64 Impala lowrider

[1959]

This is my son Henri's (13 years) latest project. Revell kit built with the kit's lowrider parts. It is mainly out of the box but wheels and tires are from Pegasus and some details in the engine and interior has been changed with the parts from the spare part box. Molotow chrome was sprayed in many parts in the chassis.

Paint job was a real head ache in this project. We used a hardware store spray can candy effect green over silver. The first attempt was not successful, perhaps it was the humidity, but the green was shiny on some areas but mainly dull.  So paint was stripped and Henri started from square 1 and this time it became nice and shiny.  After the roof decal was put in it's place the whole body was cleared with the same manufacturer's clear and it became nice. But after some weeks when BMF work had been done some cracks started to show up in the clear coat on the green areas. So much effort was put already on this so he decided to leave it like that and finished it despite the cracks. Strange thing is that such cracks didn't show up in the pieces where we tested the paint. 

Lots of challenges with this but case is now closed with this one and next one will be better.

Kimmo & the builder Henri

[Cool Hand]

Well done Henri, some great detail work with all the typical lowrider features.

Sometimes a build will put up challenges and we just have to persevere through the situations we face and push through to completion. The end result is always the reward for our efforts and each build is a stepping stone for the next.

Look forward to seeing your next build.

[Perspect Scale Modelworks]

Hope this doesn't discourage Henri and he moves on to the nextone. I've been there a couple of times where the paint and clear react at a point where it's too late to turn back so I let them ride and maybe address it at a later date (yeah right).

[espo]

Like the roof paint design. Unfortunately, the paint issues may have to do with a mix of brands of paint or even Enamel paint and Lacquer paint interaction. Nice cleanly done engine compartment and the air ride trunk equipment.   

[1959]

On 9/14/2025 at 9:27 PM, espo said:

Like the roof paint design. Unfortunately, the paint issues may have to do with a mix of brands of paint or even Enamel paint and Lacquer paint interaction. Nice cleanly done engine compartment and the air ride trunk equipment.   

That is true that different brands could cause problems but in this case everything from primer to clear was from same brand. My guess is that candy effect would have needed a bit more time to fully dry and settle before the clear was applied. I tested the paints for few spare part hoods and there was no issues but I applied the clear after a month or so. 

[1959]

On 9/14/2025 at 7:32 PM, Perspect Scale Modelworks said:

Hope this doesn't discourage Henri and he moves on to the nextone. I've been there a couple of times where the paint and clear react at a point where it's too late to turn back so I let them ride and maybe address it at a later date (yeah right).

No worries, Henri is already on the bench with some new projects!

[slusher]

Great looking Lowrider and I like the paint.