exnyman

I had the Pro Stock kit with the 75 Grille back when it was a current kit. Don’t know what ever happened to it but a few months ago there was one on EBay that I bought. It was built as a curbside promo type build. I had to get it as I want to build a model of the 75 my father had years ago. Here’s a picture of the grille.

I’ve always liked this body style and green is my favorite color. This looks absolutely beautiful. You really got all the details perfectly!

The photo is from the 65 sales brochure. Here’s the next page. I owned a 65 SS convertible from 1979-2003 and it had never had the grille changed from accident damage. It had the vertical bars blacked out. I like the choice of color on your model, it really accentuates the sleek lines of the car.

An absolutely beautiful build of a beautiful car. By the way, the blacked out vertical grille bars are also correct for 65 Impala SS models and 65 Caprices.

I’m amazed at how smooth your printed bodies turn out. I tried dabbling with 3D printing a number of years ago. My focus was on 1/64 scale cars. A few turned out ok, lots of print lines which needed to be filled. My very first print was of a 69 Buick Wildcat that looked it had driven through a bowl of spaghetti. I didn’t know about adding supports to the file at that point. I’d love to try my hand at it again but I think the printer I have isn’t the best and since it’s old now, a new one would do better. This may sound like a dumb question but, I see your supports are step ups so the print comes out on an angle. Is this to fit it on the print plate? Or is it more for extra support? I always did mine on a level base of supports but again, I was only printing in 1/64 scale.

Definitely agree on this. The other thing that looks off to me is the rear side marker light. It looks like it’s too low on the quarter panel. The roof looks pretty spot on to me when comparing it to the one which resides in my garage.

Looking good! I owned two 95 Berettas, one black V6 and a Raspberry Metallic 4. Both good cars, seems like not too many people remember them though.

If you are going to try to build a 100% accurate stock version of a 69 SS 396, there are some issues with the 1991 issue of the kit. First, the lower chrome trim that extends from behind the headlamps to the rear bumper is incorrect for a 69 Ss, but correct for a 68. This trim is correct for a 69 Malibu, however. The front side marker light is also incorrect, it is too large and in the wrong place…it is actually correct for a 6 cylinder 68 Chevelle. The rear taillights and tail panel leave a lot to be desired in the accuracy department as well, and all of these criticisms are true of the current convertible re-release. It is a simple tool, in comparison with newer kits but with work and patience, can look pretty nice.

I'm completely in awe of the talent you possess! This is incredibly faithful to the 1:1 and it is not even finished! Exceptional work!!!

This will be an interesting build to watch. Though I never owned a Vega, A friend of mine had a 74 Kammback, red with the black interior, with black and white plaid like seat material. By 1984, it was so badly rusted that she had tons of WBAB bumper stickers all around the windshield to try to keep the rain water out. Sometime that year, she was traveling back to Long Island from Brooklyn and the car quit running on the Belt Parkway. She got it off the road and called me to pick her up. When I got there, she had actually already walked up to the next exit to call me so, she was standing at a convenience store with her license plates, and a few belongings in hand. When I asked her if she wanted me to take a look and see if I could get it running, she replied, "Nope, it is dead so I'm walking away from it."

Wow! and incredible model! The roof is spot on, and it all looks perfect! Sak, yes, beginning with the very first 1964 through the last 1983, a four door sedan was available in the Malibu series. In 1966, a 4 door "Sport Sedan" was also added. It did not have a B pillar and had a somewhat more squared off side window line and rear sail panel. The Sport Sedan remained in the series through 1972. The Sport Sedan was also available as an up level Concours in 1968 and 1969. There were a relatively small number produced, and in 68, toward the end of the year, There were also Concours coupes produced. Though I have never found any sales literature even mentioning these ever existed, they in fact did. When they were new, a neighbor owned a Cordovan Maroon one with a black vinyl top and black interior. When I was in High school, an upperclassmen had a Butternut Yellow one as well. These used wheel opening moldings not found on Malibus, and the lower 1/4 panel trim from the SS 396, that also was absent on Malibus. The interior was an unusual mix of Malibu and Skylark trim. The Concours name was one that GM used often, as it found itself on a 1965 show car based on an Impala convertible, then moved to the top level Chevelle wagon in 67. It remained the top wagon for 68, where it also was used on the Sport Sedan and Coupe, then in 69 remained on the Sport Sedan and top two wagons. from 70-72, it was used only on the top two wagons. It also was used on many early clay design studies for the 70 Monte Carlo. In 1976, it moved to the top level trim for the Nova line. In 77, it was still the top of the Nova line, except it was given status as its own line, divorced from the Nova, in an attempt to align it with the Ford Granada. In 78, the Concours was brought back to the Nova line, but re-named Nova Custom. From there, the name was not seen again until sometime in the 90's, when it was applied to a model in the Cadillac Deville line.

looks great so far! I like the use of the bench seat, my 1:1 68 Nova SS has a bench and column shift. I have owned it since 1977, bought from the original family that bought it new. I can't tell you how many times over the years people have told me my car is a "fake SS" because it doesn't have buckets and a floor shift/console. Most people don't seem to know that starting in 68, buckets/floor shifts/consoles were no longer standard on SS models.

