1955 CHEVY BELAIR CORVETTE

[E St. Kruiser50]

Dave, this is coming along very nicely...I really like the interior door panels...very nice, they will look great once painted.....Mono Tone???? Two Tone??? Tri Tone???? Either way, this looks great and the individual seats look sharp too. I don't recall if you mentioned it before, but I assume the body is going to be two toned...yes? As for the hinge design, very nice...I have used the "double hinge" design before where it pivots from both ends like this...pretty sharp. Keep it up.

Hey Peter

You changed your AVATAR to the CYBELE ( I CHANGED THE SPELLING ) car. LOVE THAT CAR.....and the dogs...OH MY GOSH

Edited April 17, 2009 by Treehugger Dave

[Peter Lombardo]

Dave, you are very observant. Actually, I finally added an Avatar for the first time. I was getting a few things ready for the NNL East tomorrow and I needed to attach a picture of the Cybele to a little “standup†sign to go alongside the car and it occurred to me to use it for my avatar picture. So I finally got around to it…I also added a picture of me, and my wife, and a brief statement to my personal page/data. Sometimes I am just a little slow.

I am looking forward to the NNL East tomorrow, although part of me will be missing my Saturday morning round of golf on the FIRST really nice Saturday of this spring golf season. I hope the weather holds out for Sunday morning or I will be a very grumpy camper.

I am bringing 11 cars to the NNL East tomorrow and am looking forward to seeing the response I get to my remote control sunroof in my 1958 Chevy Impala. I painted the remote to match the car right down to the pearl white scallops. It should be fun to open or close the roof from a distance when someone is looking at the car and not aware of the motorization. We’ll see….my luck the motor will seize up or something tomorrow. I have plenty of new batteries so we’ll see how it goes.

[E St. Kruiser50]

Dave, you are very observant. Actually, I finally added an Avatar for the first time. I was getting a few things ready for the NNL East tomorrow and I needed to attach a picture of the Cybele to a little “standup†sign to go alongside the car and it occurred to me to use it for my avatar picture. So I finally got around to it…I also added a picture of me, and my wife, and a brief statement to my personal page/data. Sometimes I am just a little slow.

I am looking forward to the NNL East tomorrow, although part of me will be missing my Saturday morning round of golf on the FIRST really nice Saturday of this spring golf season. I hope the weather holds out for Sunday morning or I will be a very grumpy camper.

I am bringing 11 cars to the NNL East tomorrow and am looking forward to seeing the response I get to my remote control sunroof in my 1958 Chevy Impala. I painted the remote to match the car right down to the pearl white scallops. It should be fun to open or close the roof from a distance when someone is looking at the car and not aware of the motorization. We’ll see….my luck the motor will seize up or something tomorrow. I have plenty of new batteries so we’ll see how it goes.

There will be a bunch of OUR GUYS there this week-end.

Have lots of fun with everyone AT THE NNL EAST and tell everyone DAVE SAID "HI" AND WISHES HE WAS THERE TOO .

[CB]

Nice to see the '55 again Dave. Love the macro shots--aint macro a blast!? Wish I could 'see' thataway when I'm working on the models!

Are you gonna be opening the doors up on this?

Looking forward to seeing more progress pix, gotta say tho, I likes the colors already--the dark grey seats with the grey primer-- looks good!

[Bernard Kron]

I got to see the "shorty" '59 "in the flesh" last Saturday at the Pacific Northwest Model Car Fest NNL. It was even better than the pictures show. And now the "stretch" version is well on its way to being its equal. Dave, you really have "the eye" - these marriages of old and new really work! The interior on this one is truly inspired.

Dave, thanx for sharing your time with me last weekend. I learned a lot! I can't wait to see more of this build and, of course, the Corvette on the cover of the July MCM (it's gonna be a killer).

B.

[E St. Kruiser50]

I got to see the "shorty" '59 "in the flesh" last Saturday at the Pacific Northwest Model Car Fest NNL. It was even better than the pictures show. And now the "stretch" version is well on its way to being its equal. Dave, you really have "the eye" - these marriages of old and new really work! The interior on this one is truly inspired.

Dave, thanx for sharing your time with me last weekend. I learned a lot! I can't wait to see more of this build and, of course, the Corvette on the cover of the July MCM (it's gonna be a killer).

B.

Hey Bernard

It was great to meet you and visit with you too.

Hope you had as much fun at the NNL as we did.

Hope to see you again - dave

Edited April 23, 2009 by Treehugger Dave

[E St. Kruiser50]

Nice to see the '55 again Dave. Love the macro shots--aint macro a blast!? Wish I could 'see' thataway when I'm working on the models!

Are you gonna be opening the doors up on this?

Looking forward to seeing more progress pix, gotta say tho, I likes the colors already--the dark grey seats with the grey primer-- looks good!

Macro shots are great . Don't need a new camera now

Door's won't be opened on this one John.

I hope for it to be done next month, as we are havin' an inter-club challange, and I'm bulding it for that mini-contest.

PIZZA and lies - what fun .

Edited April 23, 2009 by Treehugger Dave

[E St. Kruiser50]

Hey all

Took 3 or 4 days off from building to think about the interior colors and get some other stuff done - LIKE PLAY IN THE SUN.

WE GO CRAZY WHEN THE SUN COME'S OUT, HERE IN OREGON .

Got some serious sun and am I BROWN - LOVE THE TAN .

Anyhow, got a chance to cut up the seats for a multi-color paint scheme, and did some other detailing.

Changed the color combo, and I really like it now.

Also doing some final detail finishing. Got the dash drilled out for some knob's. A photo-etched steering wheel assembled, and the rotors covered with foil and ready to punch out the cooling holes that I drilled out like on the "RETRO-VETTE.

