’60 Chevy Pickup.
One thing I have discovered in looking at car shows is the need to limit what I look at. Whether it’s new car shows, hot rod shows, car club runs, or whatever. For there comes a time when I just get tired of looking. It’s the same with virtual shows online. I’m lucky if I can scan through fifty pics before feeling exhausted. Just too much to take in.
’69 Nova – graphics by Holden, LC Torana.
I know some of you would like to see ‘everything’, but take it from me, that’s not feasible. And even if it were technically possible, someone has to put a brake on that kind of extravagance. Rich Baron suggested Chevy, and once I started looking, I quickly thought I’d better limit myself to a decade, and be selective even then. So, here’s a random stroll through some sixties Chevys. We’ll have a chat about various things along the way.
Fear not, fans of other marques, your time will come. Will it ever….!
’68 Corvair – I did say random.
Now, I’ll say upfront, I don’t have ‘one of everything’. Some cars were never made as kits, and some old kits have never been reissued. Conversely, others just hang around like a bad smell. Some companies tool up for new, better-detailed kits of old favourites. And some subjects just plain never interested me. On the other hand, some grab my attention to an extreme degree. Like that ’60 Chevy pickup. Or the second-gen Corvair. Or ’58 Edsels. Or A-body Mopars. I could go on.
’60 Chevy.
I seem especially drawn to cars I saw as a child, or cars I remember being new during those formative years.
’61 Chevy Convertible.
In my country, any American car is an eye-catcher. And the sixties ones usually looked just right.
’62 Chevy.
’63 Chevy.
The ’63 was the result of a paint experiment. It really pops in the sunlight.
’63 Chevy.
Another paint experiment on the same kit. With a green interior, to add a bit more visual interest.
’64 Chevy.
’66 Chevy.
One of my favourite colours, nineties Ford Australia Everglade. Sometimes I get set on a particular colour, and tend to use it too often. Off the top of my head, I can think of five other sixties cars I’ve used this colour on. I wasn’t sure about the particular shade of blue I used for the interior with this, but it works for me.
(Hang on, we skipped a year! But a ’65 is in the works…)
’66 Chevelle Wagon.
No, there wasn’t a ’66 SS396 wagon, but why should that stop me?
’67 Impala.
Street machine version, further modified.
’65 Corvette.
Let’s finish up with a 1965 Corvette. Sitting a bit low, I know. I got this kit with a few bits missing, so substituted some spares I had on hand.
Next time: What does he have on display? Part One!
Fantastic!
I’ve got some large displays in cases and on shelves in my basement, some I’ve purchased and others that I built myself as a kid. It’s quite a task every few years when we buy a new house….plus I’m always adding to the collection. 60’s Chevys are a fine subject!
Thanks. I don’t have a shoiwcase as such, just various displays (you’ll see one next time), and I make room for my newest builds through the displays, and pack older ones away.
The photos of the Chevys with the factory wheel covers look like manufacturer publicity photos from back in the day.
Thank you. That’s the look I aim for – sometimes!
I got into kit building through my cousins when I was about 10. I had a paper route so I could buy a new kit now and then. 16 year birthday came along and real cars became the interest. I find it most cool that people kept up the hobby through the years. I love seeing them. Great detail work!
Thanks. In my case the licence came when I was 18, and the car when I was about 25. I was always rather a quiet, shy kind of person, so just kept building models.
Astounding work!!!
Thank you.
I love this series and echo the comments that you do fantastic work.
My question is about your pace. Maybe you’ve said this at some point and I’ve just missed it, but on average how many models do you complete in say a week or a month? You seem to have so many and the level of detail and quality of work is so fine that I have a hard time imagining that just one of these models takes less than a week to create. You must be building literally all the time!
Great to hear from you, Jeff, and thanks for your compliments.
