1956 Chevy Del Ray

[charlie8575]

This is one of my current projects at the moment. I bought this kit when it was first issued in the late 1990s, and it's a very nice kit.

As it was one version- factory stock, that was fine with me, too. That in and of itself, makes it a little different, as almost all of these on the boards seem to be some kind of modified.

So far, I've started doing some painting and a small amount of assembly I've decided to paint the car in two-tone India Ivory/Twilight Turquoise.

I just finished the interior, aside from some Dull-Cote for the carpet. I used Humbrol Satin White and Model Master Turquoise, which is amazingly close to the turquoise used on the vinyl, carpet and metal trim. I also painted the engine and transmission. I may end up having to touch-up a little, but it's just about there aside from the tops of the armrests, which should be turquoise.

To simulate cast iron, I painted the transmission in aluminum, and then put a heavy dry-brushing of Testors flat gray over it. Once everything completely dries, I'll then hit it with a light dry-brushing of rust to enhance the realism a little.

More will come as weather and time allow.

Charlie Larkin

[mikemodeler]

C'mon Charlie, you got the driveway cleared, now get back to the bench and get that thing finished!

Looking good, can't wait for the next installment of your build.

Mike

[Foxer]

OMG Charlie! THIS is the car I got my drivers license in! My Uncle Jim offered offered to let me use his '56 Chevy cause it was an automatic (I learned to drive on my Dad's VW bus). It was the colors you're using and I will be riveted here watching this come together.

[charlie8575]

OMG Charlie! THIS is the car I got my drivers license in! My Uncle Jim offered offered to let me use his '56 Chevy cause it was an automatic (I learned to drive on my Dad's VW bus). It was the colors you're using and I will be riveted here watching this come together.

Glad to bring back some memories, Mike. I hope they were good ones! I decided I liked this combination because it was a little different. I just have to wait for a little extra $$ to order up some paint from MCW to do the body, but I can get the rest of it done now, at least that's the plan.

As next week will be okay temperature-wise, the goal is to paint the undercarriage, as that needs to be sprayed. I might also brake out the Tamiya flat black, some rubbing alcohol and get it done that way.

Charlie Larkin

[charlie8575]

Not a huge update, but just a little something.

I started putting more of the engine together and got most of the interior touched up where needed.

To make the carb a little less glossy, I did a modified dry-brush method. I began by dry-brushing Testors aluminum on the carb, followed by a very light coat of aluminum when I discovered the dry-brushing didn't seem to work well with the plating. I then prepped the paintbrush as if dry-brushing again, and went back over the carb with the brush to remove some of the paint, leaving a less-shiny, more realistic-looking 4-bbl.

The results can be seen here.

Before going out to WNEC tomorrow, well later this morning, to check out their law school, I might try and finish up the engine.

Charlie Larkin

Edited February 5, 2011 by charlie8575

[charlie8575]

Well....things are progressing again, finally.

Due to a bit of a crunch, I decided to do a two-tone of India Ivory, courtesy of MCW, and Model Master lacquer Tropical Turquoise. Tropical Turquoise was a mid-year introduction, and the white/turquoise interior was discontinued; however, who's to say that one or two didn't sneak out in this scheme, which is entirely plausible.

The assembly is progressing okay otherwise aside from one of the front suspension coil springs now having gone missing. I think next time I build one of these Tri-5s, I'm going to assemble most of the chassis first and then paint, as I've found Revell's chassis parts to be rather fiddly.

This is the first two-tone I've done in at least twenty years, and that one wasn't very good. This came out okay, but I'll have to do a little touch-up in all likelihood, unless I can get the little bit of overspray to buff out. The pictures were MUCH sharper through the lens, so I was bit surprised when I came back from getting my film processed. I'll take some better ones sooner, rather than later, I hope.

Enjoy.

Charlie Larkin

Edited May 14, 2011 by charlie8575

[charlie8575]

Well, I did a little touch-up as I needed to after polishing through the turquoise in a couple of spots. I'll have to buff it out again, but this time with a little less-aggressive polishing compound, so I'll use some toothpaste.

Along with the body paint, the front end has fought me every step of the way. The springs won't locate properly, and I can't get the lower suspension unit to stay on. The engine also seems to not want to mount in properly.

