59 Imperial - Mild custom

[geetee66]

I love Imperials. Especially their outrageous tail lights.

Anyway, I haven't seen many customised, so I thought I'd have a go. It's got a Watson style early 60's paint job and is gonna ride low on wires. The Fujimi Boranni wheels I have in my stash look right. I was gonna use Pegasus Sovereigns, but they looked too small.

probably give it some Bellflowers and zebra upholstery, too.

Edited November 3, 2019 by geetee66

[geetee66]

Got the paint on today. It'll need a good rub, thanks to one colour coming out gritty. That's the thing about experimenting with nail polish. It's a bit hit & miss, sometimes. Never mind. It'll come good in the end.

[Modlbldr]

Wow Geoff! Your paintwork has really been impressive on your last few builds and this is no exception. I love the style. Truly inspiring work.

Later-

[espo]

I like how you fogged in the gray/black color. 

[bisc63]

Very subdued colors for a custom! What will the interior look like?

[geetee66]

3 hours ago, bisc63 said:

Very subdued colors for a custom! What will the interior look like?

Thanks guys

the interior is going to be white, with zebra stripes on the seats. I'll use a parts box steering wheel, because the kit part is badly moulded.

 I decided not to go too bright with the colours, the car didn't speak to me like that, if you know what I mean...

[Claude Thibodeau]

5 hours ago, geetee66 said:

Thanks guys

the interior is going to be white, with zebra stripes on the seats. I'll use a parts box steering wheel, because the kit part is badly moulded.

 I decided not to go too bright with the colours, the car didn't speak to me like that, if you know what I mean...

Hi!

Great build! Your choice of colors is dead-on. After all, those "barges" were luxury cars, even though our eyes today, we tend to see them as "customs". 

You mention a molding flaw with the steering wheel. Just curious: how would you rate the quality of this kit overall? I was tempted to buy one...

CT

[Zed]

Wow ! great job! I don't think i'll like it with zebra seats, but looks great so far ! ?

14 minutes ago, Claude Thibodeau said:

You mention a molding flaw with the steering wheel. Just curious: how would you rate the quality of this kit overall? I was tempted to buy one...

 

It's a straight reissue from a 1959 kit, Claude, not 2019 standards at all! But it's great to open a 1959 model kit at today's price ? Those 59 Imperial were pricey before the reissue

[randyc]

21 minutes ago, Claude Thibodeau said:

You mention a molding flaw with the steering wheel. Just curious: how would you rate the quality of this kit overall? I was tempted to buy one...

The interior is literally 3 pieces, tub with seats molded in, dash, and steering wheel.  Oh and a rear view mirror.  So 4 pieces.   The grille and body interface needs a little tuning to fit perfectly.    The chrome trim need a bit of defining in places - I drag an Xacto knife around it as needed, either scribing or dragging the back of the point around it all to define the parts a little more fully - I do this on most builds though.   But it makes a beautiful piece on the shelf.  

[MeatMan]

Wow! Nice start! Sweet paint work.

[rickcaps55]

I like were your going with this I will be following this one I have one I started 2 years ago but stalled out I will get back into it again this winter.

[geetee66]

4 hours ago, Claude Thibodeau said:

Hi!

Great build! Your choice of colors is dead-on. After all, those "barges" were luxury cars, even though our eyes today, we tend to see them as "customs". 

You mention a molding flaw with the steering wheel. Just curious: how would you rate the quality of this kit overall? I was tempted to buy one...

CT

Cheers Claude,

it's only the steering wheel that was no good. The kit isn't that bad, overall. The molds have stood up to the tests of time. Chrome tree is primo. Many custom options (but I'm not using them on this build)

Almost no flash and minimal separation lines. Apart from slight sink marks where the body screws to the floorpan, the body is sweet with no warps  Details are feint, so I masked the badges above the headlights and those on the sides of the 'screen frame. I've foiled the scripts near the front arches, and hopefully I'll be able to carefully rub the paint off and expose the letters.

