Revell '57 Chevy Bel Air

[Plowboy]

That's one sharp looking '57!! Perfect color combo! I noticed the cowl is smooth. Did you fill in the cowl vents also? Nice work!

[440 Dakota]

stunning model beautiful paint

[crazyjim]

Gorgeous build.  Love the SHINY ???

[LouO]

Very nice. Paint still looks wet - great job!

[peekay]

That turned out great!

[Dave Darby]

Gorgeous. Once you get past the curbside aspect of it, this is likely the best proportioned 57 Belair hardtop ever kitted.

[larman]

Beautiful work!!

[Nacho Z]

9 hours ago, Plowboy said:

That's one sharp looking '57!! Perfect color combo! I noticed the cowl is smooth. Did you fill in the cowl vents also? Nice work!

Thanks, Roger!  I did not do anything to the cowl area.  I readily admit to not knowing a lot about 57s so after reading your question I did a quick image search but don’t have a solid answer. Are there cowl vents on 57 Bel Airs?

[Nacho Z]

4 hours ago, Dave Darby said:

Gorgeous. Once you get past the curbside aspect of it, this is likely the best proportioned 57 Belair hardtop ever kitted.

That is what I have read.  I keep a few SnapTite kits and a couple of pre-decorated kits in my stash to use as slump busters.  I was getting bogged down on a Tamiya Porsche 956 build so I turned to this one to give me a sense of progress and accomplishment.  Mission accomplished!

[Plowboy]

3 hours ago, Nacho Z said:

Thanks, Roger!  I did not do anything to the cowl area.  I readily admit to not knowing a lot about 57s so after reading your question I did a quick image search but don’t have a solid answer. Are there cowl vents on 57 Bel Airs?

I did a search also. Turns out, they don't have cowl vents like the '55 and '56. I've never built a '57. I was just expecting them to be there.

[Nacho Z]

1 hour ago, Plowboy said:

I did a search also. Turns out, they don't have cowl vents like the '55 and '56. I've never built a '57. I was just expecting them to be there.

Lol, well we both learned something new!  I was sharing this build on FB while I was building it.  I was showing the grill and rear bumper/taillights.  One guy posted something like “nice job but all 57 Bel Airs had a gold grill”.  I’ll be darned but it looks like he was right.  Now plenty of customs have all chrome grills but from what I could find, it looks like they all originally had gold grills.

Edited December 3, 2019 by Nacho Z

[Modelbuilder Mark]

Very nice rendition of this classic.

[59 Buick]

41 minutes ago, Plowboy said:

I did a search also. Turns out, they don't have cowl vents like the '55 and '56. I've never built a '57. I was just expecting them to be there.

You are right, the 1957 Chevrolet had grilles in the headlight bezels that supplied the interior ventilation. The cowl grille reappeared on the 1958 Chevrolet 

 

Edited December 3, 2019 by 59 Buick

[57peppershaker]

Thats a very nice 57, you nailed it. Interior with rear shelf speakers look great too.

[BeakDoc]

Gorgeous paint! Fine looking build.

[carrucha]

Good job.  Well built and finished.

[Nacho Z]

On 12/2/2019 at 10:27 PM, 59 Buick said:

You are right, the 1957 Chevrolet had grilles in the headlight bezels that supplied the interior ventilation. The cowl grille reappeared on the 1958 Chevrolet 

 

And once again we have a prime example of why this forum is so great!  Thanks, Martin, that is some great info.