'69 Impala SS 427 Convertible

[slusher]

you have made lots of progress, Roger I like when your trying wheels.  

[Bills72sj]

Yes share pics of your wheel options. We will all put in our 2 cents worth to help.

Though you can't go wrong with well detailed Corvette Rallys

Edited May 27, 2021 by Bills72sj

[Plowboy]

Thanx Carl and Bill! I have a couple of ideas in mind for the wheels. But, haven't had time to try them yet. I have decided on the body color. It'll be Tamiya TS-11 Maroon to pay homage to it's original color. The interior will either be black or red. I'm going to do a test with white. But, I seriously doubt it will work over the red styrene.

Most of my time lately has been making tweaks to the fitment of the body, interior, floorpan and frame. You wouldn't believe how much time I had to spend on getting the rear valance to fit! I had to modify the frame and floorpan. Plus, narrow it to get it to fit right. 

A while back, a member requested that I show how I do my trunk hinges. So, here it is.

My method is really simple. I first measure how wide my pivot piece needs to be. In this case, I wanted the hinges to hit the center of the framing on each side. So, I measured inside to inside. I cut a piece of sprue to length and filed a flat area on one side. Next I drilled a hole through the sprue. I drill from each end and meet in the middle. My hinge is simply made from a piece of fencing wire. You can use whatever you like. I use it because I have so much of it around. 

Next, I put the wire through the pivot piece and bend it 90 degrees on each end. As you can see, the wire is hitting right where I want it on each side.

Next, I place the handle of my Xacto knife (remove the blade first to avoid a bloody oops!) on top of the wire and against the pivot piece. I then bend both sides of the wire over the handle.

Next, I mark each end of the wire using the handle as a guide to make the next bends to make the flat area that will attach to the trunk lid and make those bends.

Cut to length.

Test fit to make sure the hinges hit where I want. 

Next, I tape the trunk to the body.

Tape the hinge to the body.

If you like, you can now glue the hinge to the trunk lid with super glue. But, I go a step further and mark around the trunk hinge.

Next, I remove the trunk and using a Dremel with a cutoff wheel, I cut grooves into the trunk lid where the hinges will hit. This gives me more surface to glue to and gives the hinges a neater appearance when finished. With the grooves cut, make sure the hinges fit them well. You want the hinges to rest into the grooves easily.

 Once the hinge fits well, tape into place and using a toothpick with a drop of superglue on it, wick the superglue into the grooves and allow it to dry well.

And you're done until it comes time to install permanent after paint. Any questions, just ask. 

Edited June 2, 2021 by Plowboy

[NOBLNG]

Thanks for simplifying that procedure for us Roger. I have never done it, but you make it look easy.👍

[charlie8575]

Cool trick for the trunk hinges.

I'd go with the stock rallyes in the '67 kit. They look right on the build. Instead of the maroon, may I suggest Tamiya Italian Red, or even simple Testors Gloss Red? That, with the red interior (which can be made with Testors Flat Red spray) would look very much like the brochure car. The maroon would be a bit dark.

Charlie Larkin

[Plowboy]

22 hours ago, NOBLNG said:

Thanks for simplifying that procedure for us Roger. I have never done it, but you make it look easy.👍

You're welcome Greg! It is easy. You'll have to try it sometime. The same procedure will work on doors. As is for those that swing. Reversed for those that pivot.

One detail I forgot to mention is that the leading edge of the trunk lid where it meets the tulip panel must be reduced in thickness  (to around .020) in order to open properly or else it will hang and potentially chip off the paint.

 

[Plowboy]

8 hours ago, charlie8575 said:

Cool trick for the trunk hinges.

I'd go with the stock rallyes in the '67 kit. They look right on the build. Instead of the maroon, may I suggest Tamiya Italian Red, or even simple Testors Gloss Red? That, with the red interior (which can be made with Testors Flat Red spray) would look very much like the brochure car. The maroon would be a bit dark.

Charlie Larkin

Ralley wheels will be a last resort. I like them. But, they're just so overdone! At least around here they are. You'd think every Chevrolet ever made came with them. One local guy even put them on a C-10! I don't know if he converted it to five lug or used adapters. Right now, the plan is body colored steel wheels with COPO hubcaps. I also have a set of large diameter SS wheels that I want to try on it.

I'm sticking with Tamiya Maroon for the body color. It's virtually the same color as the styrene. Interior color is still to be determined. I am going to keep the uptop white. So, most likely, the interior will be Dull Red or Maroon also.

[Plowboy]

When I first got the windshield frame and underhood detail installed, my first thought was there was going to be no way to install wipers and it was going to look stupid without them. But, with some careful carving on the rear of the hood, I managed to make enough room for the wipers from the '67. 

I still need to add vent detail to the cowl and give the wipers a bit of fine tuning. But, the hood fits just like it should and the wipers aren't visible!

I really want to open up the vents on the hood. But, that may be pushing my luck. I've opened several. But, never any that were on the rear of the hood.  

