1965 Chevy Impala

[ModelcarJR]

I started this kit after seeing the Chevy Christmas commercial.  I have a convertible that is built and I thought about re-building it but opted for the Foose hardtop kit. This one will be painted Light Blue Metallic with a white interior, similar to the Chevy commercial. Here is where I am starting; parts are sorted into piles and the body and body parts are mounted on stands and ready to paint and other parts sorted into piles for black, silver, engine, interior. There are no parts that are chromed that need to be stripped. I am ready to start primer then color. Thanks for looking and Merry Christmas! 

[bluestringer]

Good start.

[ModelcarJR]

Thanks, James! I appreciate your comment! 

Got almost everything painted today - just ran out of daylight. Primer, then a silver base coat on the body and Tamiya Light Blue Metallic. two coats and one coat of clear. I'll rub it out tomorrow and then maybe another coat of clear. We'll see how it goes. I'll finish the other parts and then probably work on another body or two to get ahead a little while we have some good weather. Thanks for looking and Merry Christmas! 

[slusher]

Sharp color John..

[Cool Hand]

The colour will go well with all the chrome and trim.

[Zippi]

That Tamiya Light Blue Metallic looks really good.  

[Bills72sj]

Following.

[deuces wild]

?

[David G.]

Beautiful color!

David G.

[NOBLNG]

Paint looks great!

[espo]

Great looking color on this and it shows the body lines well. 

[espo]

I had not seen the Chevrolet Christmas commercial until last night while watching a Football Game.  What stood out to me about the car they used was that it is a 1966 model Impala Super Sport since I had owned the hardtop version of this car. The color in the commercial looks like what they called Marina Blue at that time, and you seem to have gotten that color just right.  

[bluestringer]

Beautiful color. I love the 65 and 66 Impalas. My first car at age 16 was a 66 Impala SS 396. 

[ModelcarJR]

Thanks, All! I appreciate your comments! I didn't realize it was a 66 but now that you mention it it did have the rectangular taillights instead of the  round ones.  The color is close enough for me. I got it rubbed out but burned the right front fender and rubbed out the edge of the beltline on the driver's door. So I had to touch it up and rub it out again. Then I noticed that the hood didn't blend in well, so another touchup. Now I need to rub it out again. I'm hoping this is it.  I certainly have enough paint on it! Thanks for looking! 

[deuces wild]

Looks beautiful!!!...??

Can't wait to tackle my Revell '65-'66 kits.....?

Edited December 28, 2021 by deuces wild

[ModelcarJR]

Well, the funny thing about touching up paint is that sometimes it works out well sometimes it don't. This time it didn't. I started rubbing through layers and I was at the end of the can and there is too much metallic in the bottom of the cans. So its in the purple pool now and I'll have to order another can of paint. Be back in about 10 days if the weather permits. ?

[espo]

11 hours ago, ModelcarJR said:

Well, the funny thing about touching up paint is that sometimes it works out well sometimes it don't. This time it didn't. I started rubbing through layers and I was at the end of the can and there is too much metallic in the bottom of the cans. So its in the purple pool now and I'll have to order another can of paint. Be back in about 10 days if the weather permits. ?

Sometimes it is better to just give the entire body one light even coat of paint. You're working with a color that has a lot of metallic in the finish and depending on how much the can is shaken and maybe even heated a little it just doesn't always lay down the same. After color sanding the body as smooth as you can I would give it another color coat to cover all of the body and hood at once.   

[ModelcarJR]

Thanks, David! I appreciate your comment! I think this time it was just too much paint and it was from the bottom of the can that had too much metallic in it. 

So after 3 days in the purple pool and one day in oven cleaner, I finally got the paint off, at least most of it. I picked the rest of the paint spots off and then washed the entire body and hood a couple of times with some seasoned 400 grit sandpaper. In the meantime, I bit the bullet and drove the 40 miles downtown to the only hobby shop in Houston that I am aware of that carries Tamiya paint. I made that trip every weekday for 15 years when I was working and I can report that it hasn't gotten any better. Then I went back to my tried and true method:

1.  One coat of gray primer (O'reilly Brite Touch manufactured by Sherwin Williams). Wait an hour.

2.  Two coats of Tamiya Light Blue Metallic 10 - 15 minutes apart. Each coat is one pass back and forth (2 passes) on each unpainted surface, i.e., bottom, middle and top of each body side. Let dry about 45 minutes and then make sure that hood matches fenders by putting hood on body. 

3.  Two coats of Tamiya Clear 10 -15 minutes apart. Same method as above. 

4.  Done. Rub out tomorrow - 16 to 20 hours later. This time carefully under magnification. 

Here are the results in photos:

Initial result from paint removal:

Better

Best

Final painting results:

 

Edited December 31, 2021 by ModelcarJR
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[slusher]

Glad you have it repainted, John..

[ModelcarJR]

Thanks, Carl! I appreciate your comment!  

I rubbed out the paint today and aside from some tiny irregularities at the base of the left B pillar and around the window trim it looks pretty good. I'll work om it a little more and start adding some foil. Some more foil may be here by the end of next week. Thanks for looking and Happy New Year!

[ModelcarJR]

Finished the foil - not good foil but foil.  I hope it won't fall off.  Had to use a little white glue on the wheel openings. Chrome pen in spots. I need to give the hood a light coat of paint before I foil it, but will have to wait until it warms up. Thanks for looking! ?

[slusher]

Looks great John..

[KWT]

Looking awesome.. nice shade of blue

[ModelcarJR]

Thanks, Carl and Jeremy! I appreciate your comments! I'll get to this one after I finish the Nomad. I managed to get two kits painted before we went into the bad weather so that I could continue building during the cold snap. Thanks for looking! ?

[ModelcarJR]

I'm back on this one. Foiled, painted and decaled the dash. I didn't paint the gauge panel black or aluminum on the bottom of the dash. I'm just glad on got some foil on it and was able to paint some chrome trim from the Molotow pen. Decals are still drying. Thanks for looking!