Harry P. Posted July 22, 2012 Posted July 22, 2012 I guess I'm not understanding the gripe, as converting a hardtop '57 Chevy to a convertible must surely rank as one of the easier hacks. Unless you also want a realistic interior. Then the conversion is a bit trickier.
Harry P. Posted July 22, 2012 Posted July 22, 2012 Gee, Harry! AMT did that with the '65 Pontiac GTO, and a perusal of comments even to this day of that kit would show that the concept you suggest would not be the way to go! Art Given the popularity of '57 Chevy kits over the years, a 2-in-1 convertible/coupe kit would have sold quite well, I would think.
Ace-Garageguy Posted July 22, 2012 Posted July 22, 2012 Unless you also want a realistic interior. Then the conversion is a bit trickier. Just narrowing and shifting the rear seat a bit, and modifying the side panels a little to make room for wells for the top bows, I would think. I don't THINK there would be much exterior bodywork. I could be wrong.
Chuck Most Posted July 22, 2012 Posted July 22, 2012 Just narrowing and shifting the rear seat a bit, and modifying the side panels a little to make room for wells for the top bows, I would think. I don't THINK there would be much exterior bodywork. I could be wrong. Most of the required butchery on the body would be covered up by the top boot. If I recall the '55 Hardtop comes with some spare convertible parts (windshiled frame and wing vents, and probably a few others), combine those with a '57 kit and a little light scratchbuilding and that should do the trick.
Greg Myers Posted July 22, 2012 Posted July 22, 2012 (edited) All this yammering, look at one of the first Tri-Five kits : Edited July 22, 2012 by Greg Myers
Harry P. Posted July 22, 2012 Posted July 22, 2012 All this yammering, look at one of the first Tri-Five kits That's exactly what I mean! Why hasn't a '57 ever been issued that way?
Casey Posted July 22, 2012 Posted July 22, 2012 That's exactly what I mean! Why hasn't a '57 ever been issued that way? Look at how nice the AMT '71 Challenger looks when you add the "hardtop". That trick doesn't work. It's got to be either a convertible or a fixed roof, not both. Revell got raked over the coals here for not including an uptop with their '72 Oldsmobile Cutlass kit (but Moebius got a pass for not doing so in their Hudson kit?), so how well would an inaccurate 2'n1 convertible/hardop kit play out with the serious, adult modeler? I don't think too well, as Art made reference to. I think Revell understands the market pretty well, and understands if someone really wants a drop top '57, they will buy both the '55 convertible and the SnapTite/Easy Builder '57 Bel Air, kitbash the two, and modify as necessary. The sales numbers of those who would buy the convertible '57 probably do not justify the cost of creating new tooling to create it.
Junkman Posted July 22, 2012 Posted July 22, 2012 Lord, please drop common sense. Of course it doesn't work on a 71 Challenger or a 65 Pontiac, where the c-pillars and the rear portion of the roof 'flow' into the lower body. But it would work a treat with a 50s GM hardtop, where the top is not as integral with the rest of the body and is merely attached with four thin pillars, which are clad with moldings to boot. On a '57 Chevy it would work a pip.
Casey Posted July 22, 2012 Posted July 22, 2012 I understand how and why that works on a 1:1 body, but in 1/25 scale, does it work that perfectly? You'd have so little plastic-to-plastic contact at the C-pillars, that keeping the hardtop in place permanently might be an issue for the average builder. Full glass all the way around would help, but Revell isn't too fond of including side windows.
sjordan2 Posted July 22, 2012 Posted July 22, 2012 (edited) Seems to me that a '57 Chevy convertible doesn't really compare to the overall market for model convertibles. It's a unique icon that stands apart from others. As to demand, do the model companies do much in the way of market research these days, including focus groups, etc.? And how much longer can they continue to sell the same old kits without giving the subject a bit of a pump-up? In high school in the mid-60s, my brother had a beautiful light turquoise blue '57 convertible with a cueball floor shift, and I've kind of kept my eye on these for many years. They were publicized by Hertz in their collection of California Classics rentals in the 80s. They now seem to bring about the same prices as the Belair hardtop coupes, depending on condition - $40K to $80K in great shape, with as much originality and matching numbers as possible. So, while they don't fetch the prices of classic Mopars and muscle cars, they're still highly regarded. Edited July 22, 2012 by sjordan2
charlie8575 Posted July 22, 2012 Posted July 22, 2012 I think this kit would be an exception in that the sales numbers would probably equal or excel a '57 Bel-Air Sport Coupe. And a Nomad would probably do almost as well. The '57 Chevy is one of America's iconic cars, and as Mark pointed out, it's the car that first springs to mind when a lot of people think "classic"/antique cars, and on that alone, I think a more-than-satisfactory business case is made. You'd need a body, boot, rear seat and door-panels...and maybe an uptop for Roger. The X-brace could be an add-in piece, saving the necessity of a whole new frame (it was on the real car, too, so it wouldn't be that unrealistic,) but the tooling could easily use 3/4 or more of what's already there. The Nomad can use the '56 and then you'd need the body, interior and maybe one or two chrome pieces. Personally, I'd like to see the Nomad with an opening tailgate, as I've never had much luck opening doors and such. The sedan delivery- which I would love dearly to see, woud be a similar case. Huge seller? Maybe not, but so much of the tooling is amortorized already, that the extra investment in the body and interior molds (around $25-30,000 according to those knowledgable in the matter,) would be paid for pretty quickly. An S/D is for racers, rep-stock, light commercial, customizers, and a lot of other people. I think the tool would be paid for pretty quickly. The costs aren't unreasonable. I do think, however, Christian's observation of product planning being a bit drowsy at the switch, if not outright sleeping, is probably the case, hence the lack of action. Charlie Larkin
Rob Hall Posted July 22, 2012 Posted July 22, 2012 I'm not familiar w/ that Monogram '55 ht/conv kit...did that kit evolve into the 'Badman' drag car kit?
