I looked at the scope of this project and scared myself a bit. Things have grown beyond the point where a single thread can be followed easily with my multiple-build habits so I have decided to split it into three separate threads with one for each year of the Tri-Five series.

The first kit I am going to dive into for the 1956 series is the Bel Air Hardtop.




I'm not a big fan of the jacked-up rear end, so I will go with the standard height stance, but I like the non-stock rims on box images. Undecided on body and interior colour yet, will put some thought and research online into this before I get far down the line.

Cheers, D

A coffee and a Google and 3 options to choose from.




The last one looks familiar but the colour combination just works. I'm leaning towards the silver and black for this build. Black and terracotta is coming a close second, but I think I would go with a metallic copper instead of the Terracotta. This combo might be good on the convertible.

Decisions, decisions

Cheers, D

D,
The Metallic Copper & Black just stands out from the crowd.

Joel

I agree with Joel, Damian.

I don't know, the Red and White works best for me. I'm planning on doing my '57 Sports coupe in Turquoise and Ivory,

Black and Silver for me D, with the Copper and black close second.

It would be pretty cool, with the same paint scheme, for all the Chevy's. The other options all look amazing.

This one, though, is the coolest '56 I have seen in many years.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R7kLo4-BDgw

Jesper, that is a colour combination that you wouldn't sit and think up in a million years, but it works so well! Flat red main, gloss black rear and roof, satin gunmetal instead of chrome trim. Amazing!


Here's another I found while browsing.


Cheers, D

And so it begins! Waiting for some glue to cure and paint to dry on my 51 and 911, I really had no choice but to dive in to this one. First up, why not just carve a big hole in the bonnet (hood)?

Yes, I am going to sand off the ejector pin marks and the "2".

This kit comes with a cool looking custom scoop.


Then we get on to the traditional starting points as per the instructions.


I'm going to have a go at wiring up the engine bay on this one as well.

Cheers, D

I was enjoying a bourbon on ice and browsing some of my reference sites and I found a great article on the flat red/gloss black/gunmetal car, the gallery at the end of the article is well worth a look. This is such an unusual scheme, and since I might have a couple of 56 Hardtops in the stash, I think I might just give this one a go.

56 Hardtop Custom

In fact I may have just picked up the paints on Saturday at the build display day!



Cheers, D

My favourite "Chrome-be-gone" is an overnight bath in a ziplock bag full of oven cleaner, then a quick scrub with a toothbrush in warm soapy water.


Checking over the parts during the scrub I noticed that the grille is short-shot around the sprue stub attachment point to the hood trim (circled in the image below).



Upon checking the (several ) other 56 kits in my stash I found that they all have the same issue, to varying degrees. Some rectification work required, but nothing major. The other parts all look good so far.

Cheers, D

Tinkering tonight with a glass of spiced rum, sanding pads and an Xacto, probably not my smartest move but very enjoyable !

Before and after shots of the front and rear bumpers showing the flash, mould lines and sink marks that need to be dealt with to replicate the super smooth Gunmetal bumpers on the reference car.






Reference car shots to drool over



The kit rear bumper part has the 2 vertical add-ons moulded on, I'm leaving them there as I think that they will add some extra interest on the back end. I'm also planning to paint the hood scoop in Gunmetal.

Cheers, D

More tinkerage, very relaxing and enjoyable with some Tedeschi Trucks Band playing in the background.

I shaved the top edge of the grille back to level where there was a short shot, checked against the dry-fitted hood and glued a strip of 1.5mm square Evergreen along the top.




I cleaned up the flash and sprue points on the hood trim, a couple more sink marks to deal with here.


The hood trim was glued in place, it will be easier to fill and sand this way, and I am masking to paint the Gunmetal trim on the rest of the body anyway.


Another quick dry-fit test shows that I just need to shave back the Evergreen trim a little bit to get a nice tight fit under the hood trim.


I have notice as well that there is a bit of a mis-mould along the bottom edge of the grille part, it is slightly out of shape, but this should be hidden behind the front bumper so I'm not doing any rectification work there.

Cheers, D

D,
Nicely done with the front grill correction.

Joel

Cleanup work on the 56 Hardtop body tonight, lots of filing and sanding to get rid of flash and mould lines as is typical for these old kits. I might petition Mr Tamiya to do a 1/24 57 Nomad, what are my chances?

