1957 Chevy Bel Air Sports Coupe

[modelcarjr]

I've built this kit at least a dozen times. I've also built the Revell kits, the AMT Pro Shop kit, and the Monogram kit. I probably have a couple dozen 57 Chevys. I also own a 1:1 57 Chevy Bel Air Sports Coupe so I have a fondness for this car and all the work that went into them to build them (It was a lot of work to rebuild one too!). I saw this on the shelves at HL during 40% off so a $22 kit became about $14 after tax. Couldn't pass it up! 

It is bare bones, only can be built stock and no extra custom parts, so I thought I would start the year quickly knocking this out. Weather is an issue day to day so I'm hoping I can get it painted before rain Friday and this weekend. I thought about not painting it since the blue plastic looks pretty nice but I've opted to paint it.  Tamiya coral Blue, which looks close to Larkspur Blue, with a white top. Same color interior with black seat and door panel inserts. 

I ran into a problem today with paint. The bottom of the body bubbled up a bit. Maybe too heavy on paint but I did it the same way I always do. Maybe the 65 degree temp had something to do with it. Humidity was OK at about 50%. So I have sanded out the bottom of the body and I'll touch up tomorrow and hope it all turns out OK. All other parts are painted OK. 

The finish on the frame looks great. Its Brite Touch black primer which I really liked. I say liked because Sherwin Williams has quite producing it and they were getting $9.95 for a 10 oz can ($5 before Biden) which is comparable to Dupli-Color primer at $12 for a 12 oz can. Paint is really getting expensive. Anyway, here are some photos. Thanks for looking! 

[kyledehart5]

You know, I have never once built a tri 5. I probably will at some point. Don’t have a reason why I haven’t. At any rate, I’m looking forward to seeing your work on this one. I am loving your color combo and the black on the frame. Great start.

[modelcarjr]

Thanks, Kyle! You should build one of these tri-fives! Any of the new Revell kits are good but not the old "Hot Rod Magazine" kits with opening doors that are now with Atlantis. This AMT kit is pretty old (1962, I think) with metal axles and hole in the engine. But the best one, IMO, is the AMT 1957 Chevy Pro Shop kit. I always buy one at contests if I can find one among the vendors.

​Yesterday was a good painting day! Temp about 65 degrees with 40 percent humidity. So I taped off the interior in the morning and painted the inserts. As usual, there were some bleed-throughs. So I scratched out the black paint with a toothpick and cotton swab so that it wouldn't bleed into the blue paint that I touched up with a brush. So everything looks good in the interior and I will add a light sprits of Dullcote before foil and chrome pen in the interior. 

I also touched up the body for the bubbles that I sanded out and then added another coat of paint to the entire body and two coats of clear. Looks good, and today as it is raining, I am rubbing out the body and starting the foil. I should have this one knocked out pretty quick, a nice little box stock to start the new year! Thanks for looking! 😎

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[handiabled]

This is looking great already and you haven't done the bright work yet

[70 STING]

Turquoise and white are such a classic combo. 

[kyledehart5]

I, too, love the turquoise and white. Thanks for the info on the kits! I’ll have to keep an eye open for the pro shop kits. I do have the Revell 56 del ray stashed away. Wonderful work on the interior too. Looking really nice.

[modelcarjr]

Thanks, Handlabeled, Sting, and Kyle! I appreciate your comments!

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Finished rubbing out the body and have it foiled. I left a little extra foil around the rear fender insert at the top because as I remember the decal is a bit small so I don't want any blue peeking out. I used a Galaxie marker for the gold on the V and Chevrolet lettering on the trunk and hood which worked out pretty well. Now, I have double-taped off the doghouse because I don't want any bleed-throughs here. I would brush paint it but its hard to cover the light blue which would take two coats and then it would look like a matted mess. Thanks for looking! 😎

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[406 Silverado]

You sure saved THAT paint job JR!! Dude, you're right about paint being expensive these days BUT....it's right in line with everything else that went up in price. Small block Chevrolet engine parts prices have shot through the ROOF!!!

