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Not trying to talk you out of painting this build in anyway, but. Sounds like you're sort of searching for something to make this stand out. I was working in a Chevrolet dealership when these were new and part of my job was to order new car inventory. Should you still be unsure of the colors you're wanting you might check Google Images if you haven't already. This can give you a visual of what different combinations look like. A style that was popular at the time was having the Landau half roof the same color as the body rather than contrasting. Another option that Chevrolet offered was a paint treatment on the sides, somewhat of a two tone. What they did was the raised portion on the side of the front fenders and the rear quarters would be painted in a contrasting color. The fronts would be colored in front of the wheel opening and follow the curved body line to about mid door area where it would make a slow loop back toward the front wheel opening. The rears were done in much the same manor starting just in front of the rear wheel opening and extending along that side body line toward the rear of the car. Since you mentioned liking the Beige color I remember ordering some with the lt. Beige body and roof and the sides were painted in a medium Gold Metallic. Many seemed to like this style as we sold a lot of them. They had other colors combinations also, but I just thought I would mention this style since you seemed unsure of how you wanted to do this model. I don't have the link to new car sales literature , but I know others here do. This will show what the factory offered if you're trying to stay close to the OEM look.

A suggestion on your poor gas mileage. Put a block of wood under the gas pedal. I know it's really hard to drive a car of this nature and not try and stretch its tires from time to time.

Very nice clean looking build. Great paint and color. Your hand painted bed wood looks better than most decals.

Plymouth front end with Dodge rear Quarters. The rear actually looks better, to me anyway, than the one used on the Plymouth.

AH, the MoPar colors of old. You would never miss your car in a parking lot. This color looks strong on this Charger and shows the body lines well. So what sort of tire and wheel combination are you going to use ?

A thought. See if you can keep the "totaled" old Crown Vic. Find a used model in need of the upgrades you have and just move them over. Should you be able to do this your self it would be just your labor, if you have to have someone else do it then it may not be that good of an idea. Since they're totaling this make the insurance company find you a comparable car and they eithwer buy it for you or give you what it would cost to buy. To many times insurance companies will try and give you something back of wholesale value for the old car. You were paying retail for your insurance so they should be giving you retail value for the totaled car.

I like how you did your update on this. I agree with you about the commercial 1:1 Vette's dressed up to look like an earlier model, they just don't get the proportions correct. I also notice that you stayed with one solid color and not paint the coves. I'm used to seeing them painted and I think it may even look better this way. Mecum Auction had a red Corvette go thru this weekend with the same paint treatment and I liked that also.

Looks great. Very thin white walls may add to the luxury car look depending on ones taste.

Great looking build. I watched you over come the body issues, and you really can't tell looking at it now. I also like the colors you finalized for the interior.

Very nice and I like the gas stains around the filler door. Always heated that. Bed liner is a good idea. The engine looks like it sits a little low on the chassis. Looks like a fairly well cared for pick up.

Looking at the before pictures, and then seeing how you completed the body work the way it is supposed to be done and the color change, it's hard to think this is the same model. I think that the color change is the most outstanding feature to me.

Great looking builds. They both are nicely detailed with great paint finishes.

Very cool looking Cruiser. The big down fall for these kits was the way they designed the front body parts. Yours looks very clean and well built.

Great looking Duster. That shade of Blue works well with the body lines. I like the overall clean look of your build.

Looks great. I always wished that one of the model companies would have offered a nice street Colonade coupe.

Great looking color and it goes well with the interior. The chrome trim looks nice and clean.

Your weathering always looks amazing.

Be real careful with any type of impact from the back side as this can distort the metal. The reason we used the old base ball bat thing is that the tire will give a little bit and the bat is applying a slow rolling pressure.

This engine looks amazing. This could be displayed all by it's self.

Great work on this rear panel.

I like your base coat well enough I'd go with that, but I do like that dark blue also. Would white decals be a consideration for the stripes ?

We used to roll the fender lips by placing a base ball bat between the tire and the fender and roll the car back and forth. Start with the handle area of the bat and work your way up to the big end. This way you're bending just a little bit with each pass. Usually this can be done without breaking the paint on the fender and no cutting needed. A good set of Hijackers would go a long way to level out the rear end.

I built one of these far longer ago than I care to admit. I think Revell also offered a '56 Ford F100, a Chrysler Newport , a Buick and a Cadillac also in the same series. The bodies were all very well done especially compared to what you could get at the time.

The picture looks as if the area was rough sanded but not sanded smooth with a high # sand paper. I would use an old #11 blade and put a smooth layer of putty, just enough to fill the scratches. After it has dried go over the area with a sanding pad in the 1500 to 1800 range. I would try sanding at two different directions to help eliminate scratches and use very light pressure letting the sanding pads do the work. Another light coat of primer should tell you if you're getting to the finish you want.

Some of the senseless smog laws were a factor in our leaving California in the summer of '96. I had even moved from Santa Barbara county to San Luis Obispo County, less than 10 miles, at one time just to get away from their constant Smog Checks. The CHP would set up road blocks just like when their looking for drunks on a Friday night. They were even checking to see if your headlights were adjusted properly. I miss many friends and the beautiful countryside and the many things to do. Just got tired of the endless taxes and big brother looking over your shoulder day in and day out.