Dennis Lacy

Thanks! If you search my posts there should be a thread detailing the entire project and that will lay out how everything was back-dated. Last year I added a stylized top which is a resin duplicate of a top that I mastered. Makes the car look tough and sneaky! They are available through Drag City Casting.

UPDATE! I thought I was done with fabrication type work but after really looking at the interior tub while trying to plan my paint detailing scheme I realized that the (lack of) detail really leaves a lot to be desired with the barely there engraved handles, cranks, arm rests and trim lines. To remedy all of this I ran new trim made from .040” half-round right on top of the faint lines from AMT, installed door handles and window cranks pirated from Revell’s 1937 Ford Pickup and Panel Delivery and finished up with some hand shaped armrests made from some pieces of Evergreen rectangle rod. Normally on the hot rods I usually build a lot of the interiors are hard to view through the little windows so I often don’t sweat this kind of stuff but on this car with the wide open hardtop side windows I feel like this will be time well spent. I did decide to forgo the little knobs for the vent windows so as not to rob another kit.

Thanks, Phil! I have the hot rods pretty well figured out I think so I felt like it was time to try something out of my comfort zone. I’m actually having a good time so I’ll have to do more of these “late models” once in a while. ?

Thanks! It definitely doesn’t always feel as easy as it looks. ?

UPDATE! Got back to the workbench today and focused on setting up the final details, most of which are under the hood. I started by filling that giant hole in the middle of the firewall AMT leaves you with and in doing that I eliminated the center “hump” to gain a little more distributor clearance for the big “409”. I then pinned the kits heater blower motor housing and battery, pinned an outsourced master cylinder and made a simple ignition coil and pinned it as well. Out back I trimmed away some of the molded in tailpipes and fit some separate chrome tips from Revell’s 1940 Ford street rods. At this point I think everything is accounted for so it’s time to get primer on the body to see where I’m at.

Thanks a bunch, Dan! If I were ever to build a custom out of a 50’s car full scale I could never have a slow, stock motored cruiser like so many of them were. Mine would have to have some balls! ?

Thanks, Mike! I’m generally not into 50’s cars whether they are stock, custom or anywhere between so I’m totally winging it here. That said it’s nice to hear some positive feedback from someone who is a ‘57 Chevy fan with strong feelings against messing with the original design.

Thanks, Mark! This is my first rodeo and had no idea how things would go. Just had to jump in and give it a try!

Thanks! I’m gonna do Champagne Gold on the body but am considering a red metal flake on the roof like Tamiya’s Mica Red which I think would look awesome over the base color. We’ll see...

While it may not be an exact replica the McGee roadster inspiration is immediately identifiable. Great stance, proportions and clean red paint job! It also makes me smile every time I see one of the parts I mastered (top) for Drag City Casting get used! ?

It was an alligator and if you look at my last pics again you will see it perched on the rear seat package shelf where he will be when the model is finished.

Thanks again for all your interests and comments on this project! UPDATE! Had another good day at the workbench with this one. Just moments after sitting down I was handling the body and one of the chrome grill bullets fell to the garage floor and went who knows where (and is still MIA!) This is my only AMT '57 kit so I don't have anymore to replace it. After some frustration and thought I got the idea to glue some material to the ends of the bar to lengthen it. I'm so glad now that I lost the bullet because I like this SO MUCH BETTER! To be honest I wasn't in love with the bullets. They seemed a little cheap and gimmicky, like something out of an old JC Whitney catalog. I think the full width bar looks much more refined and "finished". Out back I did some final refinements to the taillight areas by filling in the little areas between the half round beads just above the lenses. I also wrapped a piece of 400 grit paper around my knife handle and ever so slightly made an inside radius on the little tips. Lastly I recessed a license plate frame into the trunk lid. Underneath the "chassis" will be full "curbside" style. Out back I glued a length of 1/8" Evergreen tube across the frame rails and then glued .060" rod into the wheel backs which stub into the tube. I had to relieve the wheel wells a little and also the inside corners of the slicks to get them fully tucked up tight. Up front I filed out the area the kits metal axle normally passes through and glued in pieces of 1/8" tube and put stubs in the wheel backs just like the rear. Since there will be a detailed engine and the upper A-arms will show under the hood I tweaked them to fit over the tubes. I cleaned up the heavy mold seams on the sides of the kits optional bucket seats and also also added 3/16" to the legs of the kits optional roll bar to put the top of it at a proper height because as it came it was barely higher than the head rests. I also inserted alignment pins into the bottoms to give it a positive location and glue joint at final assembly. At this point there's not much left to do and one more day at the workbench should get the final details wrapped up. With that, here are the final mock ups and the actual stance of the car. For my first customized 50's car I'm very happy with where it's at. Let me know what you all think!

