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1962 Chevrolet Impala SS


Mike F.

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3 hours ago, oldscool said:

Looking good! Not downing your work at all but the side trim on this kit has always bugged me because it sags in the middle. When I build mine I'm sanding the side trim off.

No offence taken. I suppose you are right. looking at the 1:1, the lower part of the trim goes through the center of the door handle, whereas on the model it is a little below center of the handle, almost to the bottom of the handle, but not quite.

To someone more of a perfectionist than I, guess this would be an issue. To me though, it is not worth going through the trouble of sanding it off and starting fresh. I would most likely mess it up anyway.

Thanks for the + comment though.

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Interesting point on the door handle/chrome molding issue. I think that actually the kits door handles are put to high against the molding which is actually in the proper location based on the photo. In the photo it looks as if the top portion of the door handle is aligned with the bottom chrome trim where in the kit it has the handle aligning with the top edge of the molding. Unless this bothers you I wouldn't try and change it as it might be more trouble than it's worth at this point with the paint and trim all done.Ā Ā 

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1 hour ago, espo said:

Interesting point on the door handle/chrome molding issue. I think that actually the kits door handles are put to high against the molding which is actually in the proper location based on the photo. In the photo it looks as if the top portion of the door handle is aligned with the bottom chrome trim where in the kit it has the handle aligning with the top edge of the molding. Unless this bothers you I wouldn't try and change it as it might be more trouble than it's worth at this point with the paint and trim all done.Ā Ā 

Indeed no, David, I don't plan to mess with it. I was just responding to Gerald's comment.

Ā 

I will however ask for any opinions on the interior stripe color. I tried to use the white stripe that came with the kit, but it just did not work out over the foil. So, my options are five-fold. I was thinking to use one of these stripe colors that I have, Red, yellow or black, trimmed to correct width, or paint it white gloss, or paint it with the blue clear mixture that I used on the wheel hubs. Painting will be difficult for me though. Any opinions would be welcome. Of course, a sixth option would be to just leave it all chrome.

Ā 

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I realize this a very personal design you're doing so I would go with what looks best to you. I would suggest, if you haven't already, look on Google for '62 Impalas and see what the OEM looks like and what others have done on 1:1 cars. This can give some ideas that you may not of even considered. As for the center of the side moldings Chevrolet used an engine turned silver finish on the SS models and the regular Impala could be white or black depending on the exterior body color. One idea to maybe blend in with the colors you're already using would be to brush paint the center of the molding with a Candy Blue color. Doing this over the chrome foil would make it stand out.Ā Ā 

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16 hours ago, espo said:

I realize this a very personal design you're doing so I would go with what looks best to you. I would suggest, if you haven't already, look on Google for '62 Impalas and see what the OEM looks like and what others have done on 1:1 cars. This can give some ideas that you may not of even considered. As for the center of the side moldings Chevrolet used an engine turned silver finish on the SS models and the regular Impala could be white or black depending on the exterior body color. One idea to maybe blend in with the colors you're already using would be to brush paint the center of the molding with a Candy Blue color. Doing this over the chrome foil would make it stand out.Ā Ā 

So, taking David's advice, I looked at many 62 Impala SS's side stripes to find that the majority had either white or silver-grey between the chrome. A couple had black and one had red. With my color scheme, I felt white the best choice.Ā 

So then, I bit the bullet and tried again with the white decal stripes I had left from the kit to do one side. First, of course, I had to trim them to remove the silver border, as can be seen with the black stripes that came with the kit also. Hands down, these were the hardest decals I ever applied, but eventually got them on. Looks ok, but to the zoomed in eye of the HD camera, you can see many flaws.

However, I will follow the whispered words of wisdom from a Beatles tune and let it be.

I will do the other side with some trimmed down white stripe decals from another kit.

Comments + or - welcome.

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Edited by Mike F.
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Thanks David, white was the way to go.

I'm a bit disappointed with the Impala SS decals though. They don't really stand out. Although easy to apply, I would rather they were molded in so I could have painted with a bright chrome, or, dareĀ I say, tried to foil.

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