Green AMT ‘57 Chrysler 300C

[tim boyd]

On 11/21/2023 at 3:38 PM, papajohn97 said:

This was a fun quick effort mostly built OOB of a kit I read good things about. The green I used is called “Parade Green”, a Chrysler factory color in ‘57, for which I used MCW base lacquer with Gunze Mr. Color GX100 lacquer clear coat, all other colors done with Tamiya acrylics. I tried wicking red paint into the circular recess in the kit chrome wheels but it was impossible for me to achieve a clean concentric result so I punched some rings out of masking tape and airbrushed them with gloss red Tamiya acrylic and then just stuck them on like stickers, much better result! The one problem I had with this kit was getting the front chassis + interior to fully seat within the body. Most likely due to error(s) on my part.  I ended up having to squeeze the front end assembly together (causing the chassis to bend upwards), bond it with liquid cement and CA and tape it tight overnight. Not the first AMT kit that I have had this issue with (looking at you ‘62 Bel Air!). Despite this issue, I’m happy with the finish and really like the look of this shade of green on this car. Cheers, John

some outdoor shots:

 

John...that came out great!  Your Parade Green just looks terrific.  

Regarding some of the comments above, the '57 300C was actually restricted to five (not three) regular production colors only, of which Parade Green was one.  The others were white, black, Copper Brown Metallic, and Gaugin Red - which was an organgish/peach solid (non-metallic) shade.  A few special-order colors slipped out of the factory, including one painted in the dark hunter green that was part of the broader paint palette available for other 1957 Chryslers.  The AMT/Ertl pre-painted kit dark green mentioned above is actually a very close, but not quite exact, representation of that color.   

Guys, also note that John applied the Parade Green to the areas around headlamps, which are plated in the kit but need to wear body color paint, as he hasd done here.  Given the configuration of the kit, that is very difficult to do.  

John....big, big congrats from this corner, and thanks for sharing with us...TIM   

Edited November 23, 2023 by tim boyd

[tim boyd]

20 hours ago, mr moto said:

That looks terrific! The 300C actually was only available in three colors from the factory: red, white or black. Your build shows what a bad decision Chrysler made on that one. It looks way better than any of the standard colors. Great build!

As noted above, the '57 300C was actually available in five regular production colors including Parade Green.  It was '55 300 that was restricted to three colors, the ones you list if I am recalling correctly...TB 

[papajohn97]

22 hours ago, Supernurd said:

 

Hang on a minute.  I'm gonna put on a suit and tie, open the door and drive away!

 

Absolutely! I can see Don Draper (Mad Men) cruising through Manhattan in this beast (although I think he drove a blue Caddie coupe IIRC).

3 hours ago, tim boyd said:

Guys, also note that John applied the Parade Green to the areas around headlamps, which are plated in the kit but need to wear body color paint, as he hasd done here.  Given the configuration of the kit, that is very difficult to do.

Thanks Tim. Painting the inner areas of these chrome headlight inserts actually wasn’t that hard to do. I punch out round tape masks for each of the headlight bezels using hypo tube punches (made years ago, I use these a lot for rounds/ fillets in masking) and then just applied liquid masks around the parimeter of each insert. I then airbrushed the green base paint and then removed the masking and did a few Molotow touch-ups where the chrome plating was damaged.

Thank you all for all the other observations and nice comments above, it’s always very helpful and encouraging for me to share builds on this forum! John

Edited November 23, 2023 by papajohn97
Spelling

[Danno]

4 hours ago, tim boyd said:

As noted above, the '57 300C was actually available in five regular production colors including Parade Green.  It was '55 300 that was restricted to three colors, the ones you list if I am recalling correctly...TB 

I, for one, stand corrected.  Obviously mixing and mismatching '55 and '57 info. Sorry about that. 

[1959scudetto]

John, this is an excellent model of the best-looking "forward look" Virgil Exner-designed cars - the metallic green paint is awesome - best choice !

[slusher]

Fantastic looking 300!

[70 Sting]

Absolutely gorgeous. ?