Steve Bolander's '58 Impala from American Graffiti - Built from the Ertl 1:18 scale kit

[Junkman]

Believe it or not...

I CAN HAZ BILT A KIT!

Something I haven't done for 15 odd years. And back then, it was a plastic kit. Which was made from plastic. By the devil...

Anyway, here goes:

That thing was expensive!

So let's devalue it.

Behold the grimness, which is an overwhelming one:

A no-go, clear as a whistle. Hence primer was applied:

While it dried, I assembled and installed the engine:

I actually painted the engine and gearbox, which is rather futile, because you can't really see anything of it once the model is assembled.

However, those who have seen the film will recall, that Toad mentions that the car has a 327. Which is a small block. The engine in this kit is not.

It's a W-Series big block. So let's pretend Toad had no idea what he was talking about and be done with it, OK?

I then flocked the floor:

And painted the rubber heel pad to look like a rubber heel pad:

This was followed by a lot of tongue in cheek modelling. Which is done with your tongue in your cheek.

The interior:

[Junkman]

The model came with the stock exhaust tips, which bend downward. However, the ones on the film car exited straight.

So do the ones on my model now:

Some pointless detail painting:

When I first put it together, it looked like this:

I was dead unhappy, because it sat way too high up front.

If you saw the film, you may recall, that the car had a quite pronounced rake.

Ertl did supply a jacked up rear axle alright, but the front needs to be lowered, too.

Unfortunately, I didn't make any photos of the process, but essentially, I cut the uprights,

drilled them hollow, and insterted a piece of a wire coathanger, so they are still steerable.

If you build the model and come to this point, you will understand what I did.

The fruits of my tinkerage:

Strictly speaking, it is still a WIP.

The real car had no external rear view mirrors, which is something I still want to rectify on the model.

However, this will involve putty to close the holes in the doors, then repainting the upper portion

above the red pinstripe.

The scary bit is what if the white paint I'll use is not a perfect match? Hence procrastination ensued.

[High octane]

Lookin' good, but a big block? Where were you in '62?

[Old Buckaroo]

Christain , This is awesome - fantastic work !

Edited September 28, 2014 by Old Buckaroo

[Old Buckaroo]

Lookin' good, but a big block? Where were you in '62?

Nick the real car never had a 327 with 6 Strombergs, that was just a movie line.

[Junkman]

Thanks guys!

I know that the model is not entirely faithful to the car used for the film, but it does a fairly good job

resembling what you could see on the screen. For me, that's good enough.

[Junkman]

Lookin' good, but a big block? Where were you in '62?

Actually, in 1962 I was still flying with the mosquitoes.

My parents just had met and were dancing the twist.

Photographic evidence present in family album.

Gave me quite a roffler tbh.

Edited September 28, 2014 by Junkman

[AzTom]

Great job!

It's been a long time since I've seen that movie. The 55 has the wrong engine also, in the movie and in the model.

Lookin' good, but a big block? Where were you in '62?

The big block in this case was the 348.

[Junkman]

Great job!

It's been a long time since I've seen that movie.

Cheers, m8!

Well, it's about time to watch it again, then?

[Ramfins59]

Christian, this s a very cool car. Unless you are really a stickler for accuracy on the movie car, I'd just leave the mirrors as is...... besides, that'll make Harry happy