1992 Chevy Silverado Sport

[av405]

Here's my next project: A 1992 Chevy C-1500 Silverado with the Sport Appearance package. Though the Sport has many visual similarities with the 454 SS performance truck, the Sport was essentially just a regular Silverado model with a sportier shell. This will be a fairly straightforward curbside build, which will be a relief after having spent so much time on the 1996 Tahoe PPV conversion project I'm about to complete. I like to alternate between complicated and simple projects. 

A little backstory behind my choice: In an effort to keep things as simple as possible, I looked at the recent issue of the AMT 1992 Silverado kit and looked at what I could build with just the box stock options.

I simply couldn't pass up the opportunity to use the Sport decal sheets:

 

So why a 1992? I did some research and the Sport package seems to have been offered from 1989-1997, with the Sport exterior decals being changed for 1992. The decal sheet carries both the 1989-1991 Sport decals and the 1992-1997 versions. I like the 1992 version more with the larger canted  "Sport" decal on the side of the bed.

I opened up the kit and began the initial prepping process, including removing parts from the sprues. Since it's a snap kit, there are minimal parts. I only found two issues with the production of the kit itself. The first one is this pinhole on top of the dash that I'll fix with some putty:

The second is the warped hood. Since this will be a curbside build, I'm going to glue the hood shut. But it is a bit annoying that the hood on the AMT C-3500 Dually companion kit that I built last year had the same exact warped hood, even on the same side. Maybe its just my bad luck. 

Overall, this should make for a straightforward build. Stay tuned.

 

[av405]

Since the bumpers will be body color and the grill will be black, I stripped the chrome off of these pieces with an overnight soak of Super Clean degreaser:

I removed any imperfections,  including mold lines and evidence of sprue attachments, and sanded every piece with 600 grit sanding sponges. I then washed every piece with warm water mixed with Dawn and scrubbed with a clean toothbrush. Today, I primed every piece that will be painted and gave the chassis a few coats of black primer. This picture gives a good idea for the low parts count as only the wheels, windows, and headlight/taillight lenses are missing. 

I then moved on to the tires and wheels. The kit comes with two wheel options, one of which are the Sport 2WD wheels. They are of a different design to the wheels that AMT previously tooled up for the 454SS truck decades ago. The only real improvement is that the wheel vents are open:

But it goes downhill from there. In place of the Chevy bowtie, there is only a linear bar on the center caps. The kit's decal sheet comes with center cap decals, but they will have a rough go at staying in place on top of the bar. I recommend snipping off the bar on the center cap and then putting the center cap decal. Compare these to the older 454SS wheels with the Chevy logo:

I used a black paint marker with a fine tip to paint in the lug nuts and the center cap:

I'm a little disappointed that AMT went through the effort of making excellent Sport decals, but didn't include Sport-style center caps compared to the regular center cap decals they included. It's not a deal breaker for me, but it would have really completed the decal sheet. Since this is such a fine detail, i simply painted the center of the hubcap red to give it some of that pop that the 1:1 version has:

And now the wheels. At this point, much has been said about how terrible they are. Especially compared to the wheels that the original line of AMT Chevy truck kits came with. The size isn't right and they just look so plain and flat. But with the absence of better options (and a desire to build as box stock as possible), I used them. I sanded the tread on every tire with 400 grit sanding sticks and sanded the sidewalls with 1000 grit sanding sponges:

Since the wheels have outer ribs, I had a hard time getting them into the tires. I shaved off some of the inner sidewall circumference to get the wheels to pop in. 

I know that maybe it sounds like I'm dumping on AMT a bit, but I mean it as constructive criticism and information for anybody reading this thread. This kit really is a lot of fun to build and a great slump buster due to its simplicity. A lot can be done to improve some of its shortcomings. 

 

[slusher]

Alberto was there any of that brown lacquer under your Crome?   I have a hard time getting it off worse on AMT kits..

[av405]

19 minutes ago, slusher said:

Alberto was there any of that brown lacquer under your Crome?   I have a hard time getting it off worse on AMT kits..

