AMT 1959 Chrysler Imperial: WIP

[David G.]

Hello Everybody!

Since I more or less finished the front bumper/grille piece, I figured that I would use the momentum to keep going with the rear bumper.

Not surprisingly, the rear bumper has the same issue with parting seams.

 

One other thing I learned in my research is that the bumpers on this care are actually a three piece assembly with a noticeable joint between the rear main bumper and the two side pieces.

 

Why go through the trouble of cleaning up the bumper and not finish the job? I decided to add these features as well.

 

At this point I'd realized that I had caused so much damage to the chrome finish of the bumper that my only option was to strip it off completely. It was the only was to get a finish smooth enough for a good "re-chroming".

 

At first I assumed that the entire part represented the bumper and scribed my lines accordingly. But based on part diagrams in online shop manuals, I came to believe that the lower portion of the model part was most likely a roll pan and shouldn't include the bumper seam. So I back-filled this with CA and plan to smooth it over and ultimately paint it the same color as the body.

As I say: "Model builders, we're problem solvers who create our own problems to solve! "

 

Right now I'm waiting on an order of Molotow paint to arrive so I can decide on how to re-chrome this part. I'll have three options, Molotow, Spaz Stix or good ol' Alclad II.

Thanks for taking the time to look and as always, please feel free to comment.

David G.

 

[oldrevellfan]

nice details

[David G.]

19 hours ago, oldrevellfan said:

nice details

Thank you Gilles.

David G.

[charlie8575]

I love the 1959 Imperial kit, and have a bunch to build. I did find the window unit is a little tough to get to seat, so be ready to play with it a little; I used some Testors clear parts cement on the top runner to hold it in place.

Good tip on the front ensemble; I forget what I did to mine to get it to sort of work, but I'll try that. Story goes that the chrome parts tree was missing, so Dave Burkett, who underwrote the first two modern re-issues in 2005 and c. 2009-'10, paid to have a new plated parts tree made. Supposedly, the parts fit better than the original.

Photos have given me mixed signals on antenna placement. It appears that most were front-fender-mounted, but power antennae might have been on the rear. I'm doing one of my cars with a rear-mounted antenna because, correct or not, I think it looks better, and I can confirm that most of the '58s I've seen photos of had that, so it is possible to have had it re-mounted.

This is the one I've finished so far. At this point, I have one more hardtop in Gray Rose that will receive the Crown Landau treatment (stainless roof insert and vinyl top), a convertible in Nocturne Blue, and one of the 2006-issue kits with a body I messed up rather badly. I'm putting a Hettick LeBaron 4-door on that chassis, and one more unbuilt kt that I plan to make some modifications to the interior, and make it into an Imperial Custom coupe that will be in Persian Pink.

Here's my built '59 in Highland Green.

Charlie Larkin

 

[David G.]

On 9/23/2021 at 5:17 AM, charlie8575 said:

I love the 1959 Imperial kit, and have a bunch to build. I did find the window unit is a little tough to get to seat, so be ready to play with it a little; I used some Testors clear parts cement on the top runner to hold it in place.

Good tip on the front ensemble; I forget what I did to mine to get it to sort of work, but I'll try that. Story goes that the chrome parts tree was missing, so Dave Burkett, who underwrote the first two modern re-issues in 2005 and c. 2009-'10, paid to have a new plated parts tree made. Supposedly, the parts fit better than the original.

Photos have given me mixed signals on antenna placement. It appears that most were front-fender-mounted, but power antennae might have been on the rear. I'm doing one of my cars with a rear-mounted antenna because, correct or not, I think it looks better, and I can confirm that most of the '58s I've seen photos of had that, so it is possible to have had it re-mounted.

This is the one I've finished so far. At this point, I have one more hardtop in Gray Rose that will receive the Crown Landau treatment (stainless roof insert and vinyl top), a convertible in Nocturne Blue, and one of the 2006-issue kits with a body I messed up rather badly. I'm putting a Hettick LeBaron 4-door on that chassis, and one more unbuilt kt that I plan to make some modifications to the interior, and make it into an Imperial Custom coupe that will be in Persian Pink.

Here's my built '59 in Highland Green.

Charlie Larkin

 

 

Hi Charlie.

