)

 

 

Edited by W-409
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Scribing the door line is fairly easy,There are more than 1 way but what i do is use a fine line masking tape(pin striping tape works to)and i carefully mask the shape i want.I layer or put more tape over the last layer until you have something to follow with your xacto blade.Use the back of the blade(not the sharp pointy side) and start slowly following your tape line.Go slowly letting the weight of the blade follow your tape line.repeat until you have the depth you want.I hope this helps you.

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Thanks Guys for the kind words!

Ray: Yep it's a little rough. One thing that surprised me when I opened the box was the body. I've built one of these before (Many years ago) and I don't remember there were any big mold lines or other things to clean up. But I believe it's fixable, it just takes a lot of work.

Stan: That really makes sense! I will have to try that, I hope it'll turn out good as I've never scribed whole new panel lines, I've only deepened the original ones.

Carl: Semi Gloss Black sounds really good. The one I built years ago was painted with flat black and I think it looks quite mean in that color. Same thing with semi gloss, too. This will be light blue and if I decide to go with two tone option, other color will be white. I hope the paint job will turn out okay.

Here's a little update: I filled the other hole on the chassis with styrene and then started the putty work. Those putties won't be too easy to sand smooth, but I think I can do it. I will do the sanding tomorrow if the putty is dry, because I want to get it on four wheels soon. I also primed the interior bucket and front seats. They will be painted also light blue and white as the body and those colors won't cover black plastic very well, so I thought it would be better to shoot some Primer on those parts. It's a very thin coat, but I guess that's all we need.

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I also removed the original "hood hinges" that were molded in. My hood will be a lift off model so I didn't really need those. They were easy to remove with a hobby knife.

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One of the problems with this kit is that the B-pillar is molded into the windows and the clear plastic is very thick. I cut the front and rear windshields off and used .010 clear plastic for the wing windows and left the rear side windows off of mine. I also filed the C-pillar down(between the side and rear windows)because it was way off the reference photos of the 1:1 car. Mine also had the missing door line that yours had so I scribed that in.

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Thanks Fellas, I appreciate the kind words!

Aaron: I think this kit is all in all worth buying and building, even if it has some problems. I'll try to do it a justice. ;)

Glenn: Thanks for the information. I will mock up those parts when I get the interior together to see if there is a problem and if I can fix it. Your Nomad looks good too!

Jason: The actual removing process is nothing compared to sanding... :lol: :lol:

Brad: Yep I noticed the B-pillar being molded to the windows. I was thinking about the same thing as you did that I would cut the side windows away and not to install them. That C-Pillar modification might be a good idea, too. I'll think about it.

Here's a little update. I sanded the putties on the chassis and I was surprised how smooth it was. However, a little amount of putty was still needed, but I'm probably going to sand it smooth today and see if I can already shoot some Primer on it. I also started painting the interior. First, I painted the floor flat black and then painted the seats and door panels with the first color, which is light blue from Revell. It's actually more blue in person, somehow it looks like turquoise in the pics.

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Thanks Guys! Yep, Danno you're right. :D Luckily the chassis is slowly getting there and maybe I can shoot some paint on it in a week or something. This kit definitely needs some updating, but I believe it's possible to turn out into a nice model with smaller modifications, too.

Here's a bit more. I sanded the chassis smooth and I thought it would be time for a coat of spray filler. There were many minor things that would have needed more putty, so now when I just sprayed on some spray filler, I got most of them covered. There still is sanding and minor putty work to do, but nothing too dramatic. I must do some interior work today, so another update might be coming later on, stay tuned.

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Thanks Russ! I appreciate it.

Here's a bit more. Not much or nothing special, but something done anyway. I painted the second interior color on the backseat and door panels. It is flat white from Revell and it didn't work out as good as I hoped. The brush marks are showing a bit too much and it needed two coats so there is a lot of paint now. And yep, next time I'll use masking tape. The interior will need some paint touch ups with black and blue before I can call it good. Then I can start putting BMF on door panels...

I also got the engine from paint stripping. Most of the paint is gone, but glue is still there. I guess I'll have to remove it myself then. Well, luckily it's not a big thing to do.

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Thanks Guys!

Carl: Mainly I'm using a two part putty that's also used on real car bodies. It's really good stuff and it don't shrink, but it's a bit hard to sand when you put it into tricky spots. So other putty I use is Squadron's White Putty (or Green Putty), because those are really easy to sand. But these two do shrink so when the surface needs a lot of putty or a thicker coat of it, I use the two part stuff. But on tricky places, like the chassis I like to use the one part putties too.

For example on this chassis first two coats of putty were done with the two part stuff. After those the surface was pretty smooth already and it needed only a little putty, so I used White Putty for the next coats.

My spray filler is from a local auto parts dealer. But I believe just about any spray filler will do, as this company can't be found in the USA I guess.

I hope this makes sense. :)

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Thanks Guys!

Carl: Mainly I'm using a two part putty that's also used on real car bodies. It's really good stuff and it don't shrink, but it's a bit hard to sand when you put it into tricky spots. So other putty I use is Squadron's White Putty (or Green Putty), because those are really easy to sand. But these two do shrink so when the surface needs a lot of putty or a thicker coat of it, I use the two part stuff. But on tricky places, like the chassis I like to use the one part putties too.

For example on this chassis first two coats of putty were done with the two part stuff. After those the surface was pretty smooth already and it needed only a little putty, so I used White Putty for the next coats.

My spray filler is from a local auto parts dealer. But I believe just about any spray filler will do, as this company can't be found in the USA I guess.

I hope this makes sense. :)

Thanks Niko, I have been using Squadron putty. I enjoy learning so I ask lots of questions...thanks again..

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Carl: I ask lots of questions, too. It's a great way to learn and we have lots of kind people here that will share their knownledge when asked. Good to hear I could help.

Glenn: Here you go :D .

Not a big update, but other things have taken some time from modeling. I'm hoping to do some more progress in the next couple of days, though. I did get the chassis sanded smooth after the spray filler. Then I put some more Squadron's White Putty on it and after that was smooth, I thought it's Primer time. Now when it's primed, it looks like I will shoot some flat black paint on it tomorrow.

Ready For Primer:

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Primed:

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