Hippie Posted December 17, 2011 Posted December 17, 2011 (edited) well i went and started another one. this is a x-mas present for my grandpa, the story goes that this was the first car him and my grandma bought and hes pretty emotional about the car. I started about a week ago and hopefully can finish it by the 25ft he found this picture in our local new paper and was talking about his car for the next 30 min. that coupled with a coupon, convinced me he needed the model Edited December 20, 2011 by Hippie
henry57 Posted December 17, 2011 Posted December 17, 2011 (edited) What color was theirs? Any old pics of the original car? I'll be definitely watching your build. I hope you can finish it in time. Edited December 17, 2011 by henry57
Hippie Posted December 17, 2011 Author Posted December 17, 2011 (edited) Thanks their car was the color of the newspaper shown I"m not sure what the color is called i just ended up mixing some model master pant together till it worked out, here is a few more pics this is the color I've mixed. about old pics, I'm sure they exist my grandpa was a photographer by trade, but i don't have any, I'm building this In total secrecy just based off a conversation that inspired this build, all i know is it had the 283 was green with a white roof, had a green interior and that he had haven smaller mufflers installed. Edited December 17, 2011 by Hippie
jeffs396 Posted December 17, 2011 Posted December 17, 2011 (edited) Great job so far Erik! Was your Grandpa's Bel Air a 2-door sedan like your building? If he had the hardtop like in the newspaper, please build the exact replica for him, the way he loved that car, this makes a BIG difference! The Revell snap kit of the hardtop has a super-nice body and I'll bet it fits right on the detailed chassis of the sedan kit you're building... Edited December 17, 2011 by jeffs396
henry57 Posted December 17, 2011 Posted December 17, 2011 Wow, that looks really good. The color your using is very close to surf green Tropical turquoise was another green color but had more of a blue tint to it
Monty Posted December 17, 2011 Posted December 17, 2011 (edited) I agree with Jeff regarding the body style. If your grandfather's car was a 2-door hardtop, Jeff's idea of using the snap kit's body might be your best solution. Other options for 2-door hardtops: AMT's original '57 Chevy, which they've released numerous times. Some say it has the best body dimensions of all 1/25 '57 Chevys. It's not a complicated build but it looks sharp with correct detailing (BMF, gold etc). AMT also has a more current version with lots of detail. I like the Chevrolet script on the valve covers. I'd kill to be able to do that in black. Just out of curiosity, did the instructions say to wait until the engine is installed before attaching the starter? For some reason that seems different from everything I've ever built. Edited December 17, 2011 by Monty
Keef Posted December 17, 2011 Posted December 17, 2011 (edited) looking good so far, but for my own reassurance please tell me you didnt mount the starter to the floorpan? LOL Edited December 17, 2011 by Keef
Hippie Posted December 17, 2011 Author Posted December 17, 2011 Thanks everyone, Keef, that is a starter but its not there as a starter, in our conversation about the car he complained about a little motor under the driver seat that always needed work, i haven't a clue what it is, but i tried to replicate it any way. About the body to my best knowledge it was exactly like the newspaper. i bought the snap kit and was planing on replacing the body, but I realized that I would have to scratchbuild a new engine compartment, firewall ext. and to be honest I just don't want to, and i figure id never be done my X-mas So what is the difference between the two types, could I just cut out the B pillar?
henry57 Posted December 17, 2011 Posted December 17, 2011 No, the sedan top is longer and taller. The interior pattern and, tops of quarter panels and doors are completely different.
Dwight55 Posted December 17, 2011 Posted December 17, 2011 if it matters to you, the "official" name of the light green in 1957 was "Surf Green ".
Greg Pugh Posted December 17, 2011 Posted December 17, 2011 Couldn't you just swap in AMT's hardtop? Also, that motor under the seat could possibly be a power seat motor or even the cigarette vacuum.
Tony T Posted December 17, 2011 Posted December 17, 2011 My great aunt had a 4-door the same colour!! Nice build so far!
sak Posted December 18, 2011 Posted December 18, 2011 Thanks everyone, Keef, that is a starter but its not there as a starter, in our conversation about the car he complained about a little motor under the driver seat that always needed work, i haven't a clue what it is, but i tried to replicate it any way. About the body to my best knowledge it was exactly like the newspaper. i bought the snap kit and was planing on replacing the body, but I realized that I would have to scratchbuild a new engine compartment, firewall ext. and to be honest I just don't want to, and i figure id never be done my X-mas So what is the difference between the two types, could I just cut out the B pillar? Looking very badass. But I would recommend getting rid of the starter motor. The motor in question could only be a motor to propell the power seat and it would have been under the seat, not under the car itself. But still gonna be a awesome model,car.
espo Posted December 18, 2011 Posted December 18, 2011 What a great Christmas gift. For what my two cents is worth. Look for the last issue of the AMT '57 Bel Air. The original AMT could be built as a 210 or a Bel Air. The side trim on that model is to heigh on the side of the body. The later AMT was completly deferant model. Its an outstanding kit if you can find one. If your grandfather's '57 was a 210, you would have to remove the ribbed moldings from the rear quarter panels and shorten the trim on top of the fins. The 210s moldings were somewhat longer than the 150s.on top of the fins. The seat patterns are also differant. With the time left this will be like "OVERHAULING" only in scale.
Hippie Posted December 18, 2011 Author Posted December 18, 2011 Thanks for all the info guys but to be honest I don't have a clue what most of it means, sorry i was born in the 90's and to be honest all I know much about is racing. Also I'm sorry but I need to Finnish this quickly so I have just cut the B pillar out. I'm gonna try to mix the paint today and get it panted by tomorrow
Rob McKee Posted December 20, 2011 Posted December 20, 2011 That is looking fantastic. I love that color. Great job on mixing the paint to get the color you wanted.
Hippie Posted December 20, 2011 Author Posted December 20, 2011 Thank Rob I panted the body yesterday and got a clear on it today, I know that it needs sanding/ polishing ect. but i just don't have the time and a little more work on the engine, if any one has any reference pics of a 100% stock engine I would love pics, most of the stuff on the internet is restomods Thanks again everyone!
rmvw guy Posted December 20, 2011 Posted December 20, 2011 You do some nice detail work. Grandpa will love it. The starter under the floor I don't get but, I'm thinking Grandpa might get a kick out of it.
Duntov Posted December 21, 2011 Posted December 21, 2011 Erik: I think you nailed this one big time.... your grandpa is going to love this one!!! This is some very fine work!!! Regards Bill (Duntov)
Duntov Posted December 21, 2011 Posted December 21, 2011 By the way... I am not sure what the motor under the driver floor board would have been but in some earlier Cadillacs (later 40's and early 50's) there was a small heater fan assembly and motor that circulated air.... perhaps this is what that is? It got moved into the car under the seat in later years. I am not an expert on the 57's but if I had to guess........
Hippie Posted December 28, 2011 Author Posted December 28, 2011 well a update, but kinda late. in the hustle and bustle of the holiday i simply forgot to post. the good news is i finished it, but not necessarily how i planned on doing so. On the 24th i found i was out of bare metal foil, unfortunately the local hobby shop is closed so the project takes a new direction. well here's a quick peak and ill post more in the completed area thank you for all of your support
Dirkpitt289 Posted December 28, 2011 Posted December 28, 2011 Nice build, I like the detail you added to the undercarriage. Bravo!
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