Rockford Posted July 24, 2020 Posted July 24, 2020 This is a very detailed kit. Built a few years ago. Looks great when finished but had terrible fit issues with the interior. Had to sand down areas to try and see where the conflict was. Got there eventually. After a few years though, the whitewall inserts are reacting with the tyres. Such a shame, spoils the car. 1
espo Posted July 24, 2020 Posted July 24, 2020 Beautiful looking Impala. Very accurate looking interior. Shame about the white walls. I have built several of these and others from that era and haven't had any issues with them.
Nazz Posted July 24, 2020 Posted July 24, 2020 Very nice all around. Well done Stephen. I was wondering if that is the Revell kit. If so , are the tires from that kit. I have a '56 Vette with Revell wide whites on it. The kit was built about 16 years ago with no apparent problems.
TransAmMike Posted July 25, 2020 Posted July 25, 2020 Very nice build there Stephen. The '59 is a pretty unique. If I remember right, at very high speeds the rear would actually lift due to the wing-like design.
Rockford Posted July 25, 2020 Author Posted July 25, 2020 Yes, it is the Revell kit. It is a great kit except for the fit issues with the interior that I mentioned. Despite numerous mock ups I couldn't pinpoint the problem but it was somewhere around the rear seat to the tunnel. I almost considered cutting the rear bench off the interior and fitting it to the body on its own, sliding the side panels past it. I eventually managed to file the seat down and got it to sit properly. The 59s were beautiful cars. When you encounter one in the flesh the sheer scale of them is daunting. To think the streets were once full of cars like this!
Spottedlaurel Posted July 25, 2020 Posted July 25, 2020 Looks fantastic, but a shame about the wheel/tyre issue - could you swap something else onto it? I think the same when I see a photo of an early '60s American car park and see them full of things like this - it barely seems possible they were designed as everyday transport. Imagine what they would have looked like on the streets of early '60s Britain!.....
David G. Posted July 25, 2020 Posted July 25, 2020 Beautifully Done! I built Revell's 1960 Chevy Impala and had similar issues with the interior not fitting properly into the body shell. Both kits must be based on the same tooling. With mine, I eventually discovered that the problem was that the windshield and side pieces of the interior conflicted with each other. There was a slot in the side panel that was supposed to accept the corner of the windshield but the windshield was far too thick to fit into the slot. You can see where I had to cut away some of the side panel to accommodate it. It also took me several years to complete mine, I eventually ended up naming it "Hard Luck Impala". If you're interested, here is a link to the build thread if you're interested. Your build is quite impressive, the detail work is excellent. I noticed in the photo you that posted of the interior, the side-view mirror seems to have a reflection of the door in it. ? Your paint work looks great too. Thanks for taking the time to share it with us. David G.
Matt T. Posted July 25, 2020 Posted July 25, 2020 Tire problem or not, this is a beauty! Very well done.
RAMBENNA Posted July 25, 2020 Posted July 25, 2020 fabulous build, love the color. looks great. I have done a couple of these. try coating the tires with clear Acrylic.
MrObsessive Posted July 26, 2020 Posted July 26, 2020 Super Sharp Impala and that red interior looks FANTASTIC! Like you mentioned Stephen, our neighborhoods were once littered with cars like this here in the US. Big land yachts like that '59 made it reaaall easy to play hide and seek as they were tall enough for a little kid to get under. Trying to explain to your Mom why your back is all dirty and greasy however was another matter! A younger fellow I work with who just turned 40, we were talking cars one day and I was telling him there was once upon a time where no matter where you looked, you saw a '55, '56, or '57 Chevy in all styles. He was like "WOW! Really??" You couldn't go a few blocks as a kid in the '60's and not see one of those parked somewhere. I built my '59 a few years ago and now I'll have to take a look at it to see if there's any issues with the tires. I do believe I painted the whitewalls on mine before I put them in as I wanted to tone down the "shiny plastic" look of the molded inserts. Now my curiosity is up...............
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