Monogram '66 Malibu SS

[Kit Karson]

Did I not tell you guys?  I've known Paul for his level of detail and outstanding paint jobs for over three decades and he's just getting better!  

Have to share this with you... @Speedprodrove from Montana to Georgia to be a part of the ACME NNL last November.  He brought his 1940 Willys Pro Street pickup that I know has to be at least twenty-five years old or more!  Take a look on page 44 of the latest issue of MCM. -KK

[Jantrix]

Paul, I'd like to thank you for offering a master class on how to build this old favorite. I plan on getting this kit again when they are re-released, hopefully soon! I will be referring back to this excellent tutorial. Outstanding work sir!

[Speedpro]

On 2/23/2022 at 4:33 PM, mchook said:

Amazing work going on here, I love it. I keep looking at that paint and thinking your going to get finger prints in it because it looks like it's still wet.

Thanks Mark, I can assure you its dry.

On 2/24/2022 at 5:34 AM, FLHCAHZ said:

Absolutely Fantastic!

Thanks Chaz and thanks for looking..........................

[Speedpro]

On 2/25/2022 at 2:23 AM, Jantrix said:

Paul, I'd like to thank you for offering a master class on how to build this old favorite. I plan on getting this kit again when they are re-released, hopefully soon! I will be referring back to this excellent tutorial. Outstanding work sir!

Thank you Rob. Glad this will help you out.

[Speedpro]

This update is what I'll call my backwards update.....................

Here is my list:

1. So I put the alclad on the front and rear bumpers. The front came out better than the rear. I'm thinking I put too much down and it got a little silver looking. Thought I'd try and buff it after it dried. Well that didn't work out to well. So I ended up stripping the part and starting over. The part was primed and I decided to work on the front end. I was laying in some black on the grill when I made a mistake. Naturally I went after it to see if I could repair it but ended up making it worse. So ended up stripping it too! At this time I have the parts resprayed with the alclad gloss black and drying before I try and ruin them again (hope not) with the chrome.

2. On the back wall of the interior bucket I decided to put this decal I found in my stash. The decal is in the form of a chevy emblem. Looked kind old but still might work. Figured I would try it, I mean what's the worst thing that could happen. Its just a decal! So I put it down and it looked good. Did not see the need for any setting solution at the time. Put when the decal started drying, It got these white areas like the decal wasn't sticking. So on went the setting solution. 15 min later I checked it to see how it was doing and it had crinkled up and looked terrible. So I used some tape to pull the decal off with. But it was to late. Just look at the picture. Figured I would just but some embossing powder on the back wall to cover it up. I left some tape on protecting the package tray and when I pulled it off their was nothing that resembled a straight line. Now I have to redo that! Not too hard to fix. It's just that it happened. My Fault!

 

3. Decided to start some assembly and check some clearances around the engine. When I did the spark plug wires I ran them behind the cylinder heads to go under the headers. Well, I went to put the engine in its place and it would not go in because the plug wires were stopping it from going all the way in. They were hitting the firewall. Had to pull them up around the head to get the engine in place. Now I get to redo the wires so they go over the valve covers which is what i did not want to do. I missed this during mockup and when I was fitting things. This can be  fixed but not at this stage of the build. The firewall recess needs to be set back to give more room between the engine and the firewall. There is room to do this mod.

 

You can see how much room that there is to work with the firewall recess if you wanted to do that

And of course the engine getting it wires ripped out................................

 

 

 

This bits!! I hate going backwards! But hey... I'm having fun now! And that's all that matters 

 

Speedpro

[Straightliner59]

59 minutes ago, Speedpro said:

So I put it down and it looked good. Did not see the need for any setting solution at the time. Put when the decal started drying, It got these white areas like the decal wasn't sticking. So on went the setting solution. 15 min later I checked it to see how it was doing and it had crinkled up and looked terrible.

You probably should have left it alone, at that point. Micro Sol, for sure, will cause some decals to wrinkle before they settle down. You're not the first guy to get freaked out by that reaction!? These kinds of setbacks can really twist the nuts, and are surely frustrating. Learning from them makes us better modelers, though. I really like what you're doing, and have done with this kit. It's a fun kit to build. You're doing a fine job with it, Paul!

