Awhile ago I mentioned my next venture in scale might be a tribute to the cars in "American Graffiti".
Well I've gotten started on the Steve Bolander / Terry the Toad's '58 Impala.
The reason I started with this car is that '58 Impala kits are readily available, and the car in the movie is a basically stock '58 with a few custom tweaks.
Neat back-story to this car:
The year was 1972 and our main character was a 17-year old high school senior in search of his first car. The kid spotted a classified ad in the San Francisco Chronicle with an auction list of movie cars for sale that included a 1958 Chevy Impala for $325.00. The kid and his dad drove from their home in Vallejo, California, some 40 miles south of Petaluma where a lot of American Graffiti’s filming was done, to Sonoma to check the ’58 out. The only people that showed up were the kid and his dad, so they had the complete attention of Henry Travers, Lucas Films’ transportation captain in charge of selling the cars. The kid offered $275, but Henry turned it down. A little more haggling and the ’58 Impala went for $285.00, cash-draining the kid’s bankbook and requiring an immediate personal loan from his dad to gap the last ten bucks.
This guy got the '58 from the movie for $285!! It was sold shortly after filming wrapped, and the studio didn't know if the movie would bomb or be a success. Talk about a diamond-in-the-rough.
I got started on the body, sanding off the molded in emblems and trim that were "shaved" from the original car.
-- Edited by John D on Tuesday 5th of April 2016 03:29:33 PM
I think the kit comes with a 348 W-engine, so you'll need to fit a "327 with 6 strombergs"
John D said
Apr 6, 2016
Funny thing of it, is the real car has a W in it!! The "toad" was wrong.
Lost in the 60s said
Apr 7, 2016
Yep, it was a 348 4 barrel. The owner put the 3 deuces on it when he rebuilt a 348 for it later.
The car was sold last October by auction, but I can't find the selling price. The estimates before hand were from $800,000 to 1.2 million. Quite the profit for hanging onto it for 42 years.
Derek69SS said
Apr 7, 2016
Do you build according to the script or the real movie cars?
When you do Falfa's 55, do you put a BB in it like the real one, or something that existed in '62?
I have the die-casts, and Ertl put "W" engines in both of them.
John D said
Apr 7, 2016
I'll try and build 'em as represented in the film... however even this leaves some "artistic license".
The '58 was stated as "It's got a 327 w/ 6 Strombergs", but the 327 just came out in '62... a hotrodder in '62 would probably gone 409 in an Impala.
The '55 was one of the (3) cars from "Two Lane Blacktop" with either the 454/TH400, or 427/Muncie...(don't remember which) but you never saw the engine or heard mention of what was in it.
The '32 had a SB w/ 4 2bbl Rochesters on a Man A Fre manifold. (The real car had a 327). Again, no script/lines/mention of what was in it during the movie.
- I've got enough parts in my scrap-box to build a SB for the Impala, but coming up with the manifold & 6 carbs will be interesting. I may just stay W power.
- The MPC "American Graffiti" '32 kit (hard to find and $$$) has a Chevy SB, but with a dual quad manifold (wrong). Revell makes a '32 coupe, but with Ford power. I could kitbash a SB into it, probably scratchbuild the manifold & carbs, and I'd have to chop the top myself.
- There are two '55 kits readily available, one is somewhat stock (with great detail(s), the other has the (correct) tube axle front, roll cage, but crappy over details. Haven't given it much thought yet.
I was really surprised that only 1 car, of one of the most popular "car cruising" movies was offered (wrongly) as a kit.
Derek69SS said
Apr 8, 2016
You'll need the post-sedan version of the '55 Chevy model kit.
I think all of the other versions of '55 kits are hardtops.
John D said
Apr 29, 2016
Progress report on the '58 build...
Since the car was primarily seen (in the movie) driving around, or static with "Toad" & "Debbie" in it, the paint-job and interior are the focal points. My goal on this project is to try and accurately recreate the car "as seen" in the movie. The undercarriage, engine, etc. will still get the detail treatment, but the interior and paint will be the focus.