Back to reality, I did some fettling on the front grille repairs. Almost where I want it.


The are a couple of gaping holes in the firewall where the toy-like bonnet hinge recesses away, so they just have to go.

I cut off a piece of quarter-round sprue from the kit to trim and fill the top slots.

A couple of small pieces of thin Evergreen sheet to cover the vertical slots and it's done. I will blend the edges once the cement is cured and they will prime up nicely. If I hadn't gone into such a rambling discourse here nobody would ever have known


Cheers, D

Super cool project. I have No doubt og will be magneficent.
Any thoughts on wheels?

Thanks Jesper, your feedback is appreciated here mate! I haven't put much thought into wheels at this stage, I am just going over the kit parts and filling sink holes and cleaning up flash, and doing some major work on the front seats!

Come on Monogram, what were you thinking???? I'm doing a super cool street rod here and you give me one-piece open-backed front seats? Seriously?


Ok, I will show you, out with the spot putty! Auto store variety, a tub like this is about AUD $14 and will last me years. It thins beautifully with MLT and I can brush it on to get a neat finish very easily, and it sands out silky smooth.


On to the Evergreen Sheet next





Still not done, next is spicing up the seat backs with some 0.64mm (25 thou") Evergreen rod to represent some fabric panels. Once the cement is cured I will knock these lines down a bit with a sanding pad.


There you go Monogram, don't worry, we will sort out your problems for you.

Cheers, D

Beautiful scratchbuilding Damian. Had the same issue,with the rear seat, for my '55 Chevy. Used Evergreen sheet as well. The Evergreen rod, however, I didn't think of ussing. Will note that, for future use though.

Thanks Jesper, it probably won't be all that visible on the finished build, but I enjoy the process and store it away like yourself for future builds.

With a slow shake of the head, this once again made it to the "What were you thinking??" file. Ejector pin marks, 10 of them on the interior of the tub, ALL VISIBLE AND ON RAISED DETAIL SURFACES!!!



The parcel shelf I will sand off and make do with virtually no surface texture, or I might give it a swipe in one direction with coarse sandpaper to give it some interest. The top of the rear seats (again shaking my head) I will knock down the edges of the marks a bit but they will still stand out a bit. I might try to "stipple" the primer before it fully dries. The carpet and front floor rubber mats I will live with.

Still shaking my head, why were these all not on the underside of the floor pan, WHY MONOGRAM, WHY?

Cheers, D

Primer on the body and hood. Mr Surfacer 1500 Black, cut with about 60% MLT, shot at about 20psi through a 0.25 tip. This stuff goes on smooth as silk, I just love it!



Cheers, D

D, unfortunately the engineering required the pins on the interior. The steel that forms the interior is like a 2"x3"x1" pyramid. As the plastic cools, it shrinks to that pyramid. So you need to have the pins on the inside. Now, could they have put some planning into getting them in less obnoxious spots? Of course they could have.

Hi D,

I can’t add any input on the plastic manufacturing process, though I have wondered - a nice extra benefit of reading the various posts - learning about things!

As for your current build, I didn’t realize you were this far along - nice and tidy work, and, I’m looking forward to seeing this as a hot rod! I like the paint scheme! I don’t think I’d be brave enough to try! So, yes, I’m looking forward to this one! I’m also waiting for El~Nomad!

Cheers
Nick

Hi Nick. Thanks for checking in mate.




Indeed, the knowledge pool here is awesome!




I try to tick along steadily, juggling a few different builds as the mood takes me.




I finished one of the El-Nomado builds in the 55 Series thread , but there will be a 56 El-Nomado here at some stage as well.

Cheers, D

Ok, I couldn't stop myself, I just had to throw some colour on this one!





I need to go over a couple of places with the red to even out the colour, but I'm very happy with the tone of the red. Once it is cured I will Dullcote it then mask it off and paint the gloss Black, then more masking and finally the Gunmetal trim.

On the reference car the interior is a weird mix of steel blue, grey and tan which I'm not too keen on, so I might go with a more traditional black with red panel inserts to match the body colours.



Cheers, D

In the description, in the superchevy link, the interior is described as black leather and grey suede. Looking at the video, on my computer, it looks as if the interior is just that, black leather and grey suede. In the interior image, below, however, it does look as if the suede is a brownish shade. I think it is Merely a "trick" of the light. You know how suede can change, from light to dark, depending on which way you rub it.