Not as far as I can tell, just the yellow film. I left the parts soaking for about 16 hours. By the time I took a toothbrush to the parts to get the last bit of chrome off, everything had pretty much fallen off already.

[DJMar]

On 3/24/2025 at 10:39 AM, av405 said:

The second is the warped hood. Since this will be a curbside build, I'm going to glue the hood shut. But it is a bit annoying that the hood on the AMT C-3500 Dually companion kit that I built last year had the same exact warped hood, even on the same side. Maybe its just my bad luck.

If it makes you feel better, I've got a warped hood in the latest issue of this kit as well. Seems to be a thing.

[av405]

On 3/25/2025 at 2:52 PM, DJMar said:

If it makes you feel better, I've got a warped hood in the latest issue of this kit as well. Seems to be a thing.

It makes me a little more disappointed to hear that this is a common issue with these newly-tooled kits.

[WillyBilly]

The tires are a little tall, but not too big. The stock base tires were a 235/75/15 and the sport was the same, and the 454SS was 275/60/15 which is shorter than the 235 by 9/10". The tires in the kit look more like a 235/85 which would not be a 15 in, but a 16" for a 3/4-1 ton trucks. 

Edited March 27 by WillyBilly

[av405]

17 hours ago, WillyBilly said:

The tires are a little tall, but not too big. The stock base tires were a 235/75/15 and the sport was the same, and the 454SS was 275/60/15 which is shorter than the 235 by 9/10". The tires in the kit look more like a 235/85 which would not be a 15 in, but a 16" for a 3/4-1 ton trucks. 

Thank you for the technical info, very interesting. I think my biggest gripe about the kit wheels is that the sidewalls just look very flat. More so compared to other AMT OBS truck tires.

[titino]

Hi Alberto, interesting project. I wasn't aware of this kit. I'll keep an eye out.

[Jordan White]

On 3/27/2025 at 7:05 AM, WillyBilly said:

The tires are a little tall, but not too big. The stock base tires were a 235/75/15 and the sport was the same, and the 454SS was 275/60/15 which is shorter than the 235 by 9/10". The tires in the kit look more like a 235/85 which would not be a 15 in, but a 16" for a 3/4-1 ton trucks. 

You could get the 275s on most 2WD trucks with the optional handling package. Fireball Modelworks sells a great set of BFG Radial T/A's in this size.

[av405]

6 hours ago, titino said:

Hi Alberto, interesting project. I wasn't aware of this kit. I'll keep an eye out.

Thank you. This kit has lots of potential, I really do recommend it. Happy modeling!

1 hour ago, Jordan White said:

You could get the 275s on most 2WD trucks with the optional handling package. Fireball Modelworks sells a great set of BFG Radial T/A's in this size.

So the BFG Radial T/A's would be correct for my build? My apologies, I'm not all that well-versed on tires.

[Jordan White]

3 hours ago, av405 said:

Thank you. This kit has lots of potential, I really do recommend it. Happy modeling!

So the BFG Radial T/A's would be correct for my build? My apologies, I'm not all that well-versed on tires.

They will be close enough to the factory tire, you may have to do some trimming on the wheels for them to fit in the tires since they are not hollow like the kit’s.

[Valvefloat]

Yes to the 275/60/15s

I remember building a Stepside version of the 454SS kit and I sanded the back of the grille to make it open .

Ill follow this, maybe find this kit to do a version in Hugger orange.

[av405]

I'm still looking at whether I will go for other wheels after this discussion. I'll advise if I change my mind. 

In the meantime, I did some work on the interior. I'm replicating the Garnet Red interior option, which will be a nice companion to the bright red exterior color.

For this color, I went with Tamiya TS-33 Dull Red. The interior tub will get a flocking treatment to simulate carpet. I attempted to paint the door handles/buttons, but the detail is so faint that I'm choosing not to bother.

