Revells 1962 Impala - Now Finished!

[Len Carsner]

Time for another quick update. Only eight picture this time but we get to see the interior coming together and lookin' good!

Let's continue....

Here Bare Metal Chrome foil is being applied to the interior panels. For straight sections like those shown here on the interior door panels are best trimmed by carefully cutting long strips of foil and methodically placing them over raised engraved details. For surface details like door handles and window crank handles, cut rectangular pieces of BMF and burnish it down over such details. Then carefully cutting away the excess material makes for a realistic details.

Front and rear seat fabric inserts for the new Revell 62 Impala are available on the decal sheet. Carefully cut out each fabric insert section but be careful so as not to loose track of their proper location. The best way to deal with this is to write the part number on the back of each piece which will enable you to get each one positioned in its proper location.

The completed 62 Impala dashboard and steering wheel was first painted gloss red. The pedal assembly (emergency brake, clutch, foot brake) were painted matte black as shown here. The steering wheel center spoke was brush painted Metalizer Aluminum Plate and then given a wash with black The Detailer. Next the instrument cluster and glove box trim piece were glued into place. Then the kit decal sheet provided speedometer, gauge faces, steering wheel center medallion and a round Impala crest for the glove box door trim.

At this point, a test fitting of the interior with seats, dashboard, steering wheel, and gear shifter was in order. The left side door panel was removed to aid in seeing all these elements including the BMF applied on the front seat side trim. Note here the installation of the rear seat speaker with an appropriate black wash applied and on the front speaker grill and both front door panel air vents as well.

The 62 Impala drag version calls for the option of a four-point roll cage which requires the omission of the stock rear seat as shown here. The instruction sheet calls for the roll cage to be painted matte black. The RC was assembled and positioned properly but left in white plastic for clarity.

That's all for now. I'll have another update later this week.

Bill and Len.

[Sixties Sam]

Wow! Great interior detailing job! I'm too lazy to do all that!

Sam

[Len Carsner]

It's been awhile, but here's the latest update on the Revell 1962 Impala. We're still focusing on Bill's race version as he's made much more progress than I have with the street car. Watch for multiple updates today.

The Tamiya Pure White dried to a nice clear and clean gloss. If any rubbing out is required, 8K and 12K sandpaper along with white polish does the job nicely.

At this point it’s a good idea to take stock of where we are in building the drag version of this new Revell 62 Impala kit. Following the kit instructions brings us to this point in the assembly.

I used BMF to mask off the edge to be painted matte black along the perimeter of the engine compartment as shown here.

I like to tape in position each of the individual windows as shown here. This allow for final positioning of the separate parts and have you hands free to apply white glue along the edge sparingly. Just prior to installing the windows, the headliner was brush painted flat red to match the interior theme.

I like to take some risks when building a model. In this case, I used carpet tape to attach the rocker molding chrome trim. You could choose to use tube glue, super glue or white glue if you don’t want to push the envelope. So far it’s held the parts in place with no fuss and no mess.

I’ve found that household cleaners like Fantastik shown here to be a quick and effective way to clean up smears, smudges, finger prints and any residue left from applying BMF. I use non-oil content facial tissues and cotton swabs to do the job.

Here we see the painted, foiled and detailed Impala body just before tackling the decal application. Note the masking tape still in place holding the windows inside the body in their proper position. I like to leave the tape in place until I’m completely certain the white glue is dried thoroughly.

*continues below*

[Len Carsner]

The Revell 62 Impala decal sheet provides multiple choices for license plates. You can either attach the front and rear brackets as shown here or I like to trim out each plate from the decal sheet and glue it in place with white glue.

Shown here are two water-slide decal sheets. On the bottom is the kit generic sheet and at the top is an after-market sheet from Decals by Lucas. I’m pretty sure the kit generic sheet is patterned quite a bit after the actual Zintmaster Chevrolet NHRA Super Stocker which the Lucas sheet represents.

I have been prepared for this new Revell release for some time thanks to good friend Skip Samples who custom-made these Dave Strickler decals for me. We used this photo from a Larry Davis book, SUPER STOCK, Drag Racing the Family Sedan (and some color details from LD) as reference to produce the sheet.

I was a little skeptical when I first saw that the WSWs were to be represented with water-slide decals. But, my doubts disappeared quickly when I saw how nicely these narrow whites went onto the kit tires. I’m sure the raised sidewall shoulder helped immensely in positioning the decal concentrically.

Len's blue car will have the stock wheel covers for some of the pictures and the poverty caps for others. Here Bill has added the ornaments from the decal sheet and a little Detailer to accent the vent slots on the outer perimeter of the cover.

Detailer was also used on the grille and flat white in the headlamp cups.

Here's a copy of the paint chart for 1962 Chevrolet products. I chose a color close to Nassau Blue for my street Impala.

With the Bare Metal Foil in place the color I chose looks like a good one. The chrome really pops with this combination.

A little more Detailer was added to the simulated vents below the rear window.

A soft toothbrush was used to clean grit and dirt from the body lines before setting the body aside. At this point it's ready for decals. I'll clean it again and wax it before final assembly.