I'm learning many lessons from this. Next Tri-5 I build will have the a lot of the suspension built prior to painting, so I can actually locate the parts properly, as the paint seems to cause excessive interference. I'm still trying to figure out what to do with that engine, though.

Here's the touched-up body, prior to polishing out.

Charlie Larkin

[Foxer]

It's looking good from here.

I have a '56 Nomad in the pile that I'll have to watch out for if I ever start it .. sounds like this one has been battling you.

[Jim Gibbons]

Love the color scheme and interior. I have an AMT '57 Chevy BelAir that I've been fighting with. Separate motor mounts are a neat idea in theory...

I hope you can resolve the issues; I'm looking forward to seeing this done in a stock version. A good friend of mine restored a '56 BelAir 4 dr. sedan (black and white) in the late '80s that I'd go to car shows in with him.

[old gearhead]

Hey Charlie, nice color combo on that '56. Can't wait to see it foiled!

If you laid the paint on real heavy on the chassis, and components, etc., it will indeed take up space and things won't fit as well as when you mocked up the parts naked. However, you need to scrape the paint off of both mating surfaces in order for them to adhere to each other, anyway, especially if your using good old "cement for styrene." The solvents in the cement need to be able to melt the plastic so that you get a "weld;" or, at least, a good strong bond. Paint (and chrome) create a barrier and will not allow the cement to attack and soften the plastic to create a proper bond.

Even when using epoxy or CA it's a good idea to remove paint and chrome from the mating surfaces of whatever material you're joining, at least for load-bearing assemblies (PE script, etal, excluded here - you'll make a mess, ruin a paint job, etc.), in as that you want the adhesive to be holding things together and not the layer of paint (or chrome plating) that may be between the adhesive and the material.

Good luck with the rest of the build!

PB.

[Jim Gibbons]

Pretty much what Paul said. The past few years, I've taken a different tack. I've preassembled a lot of the main suspension components first on separate chassis models, and then painted them as a unit. Of course, there will be areas that the spray won't reach, so I go back and touch them up with a paint brush. I've had really good luck that way. I have a few partially assembled chassis from a number of kits ready for the semi gloss black. Hopefully, I'll get some decent weather soon to go to town on them.

[charlie8575]

Pretty much what Paul said. The past few years, I've taken a different tack. I've preassembled a lot of the main suspension components first on separate chassis models, and then painted them as a unit. Of course, there will be areas that the spray won't reach, so I go back and touch them up with a paint brush. I've had really good luck that way. I have a few partially assembled chassis from a number of kits ready for the semi gloss black. Hopefully, I'll get some decent weather soon to go to town on them.

This is exactly the tactic I plan to use from here on out, especially on this series of kits, which seem to have unreasonable-fiddly suspensions.

As to paint removal, If I had something small enough to get into the the crevices and so forth, it would make things much easier.

I'm just chalking it up as lessons learned.

Charlie Larkin

[old gearhead]

This is exactly the tactic I plan to use from here on out, especially on this series of kits, which seem to have unreasonable-fiddly suspensions.

As to paint removal, If I had something small enough to get into the the crevices and so forth, it would make things much easier.

I'm just chalking it up as lessons learned.

Charlie Larkin

Yeah, it can be a real pain in the neck scraping in the tight areas. Pre-assemble as much as you can to get around this, as Jim has mentioned in his post. You're still always going to have to scrape things like engine and tranny mounts, however.

Funny...when I started building a zillion years ago (the '60s), the kit manufacturers would recommend that all parts be painted before removing them from the sprues. I guess after a year of scraping and touching up everything, I finally figured out this really wasn't the way to go (around the same time I started using X-Acto blades rather than old steak knives), and started pre-assembling engines, chassis/suspension units, etc., filling (if needed) and sanding the seams, and then painting - with a lot less touch-up. Of course, this is what the manufacturers now recommend.

I paint small stuff like starters, sway bars, shocks, etc., while still on the sprue, though.

Keep an open mind - no two builds are ever the same.

PB.

[kenlwest]

The picture of the old cast-iron TurboGlide reminds me of the time when I replaced mine with a 350 TH in my 1:1 55 Chevy. It was one heavy sob. Ironically, the casting numbers on the tranny turned out to be from a '56.

Can't get enough of the tri-fives!

Ken