[kyledehart5]

Beautiful work. That’s looking excellent.

[brandonk]

Turquoise and white always looks so good on the 57. Very cool build.

[70 STING]

Get out of here with that foil work. Not fair. 

[handiabled]

Great looking chrome job on this!

[modelcarjr]

Thanks, Joe, Kyle, Brandon, Sting and Handlabled! I appreciate your comments!

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I've been busy and now have everything painted, I think. The  doghouse came out well, with only two little smudges on the right fender and cowl, plus some touch-up to do on the inside edges. I rubbed out the two smudges and touched up both and trimmed the edges with a brush. I also finished the trim in the interior bucket.

he chrome piping on the seats may be a little big but its pretty uniform and its as small as I could get and still get it on straight. The buttons on the back seat, door handles and window cranks were done with chrome pen and I'll do the front seat buttons once the seat is glued in and the dash is in. Still have the dash to do. 

I dechromed the eight chassis and engine pieces and have painted them black (no photo). I wanted to try to use the tires since they fit the wheels and the wheels are built for metal axles and I don't want to re-design the kit and use different wheels and tires and try to figure out how to attach the wheels to the chassis. So I wanted to paint wide whites on the tires but brush painting won't work. So I wracked my brain (very painful) and finally came up with an idea. I used a circle template to cut a whole in an index card. Then I taped the index card to the tire from the back. I sprayed it with Tamiya white primer and it worked. I removed any stray paint with a cotton swab in some lacquer thinner and touched up any white paint with some acrylic. They look pretty good to me!  Thanks for looking! 😎

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[kyledehart5]

Interior is stunning. And wonderful work on those wide whites. Great idea!

[deafpanzer]

Dig the wide whites!!!

[modelcarjr]

Thanks, Kyle and Andy! I appreciate your comments!

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The interior is done, engine is done box stock, chassis is done, interior is in, wheels are on and a test fit of body to the chassis!  One complication - I forgot that one side of the tailpiece for the chassis has to be body color! Since its raining I'll give it a shot in the garage. Thanks for looking! 😎

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[kyledehart5]

Great work! Be buttoned up in no time now!!

[406 Silverado]

You are just BLOWING through this build JR (modelcarjr). At this point I'm wondering what your display area looks like.

[modelcarjr]

Thanks, Kyle and Joe! I appreciate your comments!

This one is done completely box stock. I didn't separate the hood bar from the grill, no exterior mirrors in the kit (at least there was an interior mirror) and a decal for the rear fender aluminum  insert. It used to be more silver than black so that has changed over the years. Everything went together pretty well once extra flash was removed. Thanks for looking! 

[keavdog]

What a beauty! Great color and the bright work is so well done.

[kyledehart5]

Beautiful result!! I love the colors and the look straight out of the box. Wonderful job all around!

[TJ]

Stunning finish. And you did it in a week 

[handiabled]

Gorgeous finish to this! I really like all the chrome work you did, reminds me of our 59 AMC with the wide chrome on the fins

[brandonk]

Outstanding work. Very iconic look. Thanks for taking us along.

[aaronw]

Nice job.

I've not done a '57 Chevy, but I have done (doing? they are kind of shelf queens due to the foil work) a '55 Nomad and '58 Impala. The chrome work on 1950s American cars is no joke, stock up on the foil.

[project510]

Very nice! Great job on the BMF.

[70 STING]

2 x  !

[modelcarjr]

Thanks, All! I really appreciate all the kind comments! Foil work was something that I was bad at but decided I was going to get good at doing. but the most important part of doing foil well is to make sure the finish is smooth. That means I also had to improve on painting and rubbing out the paint. So good foil work involves painting, polishing and applying the foil. I cut in strips and apply with a toothpick and cotton swab. I've gotten pretty good at eyeballing width and lengths and always use a good straight-edged ruler to cut a length. The foil takes some patience and I'll throw away a piece or two if I don't like how they went on but its pretty easy if the paint and finish are right!