unclescott58 Posted July 27, 2014 Posted July 27, 2014 Other than the Nomad, I've never been a big '57 Chevy fan. Of the tri-five Chevs, '56 has always been my favorite. Despite that, I've built my share of '57 Chevys over the years, and I like convertibles. I still may buy this one if it doesn't look too bad. Will somebody please post some pictures when this kit comes out, so we can judge for ourselves how good or bad it looks. I'm still surprise that this is the first '57 Chev convertible, other than the promo back in '57, to ever be offered in this scale. Being how the '57 Chev is one of the Holy Glails of both the 1950's and Chevrolet lovers a like. Scott
Craig Irwin Posted July 27, 2014 Posted July 27, 2014 It's out, I saw one at Hobby Town today, and left it there.
Ron Hamilton Posted July 27, 2014 Posted July 27, 2014 I just saw a pic of the box art on eBay, and I'm afraid you're right! The door sills don't have the "downward sweep" that all '55-'57 hardtops had, and which was shared with the convertibles. Looks like they just wacked off the roof of the sedan and called it a day. Oh well............ Bill. Earlier in this post, I saw the test shot that was displayed at the NNL east, and the dip was in the body, as well as the interior door panels. I do not know what they used as the box art build, but the test shot looks good to me,.
unclescott58 Posted July 27, 2014 Posted July 27, 2014 (edited) No photos as of yet? So I went back and started looking old postings on this kit. And here's what Casey had to show us a little better than a year ago. Not the best pictures of the body. But, from what I see the belt line window dip is there. Look at the rear seat side bolster/panel part. It looks like the dip is there for sure. By the way, people talk about this being based on the 150 sedan body. If it's from that, doesn't that include the belt line rear side window dip too? I need to see more clear pictures of this kit. But, I'm beginning to think this kit may not be as bad as everybody seems to think it is? Those who claim to have the actual kit. Please check it out, and post photos. Scott Edited July 27, 2014 by unclescott58
unclescott58 Posted July 27, 2014 Posted July 27, 2014 (edited) It's almost here. Built up shown at 2013 Toledo NNL, photographed by Steve Goldman: And how about this build up Casey showed us a few months later. Looks all right too me. Scott Edited July 27, 2014 by unclescott58
rasafyff Posted July 27, 2014 Posted July 27, 2014 Looks like the tops of the doors are too horizontal.
Chuck Kourouklis Posted July 27, 2014 Posted July 27, 2014 Had a look, Gents, and it ain't entirely a hacked sedan. Beltline may be a bit too horizontal yet over the doors, but the "dip" is a bit deeper and further forward relative to the sedan, as it should be: Couple more shots, deliberately underexposed to keep from blowing out all the details in white plastic:
MrObsessive Posted July 27, 2014 Posted July 27, 2014 (edited) Had a look, Gents, and it ain't entirely a hacked sedan. Beltline may be a bit too horizontal yet over the doors, but the "dip" is a bit deeper and further forward relative to the sedan, as it should be: The "too horizontal" look of the beltline was what I was referring to when I commented on the eBay box art that I saw. I can deal with tweaking this, but others may not. This is livable compared to the sedan beltline---------it's just a matter of a few degrees of slanting. Not really anything to totally disregard the kit over. This reminds me somewhat of the "slanting" of the door sills on AMT's '55 Cameo. A very nice kit, but one of those flub ups that should be addressed when building it. The rest of the kit looks fantastic and the buildup posted above looks really sharp! Edited July 27, 2014 by MrObsessive
John Goschke Posted July 27, 2014 Posted July 27, 2014 Well, Bill, at least it looks repairable with some file and finish work on the top of the door and into the dip. Then the stainless beltline molding that'll get removed will need to be replaced with styrene strip. As for getting it symmetrical, that appears to be something some kit manufacturers haven't even mastered yet! Quite annoying, while being completely unsurprising to the cynical modeler, that a subtle detail that is so important to the essential character of the car's design is missed in a such a cringe-inducing manner. Can we hope that the plated winshield frame will fit better than those on the '59 Impala and Cadillac, or that on the '55 BelAir convertible? Anyway, regarding the beltline, here's a nice shot of a real '57 ragtop. Note how the downward curve of the doortop seems to follow exactly the curve of the side molding below it, then immediately after the door it curves more dramatically into the dip. This contributes greatly to the sportier, slimmer look of the convertible and the hardtop. Kind of interesting that the problem is almost exactly the opposite, though much more repairable, than that on AMT's old tool hardtop!
unclescott58 Posted July 27, 2014 Posted July 27, 2014 Mr. Goschke you mentioned problems with AMT's kit. First which '57? The one from the 1960's? Or from the 1990's? I've built the one from the 60's several times and never noticed a problem in the belt line at the dip. I have the 1990's version, I never built. But, I noticed no problem there either. Am I missing something? The dip on Revell's convertible and two-door sedan looks good to me. Maybe I'm not picky enough? Scott
blubaja Posted July 27, 2014 Posted July 27, 2014 This body is much more forgivable than the mustang.
Rob Hall Posted July 27, 2014 Posted July 27, 2014 Mr. Goschke you mentioned problems with AMT's kit. First which '57? The one from the 1960's? Or from the 1990's? I've built the one from the 60's several times and never noticed a problem in the belt line at the dip. I have the 1990's version, I never built. But, I noticed no problem there either. Am I missing something? The dip on Revell's convertible and two-door sedan looks good to me. Maybe I'm not picky enough? Scott The sedans and hardtop/convertible doors have different dips, I believe. The door shape is different at the window line.
