1:25 Revell 1965 Chevrolet Impala SS 396
I haven't posted any builds for a while now, and I built this 1965 Impala last summer and am just now getting to posting it. I'm glad I did—because my wife gave me a cool, portable light booth for Christmas, so I figured I'd spend some time playing with it over the holiday break.
The Kit
I purchased this kit because my boss on the farm I worked on back in high school had a '65 Impala SS. He actually let me drive it for entire week, while my car was getting fixed after hitting deer one summer. His was candy apple red with a 396 and a power-glide (2-speed) transmission. It was originally a SS 327. But it did have the same white/black interior as the car in the build. For a big car, that baby could fly. Those of you who know, will understand what I mean when I say you could hear that rat motor vacuum whistle as you pushed the pedal down. It actually had a vacuum gauge on the dash. Ah, muscle cars…
This kit is the Revell Foose '65 Impala kit. The kit is really nice. Some PITA assembly, but overall good. EXCEPT for the fact that the engine is clearly a 396, and the only decals they provide are for a 409. Thus the reason for no decal on the air cleaner. The kit comes with both Foose rims/tires & factory rims/tires. I opted for the Foose version, but factory suspension so it sits a bit higher.
The painting was a bit of a fight. Black is not fun. Every bit of dust shows. I used Scale Finishes tuxedo black. But didn't wait long enough between coats, so it became orange pealed. Can't count the number of hours wet-sanding and still it's not smooth. After clearing it, I thought I'd solve the problem, but no matter what I did I could not get it smooth without fear of sanding the paint off the high points. At some point I just stopped sanding and admitted defeat.
The badges are a mix of bare metal with the provided decals laid over. I really appreciate that they provide the badges as decals vs. just molded plastic. Without PE aftermarket badges, I think this is pretty good solution. I'm sure I'm not the first to do this.
Every build is an experiment and a challenge of your own skills. We learn and start another kit. Comment away, keep building!
Who doesn't like muscle cars, especially if you grew up in the 60,s. Boy does that model bring back some memories, nicely done Matt. If you do more cars check out Model Car World paints. They spray extremely smooth, are difficult to run and dry very hard. Note of caution they are lacquer paints and one should use them with a proper paint booth for ventilation.
https://mcwfinishes.com/
Looks great . I remember when I was a kid, one of my uncles had a '66 or 65 convertible Impala, don't know if it was a SS or not, but it was to take a ride in.
Very nice work - brings back memories.
Great car. Love Impalas.