# '63 Impala Project



## tolenmar (Dec 5, 2011)

In addition to these projects:
One Patriotic Nomad
Tootsietoy '56 Ford Thunderbird
In the not too distant future...
I'm working on this one:








I got this as part of a trade. It didn't look terrible as it was, but I really disliked those chrome decals. So stripped them off. The green and yellow checkerboard pattern was growing on me, but under the decal, they didn't use the pattern. So it needed something a little extra.

Moreover, this particular toy was designed to have "hydraulics". By which I mean it had a little electric motor in it and a remote control attached by about 2 feet of wire. You pushed one button, the front wheels extended and the headlights flashed, push the other and the back popped and the taillights flashed. What really happened, though, was that the thing bounced around like a mating jackrabbit.

So, to begin repainting it, I started by stripping everything I wasn't going to need from it. Mainly, the electronics. Now, I was going to try and find a way to use the wheels that came with it. But I pulled the guts out of it, and realized I wanted to use them for another project. Here are the guts:









If you pick it up, the wheels drop:









So now I'm thinking some sort of moon rover or something. But that means I need new wheels. So here is another toy I have lying around (well, what remains):









It gave me this set of wheels and axles:









The axles may be a shade too long, but I can fix that. They had a gear on them and some cams, but that's because the yellow car was also an electric toy. It was busted, so I have no problem stealing parts off it. To make this work, though, I need some way to mount axles where axles didn't previously exist. So I opened a couple of channels with my dremel, then took some bushings from _yet another_ toy and cut them in half. A little JB Weld later, and now I have guides for the new axles:









All of this is leading up to the new paint job. Here it is currently:









The top is white. It'll stay white. I'm planning on using blue, red, yellow and orange on the body. Basically, I'm going to mask off an area, use another color, mask a smaller area, use another color, and so on and on to do a real custom job with the paint. I expect this project to be difficult, and I'm already prepared for multiple repaintings. This is my experimental car. Once I get a final paintjob I like, I'm going to experiment with temporary tattoos. I have one I think will look really cool, and I figure I may just be the only one to think of trying it. If it works, you'll see it here first. If not, well, you can't say I didn't try anything new. I plan to see if I can apply the tattoo, and then seal it down with clearcoat. I can't right now see any reason it won't work, if I can get the colors to stick.

So that's all for now on this project. More to come!

(You know, it seems like I'm not happy unless I'm busy with several projects at once...)


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## scottnkat (May 11, 2006)

Cool work going on here. This will be fun to watch


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## CorvairJim (Dec 16, 2011)

I agree with Scott. I like watching other builders trying new things. If you come up with an idea, go for it! Keep experimenting. I can tell you in advance that the temporary tattoos are a GOOD idea, since a friend of mine from another website has used them successfully on a couple of builds.


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## tolenmar (Dec 5, 2011)

Stage 1 masking:









From here, I (attempt) blend red to orange to yellow. Then I'll mask off broad stripes, one on each side, two across the top, and paint blue over that. Trust me, I can picture it in my head. It'll work. I think. I'm sure of it.

Once all the layers are done, the tape comes off and I'll try to use the temporary tattoos on the white top. Here are my choices:








I'm thinking about the two on the right. I did not actively choose any of them, they came from a vending machine some time ago. I like them, though. I'm just not a tattoo kind of guy, even temporary. I thought I might use the sun, but my boy says I should use the eyeball. Opinions? Or maybe I should wait until the tape comes off to decide.


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## scottnkat (May 11, 2006)

I'd wait for the paint to be done first, then see which one goes with the paint best.


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## tolenmar (Dec 5, 2011)

Next stage masking done, and top layer of paint finished. Let everything cure and I can pull the tape and see what I got. If it looks anything like I imagine, it'll be a pretty sweet model.


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## CorvairJim (Dec 16, 2011)

I'm with Scott. See what you have after pulling the masking to see which colors go best with the colors on the model. It sounds to me like it'll most likely be the sun, but that dragon would look pretty good with the basic green shade.


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## tolenmar (Dec 5, 2011)

There's a problem with the tattoos. They are just a bit too big to fit the top. I don't want to cut any of them down to size, but if I had to, the dragon or geisha would be easiest to manage. Besides, I'm not digging the paint job like I thought I would. That's okay though, since this is an experimental piece anyway. I'm using it to try out new techniques and see how they work.

Pics are coming shortly.


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## tolenmar (Dec 5, 2011)

And here are some pics of the impala:

This was the last stage of tape:









Not terrible, but not as good as I'd imagined. I think the Impala actually looks good in one solid color as opposed to a multi-color scheme. In addition, due to the thickness of the paints, it kinda still looks like it's taped up.

























