Kit: No. 8315
Scale: 1/25
Manufacturer: AMT/Ertl, P.O. Box 500, Dyersville, IA 52040-0500, phone 800-553-4886
Price: $13.50
Comments: Injection molded, 131 parts (5 vinyl) wire, chrome foil, decals.
Prized by collectors and hot rodders, the '57 Chevrolet Bel Air is easily one of the most popular American automobiles of all time. AMT/Ertl's all-new kit represents Chevy's two-door Sport Coupe, powered by the legendary 283-cubic-inch V8.
The kit has many features car modelers will welcome. The frame and chassis pan are molded separately, and the hood and trunk lid can be posed open to show off their detailed interiors. Plastic-coated ignition wire is included, as is a swatch of self-adhesive foil for the acres of chrome trim. Optional fender skirts are included, too.
The interior side walls extend into the trunk area, which features a correct depression for the (included) whitewall spare tire.
The large, nicely done sheet of assembly drawings includes charts listing all of Chevy's interior and exterior color combinations for 1957.
Following the plans was easy; I found only two small errors: In step 9C, a drawing of the inside of the hood has part 82 incorrectly identified as part 87, and in step 6A, the steering wheel is shown upside down in a painting diagram.
I questioned a photo on the box art that shows the engine's triangular air cleaner - it's mounted backward. The plans show the cleaner installed correctly, however.
The kit's V8 comes equipped with dual four-barrel carburetors; parts for 1957's optional fuel-injection system aren't provided. AMT/Ertl has done a great job of molding the engine block and the distributor, making it easy to install the ignition wires following the supplied wiring diagram.
When I installed the engine into the chassis, the fit of the rear engine mounts was so tight the parts wanted to shoot across the room. Solvent softened the parts enough to provide a delicate, close fit.
I recommend installing the radiator and its hoses in step 5, rather than in step 9 after mounting the body.
While the body is almost free of mold-separation marks, the rest of the parts have sharply defined mold lines that must be removed by scraping and sanding. The plated hood bullets are too large for the mountings, even with the plating sanded off the underside.
The completed body easily slips down over the chassis. Tabs on the back of the chassis go into slots in the rear of the body - these needed just a little attention.
In step 9C, the right hood hinge (part 85) is installed under the edge of the fender between the fresh-air duct and the fire wall. However, the hinge on my kit wouldn't fit until at least half of the heater's fresh-air tube (parts 68 and 69) was cut away.
The separately bagged clear parts are thick, and benefited from a coat of Future. The fit of the clear parts - the windshield, wind vents, and rear window - is as good as I've ever seen.
Using the supplied chrome foil was disappointing. It seemed thick, and even with the fine application instructions, it would not stay down when applied to the extreme curves of the windshield frame and the side windows. Eventually I gave up and replaced it with Bare-Metal Foil. The triangular trim flash on the rear fenders should have an aluminum finish, instead of the chrome finish I applied.
The six-color decals worked fine on flat and gently curved surfaces. If you decide to use the gold Chevrolet script on the hood and trunk lid, remove molded-in script - the decals will not stay down over raised detail, and solvents won't help.
I picked out the raised script on my model with a detail brush and silver paint.
If I've measured correctly, the finished model is about four scale inches too long. The wheelbase is spot on, however.
Applying the chrome foil, masking the two-tone paint scheme, and painting 131 parts brought my build time up to 32 hours, more than usual for a model car kit. However, this kit is so much better than what has been available before that I heartily recommend it to all Chevy fans who have basic gluing and painting skills.
- Al Jones