Baby- AMT's Supernatural 1967 Chevy Impala

[Greg Kimsey]

k,...so, I have been working on this model.

As you know, I like to open doors and trunks and what not and thought "Hey let's open the doors on Baby". I haven't documented the operation so far so I don't have process shots to show, but I am making this post now so I will catch you guys up on what I am doing with the car then show "where I am" photos tonight. First of all...the doors. This is a four door sedan, but the door post does NOT go to the roof. It is a free standing post a little shorter than the doors so it is hidden when they close. Like this...

How in the world does it seals to be waterproof and windproof I can't imagine, but I have found some really good reference photos of this yellow 4 door impala and am using them to add the details. I still have to figure out how to hinge the rear doors. I have made posts by gluing three layers of 2mm styrene sheet and shaping. I have the inner door panels in place and spacers made with styrene and putty to get the right depth. I lay the matching doors on a cloth and put Tamiya tape over the space between to mark the shape of the pillars front to back, then used card stock to make a template to match the arc shape for the door convex shape. Filling the space between the back seat and fender has not come to me yet.

I did open the trunk and used styrene to make the inner bracing on the underside of the lid. I am also using plastic card to line the trunk. There are some some gaps that I can't figure out, so my solution will be to use fabric to line the trunk and cover any openings that remain. I used flat copper strip to make the hinges so that they sort of resemble the real thing.

I opened the glove compartment and I intend to 3D print a pistol to go in there. I boxed out the compartment with 1mm plastic card and made a new door with thin copper plate to replace the thick plastic molded door; now to figure out how to hinge it so the door opens and stays flat.

The hood will have working hinge if all goes to plan. I have ordered tiny springs to see if I can make a miniature working realistic hinge like what is on the real car. Never done it before but I have seen it done.

The seats will hinge, blah blah blah, nothing new here. None of this may work out but I am givin'er the old college try. I wasn't going to document in case of an epic fail because I am not really sure I will be able to do this, but was persuaded. Stay tuned for updated progress photos of the actual real life model!

 

[Rhino]

Hey, Lil' Brother! It's a 4-door. Seats don't need to hinge, do they?

 

[Greg Kimsey]

Hey, Lil' Brother! It's a 4-door. Seats don't need to hinge, do they?

Yep, yer right! I haven't even looked at them, just figured they would. I know almost nothing about cars LOL.

Ok, here is where I am...
The glove compartment is lined. I see a dent in the new metal door so I may make another. Still figuring out how to hinge but have an idea.

The afore mentioned posts. How to anchor so it is strong enough to support an open door. Thinking of drilling and puttin a screw through the bottom

The trunk is lined and you can see the hinges I fashioned. I have mini rivets that will help anchor the hinge to the lid framework.

And the doors. I lay the doors together to figure out the shape of the posts. They seem to fit well.

I lined the inside of the inner door panel with styrene then used two part epixy putty to fill the gap, then Tamiya putty to smooth out and divets that remained.

I used sharp chisels to shave off all of the molded wiring and cut off the coolant reservoir. I replaced some things on the firewall with metal and plastic tubing.

It is hard to know in which order I should do things!

 

[moon puppy]

I remember these cars well. They had some really good weather seals between the doors and windows.

 

[Heavens Eagle]

You have really taken a big bite on this one Greg. Will be watching.

 

[Rhino]

Genius and Madness are often divided by a fine line. This is looking very promising so far! Thanks for sharing your Impala!

 

[paddy]

Just imagine if Greg was let loose in society !! one thing is for sure, his build threads always leave you looking forward to the next

 

[Greg Kimsey]

Glove compartment: I used thin steel plate to make the glove compartment cover, leaving a tab on each side that I bent inward then drilled to be a hinge. I drilled a hole in the plastic card that makes the glove box but realized it would be too flimsy for long term use so I shaped a piece of brass plate and drilled a hole then glued that to the outside of the box and hidden beneath the dash.

The side of the box consists of two layers of styrene gled together with a groove cut for the hinge to hide within. A short piece of brass rod goes through the metal reinforcent, through the first card, through the hinge, then through the second card and glued. A small punched out disc of steel plate covers the pin on the inside:

I had shaped the steel plate used for the door to the shape of the removed door, then superglued a thin layer of styrene as a laminate whch gave me the right thickness.
The "latch" is a steel insect pin cut off and glued into a hole drilled in the door. A tiny magnet is glued to the back surface of the glovebox to hold it closed, not that it really needed it.
It works relatively well...

