1958 Plymouth side trim help?

[mopargreg]

Hi guys,

Im looking to build a 1958 Plymouth. Sorry to say another Christine. Yeah I know another red 1958 Plymouth but to my defense Ive built a few other 1957/1958 Plymouths in other colors. I love my Forward Look Mopars but what I cant stand is the side trim on the AMT kit. The arc in the side trim in the AMT body is just way to much. Yes I may be, being pedantic but I would rather try & fix this issue & be happy with the finished car. As I said Ive built a 58 Plymouth in the past but I sanded off the side trim & down graded it to a Savoy.

Ive got 3 bodies to choose from. The top resin Hardtop is a R&R Resin, the middle resin is a convertible from either Modelhaus or AAM & the bottom grey one is the AMT kit. To my eyes the only one that has the right side trim is the top R&R resin body. Which is what I had planned to use. Im wanting to build Christine but the R&R body has the Fury Badge on the back & if I sand off the badge Ill ruin the trim texture behind. I can't see anyway to remove the Fury badge without destroying the texture? Any ideas?

So Im thinking of saving the R&R body to build a Fury. That leaves me with the AMT body. Im fine with sanding off the side trim & making my own trim out of Evergreen strip styrene. That I'm confident with. My only concern is how to replicate the texture between the trim? Ive included some photos below of the texture. Any ideas as Im stumped? I was possibly thinking masking tape? 

Any ideas would be much appreciated. Thanks in advance.

 

[espo]

I think that while the gray kits body is the most accurate it still isn't 100 %. Look at the shape of the back of the roof in the C pillar area and you can see how it is shorter and drops off faster than the picture of the real car. The good news is it has the 1:1's character line that is between the rear wheel opening and the bottom edge of the body trim. There is a small difference in the chrome body moldings in this area between the Belevidere  and the Fury had a slightly different trim layout in this area.  

[Plowboy]

Here's how I would tackle it. Sand away all of the trim. Replace the trim straight. For the texture between the chrome strips, you can use the foil from a cigarette pack. You can glue it with Elmer's glue. You can add it after paint and before foil. It'll even have the finish you need. I used it on this model to simulate a heat shield.

If I can install a piece this size on smoothly, small strips should be no problem at all.

[moparfarmer]

The whole 58 AMT Plymouth looks like its pushed up in the middle of the door..I've seen lots finished and they look like they got stuck on a high curb that made the body bowed upward in the middle.Nice kit but engine leaves lots to be desired too..

 

[mopargreg]

Thanks for the replies guys.

Espo & moparfarmer, Yes I agree the bodies are not perfect but I feel once the stripe has been removed & the car is finished they look great. Particularly once its behind glass with my other Forward Look Mopars. Im happy to live with the body issues. Ill take some photos when I get a chance of my downgraded Savoy. Just looking for ways to redo the stripe & not loose detail within the trim. 

Plowboy, Thanks looks good & great idea. I don't smoke cigarettes so it maybe hard but Ill see if I can find something similar. 

[MrObsessive]

If you want to work with the AMT kit (foibles and all), I'd go to the craft store such as Michael's for example and look for something called "Cake Decorating Foil". I have a roll of it (buried somewhere) and it has that pattern you're looking for. I have mine in gold, but I do believe it comes in an aluminum as well.

[MrObsessive]

3 hours ago, moparfarmer said:

The whole 58 AMT Plymouth looks like its pushed up in the middle of the door..I've seen lots finished and they look like they got stuck on a high curb that made the body bowed upward in the middle.Nice kit but engine leaves lots to be desired too..

 

Yes, my biggest complaint about the kit the moment I laid eyes on it. I have a way to fix that, but right now it's waaaay down on the totem pole as far as WIP's are concerned. Not for the faint of heart for the average builder, but for those of us that are serious about getting this car to look right, my solution might come in handy.

If you remember my thread from here, I'd have something similar in mind to fix that Belvedere.

[randyc]

And Ertl back in the day, used the same basic pattern bodies for the 1/18 diecasts as well.  No advice on fixing it though.

[Tom Geiger]

For all The whining, I can hardly see the difference in the photos. It’s like the side windows on the 55 Chevy pickup. 

[randyc]

13 hours ago, Tom Geiger said:

For all The whining, I can hardly see the difference in the photos. It’s like the side windows on the 55 Chevy pickup. 

I can see it, but other than remarking on it, have not been overly disturbed by it.  I know it's there, but then I look at something else.  Just glad we had a chance to build it at least once.

[Tom Geiger]

1 hour ago, randyc said:

I can see it, but other than remarking on it, have not been overly disturbed by it.  I know it's there, but then I look at something else.  Just glad we had a chance to build it at least once.

I’m looking at building mine the way it is. That’s better than being paralyzed to not building one.  I do know that when I do and post it Under Glass, instead of admiring my build, guys will post stupid comments about the trim 

[espo]

I built one a few years ago to represent a friends High School ride. I think it looks fine. Not because I built it but because if you're not focusing on the known body issues and just look at how you put it together you'll like it just fine. 

[randyc]

On 6/26/2020 at 10:45 AM, Tom Geiger said:

I’m looking at building mine the way it is. That’s better than being paralyzed to not building one.  I do know that when I do and post it Under Glass, instead of admiring my build, guys will post stupid comments about the trim 

I do like to see them built.   I think I sold mine so none in my collection right now.   I won't mention it again.  Promise.