Doing some final detailing on the firewall, and on the under-side of the hood. Coupla day's and everything will get covered with urethane primer.

Here's an update pic.

Edited April 28, 2009 by Treehugger Dave

[E St. Kruiser50]

I cut the seats and door panels into more pieces to get the detail and color's I wanted without having to tape everything off.

Yeah, more work, but much more realistic and more cleanly built, with seperate pieces.

This way I could shoot urethanes and lacquers, and not worry about cross system problems.

Also I used a lot of intricate decaling to get the colors, contrasts, and style that I wanted to create.

I wanted the interior to have a Crisp", almost "Machined look", using gloss aluminum on the door panels, lower portion of the dash integrated into a part of the center console, seat inserts, and the silver suede carpet.

I polished the urethane clear about 16 hours after it was sprayed, according to the HOK Tech Manual.

Here's some pic's - hope you enjoy.

[Foxer]

That interior is gorgeous!! .. can't wait to see all the panels in place.

The windshield (!!!) ... that sits really nice on the car ... don't think we've seen that before.. or the paint is just making it pop.

and then there's the paint ... first, I love the color. Next, I know you're going to tell us you haven't even thought about any polishing yet .. but I can already see outside your window in it!!!!!

[E St. Kruiser50]

That interior is gorgeous!! .. can't wait to see all the panels in place.

The windshield (!!!) ... that sits really nice on the car ... don't think we've seen that before.. or the paint is just making it pop.

and then there's the paint ... first, I love the color. Next, I know you're going to tell us you haven't even thought about any polishing yet .. but I can already see outside your window in it!!!!!

Thanks Mike

Yeah, the windshield frame has been there, but like you said, the contrast makes it stand out more. I'll spray it semi-gloss black, and the windshield will get a black tint, using Testor's spray tint.

The green color is a two-stage urethane I had custom mixed. Kinda bright, but I like it.

The wheels that go on it are beautiful. Can't wait to get everything fitted together and finish assembling it.

[E St. Kruiser50]

Mocked up for pic's.

Havin' fun Super-detailing the interior. Got the dash done with all it's seperate knobs, and being sp;it apart, painted and re-assembled.

Took a few days off for other fun stuff, but ready now to start finishin' this ol' gal.

Last major part is stretchin' the exhaust, and some re-routing for the muffler's.

Here's some pic's.

[JDMcorolla]

WOW, love the green. great work . i hope that some day i will have the skill to do a build like this.

[Raul_Perez]

WOW!!

With that color, I think you can turn off the lights in the room and still find that one in the dark!!

As usual, the detailing looks GREAT!!

It looks like this one is quickly headed "Under Glass"!!

Later,

[E St. Kruiser50]

It looks like this one is quickly headed "Under Glass"!!

Later,

Hey Raul

Probably another week or so, as I'm in a "DODDLING MOOD" - NO HURRY.

At this point it's fun for me to take my time and not mess up anything.

Now it's just assembly time, and a little fitting and adjusting, as all the hard part is done .

BESIDES, THE SUN WILL BE OUT STARTING TOMORROW, SO I'LL BE OFF TO PLAY OUTSIDE FOR A FEW DAY'S - EEEHAH

Edited May 8, 2009 by Treehugger Dave

[E St. Kruiser50]

[Raul_Perez]

Where did the wheels come from, Dave? They look pretty BIG!!

[E St. Kruiser50]

Where did the wheels come from, Dave? They look pretty BIG!!

YES INDEEDY

Been havin' "Withdrawls" usin' stock wheels on the last couple a build's, and had to revert back to my addiction to 24 incher's - MAN THAT FEELS GOOD

Lotta guy's hate these kinda wheels, but OH WELL I LOVE UM - dave

[Raul_Perez]

...Lotta guy's hate these kinda wheels, but OH WELL I LOVE UM - dave

And that's all that really matters!

Later,

[Foxer]

so, size DOES matter! I was never expecting lolo wheels on this, but of course, they DO look great!

Only trouble is, now you'll have to model a jack in the trunk that can lift the car 36" to change a flat. ;)

[E St. Kruiser50]

so, size DOES matter! I was never expecting lolo wheels on this, but of course, they DO look great!

Only trouble is, now you'll have to model a jack in the trunk that can lift the car 36" to change a flat. ;)

Yeah, the jack'll be the hard part, just to fit in the trunk .

[gilsdropshop1]

GREAT WORK I LOVE IT ALL! KEEP PICS COMING

[E St. Kruiser50]

Got a couple of real nice die-cast '55's, that I'm using the emblems and some trim from, for more realism.

QUALITY DIE CAST STUFF CAN BE KILLER .

Again, I like to stylize a classic style by making it look more contemporary, but keeping it very recognizeable.

The emblems and trim are so retro/Art deco, that smoothing the car is a style from the past, and to me, these beautiful emblems that are simple works of art on their own, ans I believe should be recognized for what they are, and used to give the look "MORE CLASS".

Anyhow, that's my take on it, and I will continue to pursue that look.

BARE METAL FOILDid the front fender spears and the V8 emblems under the tail-lights, to continue the theme.

[PITTSBURGH412]

wounderful work here, i cant wait to see this done!!

[Foxer]

Got a couple of real nice die-cast '55's, that I'm using the emblems and some trim from, for more realism.

QUALITY DIE CAST STUFF CAN BE KILLER .

I was going to ask how you painted that bowtie on the rear emblem ....

I like the balance now of the rocker trim piece with the other chrome showing ... does the hood nose still have a chrome piece?