1966 Chevrolet Impala

[Simo5555]

Interior is pretty much done 😄

[Simo5555]

Re-painted the engine  This time i went with a more glossy finish. Came out pretty good


Also went a little crazy painting the oilfilter 


Painted the aux belt and pulleys


Some random hoses and axle parts


And also did some more bare metal foiling (yep, still hate this stuff )

[Simo5555]

Did some engine building 

Exhaust manifolds are on


Belts too


Carburetor and ignition coil


Did some testfitting to see how it would look inside the engine bay. Pretty neat if you ask me 😃


After that, did some wiring and engine is pretty much done!

[Simo5555]

Got myself these clamps and put them to a good use. Really nice tools to clamp down old and bent monogram parts 


Finished up the front and rear axles. Was just tinkering when i felt better - sadly didn't take any photos of the process.


Undercarriage is pretty much done  Did some more testfitting for kicks

[Simo5555]

You think you're at the point where you can safely say that waterslide decals aren't that bad.....then this kit comes along So, about the pinstripes...........

First, you have to secure the body. A rolled up socks are a good tool for that Or a half empty roll of toiletpaper.


Then you got to do the easier ones first - you don't want to see any decals for a very long time after you do the stripes.


Then its showtime - pinstripes. Theres no quick and easy way to do it.  A lot of patience (A LOT!!!) and a lot of swearing. Make sure the water is warm! Soak the decals for a good bit of time before even trying to do them. Took me easily two hours to install four decals. Got them as straight as i could. So good enough for me 



Jokes aside, the pinstripe decals are horrible to install. Luckily, they're quite good in quality wise. Left the hood decals off. Seemed a bit too much for the look i'm going for  

[STU111]

Long thin stripe decals do my head in, so kudos to you for having the patience. If I have to apply long thin stripes, I’ll cut them half way and apply them as two separate decals. Your Impala is coming along very nicely. I’ve got this in my stash, so keen to see yours when finished. 👍🏻

[Simo5555]

So, what to do when the paint/glue dries? You can organize your tool drawers 😁 So thats what i did!

Heres all the tools and paints i have - everything nicely organized into two drawers  You guys having separate workshops for this hobby are lucky as hell 



Anyhow, i got the body clearcoated  

[Rod666]

The paintjob is awesome, the interior is perfect!

[TransAmMike]

That's really pretty Simo 👍

[SpeedAndViolence]

Very nice!

[Simo5555]

Did the window trim Decided to try out the famous revell Chrome spray


Decanted it and used an airbrush do spray it on. Paint is definitely pretty cool. 


Used some Tamiya's lacquer black as base and sprayed it on


Paint looks pretty awesome!

[SpikeSchumacher]

You are doing a really nice job on this Simo! You also play guitar?

[Simo5555]

16 minutes ago, SpikeSchumacher said:

You are doing a really nice job on this Simo! You also play guitar?

Thank you! Hopefully someday 😄 Still learning. I can play most of the chords and some cowboy songs, but nothing fancy 

[meechum68]

Wicked work!! Love the pinstripes!!

[Simo5555]

So, its pretty much home straight Not much left to do. 

Radiator and the front nose panel (idk, what its called in real life ) is done.


The firewall with brake booster is also done


Then painted the lights


Also finished the front end


And the first step of the final assembly - the interior is in, undercarriage is also in place



Brown interior looks pretty cool inside a red car


Getting the engine in is the next step

[SpeedAndViolence]

Looks fantastic man!

[espo]

Clean looking trim and paint work. 

[Simo5555]

And its done! Finished this last night  Really like the kit - didnt have much issues. Some minor fitment issues here and there, but overall a really nice and solid kit.


Will post more pictures under the UTG subforum

Thanks for following! Time to take up another kit

Simo.