'65 Impala ragtop

[customline]

Most of this build happened a several years back. Originally, the idea was to replicate the car I was allowed to drive on occasion. It was the family car back in the late '60s. It was equipped with a 283/ powerglide and was Tahitian Turquoise with a black roof. The kit is the Revell SS 409/stick with A/C.

When I opened the box I found a painted chassis, up on all four, and almost complete. The body was primed in white.  I don't recall what kit I stole the small block from. We didn't have A/C in our Chevy so I eliminated the supply registers on the dash( and not very skillfully, I might add 😕.)

At some point, probably because of the interior, I decided to just build it as an anonymous vehicle. It was not worth the extra work to make it my mother's daily ride. Yesterday I painted it Tamiya light pearl blue. It's very close to the light blue metallic that was popular then (and now.) Anyway, here's what's on the bench today

I did a quick mockup to see where I'm at with this long overdue project. The white walls are a bit sticky. I suppose I could ignore that issue but it may be best to remove the stuff before it gets worse. What would you do? 🥴  

After checking some interiors to see what needs to be detailed, it's pretty simple for the door panels. The dash...not so much, but I painted it body color and flat cleared the padding.  Details later. My thought at the moment is the same blue for the upholstery. 

The front and rear bumper/grille had been done already and are in acceptable condition.

The console was detailed with kit decals, I think. I know I used black BMF on it. This would be a nice ride for a high school senior to take his crush to the prom in if it wasn't for that blasted console. 😉 

That's the story.  Your thoughts are always  welcome.

Edited 21 hours ago by customline

[LennyB]

Had a neighbor back in the day had a 66 Chevelle this same color. It was a hardtop and had a dark blue interior.Always thought it was a sharp looking car.😃

Good progress so far. Think you need to bring the nose down a bit. Reminds me of when someone did an engine swap and pulled out a V8 and replaced it with a six.😣

[customline]

7 hours ago, LennyB said:

Had a neighbor back in the day had a 66 Chevelle this same color. It was a hardtop and had a dark blue interior.Always thought it was a sharp looking car.😃

Good progress so far. Think you need to bring the nose down a bit. Reminds me of when someone did an engine swap and pulled out a V8 and replaced it with a six.😣

Who would do that, Lenny? 

EDIT:  don't answer that. 

Edited Monday at 01:39 AM by customline

[customline]

Interior is complete except I forgot to paint the door reflectors. Not to worry. The doors don't open.

 

The A/C vents were eliminated due to a previous plan that has been abandoned. 

That's it for now. Next I will need to try and remove an unwanted artifact from the trunk lid and then get a few coats of clear on it. Wish me luck.

BTW, has anyone dealt with the sticky pad printed white wall thing? Is this a common issue? They weren't sticky when I started this kit. What's this about?

[Kanada Kustoms]

Nice job on the interior...  Looking real good!

[customline]

Thanks, Jon. This one has been sitting in the box way too long. It's a fairly well detailed kit and want to finish it, no matter what.  I've had a few of these 1:1 mid/late '60s Impalas in my youth and you could always find a decent one for a few hundred bucks. 

[bobss396]

About the white walls... the old black AMT tires have a recess on one side. I used to make my own using acrylic white craft paint.

Wash them with hot soapy water and an abrasive pad. It would take 2 or 3 coats, but looked good in the end.

[customline]

4 hours ago, bobss396 said:

About the white walls... the old black AMT tires have a recess on one side. I used to make my own using acrylic white craft paint.

Wash them with hot soapy water and an abrasive pad. It would take 2 or 3 coats, but looked good in the end.

Thanks, Bob, but my problem is sticky white walls. This Revell kit provided the tires with white walls and they were fine when I built the chassis many moons ago.  I guess I can remove the white walls with acetone or IPA. If I do, that's it. Black wall city. The wheels are on permanently. Lots of time spent in detailing the wheel covers. I just wonder what will happen if I leave it alone and the stickiness gets worse. 😧

[DJMar]

I'm digging the blue/blue color combo. Is all the interior chrome BMF or Molotow (or other chrome paint)?

Do the tires have pad printed whitewalls, or are they the type with the white plastic inserts? It's been decades since I've built one of these, so I don't remember what the kit came with originally. I've personally had white plastic whitewalls act like this, and my guess was that it was some reaction between the tire compound and the insert. I couldn't find a solution short of new tires, though.

If they are pad printed, I guess you have the option of trying to remove the sticky mess with some sort of solvent, although I would be concerned about marring the surface of the tire and making it worse.

 

[Perspect Scale Modelworks]

This is coming along very nicely. As for the tires, I would replace them with a thinner lined whitewhall. That would be more appropriate for the era and keep the clean, stock appearance. 

[sak]

I agree. But if they already glued on, I believe your only option is to hope for the best, or brush paint with tamiya "rubber".

[espo]

realistic clean looking interior. Like the OEM dash gauges. 

[customline]

7 hours ago, DJMar said:

I'm digging the blue/blue color combo. Is all the interior chrome BMF or Molotow (or other chrome paint)?

Do the tires have pad printed whitewalls, or are they the type with the white plastic inserts? It's been decades since I've built one of these, so I don't remember what the kit came with originally. I've personally had white plastic whitewalls act like this, and my guess was that it was some reaction between the tire compound and the insert. I couldn't find a solution short of new tires, though.

If they are pad printed, I guess you have the option of trying to remove the sticky mess with some sort of solvent, although I would be concerned about marring the surface of the tire and making it worse.

 

Thanks for your input, DJ.   The chrome on the door panels and dash is mostly BMF. Handles and knobs are brushed with "liquid silver foil".

The tires are kit parts and pad printed. Maybe I can remove the white.

[customline]

7 hours ago, Perspect Scale Modelworks said:

This is coming along very nicely. As for the tires, I would replace them with a thinner lined whitewhall. That would be more appropriate for the era and keep the clean, stock appearance. 

Thanks, J. The tires came in the kit. If it was my 1:1 back in the early '70s, the tires would have been black wall re-treads. I can live with black walls if the stuff comes off, I guess.

[bobss396]

Unfortunately there is not much you can do with the tires if they are on for good. The car does display very well. 

Lesson learned in my past, I now install my tires with Aleen's tacky glue in case they need to cone off.

I had an old BACK IN THE BOX! special, a NASCAR stock car, the tires reacted with the resin wheels. They got all gummy where the tires & wheels touched.

[customline]

5 hours ago, espo said:

realistic clean looking interior. Like the OEM dash gauges. 

Thanks, David.  At this point, I'm considering spraying the body with flat clear to depict a 7 or 8 year old third-owner daily driver, the kind I usually drove back in the day.  The top may be flat black to look old. 

[customline]

6 minutes ago, bobss396 said:

Unfortunately there is not much you can do with the tires if they are on for good. The car does display very well. 

Lesson learned in my past, I now install my tires with Aleen's tacky glue in case they need to cone off.

I had an old BACK IN THE BOX! special, a NASCAR stock car, the tires reacted with the resin wheels. They got all gummy where the tires & wheels touched.

Oh that's gross, Bob. 🤮

[bobss396]

12 minutes ago, customline said:

Oh that's gross, Bob. 🤮

The resin wheels may have not been fully cured, that is my best guess. Possibly the paint played a part.