1951 Chevy Bel Air

[ismaelg]

Hello,

     My father is kind of a car guy. Not as crazy as I am but still.  He has never build a model. He bought them for me when I was a kid and may have  helped once or twice but he has never been into it.  Years ago, he started collecting diecasts (nobody's perfect). He now has a massive collection of diecasts in different scales.  His favorites are of course cars from the 50's and 60's.  He has been searching for years for a '51 Chevy.  I've searched as well with no luck.  Recently, he found one on eBay and bought it...

   He called me and he was furious!  I don't recall the last time I remember him that mad!  "I've been screwed! Fraud! Thieves!" etc.  It turns out he got a model kit instead of a diecast  

I asked him if the description said it was a 1/18 diecast.  It only said '51 Chevy.  I was going to tell him it was his fault but my life could have been be endangered, so I didn't.  I also restrained my laugh over the phone.  Anyways, I told him not to return it and I would build it for him.  I asked him how he wanted it and he said whatever you like as long as it is factory stock.

So here I am with this "commissioned" build.   I need help with reference material on factory stock color combos.

I opened it and typical AMT the fit is bad and it has more flash than a camera store.  This will be an interesting project.  I'll keep it as close as possible to box stock because I want to finish it soon and present it as a Christmas gift if possible.

Any factory stock color combo reference will be appreciated.  I'm always partial to blues but not necessarily.

Thanks,

Edited September 10, 2018 by ismaelg

[espo]

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. 

[Renegade]

My Grandpa had a black one, my Uncle a light blue one and my Dad a light green one..

[oldnslow]

Maybe , since he saw the box top ? and liked it , paint it like that . Copper bottom w a white top , beige interior , stock wheels and caps . 

[James2]

I really like those kits, And have built a few of them over the years.

Does you dad have any pictures of the car he had in mind?

[Can-Con]

Hi Izzy, I got a chuckle out of your story. 

Anyway, I found this,, Looks like a good site. 

https://51classicchevy.com/1951-chevrolet-body-colors 

There's also the Old Car Manual Project site, The listing for '51 Chevy has a lot of info.

http://www.oldcarbrochures.com/static/NA/Chevrolet/1951_Chevrolet/dirindex.html

Looks like "Trophy Blue" was the only blue offered on a Chevy that year ,, but it's not a bad one.

[Can-Con]

,,,and here's a couple pics of the Bel Air in the grey/blue 2-tone that was available. 

I like it myself.

[ismaelg]

Thanks guys!

I'll check with him. If it has to be factory correct, Trophy blue it is!

But searching online I found this one  painted in non original sky blue with white top that looks very good. 

Thanks,

[ismaelg]

Hello,

   OK, here we go.  First part I touch and there goes the Box Stock idea. 

The hood fit is terrible (typical AMT). So after fiddling around with the body and the hood, I added these strips to help the hood sit properly. After all they are in the 1:1 anyways.

 

 

The fit of the hood is getting better but it still needs a ton of work, especially at the back.

Spent hours removing mold lines and flash!  It was nasty.  These kits are expensive because they have so much extra material
Deepened panel lines around trim, doors, trunk etc. 
First coat of primer reveals some mold lines that still need attention. 

 

Dear Lord! The hood fit is so terrible. I can't live with that.  I have to address it.

Thanks,

[James2]

That kit has so much flash it should be arrested for indecent exposure. But you’ll have it shaped right up. 

[Dave Darby]

8 minutes ago, James2 said:

That kit has so much flash it should be arrested for indecent exposure. 

Now THAT'S comedy! Lol....

[espo]

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. 

[Can-Con]

Izzy, before you get too far into that, I'd take another look at those front fenders and how the inner fenders attach to them.

I did the same thing you did on one I was working on years ago and had to remove the strips. They interfered with the inner fenders. The top edge of them sit against the hood opening and form a lip very close to the same width as the strips you added.

Granted, mine was the Fleetline and the BelAir may not be exactly the same.

 

As for the windshield and rear window, I etched a line around the window trim and sanded it almost flush. Then beveled the openings out slightly so the glass would fit in from the outside. Don't know if you can tell from these pics but the windows look much better.