[Speedpro]

18 minutes ago, Straightliner59 said:

You probably should have left it alone, at that point. Micro Sol, for sure, will cause some decals to wrinkle before they settle down. You're not the first guy to get freaked out by that reaction!? These kinds of setbacks can really twist the nuts, and are surely frustrating. Learning from them makes us better modelers, though. I really like what you're doing, and have done with this kit. It's a fun kit to build. You're doing a fine job with it, Paul!

Daniel, The wrinkle's that were in the decal were pretty bad. I use Micro Sol on all my decals. But this one didn't like it. I tried using my brush on it to manipulate it a little and it was not going to get any better.  Done a lot of decals in my time. I think it was just too old. It was from an old monogram 55' chevy kit from the early 80's. 

Thanks Daniel 

[Steve H]

Hi Paul, really enjoying this thread. I recently purchased an older issue of this kit. I’ve built two, one way back when it was first released more or less box stock, then in the late eighties I glued the flip nose closed, opened the hood, tubbed and pro streeted one. Not sure what I will do with the one I have, but your build will definitely serve as inspiration. Very nice work, and perfect colour!  No offence, but it is somehow reassuring to see a builder as talented as yourself have some of those unforeseen issues. I kitbash a lot, and no matter how many test fits and mock-ups are done, sometimes I just get bit by something missed. Hopefully yours are easy fixes, you obviously have the talent. Thanks for sharing. 
 

Cheers, Steve

[Dave72]

Paul, I don’t think I’ve ever seen this kit being built so nicely and clean as you are doing here! I really like what you have done. Paint looks fantastic, and I really like the way you’re building that engine. Nice job, keep it up! 

[bytownshaker]

Very nice clean build, I love the little details like the Dzus fasteners on the under hood panels and correcting the faults.

Edgar

 

[Speedpro]

On 2/26/2022 at 9:33 PM, Steve H said:

Hi Paul, really enjoying this thread. I recently purchased an older issue of this kit. I’ve built two, one way back when it was first released more or less box stock, then in the late eighties I glued the flip nose closed, opened the hood, tubbed and pro streeted one. Not sure what I will do with the one I have, but your build will definitely serve as inspiration. Very nice work, and perfect colour!  No offence, but it is somehow reassuring to see a builder as talented as yourself have some of those unforeseen issues. I kitbash a lot, and no matter how many test fits and mock-ups are done, sometimes I just get bit by something missed. Hopefully yours are easy fixes, you obviously have the talent. Thanks for sharing. 
 

Cheers, Steve

No offence taken steve. I like to think I can get it right the first time. After paint I feel like I only get one shot to get things right. It never looks the same the second time around. So it's more annoying than anything.  The fixes are all easy except the plug wires...a little more effort there on those. 

Thanks also for liking the color because haven't convinced myself I like yet.

Speedpro

21 hours ago, Dave72 said:

Paul, I don’t think I’ve ever seen this kit being built so nicely and clean as you are doing here! I really like what you have done. Paint looks fantastic, and I really like the way you’re building that engine. Nice job, keep it up! 

Thank you dave

5 hours ago, bytownshaker said:

Very nice clean build, I love the little details like the Dzus fasteners on the under hood panels and correcting the faults.

Edgar

 

Thanks Edgar, I had to add those fasteners just to give more life to the part. And if you had to work on the engine, taking the panel off would help get those spark plugs out. lol

[Speedpro]

I think I have things corrected and redone and I can move forward. 

Got the plug wires ran over the valve covers. Now the engine should go right in.

 

Put embossing powder on the back wall of the interior bucket to hide what happened with the decal.

 

The bumpers had to be resprayed with alclad and those are done. They came out ok I think. They just seem to look a little dark. First pic is the gloss black enamel before chrome...........

 

Thats it for now................

Thanks for looking and more to come......................................

[Kit Karson]

I'll say it once again, "WOW!" -KK

[FLHCAHZ]

Excellence!

[mustang1989]

Really puttin' the works to this one aincha? Such beautiful paint work. Nicely done.

[slusher]

They look perfect!

