Steve H

Thanks Bill! Hopefully looks good once assembled…

Hi Tom, nice to see another one of these being built. The one I built last year had very crisp details, especially the badges and script. Double check the hood alignment with the grill in place and make sure everything plays nice. I had to massage things a bit for good fitment. I’ll be watching this come together. Cheers, Steve

Wow, lots of progress here Bob. Looking great, those colours work well together. It’s a beast!

Ah yes… another slice and dice special from Dennis. Looks fantastic so so far my friend, keep at it!! Those wheels look really nice. As Greg mentioned above, you seem to have a very methodical approach to your builds, love it. Cheers, Steve

Hi Craig, yes, the wood grain as you know, is actually pretty decent looking. I had found a wood grain decal that was a close match from another kit, then had another look at the kit decal sheet and realized there was a spare! Thanks for stopping by sir, I will be watching your Impala build, love those 62’s Cheers, Steve

Hi Jim, I’m not a solder expert, but I suspect you are 100% correct. It seems it was meant to be used specifically for this purpose.?? Thanks Noah, much appreciated. Sure hope it looks good assembled…

Hello Craig! First… thanks for sharing the link to your YouTube channel for the 71 442 build of yours. Really enjoyed it, and got a few good pointers, and things to watch for. I moved the rear end forward slightly, similar to what you did. Love your builds so I will be following along for sure. The 62 Impala is one of my all time favourite cars, my dad had one back in the day , so I literally grew up in the back seat of one. Absolutely love the lines on these, especially the curved A pillars. Keep it coming! Cheers, Steve

Welcome to the 442 build club! Looks great so far Ken, love that colour. I’ll be watching sir.

Hi Noah, Steven G above is the authority in this department. His interiors are about as good as you will see in scale. Steven maybe you could share a couple of examples of what can be done with embossing powder. My 2 cents are the blatantly obvious things, paint a base colour similar to that of the embossing powder you will use. Then, as you have already discovered, paint a thin coat of white glue and sprinkle on the powder. Do small sections at a time. I will lightly press the powder into the glue using an appropriate instrument. I agree with Steven, that embossing powder is more correct looking than flocking, but that’s just me, and I never had much success getting flocking to look right. Maybe do a practice run on an old interior piece first. Good luck, and I look forward to seeing your results! Cheers, Steve

Getting a little bit more done on the interior. The door cards are done, just need to paint the red lenses on the door lights. The “chrome” surround of the wood grain decals were trimmed off to fit within the foil trim I used. The 8 track player is done, I just need to find a decal or 2 for the cassette that will be in it. The kit comes with an automatic or standard console, which meant there was an extra wood grain decal. That was cut to fit the 8 track player. ? I couldn’t resist adding the seat adjustment levers to the side of the seats. Fairly certain they will never be seen, but they are there. It got me thinking I should have opened and hinged the drivers door…. No, not happening! Added BMF around the arm rest on the console and added the button required to open the console. For the steering wheel, I enlarged the spoke centres slightly, then used matte aluminium BMF for the spokes. Still some clean up to do, some dusting…? Couple of thin spots in the flocking I will address. Should be in assembly mode this weekend, really looking forward to seeing everything together. As always, thanks for having a look.

Hi Greg, I keep finding rabbit holes to go down. Hopefully in the end it’s a reasonable replica of the 1:1 Nice to hear from you Jeff. It is particularly rewarding to hear from former 442 owners, makes me feel like I’m on the right track. Thanks for checking in. Hi Michael, I’ve been following along with your build too. Hopefully you can find a few useful tidbits here. This forum is such a great place for sharing ideas and techniques. Hi Jim! Funny you mention the high beam switch. As I was rounding the end and “finishing” the part to install, I noticed the “dimple”. It’s a total accident, I think maybe the solder core is a different material? Not sure, but it certainly gave an added little detail. I appreciate your feedback. Thanks you all for taking the time to share your thoughts, much appreciated.

Great looking build so far Andy! Engine looks fantastic. You have me very curious as to what the paint process will be… I’m following.

Great project Jim! Just went through the whole thread as I missed it earlier. I love almost any wagon, and really like what you’re doing here. I did a 2dr 65 Impala wagon a couple of years ago, not all wagons should be 4dr!! Just my 2 cents, but some Pegasus torque thrust wheels would look really sharp on this. Having said that, the stock wheels look good, and fit your “stockish” build concept. Look forward to seeing it come together.

Hi Rich! Thanks for the comments. I think the inner fenders are close to the correct colour? I’m “almost” ready to start interior assembly. I got the 8 track player finished this evening, the door cards are about done, still a bit to do on the dash tho. I’m hoping by the end of the weekend I will have a complete and assembled interior. Thanks again for taking the time to look and comment.

Hi Noah, and welcome to the forum. Thanks for the kind words. I’m pretty pleased with how things are coming together, albeit slow. I was hoping to have the interior assembled over the weekend, but didn’t get much bench time. I’m looking forward to seeing the chassis and interior assemblies together. Cheers, Steve

Nice work on this one so far Curtis. The trunk mat is a nice touch.

Really cool build Paul. I’m thinking the engine would have been tricky to get fitted in there… Those wheels from the Glidden kit are, IMHO the best wheels ever kitted. Shame they haven’t found their way into another kit. Love the colour choices you made, stance is aggressive, I like it! In the second photo, it looks poised to strike the tires and do a big ‘ol burnout. Cheers, Steve

Hi Greg! You have built some very nice models, this one is my favourite for sure. Absolutely love it, colours, stance, wheel/tire choice, the added detail… You blended the two cars seamlessly into a very nice looking ‘Bird. The engine looks like it was made for this car. ?? Cheers, Steve

Hang in there DW. I just got mine a couple of days ago. Well worth the wait, they are very nice. This was my first time ordering from Kris, I now have distributors to last a few years, maybe more… Thanks Kris!

Hi Seth, welcome to the forum. Really cool custom you created. Well done!

Beautiful build there Mike! Thank you for sharing it. I’m sure the 1:1 was real beauty too. Thanks Paul. I keep finding rabbit holes… I’ve done the belt retractors before, but first time for a high beam switch. Thanks for the kind words. Thank you Curtis, just trying to spice up a black interior and give it some depth. Hi Dennis, all the interior colours are Tamiya TS rattle can. I used NATO black, flat black and semigloss black. The seats are semi gloss black, with nato black backs. I feel it has the right sheen, another option I hear about is vinyl or fabric paint which might be a good option. Once I have the whole thing assembled I plan to elaborate on which parts are what colour. Thanks for having a look. Cheers, Steve

Thanks Anton! I’m trying to add as much detail as I can with my skills. Also, I think little things like this although not overly visible, will create some “depth” in the black interior. Hope all is well with you my friend.

Very, VERY, well done Greg. This turned out so nice. Absolutely love the colour choice, the wheels are perfect. Oh… those door handles, nicely done!? I will check out the glamour shots when posted. Cheers, Steve

Awesome build Marty! Love the stance, and subject matter. I really enjoy these “off the beaten path” type of builds. Very well executed.

Hello Jurva. I would love the opportunity to see Juha’s builds in person. I would never dare to compare anything I make to his craftsmanship, his Caddy stayed in my head for many years before I finally got around to my version. Thanks for your comments, much appreciated.