55 Chevy Bel Air Hardtop (Photos Restored)

[David G.]

Where did you get the cool interior junk?

All home-made

I made the beer and oil cans using Paintshop Pro and my color printer. After printing the can labels on paper, I cut them out, glued them into cylinder shaped tubes, then glued the tubes to aluminium foil to make the ends. The BK bag and cup I printed, cut, and glued into shape- just like their 1:1 counterparts. The cup lid is Scotch tape. I drew the Marlboro pack on a bit of styrene with Sharpies and stuck a bit of BMF to one end then clear coated it. After everything dried, I trimmed the bottom off to get the right size then touched it up. Easy Peasy!

David G

[impcon]

Thanks for all the kind words, guys. I'll see if I can get some engine pics posted soon, but the best interior pics are still in the "Workbench" post.

And the undercarriage hasn't really changed since I posted the last pics.

Again, thanks guys!

David G.

That is a VERY nice build! Very realistic and I admire the detail! I think thatyou forgot something though - there's no rust showing on the feder peaks over top of the headlights.. at least some brown staining to show that the rust is starting to poke it's ugly head out. Those cars were notorious for rusting in that area.

If I may suggest that you may want to consider some rest treatment along the bottom edges of the car - especially along the underside of the wheel well lips on the front and rear wheel openings and along the bottoms of the rockers. Just a suggestion..

[impcon]

Thanks for all the kind words, guys. I'll see if I can get some engine pics posted soon, but the best interior pics are still in the "Workbench" post.

And the undercarriage hasn't really changed since I posted the last pics.

Again, thanks guys!

David G.

That is a VERY nice build! Very realistic and I admire the detail! I think that you forgot something though - there's no rust showing on the fender peaks over top of the headlights.. at least a bit of brown staining to show that the rust is starting to poke it's ugly head out. Those cars were notorious for rusting in that area.

If I may suggest that you may want to consider some rust treatment along the bottom edges of the car - especially along the underside of the wheel well lips on the front and rear wheel openings and along the bottoms of the rockers. Just a suggestion..

[59 Impala]

What everone else has said. Plus, I love how you did the exhaust. Those two glass packs look real and so does the pipes. How did you do the weathering on the exhaust? I like rusting cars also. I really like the look of this 55. Dan

Edited October 1, 2010 by 59 Chevy Impala

[Jim Gibbons]

Great job, David!

[Eshaver]

Hummmmmmm, certainly got muh attention. The rust, the trash , the pink !Great detailing too............ Ed Shaver

[David G.]

That is a VERY nice build! Very realistic and I admire the detail! I think that you forgot something though - there's no rust showing on the fender peaks over top of the headlights.. at least a bit of brown staining to show that the rust is starting to poke it's ugly head out. Those cars were notorious for rusting in that area.

If I may suggest that you may want to consider some rust treatment along the bottom edges of the car - especially along the underside of the wheel well lips on the front and rear wheel openings and along the bottoms of the rockers. Just a suggestion..

Thanks for your suggestions. I plan on doing a bit more here and there, I just needed to get away from this one for a while first. When you refer to the tops of the fender peaks above the headlights, do you mean the bits that protrude over the headlights like a bill on a baseball cap? And would that rust develop along the leading edge where the steel is rolled under?

Thanks to all of you, I really value tips and suggestions like this, I may not always use them, but they at least remain in my mind's library for future reference. I usually work weekends and right now I don't have a lot of time to respond to all of your feedback right now, so I'll hit it as I can.

Regards,

David G.

[The Modeling Hermit]

David, that is an awesome build. I grew up in Iowa, and your weathering is perfect for many of the cars that I've seen.

[David G.]

On 10/1/2010 at 7:18 AM, 59 Chevy Impala said:

What everone else has said. Plus, I love how you did the exhaust. Those two glass packs look real and so does the pipes. How did you do the weathering on the exhaust? I like rusting cars also. I really like the look of this 55. Dan

The glass packs I made from styrene tubing and the rust detail is a combination of paint and washes with some embossing powder and acrylic medium added to make the gritty texture.

Finally, here is a picture of the engine bay in all its gory glory. I had to move the firewall back just to get the engine to fit. I wanted to use this '58 Impala tri-power engine, until I found that it wouldn't fit. I then tried the kit engine and found that it had the same exact fit issues. I decided that if I had to force-fit an engine, it may as well be the one I want.

This is the area that gave me the most trouble, so much so, that I actually considered building this as a curbside.

 

Again, thanks for all your kind and insightful comments. If any of you had a similar experience with this or any other kit, please feel free to share any observations, suggestions or solutions.

David G.

Edited September 23, 2021 by David G.
Photos Restored

[charlie8575]

That came out nicely, David. The overall feel is just right. Personally, I wouldn't monkey with it much more.

Charlie Larkin

[Hattley]

Well done!!!

[David G.]

Hello Everybody!

As some of you may know, I've been going back over my old threads and updating old photos and replacing broken photo links. To say that there is a lot of work involved in such a project is a bit of an understatement. 

To get things just the way I want them, there are some threads that I will go back to and redress more than once. This is one of those threads and hopefully it's done now.

Thank you for your patience and I hope you enjoy.

David G.

[Brutalform]

2 hours ago, David G. said:

Hello Everybody!

As some of you may know, I've been going back over my old threads and updating old photos and replacing broken photo links. To say that there is a lot of work involved in such a project is a bit of an understatement. 

To get things just the way I want them, there are some threads that I will go back to and redress more than once. This is one of those threads and hopefully it's done now.

Thank you for your patience and I hope you enjoy.

David G.

Great idea. I have so many WIPs started, then I move onto another project, not returning to the topic for quite a while. ( I must stop doing this). It’s so hard to stay with one build, so I have to have at least 15 other going on as well. 
 

Your 55 build always seemed to stay fresh on my mind. I remember following it when I first joined the board years ago. If I’m not mistaken, you had it as your profile avatar for a while? 

[Zippi]

Nice looking 55.  The weathering looks just right.  

[David G.]

20 hours ago, Brutalform said:

Great idea. I have so many WIPs started, then I move onto another project, not returning to the topic for quite a while. ( I must stop doing this). It’s so hard to stay with one build, so I have to have at least 15 other going on as well. 
 

Your 55 build always seemed to stay fresh on my mind. I remember following it when I first joined the board years ago. If I’m not mistaken, you had it as your profile avatar for a while? 

I have a couple of those WIPs myself Tom. 

Thank you, this is one of my builds that I'm rather proud of and It's nice to know that others like and remember it too. I'm not sure I recall using it as an avatar but I may have. It seems like something I would do.

17 hours ago, Zippi said:

Nice looking 55.  The weathering looks just right.  

Thank you Bob.

David G.

Edited September 24, 2021 by David G.
typo

[slusher]

Fantastic weathering!

[David G.]

8 hours ago, slusher said:

Fantastic weathering!

Thanks Carl, I'm glad you like it.

David G.