The kit is surprisingly well detailed. It features opening doors, subsequently requiring a lot more detail on the interior than most kits. Good & Bad for me. "I just love Tuck-n-Roll upholstery!"...
It's got all the factory detail molded in, but NONE of it is accurate to the prototype! I wound up shaving off all of the seat detail, and am cementing .040 (scale 1") half-round to recreate the seat details. Also on the prototype, the rear deck is flat with "tuck-n-roll", not the molded humps to the window.
Once the 1/2 round is in fully in place, I'll knock it down to not be so "humpy".
You are truly working on "Saint" status with patience...
John D said
Jun 6, 2016
A little more progress - got the scratchbuilt rear package shelf nearly done.
Cut the "humps" off the molded shelf, and bent a piece of brass channel to simulate the chrome band across the top (it will be foiled). A piece of .005 sheet with .060 1/2-round glued on made the "tuck-n-roll" shelf.
Next will be to sand/contour down the 1/2-round into more of a correct flatter shape, and work on the rear-seat side panels.
Quite the amazing transformation of the rear seat and package tray !!
John D said
Oct 9, 2016
One of the reasons I couldn't make it to Chevelles & Shooting is I was sicker than a dog most of that week, and didn't want to "spread the love" with anyone else... Stayed home a few days from work, and between sleeping & binge-watching Netflix, I got some work done on the '58.
The interior tub, dash, & door panels are about 99% finished. I had them in paint about 3 weeks ago, but other things got in the way - which was good 'cause it gave the stuff a good long dry-time. - After unmasking I proceeded to install the "piping" between the red & white areas (red enameled wire). - Bare-metal-foiled the "chrome" areas. - Bare-metal-foiled the floor (dull side out). I'm guessing the movie studio pulled the carpet, and did some kind of DynaMat in there to reflect light up onto the actors... so I had to recreate it.
See some of the previous picture uploads for shots of the real car. I think it turned out really nice!
Sorry to hear you were sick, but you got stuff done...
Derek69SS said
Oct 10, 2016
awesome work John!
Larry Lucast said
Oct 10, 2016
Such amazing talent and patience!
Lost in the 60s said
Oct 10, 2016
Larry Lucast wrote:
Such amazing talent and patience!
Speaking of which, how are you doing, Larry ?
Larry Lucast said
Oct 10, 2016
I am doing great, thanks. I am block sanding my Chevelle. Like any 50 year old car, it has a LOT of door dings, but is basically straight and solid.
Jon H said
Oct 10, 2016
Larry Lucast wrote:
I am doing great, thanks. I am block sanding my Chevelle. Like any 50 year old car, it has a LOT of door dings, but is basically straight and solid.
Always glad to hear a positive update on your health.
John D said
Oct 30, 2016
For every step forward, there are 2 steps back...
I got the body of the '58 in primer, it sat for 3 -4 days to flash-off and get good & dry. Come Saturday morning a light scuff with 2000g, tack rag, and I mixed up the color. got the airbrush loaded, did a few test patterns, and started to spray...
Light tack-coats to cover the primer, gently building the coverage (without clogging the details), then a final wet coat. It is F'in BEAUTIFUL!! Flowed out perfect, no booger's in the paint, then it popped off my spray-stand and landed "jelly-side-down" on the workbench.
If anyone needs an entirely new stream of cuss-words - I have invented a complete new chapter of the English language.
(It is salvageable - the final wet-caot saved me - it did flow out a LOT of the damage. But now I have to wait about a week for it to totally flash-off & harden, then start wet sanding the roof & one corner of the 1/4-panel and re-spray/blend. AAARRRGGGG)
I'll get some photo's up soon. I just don't want to go in the "Skunkworks" shop right now... too painful.
Lost in the 60s said
Oct 30, 2016
sorry to hear about the roll over. Landing on the roof is not good.
Lost in the 60s said
Nov 7, 2016
Are you in recovery mode yet ?
John D said
Nov 8, 2016
Yeah... I got back to it over the weekend, had Monday off so I got busy.
