'55 Chevy Step Side "WOW" (What Once Was) ** Finished! 02/20/09 **

@Amateur): Thanx! The painting technique is described on the first page of this post so I guess you can use that description and test it on your own project. The Doog also has a great description of the hairspray technique in his thread "Lair of The Rust Bunnies" in this forum.

My model is just a plain plastic model from AMT, where I've built the paint up in several layers.

Hi. Excellent work done. IMHO the engine looks kinda new comparing to the condition of the body :) How is this painting technique achieved??? Is this a metal/plastic/wooden body? I would be very thankfull if you tell me about the technique step by step:)

samdiego wrote:

Even without the photo of the Bapst truck, I would recommend not messing with the rims. One explanation is right on the door. Cooter would have access to all sorts of second hand parts in his business. I've bolted nice rims to ratty vehicles before and it never required a paint job. And, yes I would just wipe off the rims from time to time in leau of washing the entire beater. I can visualize that rig pretty much anywhere in the Soutwest US being used as a daily driver.

Even without the photo of the Bapst truck, I would recommend not messing with the rims. One explanation is right on the door. Cooter would have access to all sorts of second hand parts in his business. I've bolted nice rims to ratty vehicles before and it never required a paint job. And, yes I would just wipe off the rims from time to time in leau of washing the entire beater. I can visualize that rig pretty much anywhere in the Soutwest US being used as a daily driver.

Stampede wrote:

Well, I can see where you got the inspiration from then; you can't blame yourself for that owner's stupidity! LOL! (God, I just HATE those style wheels on ANYTHING!...honestly, I don't know why, but I do?)

Congrats on the gold! You certainly did nail the look of the truck--unfortunate wheels and all!

And thanks for the PM too--that page will come in very handy!

Thanx guys, I really appreciate the fact that you like my build!

@Karl: Thanx for the kudos on my build, I really appreciate the 98/100.

I see where you're coming from in terms of me having to explain the concept of the build. I got quite a few comments regarding the wheels on the Norwegian IPMS forum too. I posted this pic to try and explain which road I wanted to go down.

Bling wheels, "semi" bling engine compartment, and a ratty overall finish on the rest of the car.

I also agree with you when it comes to the posters in the back. Driving a pick up myself I've lost a couple of "light" items once in a while.   I just put the posters in the back for a bit of visual interest on the contest table. I'm with ya regarding the pigments too.

Overall I'm very happy with this build, since it was just a "therapy" project that kinda went overboard. I took Gold in the Light Commercial class in the Norwegian IPMS Nationals last weekend with this car, I'm very pleased with that.

Per-Erik

Again, Per-Erik; I have to say; I love everything about this build--but for the wheels. I just think that they look incongruous with the rest of the build. It kinda necessitates you having to explain what the concept is/was behind it, and that weakens the impact of it when you're not around to do that. It would look more like a "sleeper" if it had just regular, unimpressive wheels, in my opinion. Either that, or distress the wheel rims a little more; maybe add some rust to them? Just my

The engine looks great. And the weathering is superb!

The only two small things I would recommend would be some MIG pigments in the bed, and maybe in the engine bay. A little bit of dust and old dirt in there would look even more realistic! And those posters in the back would go flying out just as soon as you got over 20mph on a road somewhere==slap some weight of some kind on 'em!

All in all I give it a 98/100---minue .2 for the wheels!

Nice work as usual P.E this was lookin awsome when i saw it on the table in Oslo

Greetings

Terje

Thanx Karl, I really appreciate the fact that you like my build! I'll send you a PM regarding the pizza box.

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Finally got this one togheter last night. Added some stuff to the bed, an old Keystone Classic wheel and some old movie posters.
Toned the chrome down a bit and got the bumpers, trailer hitch, chains for the tail gate and so on mounted...

Here's the finished pics of the truck.

Per-Erik; I honestly can't say enough about this spectacular build! I looks fabulous!

The only thing I wish would be to either age those shiny wheels, or swap the hubs for something a littleless shiny. I know you're going for an old "show truck" or the like, but they don't really "fit" for my taste?---but it's your model! :)

The weathering is excellent! And all that interior accessory/garbage is just superb!

Can you tell me how you managed to make the pizza box and the other stuff? Is that just a matter of printing the images out?

Starting to close in on the finishing stages on this one.
Got the chassis finished so now she's on all four...
Just did some simple washes with MIG Neutral, Brown and Dark wash and I slapped some GM blue onto the shocks. Did some minor pin washes on the nuts and bolts to but thats barely visible in the pics.




Dropped the completed and weathered engine into the chassie too.

I ended up with the Cragar mags 'cause I think they're cool and they fit good with the theme I'm after. Gave'em a couple of washes with black and som rusty color in minor spots. The white walls also got the grease and grime treatment.



