Here’s my latest project, JoHan’s 1956 Plymouth Belvedere four-door sedan. The kit contains the plastic parts for JoHan’s original mid-'50s promo model, but since the original promo didn’t include an interior, the kit now includes a new cast-resin interior to round things out as a “curbside” model.
I painted the model with Tamiya’s spray-can lacquers. I stripped the chrome plating from the front and rear bumpers and repainted them with Alclad II chrome lacquer. The fender and window trim is Bare-Metal Foil.
The model’s painted to represent my first car – it was a V-8 car with a push-button automatic transmission. That’s a photo of it on the right, and the camera that took the photo on the left.
WOW I am always amazed by your builds…where do you find the time to build them so fast?! lol That is an awesome display. Though I am still unsure of what “curbside” means.
kik36, the term curbside means that is how the car would look parked in front of your house at the curb. cities, in older neighborhoods, have large cut stone blocks(in the form of a rectangle) set in the ground. this is usually a hard type of stone such as granite or basalt. it, the curb, serves many functions. it defines the width of the street, it provides a gutter for storm water to flow from the street to the storm sewer, usually positioned at corners of the city block, to convey said storm water away from the area. also the curb prevented people from parking on public sidewalks[:D]
“Curbside” is a term car modelers use to describe a model that has no engine detail and/or no chassis detail. Imagine you’re looking at a real car that’s parked “curbside” on the street – you wouldn’t be able to see the engine, and you probably wouldn’t crawl underneath to look at the chassis.
As someone who grew up in the 50s and 60s I remember the old Plymouths, Dodges, DeSotos, Chryslers, and Imperials, ie the Chrysler Corporation Cars. Plymouth has gone the way of the Imperial and the DeSoto, ie it no longer exsists. The model brings back some fond memories of the days when cars were distinct. Now they all look alike.
If I remember correctly JoHan started as a company that supplied models for the dealerships (pro-mo’s), and later evolved into a “kit” manufacturer. I have heard various rumors about the old JoHan molds and the possibility of new productions of some of their old kits. If you have any information about this it would be of interest to those of us who remember the JoHan kits. JoHan produced kits of cars that no one else did, such as the Rambler, American Motors, and Chrysler cars.
Thanks for sharing your Plymouth with us. The turqoise and white paint job is typical 50’s, as is all the chrome. Nicely done. rangerj
It’s funny, I still have a set of keys for the car, and they have the CPDD (Chrysler, Plymouth, Dodge, DeSoto) logo on them – there aren’t too many of those lines left!
JoHan has indeed made a reappearance, and they have a website at
This kit is one of their recent offerings. I believe the plastic parts are NOS. The kit includes a vacuum-formed windshield, but the one in my kit was badly distorted so I used an injection-molded part from a decades-old promo I took apart. The cast-resin interior is ok, but it’s a little shallow, undoubtedly to fit properly between the body and the platform chassis plate.
They also recently reissued their Chrysler Turbine Car promo as a kit; here’s one I built a few months ago:
Ah that brings back memories,I also had one for a first car, but mine was black over yellow with a three speed standard. Nice build. Thanks for sharing.
I great looking Plymouth. I did the Chrysler turbine when it first came out in thr 60’s. I’d have to say it’s the best car kit I’ve ever had the pleasure to build.
Very nice build … great display, with the 1:1 car shot, that means a lot to you … and the camera that took the picture … great memories … thanks for sharing … [swg]
