Possibly the only Supernatural, "Supernatural" Impala

[Beans]

I may be one of the only people who is building the supernatural Impala as it is on the television show.  Got hooked on the show when deployed to Iraq some time ago and been a fan every since.

Figured in order to do the kit justice I needed to open the trunk up and include the weapons stash.

 

My first time opening up a trunk so we will see how it goes.  So far I managed to get the trunk lid cut off generally cleanly and added some interior trunk trim.

 

Also since the weapons stash is going to have all kinds of stuff in it, I needed to start scratch building things.  Started with a flashlight.

 

Edited June 22, 2021 by Beans
added tags, corrected spelling

[Mike F.]

Sounds cool, I will be following.

What year is the car?

[Beans]

1 minute ago, Mike F. said:

Sounds cool, I will be following.

What year is the car?

1967 4 door Impala.

[slusher]

Nice flashlight and start on your project. I like the car and I will follow your build.

[Beans]

Just a quick update...Still working on detailing out the opening of the trunk and under trunk lid.  Will  be sure to post pictures of those when I am happy with them.  For now, here is some other scratchbuilt stuff for the eventual trunk filling.

The little brown thing with the wire is going to be a leather bound diary used on the show.  The wire is just holding it closed while the glue sets.

The bag of salt and hatchet are pretty self explanatory, the other is a stake (vampire killing kind). At the bottom is a cigar box where the main characters keep their fake IDs and credit cards. (I need to square the side off a little more.

[espo]

I like the added trunk goodies. 

[Beans]

Well on the way to completing the dashboard when I realized....this is an automatic.....where is the gear indicator????   looks like I will have to make one.

[Modelbuilder Mark]

 Very Cool. I really liked the show, and am surprised that the kit tie in did not make it until the final season of the show. Seems a bit of a missed opportunity to me. I thought about the full version you are working on, but there are so many other to do items I already have, I passed it up. I am glad to see you are undertaking it! nice work so far. 

[Beans]

15 hours ago, Modelbuilder Mark said:

 Very Cool. I really liked the show, and am surprised that the kit tie in did not make it until the final season of the show. Seems a bit of a missed opportunity to me. I thought about the full version you are working on, but there are so many other to do items I already have, I passed it up. I am glad to see you are undertaking it! nice work so far. 

Thank you and totally agree about the missed opportunity.  There are so many cars used in the series.  While I am working on this one I have started to plan out other cars from the show I am going to do.  I don't have the whole series on dvd but will most likely end up rewatching a lot of specific episodes for reference.

The kit overall is pretty good.  I found it somewhat amusing that on the decal sheet is a decal for the underside of the trunk lid but it doesn't come with an opening trunk.  It's a fun project overall because I can bounce back and forth between working on the car and scratchbuilding all the trunk stuff.

[Beans]

Gear select indicator added to the steering column.   Clutch pedal removed (may use it as an ebrake pedal later).   Need to add a turn signal lever, detail out the radio face a little more and clean things up some and the dash will be done.

Have to get back to detailing out the trunk lid framework as well.

[Modelbuilder Mark]

16 hours ago, Beans said:

Thank you and totally agree about the missed opportunity.  There are so many cars used in the series.  While I am working on this one I have started to plan out other cars from the show I am going to do.  I don't have the whole series on dvd but will most likely end up rewatching a lot of specific episodes for reference.

The kit overall is pretty good.  I found it somewhat amusing that on the decal sheet is a decal for the underside of the trunk lid but it doesn't come with an opening trunk.  It's a fun project overall because I can bounce back and forth between working on the car and scratchbuilding all the trunk stuff.

There are a couple websites that give info on the shows cars, may even help you narrow down to what episodes you will need to watch. As for missed opportunity, I think there are a lot of shows like that. Despite my not thinking it is "real", several autos from Street Outlaws would have made great selling models, like Farmtruck, the bug, Black Crow etc etc. 

 

[David G.]

I like all the little detail bits you're making. This should be a fun build.

David G.

[Beans]

9 hours ago, Modelbuilder Mark said:

There are a couple websites that give info on the shows cars, may even help you narrow down to what episodes you will need to watch. As for missed opportunity, I think there are a lot of shows like that. Despite my not thinking it is "real", several autos from Street Outlaws would have made great selling models, like Farmtruck, the bug, Black Crow etc etc. 

 

imcdb.org has been my go to starting point for a total car listing.  From there I can do some research on the who, when, and why of each.  

[Beans]

Interior is about 99%.  

Had to scratch build the gear indicator (as mentioned earlier)

Added turn signal lever (jewelry making head pins work well for this)

First time using the embossing powder method of carpet creation....but didn't use embossing powder.  I had a bunch of fine scenery modeling media and used that.  A little chunkier than I wanted but it works.

Wrapped the steering wheel.  Used a thin strip of electrical tape and some very fine wire I had laying around.

Still needs seatbelts and a couple touchups....maybe door lock pins....

 

 

[Koellefornia Kid]

very nice detail work, Joseph! I built this car for a friend some years ago using a Scale Production resin transit. Had a lot of fun scratch building and detailing the trunk so I really appreciate the work you are investing here.

 

Can't wait to see you version finished!

[Beans]

5 hours ago, Koellefornia Kid said:

very nice detail work, Joseph! I built this car for a friend some years ago using a Scale Production resin transit. Had a lot of fun scratch building and detailing the trunk so I really appreciate the work you are investing here.

 

Can't wait to see you version finished!

Thank you.  And thanks for the inspiration.  

[Beans]

A shot of the undercarriage as it currently stands.  Was torn between the brand new look and the weathered look, which leads to a half and half, partially brand new and partially weathered look.  Will tie it all together when I add engine exhaust and driveline. 

Also finally content with the trunk lid underside detailing.  What you see here is the painted over and sanded version. 

 

 

Edited July 8, 2021 by Beans
edited because I attached the wrong pictures.

[Beans]

Back on the accessories side of things.

During the run of the show there was the re-occurring use of a very specific cooler. 

 

 So of course I had to make one.  

[Modelbuilder Mark]

Nice touch on the cooler. As for the Chassis, I would certainly go with the weathered look While he took care of "Baby", it was well driven with a LOT of road miles. 

[Rbray47]

Also, the tv car is automatic. I used the block/trans from the amt 70 Monte Carlo in my build. 

[Beans]

2 hours ago, Rbray47 said:

Also, the tv car is automatic. I used the block/trans from the amt 70 Monte Carlo in my build. 

Yes.  Very true and because I hadn't even gotten to the engine/trans yet I hadn't thought about that.  I did manage to get the gear indicator added to the steering column.  Thanks for the reminder on the tranny.  I probably wouldn't have even caught that.

 

[Beans]

22 hours ago, Modelbuilder Mark said:

Nice touch on the cooler. As for the Chassis, I would certainly go with the weathered look While he took care of "Baby", it was well driven with a LOT of road miles. 

I agree.  Here is the change with a before and after....or rather, an after and before.  I like it better a little dirty.

[Modelbuilder Mark]

Oh yeah, that looks "right" to me. 

[espo]

I like the more weathered looking chassis. These guys were on and off road a little so the style now is a little more realistic to the TV car. 

[Beans]

Starting on Engine and transmission and as I realized (thanks to feedback on this board) that I needed an automatic transmission.  As mainly a Ford builder I don't have an extra laying around, so as I acquire that I started with removal of the old tranny.

 

Next issue I discovered through test fitting with the removed trunk lid is that all the rear chrome (bumper, tail lights, trim) are molded as one piece and since the trunk will be open, I will need to separate the portion attached to trunk lid.