The white color coat was good & dry/hard, so Friday night I hit it with some 600, then 1000, then 2000 wet paper. Got all of the boogers out of it and was able to feather-edge it out into the primer nicely. Re-shot the roof and corner of the 1/4 panel with white, and let it set up until Monday morning.
Went back to my archive photos and started the masking job to do the red highlights (see 1st post pictures). On the real car these are between 1/2" and 2" wide... in scale they're about 3/64's to a 1/16" - so I don't think I'll be getting too much of the "fogged/blend" effect, but I'll try.
The arrows on the masking tape are a reminder for me as to which direction to shoot to try and get the fogged edge effect. The pics really don't do justice, but there is a bit of the effect on the body/paint.
Of course I forgot about the camdamera until after I was well into the job ... see pics).
I'm in Brookings SD for the week, so it'll have a good 4 days to set up before unmasking. I'm going to have to hit the edges with some 2000 wet (or finer) to knock-off the tape edge, and hopefully this'll help "blend" the red into the white and give more of the fogged effect.
Then I get to shoot the whole thing in a few coats of clear... and then "foiling" all of that wonderful late 50's chrome!! (see the pics of the door panels for examples)
Well... the "feathering & fogging" didn't turn out too well. The area was just too damn small for me to do it as on the original.. but I'm still pleased with the results.
Find attached some pics of the unmasked body, with all of that wonderful '50's chrome trim "foiled" in place. The camera doesn't lie, but when more than 6" away the damn trim looks like polished chrome! There's 5+ coats of Model Master Enamel "Classic White", the same of "Guard Red", then 4 coats of clear Lacquer. I haven't given the job a buff or wax yet - these pics are "as sprayed".
The chassis is 99% done. Scratchbuilt touches are the coil springs & shocks. I did some weathering/dirt on the undercarriage & engine using very thinned-out washes of black & rust colors, and some dusting/brushing of earth-tone chalk dusts.
Getting close to final assembly! (A Monogram '32 5-window, and an AMT '55 post-Coupe are on the shelf... who's next? Milner or Falfa?
(the last pic is a "selfie" of me with my mega-bright LED/5x power magnifier head-gear)
The pics all look great John, (except maybe the selfie).
John D said
Nov 20, 2016
The '58 Impala from "American Graffiti" is done!
All I had left was final assembly of the sub-assemblies already done - the chassis/engine, interior tub, then the final trim pieces on the body. As far as kits go, this one is pretty good. Lots of molded-in detail, and many extra parts. It's a 3-in-1 kit, and can be built stock, drag, or custom.
Assembly is difficult - I'd call it a "Level 3" kit, not for a youngster or noob to the hobby - you definitely need some modelling experience, specialty tools, and lots of patience to get good results. Many of the parts need some tweaking to fit properly, and multiple adhesives are needed (model cement, "crazy" glue, epoxy to name a few).
Awhile ago I mentioned my next venture in scale might be a tribute to the cars in "American Graffiti".
Well I've gotten started on the Steve Bolander / Terry the Toad's '58 Impala.
The reason I started with this car is that '58 Impala kits are readily available, and the car in the movie is a basically stock '58 with a few custom tweaks.
Neat back-story to this car:
The year was 1972 and our main character was a 17-year old high school senior in search of his first car. The kid spotted a classified ad in the San Francisco Chronicle with an auction list of movie cars for sale that included a 1958 Chevy Impala for $325.00.
The kid and his dad drove from their home in Vallejo, California, some 40 miles south of Petaluma where a lot of American Graffiti’s filming was done, to Sonoma to check the ’58 out. The only people that showed up were the kid and his dad, so they had the complete attention of Henry Travers, Lucas Films’ transportation captain in charge of selling the cars.
The kid offered $275, but Henry turned it down. A little more haggling and the ’58 Impala went for $285.00, cash-draining the kid’s bankbook and requiring an immediate personal loan from his dad to gap the last ten bucks.
This guy got the '58 from the movie for $285!! It was sold shortly after filming wrapped, and the studio didn't know if the movie would bomb or be a success. Talk about a diamond-in-the-rough.
