Reviews : AMT 1957 Bel Air

Overall, it's a complete kit, simple engine, simple front & rear suspension, exhaust modeled to bottom. There's some nice trim detail. The kit contains parts for a stock 1957 Chevy Bel Air, no custom options. On its own merits, it's a kit I would've probably like when I was a kid in the '60s...something I could slap together. However, there are better alternatives of representing the real thing. Build wise; this model required a lot of sanding, some filling — lots of flash and heavy mold lines. Fortunately, the plastic is, in general, quick thick and can take a lot of filing and sands. The body has several issues. There's an unexplained rectangular hole in the middle of the firewall (which is a molded part of the body). And a visible verticle crease/dent in the rear fin fender panel (driver's side). Removing molding lines in the area of the trim required care. The interior was an assembled box with door and side panels, the rear bench seat, the floor, and mocked up pedals. The dash is a separate piece. There's not a lot of depth to the gauges, handles, trim and other detail, some of which can get easily lost in a couple of coats of paint. I could go on; tires don't fit on hubs, suspension systems are oversimplified. The heater doesn't fit properly. Instructions are less than adequate. The decal sheet has only one trim item (aluminum trim in fin quarter panel), no gauges, no logos, no placards. Truth is, I bought this kit as something I could practice my modeling skills. And it has not disappointed. I owned a beat-up '57 Chev as a kid. As bad as it was (...gas filler tube dangling in the air of a rusted out fin), I fondly remember the shiny, THIN, horn ring. I looked so cool. On this model, the horn ring is larger than the steering wheel. Was it fun to build? Was I happy with the finished product? Yes, but from the perspective of practicing skills. I gave this review a below average rating because it falls below the standards of other examples (Monogram, Revell). Can this be a trophy car? Yes, with a lot of work.

The recently reissued AMT 1957 Chevy Bel Air kit leaves much to be desired regarding fit, shape, and detail. AMT has a few different molds for the Chevy Bel Air. This kit is the older, less detailed mold. Therefore, the modeler must be ready to do a lot of sanding, flash removal, and dealing with poor part fitment. Further, the box art shows white-wall tires, but the kit only includes black-wall tires. This kit is a bare-bones, trimmed-down version of the Pepper Shaker kit, AMT 1360, without all the customization options. AMT cut these parts off the sprues for this version. In my copy, the interior tub was warped and twisted, which made fitting the front seat and dashboard more difficult. The hood is also slightly too short, which results in a gap between the windshield root and the start of the hood if it sits flush against the grill trim. The headlight buckets are also a sloppy fit because the angles and edges do not align with the body lines. However, the chassis and body fit together nicely without much fighting. The chassis pan has the exhaust and frame molded in, which makes detailing more difficult. However, despite the lack of detail and fit problems, with some work, the kit builds into a passable Bel Air. It offers nicely textured interior surfaces and has a dashboard with good relief. AMT used a newer mold in kits 983 and 988, which is much better and more detailed than this version. Further, Atlantis and Revell offer better kits. For example, the Atlantis kit includes opening doors and a hinged trunk and hood. The Pepper Shaker version, AMT 1360, has a more extensive decal sheet than this one and offers more options for customization. However, it is currently about 10 dollars more expensive. I rate the kit two stars due to the fit issues, lack of detail, part warpage, excessive flash on many parts, and the absence of white-wall tires. This kit requires significant patience and effort, but a moderately experienced modeler can build it into a nice-looking model.

I originally bought this kit as I wanted a 57 Chevy hotrod in my model collection. This kit may work if you're looking to build a box stock model. I wanted to put custom V-8 with headers in it but there wasn't enough room. Also, the engine that comes with it is just a basic 283 with dual carbs. There's not even an option for the mechanical fuel injection. There's also waaaay to much flash. I constantly had to trim parts to make them fit as well as sand the chrome pieces to get them to stay in place. I was rather disappointed with this kit as I couldn't really build the model I wanted using it. Most of the time AMT was good about offering other options for the engine as well as tire and wheel combos. This kit is only good if you're looking at building the model on the box. Which most of aren't we want options.

