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| For most of us there is a certain thrill to getting into our cars and hitting the highway. We didn't invent that; it's been around since the earliest days of the automobile. In fact, that's probably what prompted and moved its development. About 70 years after Daimler invented the first cars, GM came out with the 55 Chevy. For many of us, that marked a great step forward in design, and to this day it invokes a feeling of jealousy when we see one pass by. Even better than that is when it's a convertible! Ed Penland, he of decals and casting,, decided to go a step further, and become a modeler. To that end we give you his 55 Chevy Convertible mod. And a nice one it is. The heart of the car is the MM Inc 55 hardtop that they announced this year, and we reviewed. The other pieces were delicately removed from a Johnny Lightning Thunderjet Mustang Convertible, from Playing Mantis. The chassis is a Thunderjet. The roof was trimmed of all but the windshield and the side wing windows. Since the body is all one piece, a lot of care was taken to do it so the interior would fit. Ed does a very nice job of trimming and painting it with silver paint. Next he cuts out a JL Mustang Convertible interior, leaving some extra space to allow for trimming and fitting accurately. The interior is gradually sanded down to fit the cavity in the body, mounted even to the top of the doors. There are a few gaps visible between the pieces that we feel could be fixed easily by first using a thin coat of putty brushed around the perimeter of the interior, before it is inserted. Then the excess could be brushed away and painted. Other than that the pieces seem to be designed for each other. Back in the "Good Ole Days" white walls were the tire of choice, and Ed appoints this beauty with Thunderslick's White Walls. A very nice touch. These tires are very well proportioned, and are ribbed, and they fit on the standard skinny t-jet hub. Necessary because of the tight fit under the rear wells. This car looks great doing laps around a road course, and would be a very fine addition to any collection, or for purposes of scenery, say in front of that scale diner or theatre in your layout. Ed tells us that these are available for $50 each, plus S&H. No turnaround time was suggested, but we got ours in proper quick time. We assume colors are limited to the ones offered by MM Inc. We chose green because it was the most popular version back when the 1:1 was debuted BTW, it's our opinion that these would make great choices for IROC races. One per lane. The windows are sturdy enough, so even in race conditions these would hold up well. | ||||||||||
| Information: I cut the roof off a 55 Chevy, cut the Interior off a JL Mustang, painted it with Humbrol paints # 101 Green and #103 Beige, shaved the interior until it fit, test fit the interior with the chassis installed and glued the interior using Testors glue (the tube stuff). I used the boot from the Mustang. The tires are Thunderslicks White Walls. 55 Chevy Cruising. (People not included) | ||||||||||
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