I got started on the body, sanding off the molded in emblems and trim that were "shaved" from the original car.
-- Edited by John D on Tuesday 5th of April 2016 03:29:33 PM
The car was sold last October by auction, but I can't find the selling price. The estimates before hand were from $800,000 to 1.2 million. Quite the profit for hanging onto it for 42 years.
When you do Falfa's 55, do you put a BB in it like the real one, or something that existed in '62?
I have the die-casts, and Ertl put "W" engines in both of them.
The '58 was stated as "It's got a 327 w/ 6 Strombergs", but the 327 just came out in '62... a hotrodder in '62 would probably gone 409 in an Impala.
The '55 was one of the (3) cars from "Two Lane Blacktop" with either the 454/TH400, or 427/Muncie...(don't remember which) but you never saw the engine or heard mention of what was in it.
The '32 had a SB w/ 4 2bbl Rochesters on a Man A Fre manifold. (The real car had a 327). Again, no script/lines/mention of what was in it during the movie.
- I've got enough parts in my scrap-box to build a SB for the Impala, but coming up with the manifold & 6 carbs will be interesting. I may just stay W power.
- The MPC "American Graffiti" '32 kit (hard to find and $$$) has a Chevy SB, but with a dual quad manifold (wrong). Revell makes a '32 coupe, but with Ford power. I could kitbash a SB into it, probably scratchbuild the manifold & carbs, and I'd have to chop the top myself.
- There are two '55 kits readily available, one is somewhat stock (with great detail(s), the other has the (correct) tube axle front, roll cage, but crappy over details. Haven't given it much thought yet.
I was really surprised that only 1 car, of one of the most popular "car cruising" movies was offered (wrongly) as a kit.
You'll need the post-sedan version of the '55 Chevy model kit.
I think all of the other versions of '55 kits are hardtops.
Progress report on the '58 build...
Since the car was primarily seen (in the movie) driving around, or static with "Toad" & "Debbie" in it, the paint-job and interior are the focal points. My goal on this project is to try and accurately recreate the car "as seen" in the movie. The undercarriage, engine, etc. will still get the detail treatment, but the interior and paint will be the focus.
The kit is surprisingly well detailed. It features opening doors, subsequently requiring a lot more detail on the interior than most kits.
Good & Bad for me. "I just love Tuck-n-Roll upholstery!"...
It's got all the factory detail molded in, but NONE of it is accurate to the prototype! I wound up shaving off all of the seat detail, and am cementing .040 (scale 1") half-round to recreate the seat details.
Also on the prototype, the rear deck is flat with "tuck-n-roll", not the molded humps to the window.
Once the 1/2 round is in fully in place, I'll knock it down to not be so "humpy".
A few more bits of progress
You are truly working on "Saint" status with patience...
A little more progress - got the scratchbuilt rear package shelf nearly done.
Cut the "humps" off the molded shelf, and bent a piece of brass channel to simulate the chrome band across the top (it will be foiled). A piece of .005 sheet with .060 1/2-round glued on made the "tuck-n-roll" shelf.
Next will be to sand/contour down the 1/2-round into more of a correct flatter shape, and work on the rear-seat side panels.
One of the reasons I couldn't make it to Chevelles & Shooting is I was sicker than a dog most of that week, and didn't want to "spread the love" with anyone else...
Stayed home a few days from work, and between sleeping & binge-watching Netflix, I got some work done on the '58.
The interior tub, dash, & door panels are about 99% finished. I had them in paint about 3 weeks ago, but other things got in the way - which was good 'cause it gave the stuff a good long dry-time.
- After unmasking I proceeded to install the "piping" between the red & white areas (red enameled wire).
- Bare-metal-foiled the "chrome" areas.
- Bare-metal-foiled the floor (dull side out). I'm guessing the movie studio pulled the carpet, and did some kind of DynaMat in there to reflect light up onto the actors... so I had to recreate it.
See some of the previous picture uploads for shots of the real car. I think it turned out really nice!