The window set in my kit seems to seat well enough. I already cut the locating pins out from the inside of the roof because I didn't like the way that they visually intruded into the interior like two inverted emergency beacons.  So it's a little loose but still traps fairly well between the body and interior. Normally I do use Micro Kristal Klear PVA to tack these canopy-style glass inserts in place to prevent shifting and rattles after assembly. I'm still toying with the idea of cutting the windows loose from the roof runners and gluing them in separately so I can add a little more detail to the headliner. There are a couple of nice sun visors and some trim molding cast into the ceiling that I'd like to accentuate.

Interesting story about the kit, I'm glad Mr. Burkett ponied up for the parts. I'm also glad that I supported his decision by purchasing the kit. So many times people say "If they would spend a little money to (update, replace, remold, retool) and release this kit, I would buy two or three." and probably eighty percent of those who say that don't even buy one.

For getting the front to fit as well as it does I have to give credit to @bisc63 aka Rusty Shackleford for the providing me advise on how to file it for a better fit. The corrections I made did improve the fit but still left a 1 or 2 mm gap between the hood and grille which I was prepared to live with. Most other build ups I've seen photos of in my research showed the same gap so I counted it as a design flaw and decided to move on. Once I thought about it, the advice Rusty offered made perfect sense and worked like a charm.

Regarding an antenna, I'm not even sure I'm going to place one. Most of the photos I've seen in my research show the antenna just inboard and slightly forward of the right sideview mirror. It shows up often enough in this location that I believe that this would likely be the factory configuration. At scale, adding an antenna so close to the sideview mirror would probably look awkward and crowded and twin swept-back antennae on the rear of the car are in my mind, a bit cliché. So at least for the time being, I think I've decided against an antenna.

Thanks for posting the pic, that green is a great color for the car. It sounds like you have plans to build a version of each of the main styles offered. That would be a cool set to have. I considered building this one as a Crown Landau. While I was working out the best way to make the stainless steel roof, I discovered the Tamiya TS-40 Metallic Black at my LHS and decided I liked that better. And it would be easier to work with.  

I always enjoy your posts Charlie, thanks for taking the time to write them.

David G.

Edited September 24, 2021 by David G.
typo

[espo]

You have mentioned the corrections you have made to get the rear window to seat properly. One thing to consider would be to remove both the bridge between the windshield and the rear window along with the mentioned attachments at the base of these windows. This will give the interior bucket a little more room to move up in the body and also make the chassis plate easier to fit in. Think of it as up dating the "glass" to what we see in todays kits.  

[David G.]

21 hours ago, espo said:

You have mentioned the corrections you have made to get the rear window to seat properly. One thing to consider would be to remove both the bridge between the windshield and the rear window along with the mentioned attachments at the base of these windows. This will give the interior bucket a little more room to move up in the body and also make the chassis plate easier to fit in. Think of it as up dating the "glass" to what we see in todays kits.  

Hi David, thanks for your response. I mentioned in my reply to charlie8575 that I was considering doing just that:

22 hours ago, David G. said:

I'm still toying with the idea of cutting the windows loose from the roof runners and gluing them in separately so I can add a little more detail to the headliner. There are a couple of nice sun visors and some trim molding cast into the ceiling that I'd like to accentuate.

Your post helps to reaffirm my thoughts regarding that option. "Great minds..." I guess.  

Regards,

David G.

Edited September 25, 2021 by David G.
typo

[David G.]

Hello Everybody!

I finally got the roof joint and drip rails to a point where I think I can start to paint.

 

It looks like I cut into the windshield mold with the file a little bit on this side but I think it will be okay. I'll probably go back over it to smooth that edge down just a little before I foil it.

 

Hopefully I'll get some paint shot today.

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

David G.

[Tom Geiger]

Back when Model King brought back this kit, the big rant on the boards was that the steering wheel was misaligned. Dave went to all the trouble to resurrect this ancient kit and this is what our community focused on.

Above was my response!

Note- the steering wheel was misaligned on the original issue.

[David G.]

20 hours ago, Tom Geiger said:

Back when Model King brought back this kit, the big rant on the boards was that the steering wheel was misaligned. Dave went to all the trouble to resurrect this ancient kit and this is what our community focused on.

Above was my response!

Note- the steering wheel was misaligned on the original issue.

Hi Tom, thanks for the comment.

