Hi again

Nothing to show - but I did spray the chassis black. Ignoring Revell's instructions and looking at both the video links I tagged to the review, I'm guessing the bulk of the underside should be the main finish colour, with a plain metal fuel tank?

So, I think it's time to start experimenting with what I've got to hand to produce something approaching metallic Coral.

All the best

Rowan

Hi Rowan

I'm quite sure the main color, of the underside, should be red/brown primer, maybe even with some body color overspray.
You're right about the frame and gas tank. Semi gloss black frame and plain metal/steel gas tank.

Hi Jesper

That tallies perfectly with one of the restoration videos I linked to my review. It'll certainly make life a lot easier with my build and allow me to carry on with other things while I play about creating a mix for the body colour.

All the best

Rowan

Hi again

With work started on the underside, I've found the weak-point in the way Revell have handled it that I missed in my review (I may go back and update it).

Revell have moulded the chassis and the bulk of the underside as one piece. That's great for ease of assembly - and, if you follow their instructions and paint everything black, it's also fine.

But, if you go for different colours on the chassis and body pan it's a totally different story; any time saved on construction is massively outweighed by spending ages masking. It would be so much quicker if Revell had moulded the chassis separately...

All the best

Rowan

Hi again

So... following on from my previous post, it hit me tonight that I want to make this build cover two things:

Obviously - having a bit of fun building my first classic American auto!

But it's also about Buddy Holly, so I'll try to showcase one of his songs in every update to encourage everyone to check out some great music! They won't all be the obvious hits by Buddy or The Crickets, but it will hopefully be a fun zig-zag journey through his recordings.

Well, that's the plan - and I hope you'll forgive some tenuous links in the cause of great music! All being well, at some stage we'll have cause to be singing "It's So Easy" - and not be thinking "That'll Be The Day" when it looks like I'll never finish this build - or worse still be staring at a "Valley Of Tears"!...

But I'm going to start with That Makes It Tough - one of the standout tracks for me among the "Apartment Tapes" that Buddy recorded just prior to heading off on his final tour.

One look at the amount of masking I've used on the chassis thanks to Revell's decision to mould it integrally with the body pan should make my choice of opening track clear:


All the best

Rowan

Tenuous links are great, another dimension to the build log to enjoy!

Virtually all of my car kits have the chassis moulded to the floor pan, either partly (like the 51 Bel Air) or completely. Masking just becomes part of the deal. As I said in another thread "relax and enjoy the Zen healing power. Mask on, mask off!" Tenuous link - Take your time

Looking forward to the next update, great to see some paint going on the big parts.

Cheers, D

Cheers Damian

The masking's looking about as good as I can be bothered to do, so I'll throw some red-oxide primer at the underside before I Rip It Up!

I'm sure there'll be a little bit of retouching to do afterwards, but I hope I can get the underside basically done today so that I can move on.

All the best

Rowan

Well . . . All right

Humble apologies, but I really do prefer this version

Rowan,
Glad to see that you've started Holly's ride. Looking forward to seeing how you handle and finish the chassis and frame.

Joel

Hi Damian

Umm, Oh Yeah... I'll have to differ there. The Blind Faith and Santanta versions are OK, but I much prefer the simplicity and tenderness of Buddy's original which gets a bit buried in the covers.

The primer's on. I used Humbrol's red-brown, which turned out much more vibrant than the colour on the lid, but it should look fine with some weathering.

All the best

Rowan

Cheers Joel

Continuing my attempt to highlight tracks with each post (I may run out of steam! ) - I've been wondering What To Do with the underside. I think I'll go for some light weathering to reflect a bit of the time that Buddy would have spent on the road in this car. I'll keep the topside and interior clean because, by all accounts I've read, Buddy liked to keep his clothes and possessions looking really sharp.

All the best

Rowan

I think you could just go with a dusty brown pin wash It's so easy and always makes the details pop out.

Cheers, D

Hi Damian

I may well use washes Down The Line on some fine details, but my go-to technique is simply neat oil paint. I love the way it stains slightly and doesn't risk tide-marks (of course, that's no good on occasions when you specifically want to create tide-marks! ). I'll probably also go for a heavy dose of pastels too for a dusty look.

All the best

Rowan

Rowan,
Unless it's a show car that never driven, the bottom of the car will show dirt, and grime from being driven. Back in those days, I don't recall seeing any car washes, so the odds are he washed his own car. Top side clean, bottom side not so clean.

I can't keep up with you guys and Holly songs. I'm not even sure his spirit could either.

Joel

Hi Rowan,

Nice work! I agree, it’s too bad that the body pan and chassis are molded as one piece...lots of taping fun for you! Haha....

Thinking about your undercarriage weathering, you might try a few layers - I like a diluted Life Color Dust wash as a base, followed by some pigment in select spots, then, a dark pinwash along all of the joints, gaps etc...you can control how weathered it looks fairly easily. If unsure, my first dust wash is very faint. This is an acrylic so it dilutes easily with water - I use one of the artists plastic trays - a couple of the indentations filled with water, one with Dust, and another with a darker brown. This method also works really well on painted resin tires and wheels and with some patience, on rubber/vinyl tires too. I usually build armor, and use this combo on body surfaces too. With some practice you can go from a light dusting to some significant weathering and fading (sorry to go on and on, you might well have a method you really like too! just fun to think about!).