As the paint's name suggests, the dull red is just a dark flat red color. It was a little too flat for the dash:

I sprayed the dash components with Tamiya TS-79 semi gloss clear to give it more of the Armor All look that a plastic dash of this era would have: 

And here is the completed dash:

The pinhole on the dash was filled in:

For this release, the decal sheet includes decals for most of the dash (radio, instrument cluster, control gauges, etc. I just want to point out a few things:

- The decals are too shiny. I suggest giving them a semi-gloss clear for a more realistic appearance.

- Trim the outer edges of the decals for better fitment. Especially with the instrument cluster decal.

- In my opinion, these decals will not good on an irregular surface. It is hard to get a good look when they are over already molded-in details on the dash. This is why I skipped using the radio decal (which is black instead of a more correct light grey) and a separate piece that goes on the left side of the steering wheel. My dash is a combination of kit-supplied decals and hand painted details. 

Edited April 7 by av405

[Valvefloat]

4 hours ago, av405 said:

I'm still looking at whether I will go for other wheels after this discussion. I'll advise if I change my mind. 

In the meantime, I did some work on the interior. I'm replicating the Garnet Red interior option, which will be a nice companion to the bright red exterior color.

For this color, I went with Tamiya TS-33 Dull Red. The interior tub will get a flocking treatment to simulate carpet. I attempted to paint the door handles/buttons, but the detail is so faint that I'm choosing not to bother.

As the paint's name suggests, the dull red is just a dark flat red color. It was a little too flat for the dash:

I sprayed the dash components with Tamiya TS-79 semi gloss clear to give it more of the Armor All look that a plastic dash of this era would have: 

And here is the completed dash:

The pinhole on the dash was filled in:

For this release, the decal sheet includes decals for most of the dash (radio, instrument cluster, control gauges, etc. I just want to point out a few things:

- The decals are too shiny. I suggest giving them a semi-gloss clear for a more realistic appearance.

- Trim the outer edges of the decals for better fitment. Especially with the instrument cluster decal.

- In my opinion, these decals will not good on an irregular surface. It is hard to get a good look when they are over already molded-in details on the dash. This is why I skipped using the radio decal (which is black instead of a more correct light grey) and a separate piece that goes on the left side of the steering wheel. My dash is a combination of kit-supplied decals and hand painted details. 

That Dull red looks brownish but smooth application.

[espo]

Solvaset may help on the really small decals where the dash gauges have raised features on them. 

[DJMar]

On 4/7/2025 at 8:09 PM, Valvefloat said:

That Dull red looks brownish but smooth application.

The Garnet Red is a tough color to replicate exactly. It's more of a maroon, definitely brownish red, but not as brown as the Tamiya TS-33. The last time I tried to find a close match I went with a Tru Color paint from their railroad line, I think.

The interior finishing is also complicated by the fact that the seat insets and the top of the door panels are a different pattern materiel and have a slightly lighter shade.

 

[titino]

It looks very pretty

[Ace-Garageguy]

Looking like a good build.  

I think that particular OBS Chevy is the last really good looking pickup GM built. Clean styling, nothing forced or gimicky, just a truck that isn't stoopid huge, is at the right height to actually work out of, and isn't trying to be a luxo ride.

I must like 'em. I have 2 real ones, a '92 extended cab Silverado and an '89 GMC longbed fleet stripper.  

[slusher]

Dash and interior is looking very nice!  I have been hopeful that maybe hobby lobby would get some of these trucks in!

[av405]

On 4/7/2025 at 8:09 PM, Valvefloat said:

That Dull red looks brownish but smooth application.

It is definitely browner than the real-life Garnet Red, but it looks redder in person. Maybe next time I'll experiment with a white primer base to see if the dull red pops just a bit more.

On 4/8/2025 at 10:14 AM, espo said:

Solvaset may help on the really small decals where the dash gauges have raised features on them. 

I've found that if the features are too raised or there are uneven features, the decals look unrealistic. But yes, a product like solvaset does help with dash instrument clusters since the details on those tend to be much more subtle. I ended up using the decal for the AC that goes to the right of the steering wheel, but not the piece on the left side or the radio decal.