I bought one of these from Bandit Resins last year, and also a 71 Chevelle, I can attest to the quality and clean casting. My only problem? finding the time to build the 79 as a replica of my 1:1 sitting in the garage, and building the 71 as my older sister's first brand new car. Bandit Resins has Great quality and are great to deal with. Shipping was pretty fast as well.

True, AMT didn't make a convertible in kit form but….MPC did. It isn't widely known, and rarely seen. It went by the title of "The Bat Machine", and from much of the box art, and description, appeared to be a custom only kit. It actually contained parts to build the stock 70 convertible. I have never seen anything but the box art, so I don't know if the kit had the correct flat trunk lid, or used the concave trunk lid of the Custom Coupe kit. I remember seeing a few of them on the store shelves back in 70, when I was 11 years old, but didn't think it could be built stock so, I never bought one. I did buy the MPC 70 Custom Coupe, and it still resides in my book shelf, unpainted, and glued together promo style, as I built it in 1970. Here is a link to the box art for the 70 convertible: http://www.showrods.com/showrod_pages/bat_machine.html

It's not exactly like the red car pictured but in his description, Scottnkat says it is his first time doing a vinyl roof, so, I think we all need to give him a hand, it came out pretty darn good! Besides, there were many of these cars, as well as Chevelles, Novas, Camaros, and Impalas back in the day that didn't have a vinyl roof from the factory . Many dealers installed vinyl tops on cars not so equipped, and didn't always stay true to the factory formula. My Dad had the dealer install a Half vinyl roof and small opera windows, measured out from a 74 Eldorado, to his 74 Impala Custom Coupe when he bought it, brand new. This combination was never even offered by the factory. My Dad hated the huge triangular side windows, and fat B pillar. Doing the half top and opera windows made a huge difference and almost everyone mistook the car for a Cadillac when it was new.

I like it, great build! This is the way I built them as a kid, all my models looked like promos back then.

Not the best build? I beg to differ, it looks great! Its nice to see a plain Jane Fairlane.

It's gorgeous, Love it! I love green so I think you picked the perfect color combination!

The other difference between an Impala/Caprice in 66 and a Bel Air/Biscayne involves the rear back up lights. On the Impala and Caprice, they are in cutouts in the rear bumper. The Bel Air and Biscayne have them mounted next to the taillights, so no holes in the rear bumper .

Looks great! Came together really well. I do have to disagree with the statement that four doors are better proportioned. As the former owner of a 65 Impala Sport Coupe and an Impala SS convertible, I would have to say that the Sport Coupe has it all over anything else in the 65 lineup. That sleek semi fastback roof sits perfectly on that body and the doors do not interfere with the very 63-67 Corvette-like side sculpting. Of course that is only my opinion, and everyone has an entitlement to their opinion.

I'll be watching this one closely! I have a real soft spot for 65 Impala wagons as my Dad's best friend had one new, so I grew up around that car. Many rides in the third rear facing seat! It still looks unusual to me to see a Right hand drive full sizer from the 60s….not only from the dashboard being flipped the reverse of U.S>. versions, but also the lack of parallel wipers. Those on RHD cars faced each other, as they had on Chevys up thru 1960.

Looks great! If it were white, it would be a dead ringer for the Scooter my father had back in the 90's...whitewalls and all! I owned an 83 CS 2 door at the time in white also. Might not have been a powerhouse but, it was very reliable and was a virtual snowplow with the 5 speed manual. I never got stuck!

Steve, that is the Canadian variant. That rear end is quite wild looking, but I like it! In the US, there were two Meteors, the 600, and the 800. The 800 looks like Porscheman's model. The 600 had oval taillight units. Here is a link to a Meteor 600 showing the different taillights: http://www.examiner.com/article/bridging-the-gap-the-1961-mercury-meteor-600

looking forward to this build. I used to have an 83 CS 2 door. I bought it as a commuter scooter since at the time I drove through two states and five counties to get to work. It did everything I asked of it, never broke down, never refused to get me where I was going, and with the 5 speed manual, was a virtual snow plow, I never got stuck! I finally sold it with just shy of 200,000 miles on it as the floors were starting to rust through. Oddly, the body exterior was showing no signs of rust, and it still looked great inside and out. At the time, my Dad had just retired, and I bought him a matching 81 to use as a little runabout. Same story, no problems and he loved having a smaller car to run errands with. They may not have been powerhouses but, they were reliable little cars! Of course, there are serious Chevettes out there that can be a little powerhouse....this one looks so cool and stock, other than the redline tires.... http://www.chevyhardcore.com/news/video-what-is-that-thing-chevette-why-does-it-sound-like-that/

Looks great! The shot with the El Camino though, the Camino is an 81. The Caballero had the identical grille to the El Camino, just the nameplates were different. Hot Wheels made a mistake in branding their later El Camino as an 80 but the grille actually is for a 79.