65 Imperial - The Black Beauty

[Koellefornia Kid]

Hi there,

today I would like to present my latest project, which was a resin kit of a 1965 Chrysler Imperial Coupe. The idea was to turn this pile of parts

into this:

The Black Beauty from the 2011 movie The Green Hornet. It’s my entry to the Cannonball Run 2020 community build. For those who didn’t  know, the theme for this year is movie cars and I thought, hey lets build my favourite movie car! Here is a pic of the original:

…and my scale version:

To achieve the the look of the original I had to scratch build a complete new front. The grille housing, its extension along the hood and the grille itself was completely scratched from Evergreen sheet, profiles and tubes. A matching piece  was cut from the stock grille/bumper part to make everything fit. Before sending these parts out of house for chrome plating I also made new headlight inserts (I didn’t like the look of the resin headlights) and fitted some lenses from my parts box.

T convert the coupe body into 4 door I sanded off the vinyl structure from the roof and cut new, larger back lite opening. I used thin Evergreen round profile for the window frame. Then I engraved new door lines and added window posts. The front door handles were shaved.

The resin kit didn’t provide an engine but if you want to win a race from coast to coast you are in need of some horse powers. Help came in form of a Dodge Sidewinder V10 power plant that I placed inside the scratch built engine bay:

The rules of the Cannonball Run prescribed a street legal car and to have a license plate. In the movie - for just a few seconds - you can see how the rear plate changes from the official plate into a „Hornet“ plate by a revolving mechanism (James Bond style). I just had to replicate this feature on my model, so, after deleting the side mounted license from the resin bumper, I added a scratch built frame in the center of the bumper and hinged the plate on each side of the frame so it can revolve, too:

Th right kind of rolling stock is always important on a custom model car, especially when trying to replicate an existing car. I chose Pegasus 23“ Chrome Ts, painted flat black and equipped with knock-offs from the parts box and a a set of disc brakes.

 

That’s it from my first Cannonball entry, hope you like it!

Thanks for looking, comments welcome!

See you at finish line…

[Can-Con]

That's quite the conversion. Nice job too.

 

Is that the Vic's resin kit?

[Koellefornia Kid]

1 hour ago, Can-Con said:

That's quite the conversion. Nice job too.

 

Is that the Vic's resin kit?

Thanks Steve! I think it is the Vic´s resin kit but I can't say it for sure. Got it from eBay a couple of years ago...

[Paul Payne]

Great mods- I think you nailed it! I remember from the tv show that the car rolled over to hide it in the garage- I assumed a dry sump system which would drain the oil and then pump it back in- can't have fouled plugs ruining your fast starts!

[Classicgas]

Well done. 

[Claude Thibodeau]

Hi Oliver!

Great car, so many details. The Sidewinder Concept truck is such a good source of parts, as I'm certain you have discovered. I have 3 or 4 in my stash... bu none completed, just keep raiding them for components!

Keep on!

CT

[Tom Geiger]

Very cool build!  

[doorsovdoon]

Looks great, very nice build. Such a cool car.

[BeakDoc]

You nailed that one, Oliver! The amount of work you put into it really shines through.

[AmericanMuscleFan]

Beautiful job Oliver!

Resin kits are not the easiest to work with despite the fact they are often the coolest subjects.  Your Black Beauty is beautiful indeed, you did a superb job on the front fascia, bravo!

[Belugawrx]

I watched this one from the start, and really dig this build ?

Well done Oliver.

.really nice job on the rear bumper conversion, did you send that out for chrome, ..or?

Cheers

[Koellefornia Kid]

On 11/21/2020 at 9:14 PM, Claude Thibodeau said:

Great car, so many details. The Sidewinder Concept truck is such a good source of parts, as I'm certain you have discovered. I have 3 or 4 in my stash... bu none completed, just keep raiding them for components!

I agree, the Sidewinder kit is a treasure chest of cool parts. Only have one of them , that's why I resin cast the engine for this build.

 

On 11/22/2020 at 5:07 PM, AmericanMuscleFan said:

Resin kits are not the easiest to work with despite the fact they are often the coolest subjects

That's right, resin kits can be very challenging. This one turned out to be OK, a lot of flash and a few fitting issues but I've seen kits much worse. At least it was  a lot of fun building it!

 

On 11/22/2020 at 5:08 PM, Belugawrx said:

.really nice job on the rear bumper conversion, did you send that out for chrome, ..or?

Yes I sent the bumpers and grilles out for chrome plating. Imo the best way to get realistic looking chrome parts (though not the cheapest). BMF or Molotov wouldn't have worked her and I'm just not able to handle with Alclad?.

Thanks everyone for your kind words!

Greetings from Germany

[Mattilacken]

Beautiful work! 

[Koellefornia Kid]

On 11/24/2020 at 8:41 AM, Mattilacken said:

Beautiful work! 

Thanks Anton!

[slusher]

Very sharp and wonderfully done!!!

[yellowsportwagon]

I’m gonna say this is real cool!

[ChrisR]

Nice!

[ewetwo]

Looks great. Reminds me of the Green Lantern car.

 

[spencer1984]

Bumping this thread because the work done here is truly impressive and needs another look. Awesome job on this!