Don Nicholson '61 Impala OS/S.

[W-409]

Thanks Sean! I'm happy how the interior turned out. Even though it's kind of a shame that this thing will eventually have side windows with class designations, so the interior is not seen that well from the finished model.

 

Did a little more work with the engine. Built collectors for the headers from a correct size plastic rod. A little putty was needed to smooth out the seams between collectors and primary tubes.

 

I noticed that Nicholson's car had oval-shaped breathers on front ends of both valve covers. I haven't seen similar ones in any kit, so I had to scratchbuild them. Breathers are mold sprue, filed to an oval shape, cut to length and on top of that I added pieces of sheet styrene as covers. After gluing the stryene on, I just filed that to a correct shape as well. And now that the sheet styrene has those grooves on bottom side, I was able to get finned covers for my breathers. They were painted chrome silver and glued to place.

 

Engine kind of has a molded in fuel pump. The frame of the pump that attaches the engine block is there, but lower part of the fuel pump where the diaphragm is, was completely missing. That was easily built out of styrene rod as well, glued to place and painted silver.

 

 

Edited January 8 by W-409

[Brutalform]

Nice job on those breathers and fuel pump. 
 

I think Speed City Resin has breathers similar to those. I actually think I have them that came with Ford cammer valve covers. Your came out looking fine, and cost nothing. 

[W-409]

Thanks Tom! Me being here in Finland, the cost when ordering parts from USA is always pretty high so it's good to be able to scratchbuild at least some of the parts needed.

I built a dipstick for engine oil. It's made from a piece of metal wire that I flattened out from the other end to represent the handle. Then the dipstick tubing was painted gloss black.

 

Some more engine work was also done. The dipstick was installed and can be seen in the next photos. I also drilled holes on distributor and cylinder heads for spark plug wires and they are now installed, naturally in correct firing order. Wires are Pro Tech spark plug wire. I couldn't find a coil in my parts boxes, so I made one from styrene rod. Also, fuel lines from fuel pump to carburetors are done, they are metal wire with fittings made out of hex-shaped styrene rod. Clear fuel filter was made out of mold sprue that I heated up and stretched to make it the correct diameter. I drilled a hole in it and installed an actual filter element inside (piece of thin plastic rod painted white), but it can't be seen very well in the end. It's definitely not perfect, but maybe it's good enough to be hidden under the hood.

 

[W-409]

Engine work continues. Since the last pictures I was able to install a generator, belt, pulleys and a fan. This required a little modifying. So, the whole engine is originally from AMT '62 Bel Air. That kit has also power steering pump belt and pulley molded into the belt drive. Well, those are unnecessary on a race car so I cut them off. Also, the original belt would locate the generator too far so that it would hit the inner fender. So I had to shorten the belt to make the generator fit on correct position. After smoothing out the glue seams on the belt, everything was painted and assembled as usual.

For the generator, I added a photo etch mount with photo etch bolt and nut details. Generator tag (the small red & silver plate on top of the generator) was made out of aluminum and painted according to the 1:1 version. I also added three wire connectors for three wires that connect to the generator, just like they are on a real deal. Wiring will be added once engine sits in the engine bay.

I also started to build a simple throttle linkage. As the carburetors are very well detailed, there's not much that I need to add there at this point. Rest of the linkage can be done when the engine is installed on place.

I think now the engine is pretty much ready to be installed to the frame. Before that though, I will need to add brake lines to the frame.

 

I also found a photo etch detail set for this kit. I had tried to find one earlier, but it seemed to be out of stock everywhere, even Model Car Garage didn't have one. Now I got lucky and was able to find one so I bought it. I wish I had found it earlier, I could have used it in the interior as well, but at least I get all of the exterior logos now.

 

[W-409]

Next I added brake lines to front of the chassis. Hardlines are made out of metal wire, brake hoses going to wheel cylinders are spark plug wire material, all brake line fittings were made out of hex-shaped plastic rod.

 

Then I glued the engine to the chassis. The fitment of the AMT engine on a Lindberg frame is actually surprisingly good. The only issue now is that I can't fit the original steering shaft on place anymore, because the generator is on the way. The generator is on a bit different location that what it is on a Lindberg engine. Now, the generator is on a correct place though, so I much rather will modify the steering shaft to make it fit properly.

 

[Straightliner59]

On 1/12/2025 at 1:00 PM, W-409 said:

Thanks Tom! Me being here in Finland, the cost when ordering parts from USA is always pretty high so it's good to be able to scratchbuild at least some of the parts needed.

Besides, scratchbuilding is a lot more fun than spending money!😂 It's coming along, very nicely, Niko!

[W-409]

8 hours ago, Straightliner59 said:

Besides, scratchbuilding is a lot more fun than spending money!😂 It's coming along, very nicely, Niko!

You are absolutely correct! It's a good feeling every time when you can scratchbuild something succesfully. Thanks for the kind words, I really appreciate it!

 

Next up was scratchbuilding a clutch linkage. I started with the Z-bar, which was built from round plastic rod with mounting plate made out of beer can aluminum. Same material was also used for the parts where the clutch rods are mounted. It was a bit fiddly to assemble, but it came out OK. Especially as it will be mostly hidden under steering shaft and brake master cylinder anyway.

Clutch fork is just a piece of sheet styrene painted and glued to place. Here is the Z-bar mocked up.

 

Clutch rods were made out of metal wire. For the clutch rod between clutch pedal and Z-bar, I drilled a hole through firewall, clutch rod on bottom is just glued between the Z-bar and clutch fork. The clutch rods will be left in silver, but obviously the upper clutch rod can't be mounted yet as the firewall is not done.

