W-409

Yep I know those cars are the same technology no matter what make the body is. The thing is, even that Toyota logo scares me away, I grew up on a family that always had "real" American Cars (here in Finland) and my all cars are Chevrolets as well. I could never imagine having a Japanese car myself. European or Japanese cars just don't do it for me... Sorry, but even if it was built in the States, the Toyota logo just ruins it in my opinion.

WOW! That is very cool! I really like the blue color and that panel paint job. They fit very well to the style of this build. Same thing goes with those blue tinted windows and scoop, they're just right for a build like this. Engine with lots of chrome is a nice touch too... The overall look is just perfect, and all little details just finish it off. Fantastic work!

'65 Impala is a very nice body, so great to see that you've built one! That white color fits very well on it and the chrome parts and darker panel lines make it look really good. Very nicely done as always!

Wow, I've seen that build at a local Model Car Show around here and I was quietly hoping that some day we'll see a resin kit of this! Now this is some great news! Usually AirTrax is selling some damaged bodies at local show in side of selling the complete kits, so if I see a Lincoln body in there I'll be sure to buy one. I see a Lead Sled coming...

This looks interesting! I'm more into Vintage Stock Cars, but when the Chevrolets are out I guess I'll pick up one. And if the prices drop like Tony said, I could probably buy a Ford as well somewhere in the future, but it's for sure that I'll see no Toyotas around here. NASCAR is an American sport so I'm not too crazy about seeing those "ricers" racing in there...

Wow that is very cool! It looks like something that could be seen Match Racing at local Drag Strip. The paint job is looking great, how did you do the rivets? Cool and Unique build for sure.

Thanks Guys! I really appreciate it! Joe, great to hear I'm not the only one who builds slowly!

Wow! That turned out very nice, especially when considering how tiny it is. All of the extra work you did with all of the details really paid off, this is a major improvement to that kit. Congrats on the award too, even without seeing the other entries I'm sure it went into the right direction!

Thanks Wayne and Dan !

I just saw this thread too and all I can say is that this is some very sad news. I never met him in person, but he spent a lot of time and effort keeping this forum as good as it is, plus that watching his fantastic builds was a privilege. Sad news, RIP Harry.

Of course they are meant to be built! I have several old kits (new kits & glue bombs and something from between) starting from the '60s and all of them will be built. If I wasn't going to build it, I wouldn't waste my money on buying it either. The only thing I understand is an old "Survivor build" that has been built long time ago and still looks great. It might be that I wouldn't start rebuilding that one, but then again, I wouldn't buy it either if I wasn't going to do a rebuild. Old kit looks the best when it's built well.

Thanks for the kind comments everyone! They're appreciated! I'm very happy to have this thing finally done. It took a lot longer, but overall I'm pretty happy how it turned out... And I guess that's all what matters. Now on to the next one. I think I'll be finishing my '64 Thunderbolt next so stay tuned fellas.

Thanks Chris, great review! Looks like I also need to get one of those at some point.

A Couple more pics: Here's a picture with another '55 I built from the same kit when I was a kid: Thanx for looking, all comments are appreciated, good or bad! Thanks everyone!

Here's a bunch of pictures of the finished product. I'm very happy to see this one is finally finished as it was started already in 2014. It took me a lot longer than I originally thought, but I also made lots of modifications on it that I originally wasn't going to do. There are some mistakes as always, but overall I'm pretty happy with how it looks. I want to thank everyone who has been watching my progress on this build and especially those who have posted comments on this thing.