I finally finished this one last night. I know this is a very old kit, but I build old kits all the time. It was made in the early 60s so I was expecting typical metal axles in the front and the back etc. I bought it because I kept reading about how accurate the body shape was and I wanted to build it to compare it to more modern models. The roof line is accurate for a 2 door coupe but that's about all I can see good about this kit. People have mentioned flash already, detail is sparse due to the kit's age. Very little fits without a lot of work. Kitbash it, or use it for parts if you're not too interested in how they look, but save yourself the agony and buy one of the newer Revell 57s or even better, one of AMT's more recent molded but out of production 1957 Chevy kits.

I love this kit this kit is a lot of fun to build I love old cars so this is great for my collection this kit has a lot of cool ways you can customize it I want to add another one to my stash as this one looks so good PROS: cheap, fun to build, looks good, highly detailed, features a nice engine CONS: minor flash if you are thinking of picking up this kit then get it, it is a great kit for any old car collector and you will have many ways you can build this if I was going to give it a rating I would give it 10 out of 10 stars I am using this kit for a diorama I have about the first ever car show I went to my mom took a lot of pictures of the cars there so I build cars based on what was at the show and the beginning of my car addiction!

Very disappointed with this kit. The box says it’s a level 2, suitable for ages 10 & up. Well, If I was a 10-year-old I would have thrown this kit in the trash and never want to build another kit again. Way too mush flash, bad fitting parts, and hard to cover the blue plastic with paint even after being primed. Not a kit that will encourage a young model builder to continue with this hobby. I am by no means an expert nor professional kit builder, however, this kit was the worst kit I have built. Glad I got it on sale because the kit is not worth the MSRP of $23.00. Not the quality kit one would expect from a large, well known company like “amt”. Makes me reconsider purchasing kits from “amt” again.

This was a gift from my little brother a year ago Christmas (just now getting around to putting up pics and review!). I do not like the 57 Bel Air, but when your little brother thinks about you, what ya gonna do?? Not a bad kit; was the fifth kit I had built in my resurrected hobby. Steering wheel is AWFUL - the horn rim is some 5-6 times as thick as it should be! I couldn't get the rear fender decals to work, so I painted the trim white. Painted the Chevy logos with a toothpick. Went together easily enough.. Lessons were learned that helped me in future kits. This isn't bad for beginners; if you take your time, you can make the car look decent.

I bought this kit awhile ago for a weekend project - boy was I wrong. First the flash was heavy just about everywhere. I had 2 sink holes that needed to be filled and sanded. The detail was good but not as crisp as I would have liked. The instructions were terrible and mine had a smudge the made some steps unreadable. I had trouble with the rear axle to the point that I just used one from my spare parts box. What started out as a weekend project turned into 5 months and a whole lot of sanding. I painted it silver to hide the imperfections and did the interior in black. I would only recommend this kit to advanced builders or look for a better kit.

Would not recommend to a newby. If experienced and up for a challenge this model is for you. Every part was covered in flashing. Spent more time sanding then anything so far. parts are missing holes for next part to connect.the chrome peices by the time you sand it to look somewhat decent theres no more chrome left.also headlights seem like they both fit one side almost perfect but other side no way and plus dont even match up with body so that creates a problem if want stock look. Absolutely horrible model. I contacted amt weeks ago about quality and still havent gotten back to me.

Don't waste your time or money. I bought this kit as a quick build. No such luck iv been working on it for a year now. Instructions are utterly horrible Many pieces need to be reinforced or replaced due to either being to thin or inaccurate fitting. Flash galore, tooling shows massive wear( why release garbage?! Fix the tooling first!. Nothing fits together like it should i ended up going with a custom look, molding the front and rear bumpers too the body and adding lots of putty. All in all this kit is trash not even good for parts in my books.

I just finished this kit and I really don’t know what all the negative publicity is all about. I didn’t take any pictures cause I wasn’t happy about the finished product, but that’s my fault. The kit goes together fairly well but you will have to do some cleanup and flash removal. That’s why it’s called modeling and not assembly. If you’re looking for something to assemble, buy something from IKEA. It’s inexpensive enough for me to have another go at it. The hardest thing about this kit is doing the chrome work. Try it and have fun!