 

I think next I'll need to start working on handbrake cables.

 

 

[W-409]

Handbrake cables are done. In the rear, brake cables are made out of metal wire and spark plug wire material, all fittings are made out of hex-shaped plastic rod. On front, cables are made out of same metal wire and linkage is made out of beer can aluminum. It's slightly simplified version of the 1:1, but I think it'll do the job.

Now the chassis is pretty much done, with the exception of rear shocks and some touch-ups here and there. I will need to start getting the body ready for paint.

 

[Brutalform]

Details are looking good, real good. 

[W-409]

Thanks Tom! Much appreciated.

Today I did a final mock up to see that the body fits properly on place so that I can start prepping it for paint. And luckily, everything seems to fit as they should.

 

The body is actually not that bad, I didn't notice any sink marks that would need to be filled with putty, though there are quite many mold lines, and some in pretty tricky places. After a couple of hours of cleanup and sanding, I got the mold lines smoothed out. At the same time, I drilled two holes for the hood, so that air will flow through the scoop to the engine. I also removed some exterior emblems from the body, because they will be replaced with photo etch parts after paint.

A couple of spots needed a small amount of putty, so no primer yet.

 

At the moment I'm in a point where I'd need the body painted and ready to assemble to continue the rest of the model. So now because I will have to wait for parts to dry before continuing, I might work on something else as a side-project.

[Tony Coomer]

The engine looks great. Nice work

[Brutalform]

Yes, Niko those 61 Impala kits are a pretty nice kit. I never had any problems with excessive body work with them. I still have one in the stash that I’m looking forward to starting now. 

[W-409]

Thanks guys! The kind words are much appreciated.

Tom, this is actually a lot better kit than what I predicted before opening the box. I really like the X-Frame Chevrolets and '61 is one of the best years, so I'm pretty sure this is not going to be my last one either.

 

Well, been busy so not a whole lot of progress, except that I got the body and hood ready for primer. Nicholson ran the car without side mirrors, so I had to fill their mounting spots on the body and do a couple of more finishing touches here and there. Primer is Alclad's Grey Primer & Microfiller which is excellent stuff. Now I'll let it dry for a couple of days and then it's time to shoot some white paint on it.

 

[Belugawrx]

Looking good Niko

We're working on the same 409 at the same time !

[W-409]

Thanks Bruce! We don't see too many of these '61 Impalas built, so happy to see I'm not the only one building one of these.

Today in addition to watching the NHRA Gatornationals via NHRA TV, I got this thing painted. The paint is Tamiya Lacquer, LP-39 Racing White that I thinned down and shot through an airbrush. I think it's a good color for this, while it's not too bright white. Now the body, hood and firewall can dry for a couple of days before I'll install decals.

 

[rv1963]

Nice work on your impala, lots of very fine details, looking real good.

[W-409]

Thanks Robert! I appreciate the kind words.

I've been working on the body, yesterday I got it masked so that I was able to paint the area between the side trim red. For that I used Revell's #34 Enamel, thinned and shot with an airbrush. Then today while the paint was dried, I removed my masking and installed decals on the body. They were surprisingly easy to work with. Tomorrow I'll need to do a little fine tuning with Micro Sol and next week I'll be shooting clear coat.

 

[Old Buckaroo]

Now that looks sharp ! 😍

[Belugawrx]

Those decals look great !!

[Zippi]

That clear is going to make it all pop.  I'm liking it.

[W-409]

Thanks Sean, Bruce and Bob! I appreciate the kind words.

Body, hood and firewall are now clear coated. I used a two-part clear coat by Mipa, which is the same stuff I've used for 1:1 scale cars as well. Only exception is that for scale model use with an airbrush, I thin it approximately 75%.

Hood and firewall are good to go, but for the body I think I will have to do a light wetsanding and shoot one more coat of clear before I can move on to polishing.

 

[Belugawrx]

That looks great Niko !

Clear laid down nicely for you (2thumsup)

[Brutalform]

Superb paint and decals Niko. It’s on the home stretch now. 

[Codi]

I always enjoy your builds Niko.  Your builds are always "just right"......great details AND that paint is fantastic too.  Just a great job!

cheers, tim

[W-409]

Thanks Bruce, Tom and Tim! I really appreciate it.

The clear turned out really good everywhere else, but for some reason, on top of the decals the clear coat had a few small "fish-eyes" here and there. I'm still a bit on a learning curve with this clear coat that I'm using, or in fact, I've used it several times on 1:1 cars but I've had to figure out how to make it work with scale models as well. I've done a good amount of testing with it, and before painting / clear coating this body, I painted a spare hood with this exact paint and laid two decals on it. The decals were from this same kit. That test piece had no issues.

So, to fix it, I have carefully sanded both sides of the body with a polishing cloth and a few minutes ago I sprayed a couple of light coats of clear to the sides of this body. So far, it looks like it's going to work. So if no catastrophic failures happen while the clear coat is drying, I should be able to start polishing this in a few days.

 

 

In case someone is wondering, in the past I've mostly used spray paints found in a local hardware store. It's easy to get a good paint job with them on a body, but smaller parts are tricky. And, the color selection is very limited. Meaning, all of the cars painted red, for example, are the exact same shade of red so it looks a bit boring on the display shelf. That's why I'm trying to move on to using airbrush, because it gives me a lot more options as far as different paints go.