 

[moon puppy]

Man will you look at that!

 

[Greg Kimsey]

Man will you look at that!

It turned out WAY better than I had hoped LOL.

 

[Greg Kimsey]

I don't know if it was the correct order of assembly, but I glued and riveted the trunk in place. It opens and closes well. I installed a magnet attached to the lid and a piece of steel plate on the inside of the trunk to serve as a latch.

I honestly don't know how the guy on thw A4 youtube channel cuts his pieces so perfectly. I have taken the greatest care I know how and it still looks sloppy. Hopefully paint will hide a lot of sins!

 

[Greg Kimsey]

I tried to describe how I cut the glove box door but found one of the first attempts to show exactly.

 

[Rhino]

That is SO COOL! Nobody does it like you, Greg!

 

[Greg Kimsey]

What is this? Well, even though they don't hinge, I cut the seats apart to round the edges to get the "two piece'' look. I filled the bottom of the seat back with epoxy putty and the bottom of the seat bottom with styrene, then carved, filed, and rounded the edges to shape. The seatbelts will come through the crease and lay on the seat.

The seat sat flat on the floor, and I know that isn't right. I cut two pieces of 15x17mm brass sheet to sit on the seat "locators" to serve as a bottom lifter. The four white pins are styrene rod fillers for the former interior wall locator pin holes. They will be chiseled flat and sanded. The tan rectangle is Tam tape to cover the rubber foot wear pad in prep for flocking carpet.

 

[moon puppy]

I want to start a hobby shop so I have all the supplies I need at hand to build stuff like this!!

 

[Greg Kimsey]

I want to start a hobby shop so I have all the supplies I need at hand to build stuff like this!!

I wish I had access to everything! There are some items that the A4 guy uses that I would love to get but I can't even find online, much less stock. I DO have a lot of random stuff stocked that probably will never sell but I use a lot LOL.

 

[paddy]

Lot of truth in that Bob. I have been amassing car parts in particular screws and wires etc. I always buy more than i need and each time i build now i get nearer to doing the whole job from stock. As for Greg ? well getting something like that glove box to work is almost worth the whole build as the satisfaction must be great and it drives you on to do even more that a few years ago you probably wouldn't have attempted. Never underestimate the inspiration you can get from other builds

 

[moon puppy]

I know what you mean Paddy, I got a ton of Bob's buckles stuff and I'm eyeballing it for some stuff on the corsair. I need to restock on that Scale Hardware stuff but those prices have gone whacky.

 

[Greg Kimsey]

You guys are great! Paddy, yeah, even though the door is a little wonky it DOES work. The next one will be better, but I feel good for pulling it off.

Today's build time has been all over the map. I worked on the dash a bit. Foolish or not, I cut out the gauges because I wanted to encase them in aluminum tube. I shaped each gauge and inserted it into its tube then painted the details.

It seriously almost defeated me putting them back in. I tried 7 times using different thickness of plastic and metal shaped to the display opening, but drilling nor gringing the holes never left enough material to hold the edges together. I ended up filing down the gauges to as thin of a thickness as I could manage and top mounting them to a piece of steel plate which I had shaped and polished. The piece of clear plastic to cover them no longer worked in the space so I filled with several layers of UV epoxy. It isn't TV show accurate but looks OK.

For the knobs I drilled out the molded ones and inserted a 1.5mm tube into the hole. I used small head insect pins painted with Molotow Chrome then inserted into the hole to serve as the knob. The cigarette lighter knob is sticking out a little on purpose


Next up was drilling out the front grill facing. It took a VERY long time and I did not break the bit this time!

I have several pieces ready to re-chrome.

I studied the photos of the rear door closure trying to come up with a way to fill in the gaps. I shaped a piece of .95mm styrene to go beside the seat to the body opening. A strip of styrene levels the edge rail and goes over the car body bottom edge to give a better surface for gluing. I rounded the same thickness styrene and shaped it to fit into the wheel well and I will flesh out the overhang another day. I have it all clamped and drying and I am calling it a good day.

 

[Rhino]

You did WHAT?! Oh, I see this now. Ok. I'm calm again now.
Pretty cool so far!