Thanks! I had a full set of those original issue custom parts at one time. I like the look of them but don't like that they stack onto body making it ridiculously LONG. Somewhere I saw where a builder had grafted them INTO the body rather than ONTO the ends so the body wasn't any longer than stock. It looked fantastic. But, yes, if you squint you can kind of see a hint of that custom rear clip. Probably because the lenses I used are the only thing left in the kit of those original parts. I've always like the kits supercharged "409" but it gets used a lot when people build these so I wanted my "409" setup to be different.

Looking really good! I love all the thoughtful chassis and engine painting. That brings all the details to life. Looks like this kit has a good realistic stance to it, not sitting too high as a lot of factory-stock models tend to.

Thanks so much, Steve! I’m really surprised by the overwhelmingly positive response to this project because I really don’t know these 50’s cars. And you might see me do a 60’s car one of these days... Paint is going to be Tamiya Champagne Gold.

I am going to use the kits optional bucket seats and roll bar with a few kit bashed items like steering wheel and, shifter, etc. Lots of detail painting.

You mean I converted you? LOL!

I took your advice and problem solved. I guess old habits are hard to break!

Screwed up, all better now!

That is the link that Fotki provides for forums. It's what I have put for years and years, literally thousands of pictures. When I try to remove the tags it still shows the text underlined and clickable just as you show above. No picture.

Place looks nicer! However, I just updated one of my WIP threads and inserted Fotki photo links as I've always done and once posted it shows the link text, not the pictures. The initial pictures from last weekend are linked exactly the same way and show up fine? Here's an example: [URL=https://public.fotki.com/deucepu/57-chevy-bel-air-st/1619410454759.html][IMG]https://images34.fotki.com/v1605/photos/7/2740157/16353125/1619410454759-vi.jpg[/IMG][/URL]

Thanks to everyone who has commented. These 50's cars are really not in my wheelhouse so I'm hoping I make it by faking it here. I'm really surprised how overwhelmingly positive the opinions have been on how I started modifying the rear end. I figured the kits front treatment would go over good but out back I was expecting quite the opposite. UPDATE! I don't have a lot of resources when it comes to customizing fodder for a 50's car and after completing the initial work last weekend I have been stumped all week on what to do for some kind of grill treatment. For the rolled pan the kit provides a very basic tooth grill and a couple of chrome bullets but the grill isn't very exciting IMO. Today I had an "Ah Ha!" moment. I ended up removing the bulky crest area from the original grill bar turning it into a smooth/peaked floating bar and then thinned down the bullets from behind which both decreased their diameter and made them shorter. I then made it so the bar and bullets pin to the roll pan which will make final assembly a breeze. I also knocked down the peaks on the headlight surrounds so they're a little more curved. Moving out back I made some refinements. I added some material to the tips of the fins to create an eyebrow that ties in with the eyebrows on the headlights. I then filled the little voids above the light lenses and then wrapped the light surrounds in .040" half round to give the blunt edges and finished look and also make the lenses recessed rather than flush. I also did some more work to further blend everything together with some green filler here and there. I did the basic set up to the Chevy 409 using the kit provided block/trans and then adding to it the heads, Offenhauser valve covers, dual 4bbl hi-rise intake, carbs, timing cover and belt drive from AMT's '62 Impala kit. The nice generator with tensioning arm is from a Revell small block Chevy and the little chrome air filers are from Revell's '70 Nova. I'll also be using the '62 Impala exhaust manifolds (forgot to tack them on for a pic!) And here's the latest mock up... So the extent of the customized front and rear ends are basically done and I'm very happy with the look. The only major body mod left is to recess a license plate frame into the trunk lid and add some exhaust tips with little scallops in the rolled pan for them.

Sorry Ed can't get to it quicker (I want one too!) but you've chopped enough 32's that you should whip through it in no time! That green sedan by Steadfast is so killer just like everything else they build. I've done some business with Henry, super cool dude!

It's a great color. I'm really glad I went with it! I'm also really happy with the way the wheels turned out, especially seeing them against the green body.

It was a fun journey watching Kit build the Saltster some years ago on the smaller niche forum Traditional Rod & Kustom In Scale. The project spanned a few years and it was a monumental occasion when he completed it. I’m also proud to call him my friend and he continues to teach and inspire me. Congrats, Brother!