Atmobil Posted March 31, 2015 Share Posted March 31, 2015 I'm planning on building a model of the 57 Chevy in the movie Return to Macon County from 1976. My plan is to use the AMT "new tool" 57 from the 90s in the Pro Shop edition with photoetch parts. So far all I got is screengrabs from the movie, I managed to find a Spanish DVD version on Ebay (luckily still with original english soundtrack) and have made the screengrabs with VLC movieplayer. I have determined that the engine is equipt with a Paxton supercharger and as you can see it got tuck'n roll interior in white but looks to have had a black interior originally since the carpet and dashboard is black. Does anyone know anything about this car? I'm also wondering if anyone has a good idea on what yellow paint I could use for this one. All tips on how to get the details right are appreciated Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atmobil Posted March 31, 2015 Author Share Posted March 31, 2015 Here is som pics of the interior: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roadrunner Posted March 31, 2015 Share Posted March 31, 2015 Cool project, cool movie. Good luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slusher Posted March 31, 2015 Share Posted March 31, 2015 A great build idea and subject... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Goschke Posted March 31, 2015 Share Posted March 31, 2015 Looks goofy without the side trim. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roadrunner Posted March 31, 2015 Share Posted March 31, 2015 Looks goofy without the side trim. I hadn't even noticed that. It is a bit different; I wonder why they left it off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atmobil Posted March 31, 2015 Author Share Posted March 31, 2015 Thank you for the comments Yes it does look kind of strange without the sidetrim but I guess it was supposed to look like a teenagers custom. I'm not really sure that two young guys like that (and in the movie they are poor, they only got a little money and plan on driving to California) would drive a one year old 2 door hard top Bel Air with a tuned engine. The start of the movie proclaims that it is Summer 1958....alltough the trees are all bare and the grass on the ground looks very dead Anyway, I started a bit on this project back in October 2014 to build it for the themeclass at the Norwegian Challenge show in September 2015 is cars driven by or owned by Don Johnson. In this movie we do see a young Don Johnson togheter Nick Nolte as the main caracthers. I started a little on it back then, I sanded the body smooth and primed it: And then I started on making the tuck'n roll interior: I made some simple casts of the doorcards to make new doorhandles and such as I'm going to add them back on later. The doorcards where sanded smooth and I also filled in the holes that where left from the armrests. The Tuck'n roll was made from an old computercable (the type that went to the 3,5inch floppydisk drive for does who remeber such a fantastic technology) that I covered with white glue (wood glue) and when that has dried I can glue it to the doorcards and the seats with a little more white glue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rotorbolt73 Posted March 31, 2015 Share Posted March 31, 2015 Awesome..I've got this same project planned using the same kit as well. Probably won't get around to it until I finish my cars from the "Wraith" . You got some better shots of that wild looking engine than I could find. They only show like a glimpse of it in the movie. I've never seen that setup before so duplicating it will be tricky. Nice collection of referance photos. I'll be keeping a watch on your progress with this one! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atmobil Posted March 31, 2015 Author Share Posted March 31, 2015 (edited) Awesome..I've got this same project planned using the same kit as well. Probably won't get around to it until I finish my cars from the "Wraith" . You got some better shots of that wild looking engine than I could find. They only show like a glimpse of it in the movie. I've never seen that setup before so duplicating it will be tricky. Nice collection of referance photos. I'll be keeping a watch on your progress with this one! Thank you Getting the DVD really helped me, you should look it up on ebay. The spanish name for it is Retorno al Condado de Macon. And for getting the shots, I have watched trough the movie at the slowest speed possible in VLC media player (I guess you can do it with other media players aswell) several times and tried to make as good refrenceshots as possible. I do belive that the enginesetup in the movie may be a fake "prop" setup but I'm not sure. Looks like it says HEADWELL or somehing like that on the airbox. Also looks like the chassis (or atleast parts of it) are painted in white from looking at the shots from the low down rearview where you can see white springs, fueltank and sparewheel well. Edited March 31, 2015 by Atmobil Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rotorbolt73 Posted March 31, 2015 Share Posted March 31, 2015 (edited) Yeah..summer of 58... Right...with all that dead foliage all around and those kids in town getting out of school to cruise down to the local burger joint..Theres no school in the summer... Another thing I found weird about the time frame was the scene where he goes and gets him a "five finger discount" helping himself to the side glass from an abandoned 57 chevy convertible off the side of the road. I find it hard to believe that a 1 year old late model car like that would be sitting there looking like some kinda' parts car out of a junkyard. Also the primered 55 chevys around the burger joint. 