Compared to what some guys do (added detail, underhood wiring…), my models are fairly basic, but I like to make the most of the engraved detail. Sometimes my chassis work may be in unprototypical colours, with a lot of different bare metal shades, but I try to keep the rest fairly accurate. A black underbody may be accurate, but that’s too boring for me! 🙂
Case in point: Ferraris. Lately I’ve been working on a California my son gave me. It’s not red, it’s blue. The engine is painted accurately (pic), but I went my way on the chassis with aluminium, steel, two shades of titanium and duralumin for the suspension components. And a bit of road grime to add visual depth. They don’t show when you look at it, but I enjoyed doing this. I mightn’t use quite such a variety on, say, a Dodge, but the grimy wash would be a given.
Remember, I’ve been building for over fifty years. Back in my late teens-twenties I’d build about 20-30 a year. Once I was married and the kids came along that slowed right down to maybe four-five a year. The pace picked up some when they were in their teens.
Over the last five-ten years I have averaged building about 30 cars per year. You can do that sort of thing when you’re retired. Some days I don’t go near the bench; I’m either too tired or in too much pain (axonal neuropathy). Other days I make up for it. I have other interests too (gardening, writing, reading), so it’s not like I’m at the bench from sunup to sundown. I couldn’t maintain that level of concentration nowadays.
What wonderful raw material for some forced-perspective photographs! Superb work!
And there are guys who do just that, GOM, and are great at it. I am too focused on the model to pay much attention to the surroundings. I’m too impatient when I’m behind a camera; I often have to go back and reshoot my model pictures. Strange, considering I’m so patient while building, but there it is.
A mate, Douglas, builds these incredible scale dioramas to display his models. He often ‘hints’ I should do the same. I did a few buildings when I was in my twenties. Here’s a street scene from my childhood, mocked up on my workbench.
Oh, I like that! Perhaps a fully modelled street scene in a showcase would provide a good background to show off your latest creations, though it would have to be a pretty big case.
Love your ’61 Chevy convert with the green interior. Never seen one in that color combination. Also really like the ’62 bubble top coupe!
Thanks. I remember metallic vinyls being big back then, and Tamiya had this nice pearl green paint, so…
And you like the bubbletop? Here’s a ’61.
This might be my favorite of today’s wonderful sampling…really impressive (I probably built my last AMT model in 1966-77, but can still recall the smell of cement, paints, etc.). Very cool to see these today—thanks!
Another view.
Also love the ’57 pink and black Ford coupe.
My use of colour has given me something of a reputation among some internet modelling groups. I never realized it was anything special, but nowadays I tend to maximize it. With this one I thought “What would have been really stylish for 1957?”
I did a custom built 65 Chevelle wagon for a commissioned build. The buyer wanted the rare 300 Deluxe 2 door wagon. Simple conversion, I just moved the B pillar back somewhat and extended the front doors after filling in the rear doors and making the new scribe lines for the doors. I even cut the line in the middle of the molded in front seat to simulate the folding seat back on the real car. Simple gloss white paint job with a light blue interior , bare metal foil and stock engine. One of my better builds, he LOVED it
That sounds a cool conversion that would really have people wondering. Do you have any pics of it?
Unfortunately I don`t. I built it a few years ago and I`m sorry I didn`t do a photo log on the build. However there is a resin body version of this car by Jimmy Flintstone that`s available. Check out the website.The body is already done but you will need the AMT kit as a ‘donor’ model for the chassis,interior bucket, window glass and engine. Did you ever do a resin kit before? There`s plenty of good info on Youtube, so check it out.
I’ve seen that resin body built up, so I can sort of imagine it. I’ve only done a few resin kits, Phil, like this ’56 Lincoln (Modelhaus).
I’m making the assumption that you are exclusively model cars or am I wrong? I started on model cars in 1960. However, I was 6 at the time and have to say nothing grabbed my attention based on what was available. Yet I was a big WWII fan, my father and his friends all vets, so I was into planes and ships. Not even Army tanks could attract me.