[Speedpro]

Things are starting to come together. I have been assembling and finishing the interior, engine and chassis. Glass is in also. One issue I'm have is with the chrome on the front and rear bumpers. I have sprayed them twice and they still look dark like black chrome. The bumpers must look shiny chrome. I have a new bottle on its way and hoping to correct this issue. 

Here's the interior. Built the cage, embossing powder on the floor, changed the seats and added some gauges. Dash was detailed and steering wheel modified.

 

Here's the engine ready to go in. I thought hard about detailing it beyond the plug wires. I'm sticking to my initial intension and that was to build this kit out of the box. I thought really hard about further detailing it, but this is all I'm doing.

 

 

The chassis was assembled and is ready to go in. No mods here. Just some detail painting..............

 

 

Thats it for now. The bumper chrome is the main issue at this time. Thanks for looking................

[bisc63]

The color is gorgeous, the build is super clean, but it's the realistic metallic finishes that really sell this build for me! Shows how good a simple kit CAN look.

[FLHCAHZ]

The interior looks great and the detail on the undercarriage is superb!

[TransAmMike]

Wow Paul, the finish on everything looks flawless. Impressive work.

[geemoney]

 I got 8 bucks on a friday morning in the summer for my allowance.....

i walked to my LHS, chose this over the sister release of the Z/28...

came home.. dug into it.. i was " tunnel ram BBC?, lakewood scatter shield?... solid front axle?...

yours is SUPERB!!!!!

[mvadrag]

I have been following this build on my phone (during long commercial breaks on Street Outlaws !! ) and am greatly impressed by your dedication to "correct" all the flaws in one of my favorite Monogram kits.  Fantastic!

I have the red one and the black one still in my stash.  I used this body on a Monogram 1970 Chevelle SS chassis to make a street cruiser.  Can't wait to see yours completed.

Edited March 15, 2022 by mvadrag

[1972coronet]

That Mark IV looks phenomenal ! The red Lakewood scatter shield really !!pOpS!! against that dark & metallic background ! 

Outstanding attention to details, especially the clean painting.

[Speedpro]

On 3/14/2022 at 8:30 PM, bisc63 said:

The color is gorgeous, the build is super clean, but it's the realistic metallic finishes that really sell this build for me! Shows how good a simple kit CAN look.

I appreciate your comments, Thanks Rusty

On 3/15/2022 at 5:01 AM, FLHCAHZ said:

The interior looks great and the detail on the undercarriage is superb!

Thanks Chaz, I had a heck of a time trying to take a good picture of the interior. The camara kept wanting to just focus on the rollbar making everything else look fuzzy. 

23 hours ago, TransAmMike said:

Wow Paul, the finish on everything looks flawless. Impressive work.

Thanks Mike!

19 hours ago, geemoney said:

 I got 8 bucks on a friday morning in the summer for my allowance.....

i walked to my LHS, chose this over the sister release of the Z/28...

came home.. dug into it.. i was " tunnel ram BBC?, lakewood scatter shield?... solid front axle?...

yours is SUPERB!!!!!

Michel, Sounds just like my experience buying this kit for the first time in the '70s when it first came out! 

17 hours ago, mvadrag said:

I have been following this build on my phone (during long commercial breaks on Street Outlaws !! ) and am greatly impressed by your dedication to "correct" all the flaws in one of my favorite Monogram kits.  Fantastic!

I have the red one and the black one still in my stash.  I used this body on a Monogram 1970 Chevelle SS chassis to make a street cruiser.  Can't wait to see yours completed.

There are definitely things to correct in this kit. There are also things missing like rad hoses, brake master and even rear shocks. Thanks for looking Jose 

15 hours ago, 1972coronet said:

That Mark IV looks phenomenal ! The red Lakewood scatter shield really !!pOpS!! against that dark & metallic background ! 

Outstanding attention to details, especially the clean painting.

Thanks John!

[Kit Karson]

Absolutely one of your best builds to date!  And I've seen a lot of your work over the years, Brother!!  Your attention to each little detail reflects your level of knowledge that you garnered throughout your career in the automotive industry.  Hands still steady; eyes still strong; calm nerves; nimble fingers and a creative essence that shows through every piece as you assemble a very challenging kit!  I am in awe, Brother!! -KK