1957 Chezamo

[Peter Lombardo]

Chezamo

Back in 1998, I picked up the AMT 1957 Chevrolet Pro Shop kit, you know, the one with the yellow and white coupe on the top. I thought it was a huge improvement for AMT, I mean; it even included very well done photo-etched pieces. But as much as I was impressed with the kit, I could not bring myself to build it in a stock or even a mild custom version so it sat on my shelf for many years.

A few years ago, after seeing the 1956 Chevy Foose designed, “Once A Knight†built for Christopher Titus and the 1956 “clone†of it he built for Overhaulin’, I built a close copy of that car (pictures included)from the Revell 1956 Del Ray kit. As I was doing that car, it occurred to me that that style of treatment would work on the 1957. Besides, Thom Taylor’s design, built by the late Boyd Coddington, “Chezoomâ€, had a similar look to it. Now, I did not want to copy, or start with the kit of the Chezoom, as many modelers have reworked that kit in every imaginable way so the AMT ’57 was a great starting point. So, a few years ago, I cut off the top, but work stalled at that point as I could not decide what direction I wanted to go after that.

Then, about a year ago, my son picked up a 1996 AMT Camaro Convertible kit at a swap meet that’s body had all the beginnings of a classic “Glue Bombâ€. But looking at the huge windshield, convertible top, dashboard and interior, it hit me that it all might fit into the ’57 with a little gentle coaxing. Once I worked that out, I found a custom lower front grill opening from the parts box that came from the first generation AMT ’57 Chevy. It was adjusted to fit, but the front end and fenders sides seemed too heavy, so a thin pie wedge was cut out from the front fenders and the grill opening was also thinned down in the same operation. Then to add a little curve to the fender tops, I glued some plastic strips to the tops of the front fenders and finished that off with body putty. The two doors were moved back about a scale foot and then opened up, so as to better fit the new dash, interior door panels and windshield.

The twin hood scoops were filled in and smoothed out. The headlight bezels are stock but the headlight lenses were replaced with HO scale MU “Jewel†lights. The rear view mirrors started as the Camaro units with putty fabricated front extensions. All of the stock side moldings were removed and new moldings were made from strip styrene loosely following the side pattern from the Chezoom. All moldings were then covered with Bare Metal Foil. The only change to the rear are the kit bumper was de-chromed, sanded smooth and a license plate indent was created and the exhaust outlet pipes were relocated just under the stock taillights. The chrome “Vee’s†on the nose and tail came from the chrome tree of the kit. I did not use any of the AMT Photo-etched parts on this car; I am saving them for a mild street rod version of the “sister†kit to this one that does not have the photo-etched pieces. The engine is a very crazy mix of, AMT 1949 Mercury Chrysler Max Wedge block, exhaust and heads. The intake is a metal casting Chevy fuel injection system from Curbside Dioramics and the block is painted the same as the car and induction system is Tester’s Burnt Metal gray.

The chassis is also a mix of components. The front suspension is lowered and modified from the ’57 Chevy and the rear is a modified version of the Camaro underpinnings. The frame rails were modified to fit the new rear and it is also painted with the same color combo as the engine. The rear wheel wells were removed and replaced with units from an old Viper Roadster kit. The exhaust is custom made from solder and Aluminum tubing. And the wheels are Pegasus #2298 23†DZ’s Chrome. The convertible top is from the Camaro, but the convertible boot is custom made from sheet plastic. The interior is basically right out of the Camaro, painted gray and gun metal, carpeting is black embossing powder sprinkled over flat black paint. Seat belts are photo-etched buckles with tape belts.

The body was primed and then painted Mopar Viper Silver as a base. The top paint is a mix of Russet Red pigment from jacquard Pearl Ex Pigment powder and clear lacquer thinned out for my airbrush, sanded smooth and then topped with clear lacquer and then sanded and rubbed out with wax. I know I have run long here, so I will spare you the detail of the paint, but as I have stated before, this “color pigment†mixed with clear is so cool. It is the neatest paint I have ever used, and I plan to try many variations and custom mixes with it …..I love it.

As much as I like the look of the car with the top down, I think it looks even better with the convertible top up. If I owned a 1957 Chevy, this is the way I would want it to look, assuming I had the coin available to convert it.

Edited September 18, 2008 by Peter Lombardo

[Peter Lombardo]

Edited September 18, 2008 by Peter Lombardo

[lonewolf]

That's some of the nicest work I've ever seen. Great vision Peter.

[evilone]

thats hot

very clean bro

to bad we will never see that happen in real life

[RadRidesByDan]

###### Bro....thats a lot of hard kick @$$ work on those 2 Chevys. Nice work in intergrating the camaro interior with windshield to the 57. Outright AWSOM

[Lyle Willits]

Wow. I mean,,,,,,,,,,WOW! Fantastic builds.

