LMDAVE Posted March 14, 2015 Posted March 14, 2015 Decided to jump back 20 years for my next build. '51 Bel Air. I plan to build stock, with Cream color body, red interior.
jdean Posted March 14, 2015 Posted March 14, 2015 hello dave, I have that same kit lined up for my next build, do yo planed to lower it? i am planning on pretty much stock but want to lower it a bit look forward to following your build Ronnie
Guest Posted March 14, 2015 Posted March 14, 2015 Cant wait to see this. I have a ragtop version waiting in the wings.
Deathgoblin Posted March 14, 2015 Posted March 14, 2015 Been wanting to pick one of these up. Looks like a nice kit.
southpier Posted March 14, 2015 Posted March 14, 2015 always interested in this vintage chevy. when i was about 6, the family went without a car for almost a year. you know when you're so poor you don't know you're poor? anyway, Dad picked up one of these humdingers for $50 or so, and that was better than walking! things got better from there, but i left a soft spot for early 50 chevies. carry on ....
om617 Posted March 14, 2015 Posted March 14, 2015 Somthing really nice about the roof and rear window design on these. 57 Buick-ish.
LMDAVE Posted March 15, 2015 Author Posted March 15, 2015 Thanks guys, funny, I got the color combination after I got home because I was thinking of the movie Rain Man, but that car was a 49 Buick Roadmaster, not sure if there is a kit for that. But I like the color combo of the outside and the interior from that movie. Even thought Rain Man said the seats were original brown leather now they are pitiful red. LOL Also, I'm going with white walls, and matching body paint on the rims rims with chrome hub caps. Should have a shot of the wheels soon. First time painting the white wall on the tires.
LMDAVE Posted March 15, 2015 Author Posted March 15, 2015 hello dave, I have that same kit lined up for my next build, do yo planed to lower it? i am planning on pretty much stock but want to lower it a bit look forward to following your build Ronnie Thanks jdean, no I don't plan to lower it, but that is a cool mod to make, I'll be watching your when you do it.
Stray Posted March 15, 2015 Posted March 15, 2015 I still have my old old old version of this! It was one of the very first kits I built. It was molded in blue and I had absolutely no idea what I was doing. I had rebuilt it at some stage, but I have it in a box now stripped and waiting for another go. Except I have no idea what happened to the chassis! I do want to get this kit you have that is available now and then scratch up a chassis for my old one, then do a side by side stock and rat build. Will watch the progress on yours mate. Love the early 50's cars.
LMDAVE Posted March 15, 2015 Author Posted March 15, 2015 Well, here is a shot of the body with the first coat of color, and the match tires. The paint should really pop when I add the clear to it. I paint a Fender guitar of mine this same color, so maybe in my final pictures I'll take a pic of the two together.
LMDAVE Posted March 17, 2015 Author Posted March 17, 2015 Paint is coming along nice, but I'm going to need some good sunshine to capture the gloss and color well, these inside lights just don't do it.
charlie8575 Posted March 17, 2015 Posted March 17, 2015 Nice match to Moonlight Cream. A couple of notes. 1. There was no white from the factory. Moonlight Cream was a close as you got. Dealer two-tone? Sure. Special order using another division's color? GM would do that for a small charge. Just an FYI, no criticsm at all. 2. Bel-Airs used a cloth and leather interior. The leather portions would have been red, along with carpet and possibly the painted metal surfaces in the interior. The cloth was always light gray, regardless of the leather or exterior color. There's a listing to all this information at The Old Car Manual Project. I'll try to find it and post a link her for your reference. Most important, have fun. Charlie Larkin
charlie8575 Posted March 17, 2015 Posted March 17, 2015 As promised... This is the main color chart. 2154=Bel-Air. http://chevy.oldcarmanualproject.com/chevyresto/51020.htm This is the details on how the paint will be arranged inside the car. http://chevy.oldcarmanualproject.com/chevyresto/51021.htm I'm leaning towards Thistle Gray/Trophy Blue with a blue/gray interior for mine and Thistle Gray with the black top and red/gray interior for my convertible. The red, from what I've seen, was a darker red. Charlie Larkin
DumpyDan Posted March 17, 2015 Posted March 17, 2015 This looks like it is going to be a cool build, good color choice
LMDAVE Posted March 17, 2015 Author Posted March 17, 2015 (edited) Thank Guys. Charlie, thanks for finding that color info. I did notice that Cream/White was not an option, which was a surprise, because maybe they thought the contrast would be too close and no one would want it. I like that contrast because it emulates the Classic Fender guitar that is Vintage white (cream) with a white pickguard. As for the interior, I'm disappointed in the lack of pictures I can find on the internet of 1951 interior (EDIT: Actually if I seach BELAIR as one word I get more results now). A lot of the pictures I found show the upper line of the interior sides matching the body color, then the other two color contrast from there. And I had no idea that white in the interior was light gray. I'm going take the liberty there and match that with the roof top white. This is the only one I find of the red/white contrast I'm going after. But, I'll follow that document as much as I can. Edited March 17, 2015 by LMDAVE
LMDAVE Posted March 17, 2015 Author Posted March 17, 2015 (edited) This is what it's looking like, and if you see, the upper rim matches the exterior body color as if it wrapped around from the outside. The white red contrast was pretty bright white, maybe a light light gray would not have been that noticeable. So, I tried a very light black was over the white...not sure if that was a good idea, but at least it'll give the interior a slight aged look. Edited March 18, 2015 by LMDAVE
LMDAVE Posted March 19, 2015 Author Posted March 19, 2015 (edited) This is a dry assembly of the interior, still need to add the flocking, some paint touch up, and extras before finalizing it, but shows the color pattern and how the body color plays a part of the interior. Edited March 19, 2015 by LMDAVE
LMDAVE Posted March 21, 2015 Author Posted March 21, 2015 Still waiting on the red flocking to come in to finish the interior, so I'll jump back to the body. Wrapped the left side in chrome, it really brings the body to life.
66belair Posted March 21, 2015 Posted March 21, 2015 I have several of these 51's in both body styles, yours is simply awesome. Makes me want to get one of mine out and get started!
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