Building took a very long slumber once I hit 16 years old and can anyone guess why? Only since working on the USS Hornet have I gotten back into ships and planes. Ships are carriers and 80% of the planes are US Navy with a backlog of around 80 kits in boxes. Cameras came, along with more real cars, and one finds time a scarce commodity for all of one’s interests.
Thaks. Yeah, I’ve never been into military subjects. Dad was a vet, and the war was something you didn’t speak about. I have one WW2 army Jeep. Oh, and a 1/48 scale ww2 era VW in khaki. However I have built some buildings in HO and 1/25 scale, a couple of (non-functional) steam engines, the odd motor bike, a cable car, the Tardis, and some other odd stuff. But they’re way outnumbered by cars.
Such a great assortment, as usual, with great attention to detail. The Torana graphics on the ’69 Nova SS really work.
And your opening sentence is my basic approach to some car shows and museums: to just focus on one section, understanding my own saturation point. It helps then, later, to appreciate what I saw and think about it later, instead of trying to remember all of it, which can be daunting.
Thanks! Yeah, when the Nova kit came out, that was the first variation I built. I just had this idea, and went for it. My ideas don’t always turn out so well!
Some years ago there was a car show in my town. I think they wanted to make it annual, but the next year Covid hit. I think there was something near 200 cars. I
dutifully wandered around the whole sports ground and the car park, looking at everything. After a while they began to, well, not look the same, but I found I wasn’t noticing details any more. Saturated.
They’re all splendid, but my favorite is the ’62 Bel Air coupe.
Thanks again for sharing.
Thanks Paul.
They all look nice, but the yellow & white ’62 really stood out for me.
Thank you. I was inspired by the lovely pastels of the early sixties, here on this EJ Holden.
Yes, the ’62 is Pete’s Car of The Day – PCOTD, a new CC sub-category, just announced here and now – for me too.
Sounds like I’d better find it and take some more pictures then. Easier said than done, but…
Peter, You’ve inspired me to dig out those model kits I have packed away in the garage.
I will get at them after the snow falls. Building some model cars will keep me busy on those cold Canadian winter days.
Thanks Gerry. We’re just coming out of winter down here, but today its come back with a vengeance! Good modelling weather.
Kid in a lolly shop, gorging on all, then with a bellyache and sugar low, and parents saying “I told you so”.
I too learnt a while ago to go slow and select carefully when attending car shows, particularly if there are many and exotic things on the menu (like Motorclassica). Otherwise, towards the end of one’s over-indulgence, something such as a Mercedes 540K roadster gets only a tired and fuzzy-eyed glance, which is plain disrespectful in such a church.
However, Pete, can I politely suggest you probably CAN show a lot of what you’ve got, in small collections like today’s one, over a long period? At your own pace, of course. I can practically guarantee this audience will still be showing up a couple of years from now. And your work is of such a high standard that deserves a wide exposure. Think of it as respect for the works themselves, if you like. They are glamourous, and they need their 15 minutes.
Ah, Motorclassica. Shock, horror – I’ve never been! In fact I haven’t been to Melbourne since Model Expo in 2010. Health issues keep me pretty close to home nowadays. Motorclassica-in-scale, now that’s a thought. A scary thought.
I have been posting a model a day (approximately) on FB after my US mate Phil dobbed me in to post one car a day for seven days. I never stopped! 🙂
On CC, Rich already suggested a similar approach to what you suggest. Next fortnight will be a Japanese extravaganza, as I’m showing my Japanese car park display, including at least one car that Tatra87 has done an in-depth feature on (I ordered the kit after seeing his feature). After that I’ll dial back a bit and do perhaps ten cars at a time. And I’ll randomize the mix, so we don’t get four (or more) sequential posts on sixties Chevys. Might do one all on ’58 Edsels though!
Sneak peek for next time… 🙂
Where else would one ever see an old Mazda trucklet, with The Stig in the background?
I told him I had this cool mid-engined Mazda for him. I don’t think he was impressed.