AMT's 1965 Malibu Wagon: WIP

[Snake45]

16 minutes ago, Bob Ellis said:

Where is this chevy 6?

 

I don't understand your question. It's right there in the glue bomb/survivor model. I assume it came in the original kit. 

[Rob Hall]

7 minutes ago, Snake45 said:

I don't understand your question. It's right there in the glue bomb/survivor model. I assume it came in the original kit. 

I believe the '64 wagon annual had the 6 and the 65 annual had a V8.   Never had either wagon annual, so I'm not sure.

Edited October 1, 2019 by Rob Hall

[Bob Ellis]

The 1964 wagon and Elcamino had the six. It disapeared in 1965

[Snake45]

2 hours ago, Bob Ellis said:

The 1964 wagon and Elcamino had the six. It disapeared in 1965

Oh, now I get what you were asking. Translated: "Where do you suppose the molds for this engine are?" 

[Rob Hall]

3 minutes ago, Snake45 said:

Oh, now I get what you were asking. Translated: "Where do you suppose the molds for this engine are?" 

In a warehouse that time forgot.  Or melted down to make new molds.  Or scrapped decades ago.

[David G.]

Now back to our regularly scheduled program.

10 hours ago, espo said:

Looking at interior colors you might want to consider some of the Military Colors offered by Tamiya. They have a wide range of browns and tans as well as other colors.  

Thanks David. I've started testing some colors and I found a nice light tan as a base, Tamiya Light Sand TS 46. I tried their NATO Brown XF 68 with it but found it too dark for for my tastes. I have the NATO brown removed and I'm planning on using Tamiya Flat Earth (hee-hee) XF 52.

 

I haven't decided if the cargo area floor and tailgate will remain in gold or or be painted Light Sand or Flat Earth. The dash is very close to completion so it will probably remain in gold.

Thanks,

David G.

Edited October 1, 2019 by David G.
typo

[mikemodeler]

That looks nice, digging the color choice! I wonder if flocking the rear cargo area would have covered up the ejector pin marks? I like what you did with the piece of styrene.

[David G.]

9 hours ago, mikemodeler said:

That looks nice, digging the color choice! I wonder if flocking the rear cargo area would have covered up the ejector pin marks? I like what you did with the piece of styrene.

Thanks Mike. Flocking the cargo area would work to cover the marks if they were back-filled and leveled. I had considered that as a solution but in my research,  wasn't able to to find any examples of carpeted cargo areas on these particular wagons. Additionally, given the ridges cast into the floor, I would likely have had to completely level the cargo floor to remove those to have a uniform surface. More work than I wanted to do.

I had also considered making aftermarket floor mats and various types of cargo before I discovered the sheet styrene in my stock.  (I still plan on using a grocery bag or two.)

Best regards,

David G.

[David G.]

I know it's been a little while, so here's an update.

I'm getting the dreaded 404 Error again, so I'm going to post this piecemeal.

 

There are a couple of design conflicts with this kit. The transmission is a manual shift unit with a hole in the floor for a gearshift lever. The interior has a brake pedal for an automatic and no gear selector or turn signal stalk on the steering column. So I added those, along with the gear indicator or "PRNDL"

 

 

Here's a different angle that shows the levers a little better.

 

 

 

I think the Tamiya Flat Earth is a much better option for the seat inserts than the NATO Brown.

 

 

 

I have a bit of touch up work to do on the carpet and one door panel. Other than that this interior is mostly done.

 

As always, thanks for taking the time to look and please feel free to comment.

David G.

Edited October 12, 2019 by David G.
404 Error

[stavanzer]

You are right, that Flat Earth looks much better. Harmonizes better with the Sand colour.

Looks like I'll need to add a Clutch Pedal to mine, and narrow the brake.

[David G.]

19 hours ago, alexis said:

You are right, that Flat Earth looks much better. Harmonizes better with the Sand colour.

Looks like I'll need to add a Clutch Pedal to mine, and narrow the brake.

Thanks Alan, I'm glad you agree. 

For your wagon you might want to see if you can find a three pedal assembly part from another kit that you can glue up under the dashboard and just remove the pedals cast into the floor.

David G.

[stavanzer]

Great Idea, David. I have a couple of spare dashes that can supply the pedals.

[Cpt Tuttle]

Very tasteful interior.