John Goschke Posted July 27, 2014 Posted July 27, 2014 Mr. Goschke you mentioned problems with AMT's kit. First which '57? The one from the 1960's? Or from the 1990's? I've built the one from the 60's several times and never noticed a problem in the belt line at the dip. I have the 1990's version, I never built. But, I noticed no problem there either. Am I missing something? The dip on Revell's convertible and two-door sedan looks good to me. Maybe I'm not picky enough? Scott Scott, the AMT '57 I was referring to was the old tool "Trophy Series" kit and all its reissues. The problem isn't with the beltline dip, it's with the side molding that doesn't curve down enough as it travels across the door, then curves down abruptly below the beltline dip, creating the appearance of a "kink" in the side molding at that point. Ideally the molding should have a nice smooth curve downward from headlight to rear bumper. Also, if one looks at the proportion of space above and below the molding, it's arguably too high on this kit. And of course there are a few other nits we could pick, but this kit isn't really the subject of this thread. That said, I much prefer this kit over AMT's later rendition, which appears overscale to me, particularly when compared to this kit and all the recent Monogram/Revell tri-five series. I also like the roof on this kit more than that on the later '57 or Revell's '55.
MrObsessive Posted July 27, 2014 Posted July 27, 2014 Well, looking closer at the pictures that Chuck posted, the radii of the side trim aft of the doors at least follows the curves of the dip in the beltline. John your pic of the older issue '57 really shows how high they rendered that trim! Wow! Just goes to show how each manufacturer will have their own "interpretations" of how a particular subject should appear. BTW, I'll probably buy Revell's '57 Convertible--------with what I'd like to do to it detail wise, the subtle changes I'd make to the beltline might not matter all that much.
blubaja Posted July 27, 2014 Posted July 27, 2014 Mr. Geary, and John, I have no doubt either of you will make the kit many times better than revell presents it:)
Bob Ellis Posted July 27, 2014 Posted July 27, 2014 Does anybody have the new Revell '57 Chevy convertible to post a picture. A lot of comments, but no evidence in the form of photos.
niteowl7710 Posted July 27, 2014 Posted July 27, 2014 Does anybody have the new Revell '57 Chevy convertible to post a picture. A lot of comments, but no evidence in the form of photos. Post #159
keyser Posted July 27, 2014 Posted July 27, 2014 None of these errors on any of these kits are forgiveable. I'm not a rabid tri-5 guy, nor a Fox guy, but I like them enough to buy them. I've got hundreds of projects and more kits, and I don't have many dupes. Basic body design elements aren't forgiveable. Earlier in this thread someone said proto kit was based on the snap coupe kit, which is decent. Here's a bare metal new body. Taper of door is readily seen from any angle. Test shot looked adequate, but I used to assume they'd get stuff right. I don't assume that anymore. Close enough isn't. I could fix it easily if there's enough plastic to keep interior/body alignment. I could add sheet to realign interior. I could finish the conversion on an AMT HT I started 30 years+ ago. Or for $20 I could expect to trim flash, parting lines, and build it as is, and it'll look right. No matter what it depicts. I'll be happy if I'm wrong, but I ordered >1 yr ago on faith. How could they screw up a car they have 6+ related tools, and 4 1/24 tools that are cautionary tales? And a year delay to get even the Xbrace correct/installed? Wonder if the guys that buy new 1:1 body would be ok with same error?
unclescott58 Posted July 27, 2014 Posted July 27, 2014 Scott, the AMT '57 I was referring to was the old tool "Trophy Series" kit and all its reissues. The problem isn't with the beltline dip, it's with the side molding that doesn't curve down enough as it travels across the door, then curves down abruptly below the beltline dip, creating the appearance of a "kink" in the side molding at that point. Ideally the molding should have a nice smooth curve downward from headlight to rear bumper. Also, if one looks at the proportion of space above and below the molding, it's arguably too high on this kit. And of course there are a few other nits we could pick, but this kit isn't really the subject of this thread. That said, I much prefer this kit over AMT's later rendition, which appears overscale to me, particularly when compared to this kit and all the recent Monogram/Revell tri-five series. I also like the roof on this kit more than that on the later '57 or Revell's '55. Thanks, I never noticed this before. Despite this, the old 60's Trophy kit still looks OK to me. I like the one in the photo you enclosed. Looking forward to seeing Revell's new convertible built. Again, I'm non sure if it's 100% right. But what is? It does look pretty good from what I'm seeing. Scott
58 Impala Posted July 27, 2014 Posted July 27, 2014 I just picked one up at my LHS and I'm pretty impressed with the kit. I don't get too worked up on slight proportion mistakes.
blubaja Posted July 27, 2014 Posted July 27, 2014 I just picked one up at my LHS and I'm pretty impressed with the kit. I don't get too worked up on slight proportion mistakes. Two types of builders. The X brace for the chassis was cast in separate add on pieces. Completely understandable. How that turned into almost a year to fix, no idea.
Bob Ellis Posted July 28, 2014 Posted July 28, 2014 The Revell 57 Chevy vert appears okay by post #159
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