If you want to really show some wear and tear, some rust wouldn’t be out of the question, even with a nice body. It was not at all uncommon for rust to occur on the floor pan (inside and outside!) toward the front of the driver and passenger seating area. Because of the thick carpet or vinyl flooring and insulation/sound deadening material used, it was easy to go unnoticed. Maybe ironically, this combination of methods used to protect/enhance the interior, also served as a great “bathtub” to collect and retain any water that might have leaked into the car....a real “treat” when doing a restoration is to experience the “joy” of removing these layers and finding a severely rusted floor pan!!

A long tim ago, I had a friend with a mid-70’s Chevy 4x4 - we decided we needed to fix something else....maybe even install a lift kit(?) and in the process we discovered the floor pan to be ridiculously thin with many big holes rusted through!! It was so bad, we went to the wrecking yard and found a replacement cab! Pretty funny looking truck when we were done! I think the cab was blue and white, with a brown/burgundy body and one red door! Plus the lift kit and some big tires!! Lol - those were the days haha!

Happy building,

Nick

Hi Joel and Nick

Thank you both for your pointers on finishing the undersides - I'm definitely still Learning The Game when it comes to auto kits, because it's an exciting step outside my comfort zone (of course, we're all always (hopefully) learning with any genre if we're honest and looking to stretch our skills...).

@ Joel - Well, I've just bought my first car in 20-odd years (Woohoo! See, this is what getting involved with AutoModeler does! ) and I reckon I'll clean it the old way, with a bucket of soapy water and a sponge! Joking aside, cleaning a car that way does mean you spot damage or other issues that you might otherwise miss...

As regards Buddy's songs - I like to think he'd approve of us highlighting his work with this thread. Judging by his output of fresh songs immediately prior to his final tour, I imagine he had a bunch of new ideas ready to record when he got back to New York. Sadly, we'll never know.

@ Nick - I'll definitely look at suggesting a little rust. I'm not ready to try a full-on Rustall assault (I do have a set), but I want to get the idea of a car that's had a year on the road between gigs and the round trip from Lubbock to Clovis.

All the best

Rowan

Rowan,
congrats on the new set of wheels.

So what did you get?

Joel

Cheers Joel

I'm afraid it's nothing to get excited about - a little second-hand Suzuki Alto. It seems nippy enough and should be fine for my short commute to Newport.

Well, it's time for a progress report on the Impala and I've taken the masking off the underside:


As you can see, there's a bit of touching up to do (plus details to add like the straps for the fuel tank) - and I must say I'm Wishing the red oxide primer had turned out less orange (I used Humbrol 100 red-brown enamel, which looks perfect on the tin lid). But it should definitely darken up and go browner with the next stages I have planned, so it's not a question of Blue Days, Black Nights just yet...

All the best

Rowan

Little touch ups here and there are normal for a complex contour masking like this.

Looking good.

Cheers KoSprueOne

It's just a bit frustrating that it would have been both easier and more realistic if Revell had produced the chassis as a separate item. The area around the rear wheel arches is a total fudge because of the way they've handled things. Of course it's hidden by the wheels, but still...)

Sadly, I'm working right through the Bank Holiday, so Early In The Morning I'll try to get a bit more done before heading into Oxfam.

All the best

Rowan

Rowan,
Again, congrats on your car. It beats just about everything else for getting around year around. Of course in your case, I'm guessing that the new Stereo system will be coming sooner then later.

You're making nice progress on the Impala. The frame looks great, but I can see how you're slightly disappointed in the color of the chassis. Next time if you use that color paint, prime with black, that should do the trick. For now a couple of black washes will take care of it.

Joel

Cheers Joel

It will be a bit weird at first driving in to work Everyday instead of catching the bus, but I'm sure I'll get used to it.

I actually haven't tried driving with the stereo on yet - my old Morris didn't even have a radio, so I'm not accustomed to the distraction - but I'm sure it won't be long before I start playing some music.

I touched in the damage to the black this morning and I've sprayed a coat of Klear to round off this stage. I think the red-brown will be okay by the time I've finished weathering with oils and pastels. We'll see.

All the best

Rowan

Excellent job on the bottom of the car. The red primer do look quite orange, but as you say, the weathering will change that.

Cheers Jesper

Fingers crossed the weathering does the trick...

Speaking of which, here's a last look at the underside gloss-coated in its squeaky-clean colours:


I've been trying to find some definitive pics or video to Tell Me How to paint the inside of the body shell around the wheel arches etc. On the restored cars in the videos I linked to in the review it looks as though it might be the exterior colour. That makes sense in terms of streamlining processes on the production line, but one of the cars in the videos has the whole of the underside painted in the body colour, so I don't know how reliable they are as references for what would have been most likely for an original factory finish.

Any ideas based on other cars of the period (if not the Impala itself)?

Thanks in advance for any guidance you can offer.

All the best

Rowan

Hi Rowan. There are a lot of good shots of a 76,000 mile Unrestored Original here including several great underside images.
The underside in this case is all black, but it shows this continuing around into the wheel arches.

Another awesome reference page is this Convertible Frame-Off Restoration which has a Red Oxide floor pan with black wheel arches. In a fortuitous turn of events, the Red Oxide is very close to yours !!





I think this is the way I would go. Most of the images I can find of unrestored cars show black wheel arches.

Hope this helps.

Cheers, D