That's all for now. We're wrapping this up quickly and should be posting the final sets over the next couple of days.

Keep watching, you won't be disappointed.

Bill and Len

[charlie8575]

Very nice work, both of you.

This kit is on the "will get soon" list. I wonder if some of the resin bodies designed to work with the AMT kits will work on this one?

Charlie Larkin

[Modlbldr]

Beautiful work, both of you. We are all fortunate to have you two working on this kit. Keep it up and Thanks.

Later-

[horsepower]

Very nice work, both of you.

This kit is on the "will get soon" list. I wonder if some of the resin bodies designed to work with the AMT kits will work on this one?

Charlie Larkin

This could prove to be a problem as I read (could be in this thread) that the Revell version is noticeably wider than the AMT version

[impcon]

Just wondering if you could please post pictures of the "poverty" hub caps? Thanks in advance.

[crazyjim]

Sorry Bill & Len but I have to add you to my hate list. The detail you guys put into little model cars amazes me. You get my hate list because I can't do the things you do - but sure wish I could.

Do you like to roof of that kit? I prefer the bubble rear window.

[Len Carsner]

Just wondering if you could please post pictures of the "poverty" hub caps? Thanks in advance.

I was going to save this for the next post but since you asked:

And here they are on my soon to be completed street version:

Thanks for asking.

Len C.

[Len Carsner]

Sorry Bill & Len but I have to add you to my hate list. The detail you guys put into little model cars amazes me. You get my hate list because I can't do the things you do - but sure wish I could.

Do you like to roof of that kit? I prefer the bubble rear window.

No need to hate, we're not doing anything that you couldn't do yourself. Everything is easily duplicated using nothing more than what's in the box and a little trial and error.

And as for the roof, yes I like it. It'll look good sitting with my 63 and 64 Impalas.

Thanks for your interest.

Len C.

[Len Carsner]

Well, life has gotten a bit hectic lately and I've not had time to update the Impala build until now. The cars are finished and after this update I'll be posting the finale tonight.

Let's continue:

Here we have five wheel and tires choices available right out of the box for your street version. Not shown is the combination Bill used for his race version. The white wall decals are among the easiest I have used but are a bit fragile. White wall decals are included for the four street tires and also two for the slicks.

Here I've got the chassis sitting on its wheels for the first time. The wheel backs use short metal pins to locate them to the front suspension and the rear axle. The method works well but leaves an exposed pin in the front suspension. At first glance it looks like the old full wire axle suspension in classic kits.

For the purposes of this build I'm building this car as a "half-and-half", that is it will have one set of wheels and moldings on the left and an alternate set on the right.

There has been a lot of discussion about the color of the valve covers and oil filter which I won't go into here but my engine was painted to match one posted on a restoration board that was going into a 1962 Impala with a similar body color as I used. Valve cover decal position has also been a point of discussion but images pulled up online show various decal arrangements being used, probably based on owners choice. Again I duplicated the restored car I have been using as reference.

The engine is in place along with the firewall and radiator support. Once the body is in place I'll re-install the upper radiator hose.

Other than the choice of color and the rear seat the interior of Bills car and mine are virtually identical. There are numerous small decals for the gages, door marker lights, dash and rear speaker emblems, and the four speed markings for the shift knob. Taking your time here will payoff big time.

The body emblems are included on the decal sheet. I know there are many out there who would rather have the emblems molded in but consider this: when the SS version comes out (and you have to assume that one is coming someday) Revell would have to tool up a whole new body to do the SS but by doing it this way all they need to do is print up new decals. Dollars saved on tooling can go to other, newer projects.

Again there was a lot of discussion about chassis colors: I chose to ignore all of it. I've seen some restorations lately where the chassis was painted with the same product used for spray-on truck bedliners. Sometimes the product was mixed with the same color paint used on the body. I tried to duplicate it by using grimy black railroad paint mixed with a small amount of same paint used on the body. The results were as expected, a dark gray finish with a subtle blue cast. Although it worked as planned next time I'll mix a bit more body color into the mix as this time it came out a little too dark for my taste. But it's better than flat black or all body color, neither of which would be correct.

Come back this evening for the final comments and beauty shots of the finished cars.

Bill and Len

Edited June 6, 2010 by Len Carsner

[Len Carsner]

The Impalas are done! It's taken longer than I expected but the results are worth it.

This time the two cars were not together for pictures so I tried to duplicate the poses Bill used when shooting his car.

And now, on to the beauty shots.

Bills' car was finished using aftermarket decals not included with the kit. For my car I've done the left side with a little more deluxe trim, using the rocker moldings and full wheel covers. The right side has the poverty caps on steel wheels with no rocker moldings.

From the rear you can see the satin trim panel on the decklid. We taped of the bumper and shot the panel with Testors dullcoat to simulate the factory finish.

The engines, other than the air cleaners and rocker cover colors, are virtually identical.

Here you can compare the differences between the race (RH) and street (LH) chassis.

(continued...)

Edited June 6, 2010 by Len Carsner

[Len Carsner]

This kit gives you many options so you can replicate various trim levels. Here I've removed the rocker molding to show another trim combination available in 1962.

