sbk Posted December 21, 2012 Share Posted December 21, 2012 (edited) Inspired by the Chevys coming out of the Barris shop in the late '40's, I started working on this '51 Chevy convertible during the summer. Back in the '40's, it was all about making the car look more elegant than the what it looked like on the showroom floor, so big bumpers (not smoothed) & grilles was the way to go. I used '49 Cadillac bumpers & grille from Modelhaus, modifying the ends of the grille to fit the body. I reshaped the nose of the hood as well as the ends at the door line to make the AMT hood look a bit more like the real 1:1. I added the peak down the center of the hood using a piece of wire, blended in with superglue. I sprayed Acryl flat white on the hood to even things out. The AMT windshield opening/ cowl is so screwed up & thick, a lot of work went into fixing all of that, once again adding half round strip to replace the junky stuff. The windshield trim was just recently added & still needs to be sanded down a bit. The headlights are from the AMT '49 Mercury kit since the those from the AMT Chevy kits are too small. I also modified the rear bumper by adding the wrap around ends from another bumper. Taillights are made from the turn signals pods on the '51 Chevy grille. The windshield frame was chopped a couple of scale inches, & the basis of the top was the custom Carson top from the Revell '48 Ford kit with quite a few modifications. Since the both the Revell top & the AMT kit beltlines did not have enough curvature around the back end, I rebuilt that portion of the body & beltline with styrene & superglue. The beltline trim was redone using half round styrene strip, all the detail on the top was done with styrene, superglue & filler. I rebuilt the vent window frames with styrene. The AMT dash sits few scale inches too low in the interior as well as not close enough to the cowl, The gap is obvious in this photo & the previous one, & will take some work to correct. Edited September 8, 2013 by sbk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moparfarmer Posted December 21, 2012 Share Posted December 21, 2012 Sweet lookin' ride. What do you have in mind for colors? Something bright with a white interior? Wide whites... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joker Posted December 21, 2012 Share Posted December 21, 2012 Clean bodywork..love the flush fitting skirt and reworked windshield frame. Thanks for posting Steve and for the links too. Really enjoy the uncluttered pics. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ramfins59 Posted December 21, 2012 Share Posted December 21, 2012 Great looking custom Steve/ I'm sure that this will be a real beauty like all the others you have done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gluhead Posted December 21, 2012 Share Posted December 21, 2012 I smell another slam-dunk, Steve. Nice start. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Modlbldr Posted December 21, 2012 Share Posted December 21, 2012 (edited) Simply stunning work. I really admire your level of talent and I try hard to customize to your standard. Keep up the great work and sharing it with all of us. I'll have to order that grille and bumper from Modelhaus. I can't wait for my 50 Caddy rear bumper to arrive from Don. Later- Edited December 21, 2012 by Modlbldr Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tooltas Posted December 21, 2012 Share Posted December 21, 2012 Killer kustom steve but why a caddie grill ? a nice 56/57vette grill would be a cool too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TooOld Posted December 21, 2012 Share Posted December 21, 2012 Beautiful stuff Steve ! Your skills are top notch ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Albie D Posted December 21, 2012 Share Posted December 21, 2012 The custom treatments are very cool. Great idea for the taillights. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vintagercr Posted December 21, 2012 Share Posted December 21, 2012 Looking good! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thebronze Posted December 21, 2012 Share Posted December 21, 2012 Very nice Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GerN Posted December 21, 2012 Share Posted December 21, 2012 A really nice, subtle period custom. And a great write-up to go with it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
george 53 Posted December 21, 2012 Share Posted December 21, 2012 My first car was a 52 Chevy DeLuxe! There WAS a small 1/4 round molding that went inside the window, all the way around. You may just want to build up the "tray's" where the dash ends meet the interior walls. Maybe you could add thin sheets of .0010 to the upper edge of the dash, till you close the gap to your likeing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slusher Posted December 21, 2012 Share Posted December 21, 2012 Awsume project, great start... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MachinistMark Posted December 21, 2012 Share Posted December 21, 2012 Gorgeous Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cobraman Posted December 21, 2012 Share Posted December 21, 2012 Very cool Steve. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deathgoblin Posted December 21, 2012 Share Posted December 21, 2012 Very smooth work. Nice Job! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duntov Posted December 21, 2012 Share Posted December 21, 2012 This is some impressive re-engineering..... hope to see more soon..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sbk Posted December 21, 2012 Author Share Posted December 21, 2012 Thanks, everyone! The color I have planned is burgundy or plum with an off white top & typical 2 tone tuck & roll interior. At least, that's the plan for now. Thanks, George53, that's pretty much what I plan on doing. But, the whole dash needs to be moved a couple of scale inches towards the base of the windshield so that the face of the dash is in line with the doorline at the A pillars. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crazyrichard Posted December 21, 2012 Share Posted December 21, 2012 ooooeehh thats awsome , cant w8 to see some paint on that Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James2 Posted December 21, 2012 Share Posted December 21, 2012 I really like what you have done here. Well thought out and flows wells. Now you need one of these PE pieces. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Custom Mike Posted December 22, 2012 Share Posted December 22, 2012 Absolutely beautiful work so far Steve, it looks great as it sits! And the colors you want to use on it sound perfect, I'll definitely be watching! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
58 Impala Posted December 22, 2012 Share Posted December 22, 2012 One word,Wow. Great custom work, like the Carson top. Can't wait to see it in paint. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrKerry Posted December 22, 2012 Share Posted December 22, 2012 Lookin good Steve, I like your style of building!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erik Smith Posted December 22, 2012 Share Posted December 22, 2012 I can sit and look at that model for awhile, admiring the work so far. Beautiful as is, can't wait to see it progress. I like the custom work that is subtle but very different from the original - the '49 Cadillac bumper and grill look very cool here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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