1966 Chevrolet Impala

[Simo5555]

Face is starting to look like a car already


Also did some work on the interior:
The steering wheel. 

Thinking back, maybe i shouldve added a coat of semi-gloss clear to the wheel. Looks a bit flat.

The dash is also done. The decal for the radio doesnt look very good, but not the worst either.


Seats are also glued in


And then it was time to glue everything together. Pretty neat if you ask me 😁


Also did some wiring to the engine


Body needs a bit more work before the final assembly So its getting there

[Simo5555]

What can i say - i screwed up a bit

So first things first - the tamiya transparent paint is definitely more difficult to handle than your average paint, but goddamn it looks cool. The paint itself is definitely softer. So i tried to clearcoat it - like i always do. But the clear went on diferently - a bit like a spongy feeling, idk how to describe it. End result, there was some dust and orange peel etc. So i decided to do some wetsanding:


After that, a few more coats of clear


We'll see how it turned out once its dry. But definitely isnt my best work so thats that.

The hood on the other hand.....Was trying to wetsand it too. But noticed that the front corner had a bit darker shade than the rest of it. So, i left it sitting thinking that i will deal this later...After a day or so i came back to this:

The paint has bubbled up and fallen off. So the hood will need to be stripped and repainted. So sometimes you win, sometimes you lose.  

[Musclecarbuilder]

7 hours ago, Simo5555 said:

What can i say - i screwed up a bit

So first things first - the tamiya transparent paint is definitely more difficult to handle than your average paint, but goddamn it looks cool. The paint itself is definitely softer. So i tried to clearcoat it - like i always do. But the clear went on diferently - a bit like a spongy feeling, idk how to describe it. End result, there was some dust and orange peel etc. So i decided to do some wetsanding:


After that, a few more coats of clear


We'll see how it turned out once its dry. But definitely isnt my best work so thats that.

The hood on the other hand.....Was trying to wetsand it too. But noticed that the front corner had a bit darker shade than the rest of it. So, i left it sitting thinking that i will deal this later...After a day or so i came back to this:

The paint has bubbled up and fallen off. So the hood will need to be stripped and repainted. So sometimes you win, sometimes you lose.  

Yikes! That sucks

[Simo5555]

Thought i'd give the bare metal foil a go Definitely isnt the easiest to do



Came out pretty okayish.

[SpikeSchumacher]

To me, the painting/finishing stage can be the most frustrating (when it goes wrong), yet also satisfying (when it goes right) of building model cars. 

BMF really is a chore, same principle as above. 🤣 I may try spraying Molotow chrome next time...

Cheers,

Mathias

[johnyrotten]

1 hour ago, Simo5555 said:

Thought i'd give the bare metal foil a go Definitely isnt the easiest to do



Came out pretty okayish.

Looks great, foil is my next endeavor after polishing the scratches out of the windshield. 

[Simo5555]

........7 months later......

Guys, i have something to confess. This model almost broke me. I screwed up the hood, then i screwed up the bare metal foil and after that i screwed up the paintjob a bit more. So just got fed up an lost interest.

But, i'm stubborn and won't give up that easily  So, lately i've been thinking of doing a redemption build and finish what i started So here i am, with another kit, doing exactly that.



Will see how it goes this time 

Edited Thursday at 01:32 PM by Simo5555

[SpikeSchumacher]

Good for you! Sometimes the second, third time (?) is the charm. 😉

[Simo5555]

So lets start 😃

Got myself this pretty-fancy cutting mat  

Glued the engine together


While glueing the seats together, i decided to do some modding. Wanted to add the chrome trim behind the back rests. Where i live, the flat styrene strips are pretty hard to find (like impossible) so had to make my own. Took a small candle and a few scrap strips from the parts tree.


Heated up the scrap piece to the point its pretty much melting and streched it out to a thin wire


Then glued them around the seat


Looks pretty ugly now, but will clean it up once its dried

[bluestringer]

My favorite Chevy, and my first car I got when I was 17. I built a replica of mine with this kit. 

[Simo5555]

4 hours ago, bluestringer said:

My favorite Chevy, and my first car I got when I was 17. I built a replica of mine with this kit. 

 

You lucky guy! Owning an Impala is a dream of mine. Owning an Impala at 17 is just awesome. 

(My first car at 17 was this crappy integra 😁)

[Simo5555]

Did some tapework Taped up the chromed center console piece. I actually really like the shine of out-of-the box chrome. Have always wondered what kind of process are they using manufacturing these things.


I actually really like the cutting mat too. Why haven't i bought this before?

After that, did some painting. Seems like i'm still on brown interior phase  But in all seriousness, it should look really cool once its done. 


A little side-mod too. I'm going to delete the antenna hole this time. So did some more of that candle and scrap thingy to create a plug for the hole. After which i glued it into the hole. Will wait once its dry to cut and sand it to flat.

[Valvefloat]

On 12/1/2024 at 10:14 AM, Simo5555 said:

Thought i'd give the bare metal foil a go Definitely isnt the easiest to do



Came out pretty okayish.

Yup , thats why I use a Chrome pen way easier

[SpeedAndViolence]

Nice work! Ever figure out what caused the paint issue on the original?