I just found this model in my stash. Read some of the other reviews so I opened mine up there was no flash on mine. I think mine was released in 2018 or 2019. The only thing I don't like so far is it is modeled in blue or turquoise blue. I will be putting it together and let you all know how it goes together. Don't know what color it will be butI will look for a color that matches the modeled plastic will post the finished model when done wish me luck

This Chevy was a fun build. the only con is that the rear end is cheaply made, I had it fall apart on me once but was able to fix it. For the price of this it makes a nice addition to any collection. To make it look real it will take some time to paint all the body molding but its well worth it. You can also lower the front for a modified look. I went with the stock. There is some flashing to be cut off but not bad. This is a good model for pros or biginners

I'm sorry some fellow builders had problems with this kit. I guess I got lucky. It fit together just fine with few problems. There aren't a lot of modifications possible without doing them with other parts. It brought back memories of when I was in high school and friends had a '57. Love those fins! I'm about as retro as you can get.

I built the late 1980 to 1990 release of this kit when it was AMT/ERTL. Pretty decent with option of 283 or 409 motor and stock or 5 spoke wheels. Only the hood opens but a chrome front end was provided. Large decal provided for the large side chrome trim next to the rear fin. Everything else you need to highlight with a ultra fine brush or Sharpie.

For a very basic, average kit this had way above average problems. Fit,flash,instructions, all will test your patience and frustrate you. Would have been better off just getting a bunch of parts out of my parts boxes and building something with them,at least there would be a reason for such bad fit issues.

This is one of the Worst Kits That I Have Built Lots of Flash To Trim.Cheaply Made if You Have Parts From Other Models You Can Make a Pretty Nice Build. I made a Gasser Out Of MIne Had Spare Straight Axle and Slicks and A Blown 426 Hemi Engine Didnt Care if i messed it up or not But it Worked out Great

I had a great time building this model until the end. After I painted the car and began assembly, I had some issues getting everything to fit. Once I got the car built I really appreciated the chrome pieces in the kit and how they looked on the car.

Bought this model to build as a birthday gift but wasn't pleased with it. the instructions are horrible and the quality of the model just wasn't very good. I am now going to use this for parts and buy the Revell Bel Air 2-Door Sedan 2'n1.

I could deal with flashing & difficult mating of the subassemblies but the windshield WAS IMPOSSIBLE I botched it 3 times with two separate models!I now realize I should have masked the windshield before glueing! ME OH MY

Several years back amt released an upgraded version of the 57 bel air with an opening trunk. I think the coca cola and 100 year anniversary editions had this option. Does anyone know if this aqua kit has this option?

Buy this as a first model and if you get it done and it looks decent you have the skills to be a very good model builder. Has some nice parts after cleanup, but not necessarily good fitting with the rest of them.

Not a good kit, lots of flash, poor instructions, not numbered trees, poor fitment of parts, had to use my part box for many things to make it look better, does have chrome suspension, but not adjustable,

Very detailed part and quality molded. The body is very thick and sturdy. AMT did a good job with detailed pictures to work from. Including spark plug diagrams. This was a great kit to learn spark plugs

good kit went together well some problems here n there but not serious nice detail lots of good chrome. didnt like the parts being blue at all made a little hassle although was happy with kit.

Had A Blast Putting this together did not have any problems took me 3 to 4 weeks to complete i would have it done earlier but i work so it took a little longer to put together A++ Model By AMT

I have never built a kit that didn't have part numbers until I built this one. I eventually figured it out but I found it confusing at times. Other than that a fairly decent kit.

Fun and easy to build. very nice model. There are so many ways to build this car as far as body color, interior color. very detailed trim. had a blast building this one.

A fun kit to bash, perfect for honing your painting skills without breaking the bank. Obviously not a kit to enter in contests but a good weekend(or week) build

I was not really impressed with this one. Alot of flash, parts didn't fit together very well. Ended up going with a custom build to cover up alot of issues.

Beautiful car I've added to my collection and it's really great and everybody needs to get one. That's all I can probably say about it.

This is one of the worst kits I've ever built. Way too much flash. Had to alter many parts to fit. Don't waste your money.

#638 57 hardtop, some flash to be trimmed and splay in molding but no shorts. Sand & Prep accordingly, very solid kit.

This is a very old old kit with soft details and a lot of heavy flash on the parts. I don't recommend it at all.

Good fitting on all end , not too much flare from molding. Required a very minimal amount of clean up

A very cheap and poorly made model. Perhaps if it was for only 10 years old and younger.

Full custom with blue windows & no chrome trim. Murdered out but in blue!

Very poor quality for the money. Of all my builds, this is the worst.

Kit was ok, not very detailed instructions could've been bettet