[Tom Geiger]

Thanks for the trunk tutorial. I’ve done mine the same way, but instead of gluing the wire to the trunk lid, it was inserted into the same tube you used for your pivot, which was glued to the lid.  Your way will be less noticeable on the finished model, I’ll have to do it that way in the future. 

Here’s mine done 30 years ago.. way too noticeable!

Edited June 3, 2021 by Tom Geiger

[TransAmMike]

Sorry I haven't been following this Roger (no clue how I missed it) You are doing great work on it and wow, that '67 is beautiful.

[NOBLNG]

3 hours ago, Plowboy said:

I really want to open up the vents on the hood. But, that may be pushing my luck. I've opened several. But, never any that were on the rear of the hood.  

That would be tricky...but I’d like to see you do it! 😈Would using the back end of a tiny drill bit as a scraper work maybe?

[Plowboy]

6 hours ago, Tom Geiger said:

Thanks for the trunk tutorial. I’ve done mine the same way, but instead of gluing the wire to the trunk lid, it was inserted into the same tube you used for your pivot, which was glued to the lid.  Your way will be less noticeable on the finished model, I’ll have to do it that way in the future. 

Here’s mine done 30 years ago.. way too noticeable!

You're welcome! I never understood why builders did them that way. It makes the hinge look so bulky. Either way, you're gluing styrene to metal. I could see doing them that way if one wanted to be able to remove the trunk. 

[Plowboy]

4 hours ago, TransAmMike said:

Sorry I haven't been following this Roger (no clue how I missed it) You are doing great work on it and wow, that '67 is beautiful.

No need to apologize Mike. I miss lots of stuff and find it later. And thanx! That's actually a '68.

[Plowboy]

3 hours ago, NOBLNG said:

That would be tricky...but I’d like to see you do it! 😈Would using the back end of a tiny drill bit as a scraper work maybe?

Done! It took a lot of scraping and sanding though! I actually made a tool out of an old Xacto blade to scrape with. I usually use a Dremel and get them close. But, I had to keep the underside looking somewhat neat.

I was in the home stretch until a hand tremor caused me to knock out a piece. It was tough trying to repair it with the same shaky hand that knocked it out in the first place. But, I'm happy with the effect. I'm going to have to give the grille a look over to see if I can maybe open it also.

 

[Painted Black]

That is really neat, my eyes would go crossed doing that.

[Tom Geiger]

49 minutes ago, Plowboy said:

You're welcome! I never understood why builders did them that way. It makes the hinge look so bulky. Either way, you're gluing styrene to metal. I could see doing them that way if one wanted to be able to remove the trunk.

I was for following someone else’s tutorial! 😀

They did both the doors and trunk lid this way so they couldn’t get the hinges working in primer, remove the parts to paint and then install them. I agree it’s a very bulky look.

[slusher]

Great tutorial Roger I enjoyed it and learned something…

[Plowboy]

Time lately has been spent on removing the mold lines from every part. I usually do it a little at a time. But, I wanted to try it this way to see how it would work. I hate doing it either way! But, I think this way will help me get to the fun stuff quicker and be able to move it along at a better pace.

I finally got the frame all smooth and ready for primer. I was able to tack enough suspension components together to do a stance check with wheels and tires on it. These aren't what I'll be using. But, they worked to get it up on it's own again. 

It's a little too nose high. But, I can easily fix that by moving the wheel pin up higher on the spindle.

I should be shooting some serious primer soon!

 

[Plowboy]

I got the body in two coats of primer. I'm hoping I can just give it a light sanding with 1000 grit and start shooting paint. I also have the wheels and tires picked out I think. For whatever reason, I wasn't happy with any of the modern wheels I tried on it. They just didn't suit it. 

The opened vents in the hood have a real nice effect. My repair doesn't stick out like a sore thumb like I thought it might. But, it's still noticeable to me.

I also got the cowl vent detail added. I cut the cowl vents from an AMT '70 Camaro and grafted them in. It looks much better than before!

 

[bisc63]

The vent details do much for a realistic appearance. Engine bay is looking great!

[slusher]

Nice touch on the vents.  Did you get your hub caps Roger?

Edited June 14, 2021 by slusher

[hedotwo]

Beautiful job Carl!

[bluestringer]

Looking good. My first car was a 66 Impala SS 396 I got when I was 17, I'm 70 now. I'm looking for a kit to replicate it. Didn't Revell make a 66 Impala kit? 

[TransAmMike]

Wow Roger, thats looking great!!👌

[Plowboy]

Thanx for the feedback guys, I appreciate it!

On 6/13/2021 at 10:35 PM, slusher said:

Nice touch on the vents.  Did you get your hub caps Roger?

Thanx Carl! A member is going to send me a set. When I get them, I want to see what they'll look like on it.

 

2 hours ago, bluestringer said:

Looking good. My first car was a 66 Impala SS 396 I got when I was 17, I'm 70 now. I'm looking for a kit to replicate it. Didn't Revell make a 66 Impala kit? 

Thanx! My first car was a '66 Caprice. Revell did make the '66 Impala SS 396. I built one several years ago. It's a nice kit.