Straight from the box Revells 1962 Impala builds into a pretty decent replica of a 60s era race car. Bill will be adding additional details to his car for an upcoming MCM article.

These wheels don't come with the kit, but I couldn't resist trying them out. Maybe we'll see these in a future release.

Some comments we've gathered while building the Revell 1962 Impala:

The decal sheet has many small decals that will try your patience. The white wall decals are a bit fragile.

The word CHEVROLET is not engraved on the chrome strip between the inside taillights. It should be and is shown in all my references.

There are a couple of errors on the instruction sheet concerning colors (oil filter housing).

There are no side windows. That would have been required for any competition version.

Had some trouble attaching the grille, gravel pan, and front bumper together and in place on the front fenders.

A dealer invoice sheet would have been nice included on the decal sheet. It was required for the NHRA drag version.

There is no tachometer. That would have been a necessity for any competition version.

Inclusion of the factory cowl induction system would have been great. Though not all teams used it, many did in both NASCAR and NHRA from 1961 through 1963.

That concludes our build and evaluation of the new 1962 Impala by Revell. All in all another solid release from Revell and one that will fill a hole in many builders collections. Definitely worth your time to add one to your collection.

Once again Bill and I would like to thank you for your comments and critiques. Watch for another project from us in the near future.

Bill Coulter and Len Carsner

[Brett Barrow]

Great build article, Bill and Len.

I just started working on one yesterday, I think this is one of the best kits I've ever seen out of an American model company. It really feels like a model kit for Grown-Ups. I'm glad they didn't just do a top-of-the-line Super Sport, I love the poverty caps and bench seat! I've always liked the '62 Sport Coupe, I hope they follow it up with an SS convertible. One minor complaint is the decal instructions show bumper guards front and rear, and they're not in the kit.

[charlie8575]

Thanks to both of you for doing yet another great build-compare.

A question: does the Model Car Garage photo-etch have the missing "CHEVROLET" lettering or could I possibly do a foil-copy off an AMT '62 Impala or Bel-Air?

Great job on both models, I especially like the factory-stock version.

Charlie Larkin

[W-409]

They are looking very nice. X-Frame Chevys are awesome! Those decals are fitting perfectly and paintjobs are awesome. Very good detailing on the engine. I'm building ''Dyno'' Don Nicholson's '61 Impala Super Stock. It's Lindberg's good kit.

[Zoom Zoom]

Excellent work, gentlemen, and great models

This definitely helps me with my '62 which is on the bench as we speak. It's a pretty impressive model.

[cruz]

Nice job guys! What shade of red did you use for the interior?

[Bill Coulter]

Thanks to both of you for doing yet another great build-compare.

A question: does the Model Car Garage photo-etch have the missing "CHEVROLET" lettering or could I possibly do a foil-copy off an AMT '62 Impala or Bel-Air?

Great job on both models, I especially like the factory-stock version.

Charlie Larkin

It looks like the MCG sheet has those letters.

BC

[Bill Coulter]

Nice job guys! What shade of red did you use for the interior?

I'd have to go through the many spray cans in and around my booth, but I'm pretty sure it was just plain old Testors No. 3 red.

BC

[mikemodeler]

Bill & Len,

Your buildups and details are an inspiration to us all. I hope my version of this kit looks half as good as yours.

Thank you for doing the reviews and showing us how these new kits can be built, it really helps and motivates me to get started on mine. I will probably have to pick up another one or two so I can build different versions like you did.

The AMT '62 Bubbletop was the kit that got me back into the hobby some 17 years ago so any '62 Impala kit is a reminder of getting back to building for me.

Thanks again but I gotta ask..............."What's next?"

[Len Carsner]

Bill & Len,

Your buildups and details are an inspiration to us all. I hope my version of this kit looks half as good as yours.

Thank you for doing the reviews and showing us how these new kits can be built, it really helps and motivates me to get started on mine. I will probably have to pick up another one or two so I can build different versions like you did.

The AMT '62 Bubbletop was the kit that got me back into the hobby some 17 years ago so any '62 Impala kit is a reminder of getting back to building for me.

Thanks again but I gotta ask..............."What's next?"

We'll have an answer to that question sooner rather than later.

Edited June 7, 2010 by Len Carsner

[carrucha]

Two nice builds. Thanks for sharing your insights on this new kit.

carrucha

Edited June 8, 2010 by carrucha

[carrucha]

Thanks to both of you for doing yet another great build-compare.

A question: does the Model Car Garage photo-etch have the missing "CHEVROLET" lettering or could I possibly do a foil-copy off an AMT '62 Impala or Bel-Air?

Great job on both models, I especially like the factory-stock version.

Charlie Larkin

The missing "Chevrolet" lettering on the cove panel is recessed, not raised so the lettering included in the Model Car Garage photo-etch kit would be incorrect. The AMT '62 Impala SS convertible has incorrect raised lettering on the cove panel. Hopefully Revell will correct this error along with the battery.

carrucha

Edited June 18, 2010 by carrucha