Sorry to hear you were sick, but you got stuff done...
Speaking of which, how are you doing, Larry ?
Always glad to hear a positive update on your health.
For every step forward, there are 2 steps back...
I got the body of the '58 in primer, it sat for 3 -4 days to flash-off and get good & dry. Come Saturday morning a light scuff with 2000g, tack rag, and I mixed up the color. got the airbrush loaded, did a few test patterns, and started to spray...
Light tack-coats to cover the primer, gently building the coverage (without clogging the details), then a final wet coat. It is F'in BEAUTIFUL!! Flowed out perfect, no booger's in the paint, then it popped off my spray-stand and landed "jelly-side-down" on the workbench.
If anyone needs an entirely new stream of cuss-words - I have invented a complete new chapter of the English language.
(It is salvageable - the final wet-caot saved me - it did flow out a LOT of the damage. But now I have to wait about a week for it to totally flash-off & harden, then start wet sanding the roof & one corner of the 1/4-panel and re-spray/blend. AAARRRGGGG)
I'll get some photo's up soon. I just don't want to go in the "Skunkworks" shop right now... too painful.
Yeah... I got back to it over the weekend, had Monday off so I got busy.
... see pics).
The white color coat was good & dry/hard, so Friday night I hit it with some 600, then 1000, then 2000 wet paper. Got all of the boogers out of it and was able to feather-edge it out into the primer nicely. Re-shot the roof and corner of the 1/4 panel with white, and let it set up until Monday morning.
Went back to my archive photos and started the masking job to do the red highlights (see 1st post pictures). On the real car these are between 1/2" and 2" wide... in scale they're about 3/64's to a 1/16" - so I don't think I'll be getting too much of the "fogged/blend" effect, but I'll try.
The arrows on the masking tape are a reminder for me as to which direction to shoot to try and get the fogged edge effect. The pics really don't do justice, but there is a bit of the effect on the body/paint.
Of course I forgot about the camdamera until after I was well into the job
I'm in Brookings SD for the week, so it'll have a good 4 days to set up before unmasking. I'm going to have to hit the edges with some 2000 wet (or finer) to knock-off the tape edge, and hopefully this'll help "blend" the red into the white and give more of the fogged effect.
Then I get to shoot the whole thing in a few coats of clear... and then "foiling" all of that wonderful late 50's chrome!! (see the pics of the door panels for examples)
Well... the "feathering & fogging" didn't turn out too well. The area was just too damn small for me to do it as on the original.. but I'm still pleased with the results.
Find attached some pics of the unmasked body, with all of that wonderful '50's chrome trim "foiled" in place. The camera doesn't lie, but when more than 6" away the damn trim looks like polished chrome!
There's 5+ coats of Model Master Enamel "Classic White", the same of "Guard Red", then 4 coats of clear Lacquer. I haven't given the job a buff or wax yet - these pics are "as sprayed".
The chassis is 99% done. Scratchbuilt touches are the coil springs & shocks. I did some weathering/dirt on the undercarriage & engine using very thinned-out washes of black & rust colors, and some dusting/brushing of earth-tone chalk dusts.
Getting close to final assembly! (A Monogram '32 5-window, and an AMT '55 post-Coupe are on the shelf... who's next? Milner or Falfa?
(the last pic is a "selfie" of me with my mega-bright LED/5x power magnifier head-gear)
The '58 Impala from "American Graffiti" is done!
All I had left was final assembly of the sub-assemblies already done - the chassis/engine, interior tub, then the final trim pieces on the body.
As far as kits go, this one is pretty good. Lots of molded-in detail, and many extra parts. It's a 3-in-1 kit, and can be built stock, drag, or custom.
Assembly is difficult - I'd call it a "Level 3" kit, not for a youngster or noob to the hobby - you definitely need some modelling experience, specialty tools, and lots of patience to get good results. Many of the parts need some tweaking to fit properly, and multiple adhesives are needed (model cement, "crazy" glue, epoxy to name a few).
Trying my hand at videos...