The tail lights were detailed with a thin wire for the electrics and painted Clear red over silver, and a BlueDot in the centre painted Clear blue over silver.




The bed did get some more "smudge" and stuff applied and is nearly finished.

The interior is just about done. The rug is laid down, I chose to just cover the bench of the seat to get a nice grimy white contrast to the rug from the seat back. Made some interior junk too consisting of a Kleenex box, some CD's, ELO and ZZ Top among others, , a pizza box and I put the rear view mirror in the glove box.





...and I also made a license plate with Acme License Maker...



Here's a quick mock-up of the truck so far...

And here's the result of this evenings work. I felt the truck needed a logo on the door so I painted one with a couple of 1/0 and 10/0 brushes. Quite satisfied with this logo myself and I feel it blends right in with the look I want for the truck.

Small update...

Kinda sloppy detailing on the battery bracket from the lit producer, just a base and nothing else, so I made my own.
Copied the look af a '55 Chevy battery bracket I found in a picture in my archives.

I used thin aluminium that I bent with my FenderBender and used thin piano wire for the mounting rods and topped it of with a couple of PE wing nuts.

Here's the final product...
 


Every 50's custom with a little respect for itself has got to have headlight half moons, so I made a set.
Kinda altered the look of the front, but the look is quite "right" IMO.

...the pic.



Thanx for looking!

Bob-o wrote:

may i ask what gauge wire you use for the detailing of the engine?? plugs, hoses, ect;ect?

I'll measure the different wires and get back to you on that...

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Been working on the interior for the last couple of days.
Just need to do some minor touch up and get the mexican rug over the bench seat, then I recon I'll call it quits.
Basically I've just been "dirtying" and made some wear and tear, here and there. A couple of photo etch pieces for the window cranks and door handles, a BMF piece on the horn button and a black floor mat.
The inside color is the same as the outside, and the bench seat and arm rests are painted in Vallejo Stencil. Some Tamiya sticks, MIG pigments and washes are in charge of the dirty work, looks kinda lived in I think.

@samdiego:Thanx for the info, amigo!

@the doog: Thanx Karl, I appreciate it! glad you like the engine. I guess the tread can be a little confusing with the shabby paint job and all. But I'm aiming for the cool rat / ruff rod custom style.
Again, thanx...

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WOw, per-Erik; That engine is sweeeeeet! Beautiful work!

I have to say that it took me a little by surprise though--I guess I didn't understand what you were going for here, exectly--I thought this ws going to be a rusted-out junker?

The whole project is very compellling! It's looking great!

@Huxy & Custom 56 F-100: Thanx! If I get i done in time it'll show up at IPMS Norway Nationals.
@Jim Barton: I'll do a How-To when I make rug number two.
@samdiego: Hola! Thanx for the kudos and the info, I'll definately make a bigger one to cover the whole bench seat. Did you use'em for floor mats too, can I do that?

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Had a slow start on the engine detailing tonight. I won't do a superdetailing project outta this one but some wires and hoses are needed. The engine is a good old 265 cid with just a 4bbl carb as a custom feature.
Here's some pics so far...

Here's some fuel and vacum lines to the carb. The Velocity stack is just mounted with tack temporarily. (For photographic purposes only. )



Here I've prepared for heater hoses in and out...


The coil and distributor, plus the dip stick. I used an ignition wire, removed the insulation and flattened the end and made a loop. I also tried to "ceramic coat" the headers, a little touch up on'em and I'll recon they'll be ok. Some more details will be added to the carb in the near future...



Top view and another one from the side...



Now, here's a slight dilemma. I found a set of some old classic Cragar wheels in the stash and kinda think they fit quite well accompanied by the WW tires.

Waddaya think, should I stick to the original idea with the painted steelies and chrome trim ring or should I go with the Cragars?

I'm a bit in doubt at the moment...   Here's a pic that'll hopefully give you an idea.

Now it's soon time to get down to the nitty gritty and make the engine dirty, I've started with baby steps on the transmission just to check how it'll look...

Per-Erik

Huxy wrote:

That's just awsome..   Entering this too in IPMS?   Really, you'll get 1st in all categorises....   That truck is just brilliant!

Agree

@ogrejohn: Thank you!

@Bgrigg: He he! Thanx, but I recon I've got a few steps to climb before I reach the doogs level.

@squeakie: This is produced by AMT, kit #6004

@viper_mp: That's why model building is so great, you don't have to mess up 1/1 cars.

@fox: Thanx!

@doog: Thanx Karl, and glad you like the "rug"!

My .

Like Bgrigg said "Doog, watch your six".

Jim