3 year old late model chevys and already a primered high school kids car? It woulda' made more sense to set it in the early spring of 62. Ohh. Very interesting material to use for that tuck in roll..Thats one of those parts I kinda' dread since I've done a full tuck in roll before using evergreen half round.. Took forever and was somewhat difficult.. Edited March 31, 2015 by Rotorbolt73 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atmobil Posted April 1, 2015 Author Share Posted April 1, 2015 Yeah, I also noted on that 57 Bel Air convertible sitting outside like an old wreck. A late model top of the line car that looks like it had been sitting outside for years is not very realistic. I would also agree with you that it would be better if they said it was March/April 1962 or something like that. The tuck'n'roll trick was something I picked up on another forum and luckily I had an old computer sitting on a shelf in the basement. I also read somewhere that one could use some type of paint on them so that you can get it in the color of your choice but I don't remeber what type of paint. I did try it with Humbrol and that did not work. Had to dip the cable in brakefluid to get it of. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rotorbolt73 Posted April 1, 2015 Share Posted April 1, 2015 (edited) Is this that flat wide pin connector cable used inside computers to plug in various drives to the mother board? The stuff i'm familiar with is grey in color. It looks to be some sort of plastic vinyl for the wire insulation. Maybe a water based acrylic paint would work? How are you going to do the flames? I've been looking for decals but none I have come close..The trophy display in the trunk is gonna be interesting too..Dig the fluorescent trunk light..I never noticed that before..Also the complete lack of rearview mirrors on the interior or doors. Doesn't even have sunvisors..You can also tell this car once had rear bumper guards too. the license plate is lacking in what state its registered in as well.. Edited April 1, 2015 by Rotorbolt73 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atmobil Posted April 1, 2015 Author Share Posted April 1, 2015 Yes, the cable is flat, wide and grey and the where used to plug in hard drives and such aswell (I belive there where different widths of them). Maybe acrylic color would work on, will have to try that sometime. Not 100% on how to do the flames yeat, looks like they have been handpainted on the car so it is possible that I wil try an make a template from a screenshot and see if I can handpaint it myself but not sure yet. Take a look at these two interior shots: Notice how the sunvisors are there and there is also a small tinted field of the top of the windscreen that is not there on the other shot. I think they are either using two different cars or have changed or replaced the windscreen at some point in the film. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OneTrickPony Posted April 1, 2015 Share Posted April 1, 2015 It is not unusual for movies to have multiple versions of the cars for different uses. The most detailed for close up filming is termed the "hero" car. Lots or cheaper, less detailed versions would be used for stunts and such. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spencer1984 Posted April 1, 2015 Share Posted April 1, 2015 Great project, and you may have just given me an idea for a spare '57 Chevy I have (bought for the wheels). I'm looking forward to seeing how this turns out! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LouO Posted April 1, 2015 Share Posted April 1, 2015 That "intake system" is very interesting indeed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rotorbolt73 Posted April 1, 2015 Share Posted April 1, 2015 (edited) Yes, the cable is flat, wide and grey and the where used to plug in hard drives and such aswell (I belive there where different widths of them). Maybe acrylic color would work on, will have to try that sometime. Not 100% on how to do the flames yeat, looks like they have been handpainted on the car so it is possible that I wil try an make a template from a screenshot and see if I can handpaint it myself but not sure yet. I built the Corvette from the movie "Hot Rods to Hell" a few months ago. It too had flames and I had nothing in my decal collection that looked liked what I was needing. I ended up hand painting the flames on. Turned out alright. Might have to do the same with this one to make it accurate.. Making a masking template and airbrushing the flames might be better. I think I have some of that flat cable leftover from my old computer back when I used to upgrade that stuff. Might give that a try myself. What is your opinion on this method since you have tried it? any pros or cons to this material? Why the use of white glue? Obviously there is a paint adhesion issuie ??.. Looks nice in the pics. Can you give us a close up pic of the backseat there? Looking more closely at the engine, It looks like a pressure box fed by a paxton supercharger. The weird looking thing on top of the box appears to be a dual ignition coil setup mounted in a chrome box..Also note the fuel distribution block with three fuel outlet lines on the firewall above the master cylinder and the matching distribution block on the side of the pressure box. Strange setup indeed.. I figure the best parts to start with would be the optional setup from the AMT 57 Ford and modify from there.. Edited April 1, 2015 by Rotorbolt73 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Ellis Posted April 1, 2015 Share Posted April 1, 2015 Which '57 Chevy model kit are you using for this project? It seems pretty interesting. Good point about multiple cars used in filming. I think I heard Two Lane blacktop had 3 cars used for filming. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rotorbolt73 Posted April 1, 2015 Share Posted April 1, 2015 Good point about multiple cars used in filming. I think I heard Two Lane blacktop had 3 cars used for filming. Yep, "Two lane Blacktop", released in 1970, used 3 cars. One was the "hero car" used for exterior shots and such. one was the "camera car" with camera platform mounts on the outside used for the closeup interior shots. and the last one was the "crash car" equipped with a full roll cage to be used in a roll over scene at the end, which was deleted in the final cut..Interesting fact though: the "hero car" was eventually reused later in 73 as the black 55 chevy in "American Graffiti". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atmobil Posted April 1, 2015 Author Share Posted April 1, 2015 I built the Corvette from the movie "Hot Rods to Hell" a few months ago. It too had flames and I had nothing in my decal collection that looked liked what I was needing. I ended up hand painting the flames on. Turned out alright. Might have to do the same with this one to make it accurate.. Making a masking template and airbrushing the flames might be better. I think I have some of that flat cable leftover from my old computer back when I used to upgrade that stuff. Might give that a try myself. What is your opinion on this method since you have tried it? any pros or cons to this material? Why the use of white glue? Obviously there is a paint adhesion issuie ??.. Looks nice in the pics. Can you give us a close up pic of the backseat there? Looking more closely at the engine, It looks like a pressure box fed by a paxton supercharger. The weird looking thing on top of the box appears to be a dual ignition coil setup mounted in a chrome box..Also note the fuel distribution block with three fuel outlet lines on the firewall above the master cylinder and the matching distribution block on the side of the pressure box. Strange setup indeed.. I figure the best parts to start with would be the optional setup from the AMT 57 Ford and modify from there.. Yes, the setup looks very strange. I do have the Paxton parts from ATM 57 Ford so I will try and use them . The Tuck'n Roll method is quite easy to do but one have to be carefull so that it does not distort when applying it to the model. What I did was smear the glue over the cable in an as even layer as I could and left it to dry over night. It will be interesting to see how it reacts to paint, hopefully it does not go bad when I apply some satin white over it to make it look like the white vinyl on the moviecar. Here is a couple of closeups of the backseat and doorcards: Which '57 Chevy model kit are you using for this project? It seems pretty interesting. Good point about multiple cars used in filming. I think I heard Two Lane blacktop had 3 cars used for filming. The "new tool" AMT Pro Shop kit from the 90s or to be exact, I started out now with the anniversery edition from a few years ago in a tin box. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roadrunner Posted April 1, 2015 Share Posted April 1, 2015 Interesting idea for the seats,... I like it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atmobil Posted April 1, 2015 Author Share Posted April 1, 2015 I have taken some more screenshots from the movie, trying to see the color of the floor and chassis. The rear axle, springs, fueltank and sparewheelwell is clearly white but not sure if the rest is white or not. And this one, a pressure gauge in the enginebay: Summer.....yeah.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rotorbolt73 Posted April 2, 2015 Share Posted April 2, 2015 (edited) Interesting pic of the seat and door panels. Why does it look transparent if the cable material is grey? I'm gonna' guess that the cable is used as a mold pattern for the tuck n roll and that the dried wood glue is the material that you actually used on the seat and panels to simulate the tuck n roll and not the computer cable itself. This is why you poured glue on the cable to begin with..correct? Odd that the rear end, suspension parts and gas tank are painted white..I always thought that was a 70's era thing.. Also odd that the flames end right at the front door line and don't extend into the door itself.. Edited April 2, 2015 by Rotorbolt73 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atmobil Posted April 2, 2015 Author Share Posted April 2, 2015 Yes, I did use the computercable as a mold and made the tuck'nroll material with the glue. That way I will always keep the cable and be able to make more tuck'n roll material for any future porjects aswell Actually that makes the material look the opposite of what it should look like as it gets thin ridges and U shapes channels in between but I'm hoping that it does not show up to much inside the car anyway. I have layed down some primer on the parts now and it is more visible what it will look like. Sadly there is some airbubbles in the backseat so I may have to redo that one. I have also found this: http://www.streetlegaltv.com/news/lost-movie-car-the-return-to-macon-county-57-chevy-is-alive-well/ And this thread on this forum with one more project: http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/?showtopic=74225 I guess the reason for a 70s style mod on the movie car is there because the movie was made in the mid 70s. I guess they where not as accurate when it comes to such details back then. But was it common to paint the complete floor in white or just some parts? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Ellis Posted April 2, 2015 Share Posted April 2, 2015 I think you are doing a great job replicating the car from the movie. I find it interesting the movie claims this is Summer 1958. I can't imagine a 1 to 11/2 year old Chevy looking like this. I remember seeing cars like this but it was mostly in the mid '60s when they were relegated down to teenager use. Things like 3 in the tree shifting moved to the floor. Even up until the '70s the interiors of cars started ripping and falling apart after 5 years of hard use. I am guessing that using Tuck and Roll was to replace a beat interior? I like seeing people model all the details of a movie car. The seats and door detail is very nice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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