Harry P. Posted July 22, 2012 Posted July 22, 2012 I'm not familiar w/ that Monogram '55 ht/conv kit...did that kit evolve into the 'Badman' drag car kit? Don't know... but that model not only gave you a choice of coupe or convertible, they even threw in a custom roof, too! And that kit was tooled when dinosaurs still walked the earth. They could do it then, but some of you say they can't do it now???
Casey Posted July 22, 2012 Posted July 22, 2012 They could do it then, but some of you say they can't do it now??? Sure they could do it, but would it be a good business decision to do that? IMO, no. Yes, Rob, that kit currently exists as the 1/24 Revell '55 Chevy Street Machine kit.
sjordan2 Posted July 22, 2012 Posted July 22, 2012 Why couldn't they issue an "Ultimate Deluxe" kit like the '55 referenced above? It would give this old dinosaur a shot in the arm and be a big draw for builders and collectors. They've got most of the tooling and at least a basis for copyright clearances already. (Every different form of a kit requires new copyright approval.)
Harry P. Posted July 22, 2012 Posted July 22, 2012 Why couldn't they issue an "Ultimate Deluxe" kit like the '55 referenced above? Yeah... that was the original question! Why haven't they done so? The subject matter seems like a no-brainer. If ever there was a subject that you could practically guarantee would sell well, it's a '57 Chevy.
Junkman Posted July 22, 2012 Posted July 22, 2012 The subject matter seems like a no-brainer. Yeah, but exactly there lies the problem.
Joe Handley Posted July 22, 2012 Posted July 22, 2012 Wouldn't it be possible to make the roof section include the windshield and back window frame so that it attaches to the shell there instead of at just the rear "posts" and the top of the windshield? That X brace would be nice to have for guys wanting to build a roofed hot rod Tri-5 in a way that would make the car stiffer.
Ace-Garageguy Posted July 23, 2012 Posted July 23, 2012 Hey boys and girls, check this out.....looks like they DID make one............. http://www.ebay.com/itm/Model-Kit-57-Chevy-Bel-Air-Convertible-/220944388968?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item33714fd368#ht_500wt_1413
Rob Hall Posted July 23, 2012 Posted July 23, 2012 Hey boys and girls, check this out.....looks like they DID make one............. http://www.ebay.com/...8#ht_500wt_1413 Nope..that's the AMT 1:16th scale kit.
Ace-Garageguy Posted July 23, 2012 Posted July 23, 2012 (edited) Okay, I'm a dumb guy. Duh. You mean that big 1/16 on the box actually means something and I should have noticed it? Duh. Duh. Edited July 23, 2012 by Ace-Garageguy
martinfan5 Posted July 23, 2012 Posted July 23, 2012 Okay, I'm a dumb guy. Duh. You mean that big 1/16 on the box actually means something and I should have noticed it? Duh. Duh. Or maybe you thought it meant only 1/16th of the parts are in the box
Greg Wann Posted July 24, 2012 Posted July 24, 2012 It would seem like a no brainer and would sell well. I would certainly buy a couple. The kit makers keep pounding out hardtop kits. They did it in the 1/16 scale TOO BIG for me. They did it in 1/32 scale, too small for me. They need a nice one in 1/25 scale to be just right. I attempted to start this project in a resin form using a PRO Modeler kit. I gave the parts to a fellow model club member who took a real shine to the project so he could create a nice uptop for it. That's been about three years ago. I have not seen or heard from him but once since who said "I'm still working on it"
MachinistMark Posted July 24, 2012 Posted July 24, 2012 the reason why? It's because The kit makers have their heads so far up their collective rectums, that the lump in their throats are their freaking NOSES
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