TheBEAUMONTGURU

this is shaping up to be an epic build! super cool!

They cant come soon enough for me! i hope they get it right. i have very high expectations! Ha!

I agree with you on the grill, the Revell one sucks. im looking at the headlights on the tree and they look like they are gigantic!! im going to see what i can do to modify it. but it still has to stay chrome

I cant really remember what my measurements were. i was using a 1/24th scale ruler! it was about 12/32nds of an inch in the back and about 3/4 inch in the front. I used this picture one of the other forum members posted showing a original SMP longbox, so i just made sure that my cutting would yeild these results. Sorry i cant remember who provided this pic, but thanks to whoever it was!!

I made all my own decals for the emblems. Impala logos, hubcap decals, and i even put the black pinstripe all the way round the side trim. Its got a Dealer decal for Chapmans in Killarney MB. I am super dissapointed with the kit taillights, i didnt catch it in time, but they stick out too far and each one is a different diameter, it was a super letdown!! I glued them on pretty permanent, but i would still like to swap them out of some better looking ones, i just dont want to start prying and cracking stuff.

Here is the finished engine bay with a bunch of photoshopped decals that are correct for canadian cars along with the 230 decal, im not sure where i got the washer bottle from, but its the best version of a GM one i have seen, complete with the bracket moulded in.

I replicating this as a Canadian built car, so the firewall is body color, the undercarriage is greenish vinylwash primer with body color overspray, then spackled on undercoating in the sloppiest way possible around the transmission tunnel and wheelwells, just like the guy on the assembly line would have done!! Firewall markings: "1647" Impala 2dr hardtop 6cyl model number. "RX" is on all canadian oshawa cars, "OK" in red, and the "R" for desert beige

the engine was its own massive project! Trumpeter nova recast, swapped oil pan for an Xframe one. Scratch built the power steering, including all teh slave cylinders underneath(note the undercarriage pic of the front suspension and steering). The power brakes were added, as well as full plumbing and detailing, it's as correct as possible to the real car.

Here is the interior almost finished. flocked carpet, satin clearcoat, decals for the speaker grill(yes this car is ordered with the factory AM radio and rear speaker option). and a padded dash. 3 speed manual tho

Here are the hubcaps. Resin cast from the original aluminum sample, then painted with spray chrome, then i made a set of decal pindots and bowties in photoshop, once applied they look like a pretty convincing 64 chevy dogdish. I used fireball wheels with added valve stems. the tires are from teh parts bin with added vinyl stick-on whitewalls(contrary to others opinons, i just love these vinyl sticky whitewalls i bought off ebay, they are a bit fussy to lay on straight, but they sure look fantastic!)

I wanted to build this car as a real car that could have been ordered from the factory, but an oddball combination of options that would rarely be seen(especially in this day and age when all the impalas have been hotrodded and modified) 230 straight six, 3 speed standard manual column shift, Power steering, power brakes, and base dogdish hubcaps This picture show how the kit SS bucket seat pattern looked. I used a Trumpeter Nova 230 cyl engine, i resin cast a pile of them and then did 3 versions of 6cyl oil pans so the engine can be used in an X-frame, Chevelle, or nova model. I turned a hubcap profile on a metal lathe out of aluminum, then resin cast multiple copies. I did the same with a aircleaner profile.

This is a terrible picture of the body right after paint. You can see i sanded off all the SS side trim and built all my own trim using Evergreen strips. I was not a fan of the opening trunk, so i glued it closed. I used some leftover Dupont Centari from one of my real cars(the paint is atleast 20 years old in the can but still good) Centari is my favorite automotive paint. Single stage, no buffing, no clear, no wetsanding. You will also notice i heavily modified the firewall because the kit did not have a recessed area for the engine(an oversite at Revell i guess). The paint is a 1964 color called Desert Biege, but like i said, this is a terrible picture!

I wish a had taken some pictures of my interior panels before i painted them. But here is what i did in a nutshell. I sanded off the door panes till they were smooth. then i used evergreen strips and a scribe tool to cut in all the panel lines and patterns from scratch. i used small dabs of Kyrstal clear to make uphoulstry buttons, then glued the salvaged armrests back on to the new panels. The front bench seat i resin cast a copy of from the 1962 impala kit, then sanded off all the detail and did the same thing by scribing the new lines. I made a decal seat pattern that closely resembled a plain Impala cloth pattern

I will confess that i finished building this model last spring, but i managed to take a few WIP pictures. And i did such a giant amout of scratch building and modifiying, i figured i would show it as a build thread here. I started with a Revell Impala SS, but i wanted to build a basic PLAIN Impala. There are a lot of differences between an Impala and an Impala SS. First of all, all of the side trim is different , and all of the uphoustry patterns are different(and a bench seat too)

super cool scratch building! im loving this thread!

bit different from the box art

I will do a WIP on this one sometime. 1964 Base impala, converted from an SS. 6cyl and fully re-scribed interior panels. Was a very extensive build. Finished in February 2023

Since im new here, i see that most of you guys are doing a year in review, so i will play too! I dont usually get to many cars built in a year, because it seems like it takes me about 2 years to build one start-to-finish. But this year i seem to have completed more than usual. I posted up a few of my builds in the WIP. but here are some finished projects Happy new year and happy building in 2024!

Some nice clean build there Greg. The Blazer is my favorite, such extensive yet subtle mods you did!

yes about 90% . only blown in where rust was repaired.

Thanks guys, yes i should have joined long ago. Leafsprings, its funny because i agree with you about the wood being painted black, i have seen most american plants painted the wood black, but my truck was built in canada in oshawa, and was 100% original paint, and it still had a ton of green paint on the wood( i think the truck had a cap on it for alot of its life). I have seen other canadian built ones with evidence of body color on the wood too. Just one of those interesting differences on a canadian build. BTW that is a really cool photo you posted! is it from a dealer brochure??

thanks Steve. Are you the one that was making and selling the conversion parts? One of our winnipeg guys bought a few sets and i have one now. Still on my list of models to make!

and my RamRod with aftermarket decals. Built this one about 10 years ago. Again very detailed kit right out of the box.

My BossHoss kit with slixx decals. I just love the detail of these old johan funny cars, they are so authentic to the real car.