espo

I hate it when kits are made with colored plastic, really hard to block the bleed thru. Great color choice.

Very nice looking build.

I like the Bubble Top conversion. Great looking paint and interior. In the real world you would have to have the Air Conditioner on Stun or the interior would be unbearable.

That is a great looking color. What did you use ?

Amen.

That is a beautiful looking prototype. I really like that look. The 350 engine idea would give you wider possibilities for the induction system. Most of these were 283's back in the day anyway.

I like how you opened the hood and detailed the engine. Was the rear hatch fixed or open when you got it ? The wheels look perfect on this also.

Great looking clean fit and finish. I like the engine detailing also. The Mini-lite wheels give it a Road Racer look.

I noticed how thick the center post on the windshield looks. This may be your chance to make it a little more realistic looking.

This little Catalina looks great. Just a little trim left to do.

Bummer about the body. The engine is very impressive looking and I like the chassis.

You might consider adding material to the cowl area to fill the gap with the hood. The 1:1 has a very narrow strip between the Windshield and the back side of the hood. The sides where the hood meets the front door there is only a seem so material might have to be added to that edge of the hood. The thing that always put me off on this and the Convertible and Fastback body styles has to do with the Windshield and rear window. The moldings around the window are very thick compared to the 1:1. The way the kit's glass is mounted it's as if it's to deep set into the body. A thought, and I don't want to make this any harder, you might consider looking at the Revell '50 Olds. kit. In reality they shared a common body structure. A common styling change in that era was to get an Oldsmobile Windshield and moldings and put them in a Chevrolet giving you a one piece Windshield. Short of switching roofs making this a coupe which may not be want you want, you may want to look at thinning the mounting for the windows from the inside of the roof so they don't look so deep set. The rest of the body looks very smooth at this point.

This should be a fun build. I'll enjoy watching.

Some possible information sources for your fathers '51 Chevrolet. First autocolorlibrary.com should give you an idea of the colors that were available. For a little additional information try oldcarbrochures.com. There you can view some of the dealership brochures that will better show you how the cars were presented. Also the Resin/After market section on the forum lists several suppliers for true reproduction paint, MCW comes to mind but there are others to consider. I may be close to your fathers age and one of my high school friends had a '50 Chevrolet hardtop that was a light Green with a Black roof that looked good. I also have a neighbor who still owns his first car, a '51 Chevrolet convertible in Maroon with a light Tan top. Most of the colors at that time were still a little somber and not real bright. Detroit didn't really start with many interesting colors until the '54's . You can Google '51 Chevrolet and get a lot of pictures of 1:1 cars but remember most of these will be restored or modified cars and owners tend to take liberties with color choice depending on the era that the car is redone in. Please show your build on the forum, I'd like to see it if for old time sake if nothing else. You could always add some of the speed parts from the kit or find an old AMT '53 Corvette kit and add the 3 side draft carbs for a little fun. Those Corvette hub caps were also a common addon years ago. Don't forget the wide whites just not to wide.

Great looking build. I think you captured your 1:1 Corvette perfectly.

Very nicely finished Edsel. Your build shows one of their more popular color combinations that were offered. Even with some of the paint combinations offered by the different manufactures at that time, you didn't drive an Edsel if you wanted to go unnoticed.

Very nice T Bucket. I like the rear tires, they really don't look out of scale to me and the sidewalls look naturel.

Beautiful restorations on these three. It is hard to believe but when these early 3 in 1 kits came out builders would try and use every option in the box on every kit.

Outstanding paint work and I like the white front fenders. The engine swap makes more sense for a street car and the details are great.

A clarification the Jeep's nick name of "just empty every pocket". This is mainly a joke between owners referring to the added goodies mainly for off road use. The vehicle its self is comparatively reliable in normal use, operation, and standard maintenance. Like any vehicle that is abused in the way it is operated there is bound to be problems largely depending on the operator of the vehicle. The very nature of say a Jeep Wrangler that is an off road vehicle modified to be driven on the street they are inclined to see some off road use that can take a toll on the vehicle depending on how far the driver has gotten "carried away" . Unless you're trying for a "You Tube moment" they can and do last with little more than regular maintenance. Case in point. We have an '09 Wrangler Sahara with a manual 6 - speed and a factory positraction differential. This is not the Locker type found in a Rubicon model. This Wrangler has served as a daily commuter as well as a weekend off roader. The vehicle had it's first off road experience after 1 week of ownership and has attended at least one or more Jeep Jamborees every year since we took delivery in Aug. of 2008. We have been to a couple of different off road parks in our area a few times a year and we have enjoyed a few trips to Colorado which is beautiful place to visit and is best appreciated in a Jeep. The Jeep now has 97800 miles and is on its second set of brakes still, and the original clutch works perfectly. These are both normal wear items, but considering the extensive off road use I consider the clutch being OEM kind of amazing. The battery has been replaced twice but other than that the money we have spent has gone to skid plates, rock rails, wench, and bigger wheels and tires. Everyone still tells new Jeep owners about "Just Empty Every Pocket" but it's more because of the level of after market goodies that you will find your self buying rather than anything wrong with the car. Your experience may vary, but how did you operate it and just who's fault is it really ?

Great looking Ranchero. Very clean looking build.

Great looking Kustom. The quad headlights and roll pan all go together. I remember when guys used to paint their wheel centers on their chrome wheels. Worked great to hide the rust around the lug nuts on your daily drivers.

I agree with everyone else on this build. Top pick of color and the finish is outstanding. The minute details on the engine and the interior look perfect.

I like your showroom looking build. Very cleanly detailed trim and interior. With a convertible body style you can show off all your hard work on the interior.

I think it's fantastic that someone would have one, the desire to restore this vehicle and to also have the were with all to be able to do it.