AMT '57 Chrysler 300C

I've been putting off building the small amount of American cars I have in the stash because the problem of getting hold of the correct shade of paint to paint them in, that problem has now been solved as MCW now send their paint oversea's, and as this is probably the longest American kit that has been sitting in my stash, I thought it was about time it got built.

Looking at the colours of the models I have already in the display cabinet, I wanted something a little different from the blues, greens and other bright colours I've built models in, so this one will be done in Copper brown metallic.



I haven't built an AMT since the mid 90's, and so far I'm pretty impressed with the quality and the detail in this kit, it's certainly made me a fan of AMT kits

As I've said, I've had this kit sitting in the stash for more years than I can remember, but one thing I did notice, was that the rear bumper had previously been stripped of it's chrome and half painted in grey primer, so that was the first job, it was sanded smooth and given a couple of coats of grey acrylic primer, then it will be chromed using the K Colors paint I bought at the IPMS show last year

The body was inspected and there were only a few mold lines that were removed, at the same time I re-scribed the panel lines as I didn't want them covered when I do the painting,



The first job on the instructions is to build the engine, and that's what I did, it seems a shame to put the rocker covers on, as they will hide all the detail of the rocker valves molded into the cylinder head, but I'm not building a garage diorama, so sadly all that detail will have to be covered





The interior was dry fitted before it got a coat of primer, very impressed with the fit of the parts



The mold lines on the exhaust were removed with a small file and sandpaper, the instruction tell you to install them before the front torsion bars and the rear axle and suspension go on, but a dry fit confirmed that they can be fitted afterward, although it does take a bit of jiggling.









One of the mounts for the rear shock absorbers were broken off the crossmember, so I cut the other one off and made a set out of a couple of dressmaker pins



The rocker covers and air filters were airbrushed in gold



The rear bumper, that had previously been primed, was given a couple of coats of the K Colors black basecoat



Nest the interior, seat and side panels were painted in light tan, for this I used Humbrol #103







The battery was first airbrushed in gloss black, then the filler caps were picked out with Tamiya red enamel, the terminals were picked out using Tamiya silver chrome



The next step I deviated slightly from the instructions, as the bulkhead and the small bit of the floorpan need to be done in body colour, and as it will make for a neater job, I used the interior side panels, taped into place, so the bulkhead could be fixed to the floorpan,





Although the sidewalls were molded in white, to me they looked a little too much like white plastic, which is what they are, so they were given a few coats of white acrylic primer, the bottom two still need to be primered



The chassis was first primered and then given a few coats of gloss black acrylic lacquer



The rear bumper, after leaving the black basecoat to dry out for 732 hours, as suggested by K Colours, was chromed





The wheels were built up and fitted to the chassis, and as a bonus, all four wheels touch the ground at the same time





That's one exhaust fitted, took a bit off jiggling, but I got it done



The air filter elements were hand painted in flat white acrylic



Chassis finished



Air filters fitted onto the engine





Dashboard finished

That black base coat needs a LONG curing time Geoff, is the chrome K colour Too?. It looks fantastic.

Can't believe I've spent most of the day doing the bmf on the side panel, I've still got the other side to do .....



Also got the steering wheel fitted

GaryDainton wrote:That black base coat needs a LONG curing time Geoff, is the chrome K colour Too?. It looks fantastic.

Yes, they are water based, unlike Alclad, so they need a longer time to dry up, yes, the chrome is K Colors as well

Thanks Geoff, stunning BMF work!

GaryDainton wrote:Thanks Geoff, stunning BMF work!

Cheers, my eye's are now hurting !

Beautiful work, Geoff.

That is one of the better AMT kits - some of the others are still the same as before.

An amazing amount of kit detail! And your work with it is beautiful, the BMF on the side panels is pristine.

Got the floorpan painted today, 1st time using the paints from MCW, and it won't be the last,

Looks like the colour of Jack Reegan's Consul 3 litre GT, pity we can't have a kit of that.

Got the bodyshell and bonnet painted today, also got the floorpan masked up so the fuel tank can be airbrushed

That's quite shiny for a base coat already Geoff, nice job.

A bit of clear and polish and it'll pop.

dublin boy wrote:That's quite shiny for a base coat already Geoff, nice job.

A bit of clear and polish and it'll pop.

It's not basecoat Shay, it could be polished as it is, clear coat will just give it a better shine and protection

Interesting, I always understood that you can't polish out metallic paint.

Has this got some clear mixed in with the colour coat?

dublin boy wrote:Interesting, I always understood that you can't polish out metallic paint.

Has this got some clear mixed in with the colour coat?

Metallic finishes were totally different back then to the basecoat and clearcoat that car factories use today, the older paints are Duracryl lacquer, and can be sanded between coats and then the final coat can be polished, a clearcoat isn't necessary, but will add depth to the finish, 1970's Ford and Vauxhall cars over here used the same kind of paint until the 1980's.

So is it like cellulose then from back in the day,

Polish your jam jar every Sunday kind of thing?

Fantastic....especially the chrome. :)

Beautiful paint - color and finish.

dublin boy wrote:So is it like cellulose then from back in the day,

Polish your jam jar every Sunday kind of thing?

It's actually Acrylic Shay, but unlike todays cars, didn't have a UV protective clear coat, which is why you see photos of these cars back in the day faded, because the oxidation, unless they were polished on a regular basis, something you don't see too many people out there in a Sunday polishing their cars, because really there is no need, as your just polishing clear lacquer, they don't fade, so people don't bother anymore.

Really sharp looking build Geoff. I have to agree the detail and engraving of this kit is fantastic. Although I have to say the one I built the fit on a number on parts required some real trimming and manipulating.

Very nice....

Got the body and bonnet clearcoated today, I'll leave it for a few days before wet sanded and polishing

I'd just get the Safe Cut on that Geoff, I can't see any need for wet sanding.

If you got the Promatic, it's "softer" than say Halfords/Holts and polishes out with less elbow grease.

dublin boy wrote:I'd just get the Safe Cut on that Geoff, I can't see any need for wet sanding.

If you got the Promatic, it's "softer" than say Halfords/Holts and polishes out with less elbow grease.

There's a few dust nibs in the paint that need flatting out Shay, might as well do the job properly .....

The lacquer is 1K acrylic lacquer I borrowed from my local bodyshop