[thatz4u]

I like this ....luv the colors (with or without the U)...will follow this one

[geetee66]

4 hours ago, rickcaps55 said:

I like were your going with this I will be following this one I have one I started 2 years ago but stalled out I will get back into it again this winter.

Finish it! You know you want to! Not enough of these posted, by far!

I see you opened the hood on yours. What chassis/interior did you use?

[Claude Thibodeau]

2 hours ago, geetee66 said:

Cheers Claude,

it's only the steering wheel that was no good. The kit isn't that bad, overall. The molds have stood up to the tests of time. Chrome tree is primo. Many custom options (but I'm not using them on this build)

Almost no flash and minimal separation lines. Apart from slight sink marks where the body screws to the floorpan, the body is sweet with no warps  Details are feint, so I masked the badges above the headlights and those on the sides of the 'screen frame. I've foiled the scripts near the front arches, and hopefully I'll be able to carefully rub the paint off and expose the letters.

Thank you Guy!

It's done: I'll get one this week.

CT

[bisc63]

Nothing wrong with a subdued color scheme! I'm liking this build very much, and like others here, I have a stalled Imperial project somewhere in storage! Love this body style, and am converting one of mine into a 4-door hardtop in Le Baron trim. ( Had to move a few years back, and a couple of projects got buried in storage. ) I need to dig mine out; your build is inspiring me!

I think the zebra interior will be just funky enough for a cool custom!

[geetee66]

5 hours ago, bisc63 said:

Nothing wrong with a subdued color scheme! I'm liking this build very much, and like others here, I have a stalled Imperial project somewhere in storage! Love this body style, and am converting one of mine into a 4-door hardtop in Le Baron trim. ( Had to move a few years back, and a couple of projects got buried in storage. ) I need to dig mine out; your build is inspiring me!

I think the zebra interior will be just funky enough for a cool custom!

Thanks! I'm glad you approve of the colour scheme. I'd seen some early 60's customs that had patterns in muted colours. As this isn't a lowrider, I decided to use fewer colours. As it is, this is still quite colourful, as one of the colours flip flops into a rich purple ?

looking forward to seeing your LeBaron completed ?

Edited November 5, 2019 by geetee66

[Koellefornia Kid]

The paint scheme is awesome! Can't wait to seat finished!

[geetee66]

I had to rethink the seat fabric. The zebra decals weren't big enough to do the job. Then I remembered some decals in my stash, from Scale Motorsport. Perfect match to the exterior and they look kinda period correct.

[rickcaps55]

On 11/4/2019 at 1:07 PM, geetee66 said:

Finish it! You know you want to! Not enough of these posted, by far!

I see you opened the hood on yours. What chassis/interior did you use?

Hi thank you I used the AMT 58 Plymouth Belvedere you can also use the AMT 57 300 both take the same amount of work to fit and it's not bad but I found the 58 Plymouth the best.

[mustang1989]

I didn't even know this stuff existed for the seat covers. Man this is looking great so far!!

[Trendsetta68]

This looks great ! Now I'm in anticipation of the interior to be completed,  it's gonna look awesome  !!!

[randyc]

I have that decal sheet for upholstery and never used it.  looking forward to seeing it used.   Maybe I can find a build for it myself.  Just never tried too hard.  

[espo]

The Scale Motor Sport decals are great, I have used them on several builds, but they don't like to be man handled. They are very thin and can easily start tearing if you're not carful. Wet the surface well where you are placing them and a drop of Solvaset will get them to lay down on any irregular surfaces. When dry be sure to give them a light coat of Flat or Semi-Gloss to seal them.  

[geetee66]

17 hours ago, espo said:

The Scale Motor Sport decals are great, I have used them on several builds, but they don't like to be man handled. They are very thin and can easily start tearing if you're not carful. Wet the surface well where you are placing them and a drop of Solvaset will get them to lay down on any irregular surfaces. When dry be sure to give them a light coat of Flat or Semi-Gloss to seal them.  

You're right mate. The decals are good and went down well, but like you say, don't keep mucking about with them once they're on. Let the decal solution do the work. Come back later to get the bubbles out and they'll be easier to deal with.