And here are half of my tattoos...er decals, and you can see how they are too long for this project.









Thoughts?


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## scottnkat (May 11, 2006)

If you have a scanner and some decal paper, you can scan the tattoos into Photoshop, decrease the size, then print out new decals of the tattoos in the proper size.


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## tolenmar (Dec 5, 2011)

Every time I sprayed this car, I realized good it looked in a single solid color. The custom job was cool in it's own way, but since I'm unable at the moment to reduce the size of the decals, I don't need a custom job that would match any of the decals I have. (Scanning and printing is out...I run Linux, and there aren't many scanners that are compatible without a lot of work. No more often than I'd use a scanner, it just isn't worth it.)

So now I'm thinking White with a black top. Failing that, I may do this one up as my post-apocalyptic cruiser, since trying to find bits that fit the RC car shell is not getting me anywhere fast. At any rate, all the pieces are primed, and while the primer cures I can figure it out. I'm open to suggestions.


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## tolenmar (Dec 5, 2011)

A quick preview of the soon-to-be-finished project:









I did decide that a single color would look better, but then realized just how much I liked the blended yellow-to-red pattern I did on the old version. So I re-did the blending, and masked off a stripe. Much better. 

Still to do:
Silver on the trim
Detail the engine
Wax and polish
re-assemble.

I have to get the silver on a dry before I can do the clearcoat. So it'll be another day or so before I declare the thing finished. I don't want to rush it and orange peel the paint.

One question for those who might know: Did the Impala have a vinyl top? Or was it just (usually) painted metal?


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## scottnkat (May 11, 2006)

I like the multi-colored stripe

no idea about the top


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## tolenmar (Dec 5, 2011)

Just waiting now for tomorrow to clearcoat it. Just about finished with this one.

That stripe was kind of irritating. I have three cans of spray paint, and one working nozzle, and it keeps trying to clog. So half the time, I get speckles. Anyone know a good way to clear clogged nozzles?


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## scottnkat (May 11, 2006)

you can soak the nozzles in a cup of lacquer thinner


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## CorvairJim (Dec 16, 2011)

I don't believe that Chevy offered a vinyl top from the factory but dealers often had them put on the cars for their customers. A roof painted in a contrasting color was much more common. I like the color blend of your side stripe. It reminds me of the factory "Lazer Stripe" on the 1970-73 Ford Torino GT.


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## tolenmar (Dec 5, 2011)

Thanks for the tip, I'll give it a try.

The metal/vinyl question affected how I finished detailing the top. If it were common to be vinyl, I'd spend some time making it look a bit more weathered.

A little later on today, it gets clearcoated. I finished detailing the engine bits that stick out of the top. I kind of wish that I had the means to plug the holes in the hood rather than use this blown engine. But I can't. At least not right now.


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## DOM-19 (Mar 12, 2002)

Me personaly would like top black vinyl look, complete bottom orange---dom


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## tolenmar (Dec 5, 2011)

All right, I've done all this work, and yet shown precious few shots of the undercarriage. So here you go:









Since it was a cheap toy car, they cut the detail everywhere they could. There is no interior, for example, just tinted windows. That's partially because they needed to hide the electronics, of course. But the undercarriage is so much more detailed than the rest of the toy, it was a big surprise when I sat down to start painting it. It's hard to see in that picture, but I painted what I could see of the engine block red, and even gave it an orange FRAM oil filter. Not out of brand loyalty, as such, but more because it was detailed enough for me to recognize it and paint it in a contrasting color.

I still need to do a bit to attach the front axle. One of my mounting points broke loose after the JB Weld set up. But I dug out the metallic red I originally planned on using on the Nomad I finished last week, and went over the wheels. Here they are in need of a touch-up:


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## tolenmar (Dec 5, 2011)

Well, got'er finished. The simpler paint job works a heck of a lot better than the original job or the one I attempted before this one.
(Although, if the original paint job extended all the way across the model and didn't cut out behind the decals, I might have left it as is.)


















I really think those custom red rims work really well on this model. So far, I think it's the best toy conversion I've done.


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## scottnkat (May 11, 2006)

looks good, man - nice job


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## CorvairJim (Dec 16, 2011)

That's the sort of thing that makes this hobby so cool: Being able to build something this great on a budget. I think I'm going to have to try "upgrading" some of my old Corvair toys one of these days!


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## pejota (Mar 14, 2008)

Looks good!

I bet you could find something like that in real life.


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