[Modlbldr]

This is a nice looking build. Great color choices. I just did a trade for one of these kits and I am looking forward to building it.

Later-

[David G.]

20 hours ago, alexis said:

Great Idea, David. I have a couple of spare dashes that can supply the pedals.

Always happy to help!

18 hours ago, Cpt Tuttle said:

Very tasteful interior.

Thank you Mattias, that's just what I was going for. 

18 hours ago, Modlbldr said:

This is a nice looking build. Great color choices. I just did a trade for one of these kits and I am looking forward to building it.

Later-

Thanks Tom. It's a fun kit to build. It assembles easily and has good detail where it's needed.

I did have a little trouble with the front axle binding in the relief passage cast into the oil pan and block. I ended up filing the area out enough to allow the engine to sit properly in the chassis and keep just a little friction on the axle. I'm not fond of model cars that roll freely.

David G.

[Modlbldr]

David,

Thanks for the heads up. I'll keep an eye out for any issues in that area.

Later-

[David G.]

Here's another update!

I tried spraying a little dull coat on the bumpers to flatten out the plastic looking chrome sheen. The dull coat didn't lay down well and I ended up having to strip the bumper

 

I dusted off the air brush and sprayed the Alclad black enamel base coat.

 

Then finished with Alclad Chrome.

 

This one's nearly complete. Next step is to polish the body, do a little more detail painting and add some items of interest to the cargo area.

As always, thanks for taking the time to look and please feel free to leave a comment.

David G.

[Snake45]

Looking good! Drive on! 

[Trendsetta68]

Sweeeeeeeet  !!! Looks great in gold !!!???

[David G.]

Thanks Guys, I appreciate the feedback.

Ok, I went through that effort of making some grocery bags and groceries for my "grocery getter" and it turns out that they didn't seem to scale properly. With the car assembled,they look flippin' huge in the cargo area.

 

I think that the deck I added contributed to the situation by lifting the floor a couple of scale inches. Ah, well, I have a couple of other ideas in mind. At least the wheel came out just as I wanted it to.

As always, thanks for taking the time to look and please feel free to leave a comment.

David G.

Edited October 28, 2019 by David G.

[Sam I Am]

Great looking wagon, and the grocery bag looks fine in the pics.

[TarheelRick]

Very nice looking wagon, the colors really complement each other.  That grocery bag does not look that much oversized.  Another option would be a couple pieces of luggage, I have a kit somewhere with luggage, but can't for the life of me remember which one.  I have had one of these for a few years and have planned all along to build it for stock class drag-racing.

[David G.]

On 10/27/2019 at 5:29 PM, Sam I Am said:

Great looking wagon, and the grocery bag looks fine in the pics.

Thanks Sam. I'm beginning to reconsider the grocery bag.

 

On 10/27/2019 at 5:31 PM, TarheelRick said:

Very nice looking wagon, the colors really complement each other.  That grocery bag does not look that much oversized.  Another option would be a couple pieces of luggage, I have a kit somewhere with luggage, but can't for the life of me remember which one.  I have had one of these for a few years and have planned all along to build it for stock class drag-racing.

Thanks Ricky. I wish I had some luggage. If I did, it would have been my first choice. If and when you do start in on that wagon, be sure to post some photos. I'd love to see one of these in full race kit.

I'm trying to make a decision on the grocery bag. I feel that it looks too tall and a bit too big in the back of the wagon. So now I'm calling upon the wisdom of the crowd (that's you guys) to help me decide if I should use it or not.  In some ways, it still doesn't quite look right to my eye but the more I see it, the less I dislike it. 

Please let me know what you think.

 

 

Thanks in advance for your feedback.

David G.

Edited October 30, 2019 by David G.
404 Error

[Snake45]

I like your grocery bag A LOT, and if it's a little oversize, that doesn't bother me. But I question its placement. Who would open up the back end to put in one bag, which would tip right over the first turn you made? If you had one bag of groceries, you'd either put it on the passenger seat next to you, or on the back-seat floor right behind the driver's seat. 

Unless of course you were hauling a load of family/kids. Then you'd put it in the back, but you'd still face the tipover problem. The obvious prescription (to paraphrase Christopher Walken) is MORE GROCERIES!  Line up 3 or 4 bags across, or maybe a couple big cardboard boxes. 

[geemoney]

this car looks so good!

if Bruce Dickenson says more groceries.......