On 4/9/2025 at 10:26 AM, DJMar said:

The Garnet Red is a tough color to replicate exactly. It's more of a maroon, definitely brownish red, but not as brown as the Tamiya TS-33. The last time I tried to find a close match I went with a Tru Color paint from their railroad line, I think.

The interior finishing is also complicated by the fact that the seat insets and the top of the door panels are a different pattern materiel and have a slightly lighter shade.

 

I agree. TS-33 is about as close as I can get. I also found that spraying some semi-gloss clear makes it pop a bit more, especially on areas like the dash which are plastic in real life. I'm always open to new suggestions regarding paint. 

I thought about replicating the different shades of red depending on the pattern material, but the detail is just too faint and hard to do for the interior tub. At least for my skill level. 

On 4/9/2025 at 11:16 AM, titino said:

It looks very pretty

Thank you!

On 4/9/2025 at 11:40 AM, Ace-Garageguy said:

Looking like a good build.  

I think that particular OBS Chevy is the last really good looking pickup GM built. Clean styling, nothing forced or gimicky, just a truck that isn't stoopid huge, is at the right height to actually work out of, and isn't trying to be a luxo ride.

I must like 'em. I have 2 real ones, a '92 extended cab Silverado and an '89 GMC longbed fleet stripper.  

OBS trucks have really grown on me the last few years. And I say that as a Ford guy! I personally think the GMT800s were the last good looking GM trucks. They rapidly went down hill after that. 

On 4/12/2025 at 8:55 PM, slusher said:

Dash and interior is looking very nice!  I have been hopeful that maybe hobby lobby would get some of these trucks in!

Thank you!

The interior is done. I applied flocking to the floor to simulate carpet. I left the side door panels alone as I just found the detail to be too faint or non-existent to paint. Again, something else that I find disappointing about this kit since it is a new tooling.

The interior may be too brown for some when compared to Garnet red, but I don't have a better alternative at the moment. 

The body parts and bumpers are all primed. I started with Tamiya Grey Primer and moved up to Tamiya Pink primer. I no longer use Tamiya primers as I am now an avid fan of the Mr. Hobby/Mr. Surfacer line of primers, but these are still good and I wanted to run through my old supply. I also wanted to see how the Pink primer would help with getting me close to the real truck's bright Victory Red paint. I'll sand the body down with some 3000 grit sponges before applying the paint coats.

Speaking of paint, I will be using Tamiya TS-49 Bright Red to replicate GM Victory Red. I tested it out on the hood and liked the look of it:

It looks like a close enough match to the real thing:

Up next, I'll be working on the grill and headlights. 

 

Edited April 25 by av405

[DJMar]

Looking good! I think the exterior paint color is right on, and it's as close as you can get to the factory color from a can.

Any idea what you're going to do for the mirrors, since the new kit doesn't have the "correct" ones?

14 hours ago, av405 said:

The interior is done. I applied flocking to the floor to simulate carpet. I left the side door panels alone as I just found the detail to be too faint or non-existent to paint. Again, something else that I find disappointing about this kit since it is a new tooling.

Comparing the two, the newer kit has deeper engraving on the interior bucket, dash and seats, but the fabric detail is much more pronounced on the old kit, especially on the seats.

I'm not an industry insider, so I don't know how much of this kit is actually new, and how much of it is simply a modification of AMT's original tool. Obviously, the grille and chassis and wheels and tires are new. But so much of the rest of the kit is dimensionally the same as the old, albeit with sharper engraving or different attachment points on some parts. New or modified? I couldn't tell.

Just my two copper, but the original AMT glue kits (Sportside, 454SS, etc) were great models, even though they had some issues. You couldn't go to a contest in the early to mid 1990s without seeing a bunch of them on the table. Personally, I would have been much happier with a straight reissue of the old short bed kit, warts and all. My hope is that they didn't destroy the original molds to give us the new curbside.

[WillyBilly]

Great build. Having owned a couple Victory Red trucks, I would say the hood is spot on.