Thanks Dave! Throttle linkage is always a nightmare to do, but usually the end result is worth it. But of course this time it was a bit easier than on my previous build (Fiat Altered with 8-Carb Hemi)... Next step was to add shocks to the chassis. I found suitable shocks from my parts box and after painting them they were glued on place. Then I started building the driveshaft. I took one driveshaft from my parts box that was too short, but as my plan was to use only the joints and make the actual driveshaft from plastic rod. So first I cut those joints apart: Then I mocked up those joints on place and cut correct length driveshaft tube from plastic rod. Then everything was glued together. After some painting and some touchups to the chassis, I can call the chassis finished. Then I polished the hood. The paint job was already decent so there wasn't much orange peel to polish smooth. The hood turned out pretty much as good as the body did earlier. Now all that was left was to install all chrome parts and exterior trim etc. Headlights were painted white and then I wiped a bit of that white off from the center of the lights so that chrome became a bit transparent. That way it looks a bit more realistic like there would be separate headlight lenses. Grill was black washed with The Detailer's liquid, Chevy badge was painted and installed on the hood just like the hood ornament too. Scoop was mounted on place as well. Rear bumper had some fit issues, but there's not much I can do about it at this point. Revell '55 Bel Air rear bumper seems to fit a bit better, but it has bumper guards so I think I prefer the kit part anyway. Tail lights were painted with Clear Red & white and blue dots with blue of course. The fitment of those tail lights wasn't perfect either, they were a bit too big to fit properly on body shapes. But again, I just have to live with it. Anyway, after some minor touchups this thing is now Finally Finished! Here's one teaser shot of the finished product, I'll try to shoot some better pics tomorrow and post them in here.

Thanks for that video link! I haven't actually looked anything modeling related in YouTube, but now after some surfing in there looks like there is a big bunch of good videos. Though I agree, I'd also prefer text & photos, but that video was definitely helpful.

Thanks guys! I appreciate the kind words! I'm very happy to see this thing is very close of being finished. Now I guess it's a couple of days and I can call it done. Brad, don't know what's wrong with the pics. At least on my computer they open up nicely and looks like other guys can see them too... Don't know if this helps, but here is a link to my Photobucket album where are the most recent pics on this build. http://s482.photobucket.com/user/Greaser/library/55 Chevrolet Bel Air Gasser?sort=3&page=1

I'd appreciate seeing a review on these two kits. I'd like to build them both at some point, but I have no clue what is inside the box... 1984 GMC Sierra “Deserter” 1990 Chevrolet C1500 454SS

Well it has been a while since the latest update, but I've been doing tons of little details especially to the engine bay. Blower belt and pulleys are Pro Tech items, but I had to build a mounting bracket for that Blower Belt Tensioner. That Pro Tech Blower Belt Kit was really easy to use, I think I'll be ordering a couple of more sets sometime! Fuel lines are made from small diameter electric wire that I painted black (It was originally red), fuel junction block on firewall is made from styrene tubing and all fuel line fittings are scratchbuilt from plastic rod too. Carburetor linkage was done using Detail Master's Photo Etch parts and copper wire, but it still requires a throttle returning spring before I can call it done. The radiator wall that came in the kit was decent, but the radiator was molded only on one side of that radiator wall while the other side was smooth. That wasn't good, so a radiator wall from Monogram '56 Bel Air was modified to fit on the '55. After some narrowing and lowering it fits under the hood properly. Radiator overflow tank was found in my parts box and the hose between that radiator and overflow tank is made from mold sprue that I heated and "stretched" so that it looks like a piece of thin wire. Other small things I've done include adding a brake master cylinder from AMT '62 Catalina, brake lines, valve cover T-Bolts and some other wiring and plumbing here and there. I also added center caps to the wheels. They're made from piece of chrome mold sprue cut in correct length and glued on place. Wheels got also some black wash, but I'll probably add one more round of black washing on them before I can call them good.

That was some bad news! He will definitely be missed, but luckily the music never dies. Unfortunately like Chris said, only few of those '50s "big names" are still alive...

Wow, you can't have too many Traditional Hot Rods in here! This one is very nicely done too. Especially that paint job looks really good, black is very hard to get right but looks like you nailed it. Engine looks good too, but where is that top from?

Wow, you guys build some excellent Hot Rods! This is another very well done Coupe, excellent paint job (And a great color choice!) and a perfect stance too. Those bulges on hood sides were one of the first things I noticed, they're cool and they hint that there might not be that stock Flathead under the hood either... Nice build!

Wow! That's flawless! Very nice work on that Vicky, it looks so nice and clean and that color is excellent too. The overall look is just perfect in my eyes, I wouldn't change anything if it was mine... Fantastic work.

Nice to see a Traditional Salt Flats car done this well! I really like the overall look, the chop is just right and that nose fits perfectly on it too. Paint job/weathering is my favorite part though, especially those class markings on the doors look very realistic. Great job.