W-409

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.

That looks very good! I have most of the parts required to build similar from my Revell '63. I've always liked '63 Impalas and this Z11 version is definitely the coolest. Nice to see it done this well in scale.

Wow! Some amazing models you got there! Fantastic work on all of them, but that Flathead powered Digger is probably my favorite. What did you use for the frame and body on that one?

That turned out very nice! It feels great when you have your own ride (Even if it's a former ride now) on the shelf, doesn't it? Excellent job with that body conversion and all of your other modifications are done very nicely as well. Great job with those details too, overall a very nice and unique build.

Wow that looks great! As an owner of 1:1 '62 Chevy II (Mine is a Two Door Sedan though) I really like to see these 1st Gen Chevy IIs or Novas built. Nice job with that body conversion and smooth paint job too. Overall I really like how it looks, but my only nitpick would be those turn signals on front... They don't turn to the sides like that as seen here: Otherwise an excellent looking build! Nice to see something different done from these kits!

Yes, on some kits that is a problem, but usually most of the kits have windows that fit pretty well, at least if BMF and everything is done cleanly. And I've built Moebius '53 Hudson and '55 Chrysler, both of them had windows glued from inside and their fitment was excellent. Now I just hope that I don't have to order new windows from somewhere several times because of a minor slip while doing BMF on those new Moebius kits...

Well, if the end result would be no different, it would make no difference to me. BUT, it's not good that the areas where you add glue will stay visible, and even worse is that in some kits (New Moebius kits for example) the window trim is molded to the windows...! That really sucks, when foiling that trim, one minor slip with a knife and your windows are ruined. If this little slip happens on a paint job, the minor scratch can't be seen that well after all. But on clear windows everyone can see it easily. Those new Moebius kits are otherwise top notch so I don't understand why they did windows that way. After all, I think the old method of gluing windows from inside was working perfectly fine.

Very nice build, we don't see too many Cobras built as Drag Cars so a big thumbs up for that! Very nice paint & decal work on that body, it's definitely not easy to apply big decals like that. Really nicely done overall! Only thing I'd change is that you need at least working headlights for it to run as a Gasser. But otherwise, really nice job!

It's always nice to see X-Frame Chevrolets being built, and especially when they're done this well. I like your olor choice and that paint job is really nice too. Nice to see a 409 with that Cross Ram intake and Offenhauser valve covers, and of course four on the floor! Excellent looking '62 Chevy. Thanks for posting.