[3men2s]

I CAN'T BREATHE..................

[ismaelg]

That is some superb craftsmanship! And that goes for both builds!

[cruz]

Boyd and Foose aprooved!!!! Awesome work as always man!!!!!

[george 53]

Pete, Those cars are beautiful!!!! Great builds! The colors really pop an finish up the job!Again GREAT BUILDS!

[Olle F]

That's some incredible bodywork! It's always interesting to see what comes off your workbench and this is no exception, both those models are top notch. But at the same time I'm glad that you don't have the dough to do that to a real '57.

BTW, the '57 sure lends itself to modifications like that and I actually built something similar many years ago, based on a shortened/widened '57 Pro Sportsman body and a Viper. I think I still got some pictures somewhere...

[Peter Lombardo]

Guys, thank you very much for the VERY kind words. I really appreciate your thoughts on the builds. Ok Olle, let’s see your version of the ’57. I am sure it is an eye full.

Thanks again guys. I can’t wait to post the pictures and the story surrounding my next completion. It is very different and I think it will border on “artâ€. I know some guys have speculated as to whether or not building model cars is art or not. That is open to individual interpretation, but I think my next build (if I can finish it as I want to)will be “artsyâ€. But of course, I can be out of my mind too. So, we'll see.

[ModelKing]

great builds i remember when chip did that car i was going to wyotech and thats where they built it.It was crazy while he was there. if i can find the pics i took of the 1.1 car i will put them up.

thank you there awsome

[Olle F]

Ok Olle, let’s see your version of the ’57. I am sure it is an eye full.

Alright, I don't know if it's an eyefull or not, but this is what it looks like. These pics were taken about 10-12 years ago with the first digital camera I ever laid my hands on, so the quality is pretty lousy. I think I have better pictures somewhere on my home computer though, if anyone is interested. It's just a slammer I built to see if I was capable of any major body mods, so there's no engine, opening doors or anything much exciting about it.

[george 53]

Hey, I like it Ollie! The NICEST 57 Cheviper I ever seen!!!! Great job!!!

[Harry P.]

So this is what happens when a Viper dresses like a '57 Chevy for Halloween?

[Peter Lombardo]

Ollie, that is pretty neat. It reminds me of the concept cars that GM did in the mid 50’s. The Corvette was getting a lot of attention, so the designers banged out “Corvette clone†concepts for some of the other divisions. I like how you intergraded the Viper styling cues into the shortened ’57 body. Its how old?....The paint still looks wet! Well done.

[Olle F]

Ollie, that is pretty neat. It reminds me of the concept cars that GM did in the mid 50’s. The Corvette was getting a lot of attention, so the designers banged out “Corvette clone†concepts for some of the other divisions. I like how you intergraded the Viper styling cues into the shortened ’57 body. Its how old?....The paint still looks wet! Well done.

Thanks, Peter! These pictures were taken maybe a year after I built it, which was before the putty shrunk enough to show all the seams... I'm not sure if I want to show what it looks like today. Anyway, I used two '57 bodies, sliced them a bit offset and glued the wider halves together to make the body wider. Then I shortened it, grafted in the Viper hood and the section around the interior, plus some other fitting to make it look right. I think the body is made up of about 20 pieces from two '57 bodies and one Viper body. I don't think I'll do something like that again.

[ChevyFan]

Awesome builds. All 3 of them. Well done Peter and Ollie.

I actually got back into the hobby just recently because of some of the cars that Peter built. Found them by accident when looking for some car pics. Very inspirational.

Now if only I could do something half that good.

[gary westervelt]

Both of you desrve a pat on the back.Some of the nicest builds I've ever laid eyes on.Thanks for sharin them with us.And Peter,thanks for the overveiw of what you done.Pics say a thousand words but it's nice to read the work that someone put into a build.

[hobbyridden]

Awesome work. Lot of fabricating

[Rick Forrester]

papafo here, great build. hope to see it some at a show or between the pages of MODEL CARS MAGAZINE GREG.

[Modellpularn]

Great looking Chevies Peter! The '57 looks much better without the uptop. The '56 was also very nice!

[Modellpularn]

Thanks, Peter! These pictures were taken maybe a year after I built it, which was before the putty shrunk enough to show all the seams... I'm not sure if I want to show what it looks like today. Anyway, I used two '57 bodies, sliced them a bit offset and glued the wider halves together to make the body wider. Then I shortened it, grafted in the Viper hood and the section around the interior, plus some other fitting to make it look right. I think the body is made up of about 20 pieces from two '57 bodies and one Viper body. I don't think I'll do something like that again.

Hej Olle, what did you do with the leftover narrow halves?? A rod highboy?? Or.... Bonneville streamliner maybe...??

'Later, Hasse

[juergen]

hi !!!

absolutly great scratch building !!! how many hours do you work on this project?

i like it !!!

greets jürgen