'59 Chevy Impala

[Scale-Master]

I've always liked this year of Impala, especially the rear end and the horizontal fins. I've had a few of the kits since they came out, time to build one.

First I tossed the wheels and tires in favor of something meatier and added brakes. The wheels are from a Ferrari 360 with some minor changes to make them fit in the wheel wells and the tires are from the parts box. The brakes are from a Nissan Skyline. I kept the same ride height, at least for the time being…
It will be a two-tone with the main color something between Lemon and Butternut Yellow. There is a lot of prep needed to clean up this body for painting, plus it had a broken roof pillar that had to be repaired.

[Deathtrap]

The wheels are a matter of taste
But for sure a very nice (Oldy) car. Good luck with the build

[Scale-Master]

The wheels will look better once they are painted to go with the scheme of the car. At least to me... As they are now, they look out of place.


I decided to lower the front by about 0.060 of an inch by removing the spring bosses in the lower control arms. Then I raised the rear by about the same amount by making new coil springs. Not a lot of difference, but enough to see and the rocker is no longer parallel to the ground.

The tailpipes interfered with the larger rear wheels so I cut them off and made them exit in front of the wheel wells. I also filled the mounting indentations in the frame for the tailpipe hangars. The exhaust system was intentionally distressed.

[Scale-Master]

The secondary color for the two-tone is Tamiya LP-19 Gun Metal.

[Scale-Master]

The primary color is a mix of Testors 1112 Light Yellow and 1116 Cream enamel. Both bottles of paint are from the last century, (80's era).

[Deathtrap]

Originally Posted by Scale-Master

Both bottles of paint are from the last century, (80's era).

Maybe that is way it fits the car so well. I love the colour combo!

[Scale-Master]

The interior is pretty basic. I used the same Gunmetal for the top of the dash and under the rear window as I did on the body. I swapped the factory steering wheel for one from a 1/24th 240Z; the larger scale works pretty well here.

[Scale-Master]

The foil has been applied to the molded in trim. That took some time…

[Scale-Master]

Finally got most of the chrome parts attached to the exterior. I made a decal for the badge on the hood.

[Scale-Master]

One of the tires melted one of the pieces of side trim. I fixed the bad spot and replated that section of it.

I'm not sure if I'll use the stock air cleaner or maybe machine some velocity stacks, but the rest of the engine is done.