I must have gotten lucky or maybe the molding problem was addressed. While the casting alignment was off on the steering wheel in my kit, it was not nearly as bad as the one in the photo above. With no more than the normal amount of filing and clean-up, I was able to get decent looking results.

 

The interior is a bit shallow and lacking in detail on the door panels and for those reasons is in my opinion, not well suited for building this model as a convertible. The dashboard and steering wheel are by most standards, nicely detailed and more than sufficient for use when building the hardtop version.

Overall I'm quite pleased with this model and have no serious complaints. I appreciate the effort and expense that Mr. Burkett went to to keep this kit in circulation and prevent it from becoming another of the many that have been lost to history.

Based on what you shared regarding the community's complaints in relation to this kit, I find myself wondering what kind of complaints we'd see from the community if all the lost Jo-Han were suddenly re-released tomorrow. 😕 

Unfortunately, we'll likely never know.

Regards,

David G.

[David G.]

Hello Everybody!

I managed to make some time yesterday to get some work done.

I got some paint sprayed on the roof and I think it came out rather well. I'm planning a second coat after a little smoothing over.

The color is Tamiya TS-40 Metallic Black.

 

I also got the cut I made in the roll pan corrected and ready for paint.  I have some Molotow chrome paint on order and it should be here by 4 October. I want to try shooting it through my AB to "re-chrome" this piece.

 

And as a bonus, here is a test fit shot.

 

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

David G.

[David G.]

Hello Everybody!

Over the weekend I got some paint sprayed so here are a couple of quick shots to show off the color.

Please pardon the dust.

 

I like the glow this paint has.

 

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

David G.

 

[doorsovdoon]

wow, she shines! Reminds me of a cast metal trophy. That would look awesome on a wooden plinth.

[slusher]

Beautiful color, David.  I was curious  can you brush Alclad?

[David G.]

14 hours ago, doorsovdoon said:

wow, she shines! Reminds me of a cast metal trophy. That would look awesome on a wooden plinth.

Thank you Gareth. I think I may have something like that lying around. I'll see if I can dig it up.

6 hours ago, slusher said:

Beautiful color, David.  I was curious  can you brush Alclad?

Thank you Carl. I have brushed Alclad a couple of times but just for touching up small areas.

David G.

[FLHCAHZ]

You have absolutely chosen the right colors.  Really Looks great!

[David G.]

2 minutes ago, FLHCAHZ said:

You have absolutely chosen the right colors.  Really Looks great!

Thank you Chaz.

David G.

[bisc63]

Your patience is really paying off here! The model is looking beautiful.

[David G.]

7 hours ago, bisc63 said:

Your patience is really paying off here! The model is looking beautiful.

Thanks Rusty!

David G.

[David G.]

Hello Everybody!

I was able to get a little more done on the Imperial this weekend. This one is certainly turning out to be more time intensive than I first imagined it would be for such a "simple" kit. Isn't that usually the case though?

Going back to the rear bumper, I sprayed it with some Spaz Stix chrome paint like I did on the front bumper with less than satisfactory results. It ended up looking like crummy silver paint. In fact, Dupli-Color chrome silver would have looked better.

 

Since I'm still waiting for my Molotow order to come in, I decided to use foil on it instead. It took me a couple of hours but I think it came out pretty good.

 

Oh yeah, I also painted a tint strip across the windshield. I may go back and remove a little along the lower portion as it seems to intrude a little farther into center of the windshield than I think it should. I'm also thinking that I probably shouldn't mess with it.

 

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

David G.

 

Edited October 4, 2021 by David G.
typo

[FLHCAHZ]

Impressive foil work on the bumper!  Came out great  

Edited October 4, 2021 by FLHCAHZ

[David G.]

23 hours ago, FLHCAHZ said:

Impressive foil work on the bumper!  Came out great  

Thanks Chaz, I'm finally starting like I'm close to getting this one done.

David G.

[mustang1989]

Good attention to detail on this Dave!! 

[slusher]

Great job foiling the rear bumper, David.

[David G.]

On 10/5/2021 at 4:25 AM, mustang1989 said:

Good attention to detail on this Dave!! 

Thank you Joe. Sometimes the small things can make a big difference. 

20 hours ago, slusher said:

Great job foiling the rear bumper, David.

Thanks Carl. It was certainly a but I think it was worth the effort.

David G.