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You did what now ?? I think it come to your home address.

The blackness behind the A pillar may be the Roll Bar. There looks to be a hoop behind the front seat and this could be the front portion going down toward the dash board.

I think the problem that you would run into with the Gold Bare Metal Foil is that it is thicker than the normal foil and doesn't like to conform to small details. What I have done is paint the grill portion with Tamiya X-12 Gold Leaf brush paint. I would use several light coats. The gold metallic in the clear tends to settle in the low spots, like the "openings" in the grill. Then use a black wash of either Tamiya X-19 Smoke black or The Detailer Black-It-Out. As for the Hood and Trunk V's and the Bel Air lettering and fender markings I used the X-12 Gold Leaf and cleared it with Future floor polish. I also use a touch of Future instead of glue to attach the moldings as it dries clear and holds well.

A couple of ideas. #1 Rust-Oleum Textured indoor/outdoor paint. I used black for Hemi valve covers and as a vinyl roof, they offer other colors also. If you're going for multi colored effect this may work as a base coat. #2 Krylon Fabulous Finishes Suede. This would be an even finer finish to use as a base. This also works very well for fabric inserts on interior seats and door panels.

Even if the kit has been sealed there is no way of knowing the condition of the decals, and because of the age they may not be that much better. If the decals you have now still look good, maybe slightly discolored, just scan them and reprint them on new decal paper. I had to do this when the first '49 Merc Woodys came out. The dark wood grain decals just kept falling apart. I scan the kits decal sheet on my home fax/ scanner and then reprinted them and they worked perfect. Worth a try and the cost would be minimal.

Great exhaust work. A real mix and match, but that half the fun.

These were great cars in 1:1 and this kit was very nice for it's day and still a great one to build. Since others have pointed out the discrepancies between the box art and the kit, I have noticed something that my mean nothing to you, but. The body of the kit shows the callouts on the front fenders for a 289 engine. But not just any 289, the 271 HP 289 that I believe could only be had with a 4-speed. Ford experts here my prove me wrong, but the few owners of 271 HP Fords that I knew back when only had 4 speeds. They included a '63 Fairlane and two Mustangs. I only mention this for your information as to how you want to do your build and if this sort of thing even matters to you.

Another fun experience on this subject. A couple of years ago I was in need of Tamiya Finish polish and nothing else would do. I went to my normal small privately owned and operated hobby shop. They were out and their supplier couldn't give them a date as to when he could get any. Next stop was Hobby Lobby and they also were unable to get any. So I tried Amazon, and they listed it as available for next day shipping @ $10 with free shipping. Gave them the AMX Card number and expected it to arrive within two days, their promise. Well a week later I'm E mailing them about the polish. They now were having problems getting it, but promised I would get it with the week. Now add this up. They charged me $10, the package arrived from Taiwan with over $15 in postage and Amazon apologized for the delay and even gave me a $10 credit on my Amazon account. So it cost Amazon $25 to give me a free tube of polish. Definitely a class act on their part. I saved the stamps just for the fun factor but now I can't find them. At least this was a positive experience.

Between the information from Longbox55 and berr13's paint suggestion you are well on your way here. I personally really like this kit although there have been others since that are more accurate. The only draw backs, if you want to call them that, that I can see are the side moldings are not right. Close but not 100% The Bel Air trim for the inset was done with a decal in the kit and that is just a little short of what it should be. The advantage for myself, as a former owner of a Two Ten hardtop many years ago, is that this area is smooth and all that was left was to shorten the trim on the top of the rear fenders to make a Two Ten version. The interior is a pretty correct Bel Air pattern. While not as detailed as some of the new kits of this subject it is still a solid kit to build whatever your trying to build. I look forward to seeing what you do with this.

Pharoah is correct on the gold trim. This was only on the Bel Airs and all others were either chrome or polished aluminum. I recall building the AMT kits and used a gold leaf type paint with diluted flat black paint for the back ground. Now AMT has offered two different '57 Chevrolets. So by original are you speaking of the one with the optional 409 engine with a super charger and no detail in the side trim for a Bel Air, or the much more accurate one with the trim detail on the sides and opening trunk and duel quads ??

I have owned several black cars in the past and after every one of them I have said never again. I'm somewhat obsessed with vehicle cleanliness and do stress over these things more than most. So for retirement I bought a new '05 GTO in metallic black with black leather interior. Well I did have a little more time on my hands to look after it but still. So my "bride" of 30 years wanted a new car in '14 and she wanted a Dodge Avenger RT. Since getting in and out of the GTO was getting harder and harder with my back we traded the GTO on the Avenger. I have since found out that bright metallic blue is not all that much easier to care for.

Looks great. So every time you get bored you can just drag this onto the bench and have at it.

Even in the picture you can see that your model looked better than that thing on the trophy. I think "roadable" is to dependent on who is looking at it and just how much they know about cars in general. For '62 this is a pretty advanced build, very few were going to this extent. Now all you have todo is recreate it, you are going to do that aren't you ??

Great job on ageing this '56. The little details like prior repairs using parts from a green car and a left front from who knows where.

Looks great so far. It seems difficult to retain the window trim moldings where the top attaches above the windshield. I hope what ever glue or epoxy that you used at the C pillar will hold with handling during construction. Depending on the fit of the interior in that area you might consider a very thin reinforcement in that area if you have a problem.

Very interesting subject. It sounds like you have more than an average knowledge of these cars. Congratulations on your 1:1 prize. I'm glad to see more builders building authentic stock builds. It seems to many of us, and I'm definitely one, build Hot Rods or some other sort of build and to few pay attention to the original car.

I guess I have been lucky in this regard as my only problems occurred many years ago. It maybe in an instance such as yours that it maybe best to put the model it's self in a plastic Zip Lock (@ trade mark) bag and then in polystyrene chips. I think the problem begins with the tires made of similar base stock as the polystyrene.

Beautiful build. I really like your color choice.

Looks outstanding. Hard to believe this build came from that kit.

Turned out great. It looks just like your 1:1 Chevy. I was watching your build and I now how hard it was but it was all worth it in the end.

I really like the looks of the Motown Missile very menacing looking. Sadly the Schartman team designer didn't give the paint job the same presents. Your models both look great and depict the cars well.

Great looking Street Machine, or is it to become a dedicated Drag Car ?? That type of hood scoop is my favorite design, but it seems to high for a Street Machine.

The hood looks great. On the roof, how is it supported where it mounts in the kit ? I have not built this one yet.

What you doing with the roof ?? Metal Flake, Vinyl ??

If Mark is unable to find any gold film let me know and I'll send you some.