 

[ismaelg]

Thanks guys!   I'll look into those things! 

This is new territory for me

I admit the shape of this car is growing on me.

[espo]

16 hours ago, Can-Con said:

Izzy, before you get too far into that, I'd take another look at those front fenders and how the inner fenders attach to them.

I did the same thing you did on one I was working on years ago and had to remove the strips. They interfered with the inner fenders. The top edge of them sit against the hood opening and form a lip very close to the same width as the strips you added.

Granted, mine was the Fleetline and the BelAir may not be exactly the same.

 

As for the windshield and rear window, I etched a line around the window trim and sanded it almost flush. Then beveled the openings out slightly so the glass would fit in from the outside. Don't know if you can tell from these pics but the windows look much better.

 

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

[ismaelg]

Hello,

   Adding material to tighten the gaps.

Thanks,

[ismaelg]

Flash? What flash?

So much flash it has been rated "R" 

Thanks,

[64Comet404]

While you are massaging the fit of the hood, you may want to scrounge for some headlight bezels from an AMT '49 or '50 Ford. The headlight assemblies in the Chevy kit leave much to be desired, IMO.

[ismaelg]

Hello,

  After dealing with mold lines from hell, she is now in white primer.  Not shown but started working on the box stock engine as well.  Sorry but AMT quality doesn't cut it for me.  It didn't 10 years ago and it doesn't now.

Thanks,

[Ace-Garageguy]

Espo makes an excellent point about the depth of the window openings. I like these AMT Chevy kits a lot, but what's always driven me to distraction about them is the toylike thickness of the material surrounding the windshield and rear window.

It takes some careful effort with a Dremel and files to correct it, but in my opinion, it makes the model much more realistic.

As the front and rear glass on these cars is a single curve (as opposed to compound), it's easy to make much more real looking "glass" from clear soda bottle stock, too.

[peekay]

Ismael, if I were to build this kit again I would do what you're doing with the hood, but also fix the windows front and back. In particular, the rear window looks pretty funky:

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[espo]

I'm glad to see you're back on this build. You mentioned the hood fitment, and you may have already set what you're going to do there, but as I recall the 1:1 Chevy hoods had a different alignment between the back edge of the hood and cowl just above the front fender. The kit has the back edge of the hood coming to a point at the corner where the hood, cowl, and fender all meet. I think this may be wrong. On the 1:1 the hood ends in a much straighter  up and down line instead of a point.  As I recall the hood meets the front door edge and covers the cowl in that area above the fender. If you google the '49 thru '52 Chevrolet you can see in the pictures what I mean. The back edge of the hood follows the door opening from the fender to the top of the cowl. Most would never notice this but I'm one of the fly ### in the pepper guys and have owned a '51 many many years ago. 

[Dave Darby]

13 hours ago, ismaelg said:

Hello,

  After dealing with mold lines from hell, she is now in white primer.  Not shown but started working on the box stock engine as well.  Sorry but AMT quality doesn't cut it for me.  It didn't 10 years ago and it doesn't now.

Thanks,

The mid 1970s were a huge low point for AMT engineering. Their stuff was pretty crude. Monogram wasn't doing a lot better. Ex:56 and 57 Chevys.

[ismaelg]

Hello gang,

  I've been away for a while as I've been very busy at work.  Time is running out if this is to become a Christmas present.  

This is the farthest I've been to my comfort zone in a long time.  Not because of the subject but because it is a box stock build (what a concept!)  of a pretty bad kit of my least favorite kit manufacturer.

Box stock inline 6 engine. I used metallic paints but nothing factory stock.

 

 

Box stock chassis and suspension. Semi gloss black with drybrushed silver to give it some life.

Roof has been painted white.  First coat of 1956 Nassau blue.  Again, not factory correct but a popular color in the late 50's

Still a long way to go.  I think I'm missing the Christmas window.  This could be either my last of 2018 or my first 2019.

Thanks,

 

[Oldcarfan27]

10 minutes ago, ismaelg said:

Still a long way to go.  I think I'm missing the Christmas window.

I think he'll understand and love it anyway.

Looks good, don't rush it!