'79 Chevrolet Malibu 4D Sedan

[W-409]

This started out in 2017 as a Monogram 1/32 scale Snap Tite kit. As far as I know, it's the only available plastic model kit of a G-Body Malibu, even though some resin kits do exist in 1/24 or 1/25 scale. The kit is really simple with low parts count, so I took the challenge of trying to make it presentable. These cars were sold new here in Finland, so I wanted to build something that could have rolled out from the dealer showroom in here, back in 1979.

The kit builds up as a police car, so I had to fill mounting holes for the police lights on the roof and mounting hole for a spotlight on driver's door. After that the body was painted with automotive spray paints, polished and chrome trim was done with BMF. Grille, headlights and tail lights were molded to the body, so those had to be detailed with BMF and paint. Headlight lenses were separate, but all other lights had no clear lenses so they had to be painted on. Also the grille was really tricky to BMF smoothly. I ended up doing the wide horizontal bars with BMF and the grille mesh between them is chromed with Molotow and black washed. The kit also has zero chrome parts, so bumpers and side view mirror were "chromed" with Revell's Chrome Spray. Old Finnish register plates and GM mud flaps were drawn on computer and printed on paper.

Interior is very simple, too. The kit comes with bucket seats and a center console, but I wanted a bench seat on mine. So I modified the buckets into a bench seat. Other modifications include removing all police equipment, adding scratchbuilt seat belts, column shifter, turn signal lever and a rear view mirror that was scaled down from 1/25 scale part, because the kit didn't have any of those parts. Other than that the interior is just detailed by paint.

Chassis has everything molded to the chassis floor, only separate pieces are wheels and tires. I changed the kit's wheels and tires to resin parts from AirTrax, because I wanted to have regular steel wheels and Dog Dish hubcaps rather than the kit-supplied wide steel wheels with raised letter tires. Hubcaps are machined aluminum. Otherwise the chassis is just detail-painted carefully.

Overall the kit was a lot of fun to build and I didn't have any major fit issues. With some extra detailing these kits do build up into a decent looking scale model. If you want to see the build thread, it's here: https://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/topic/127180-78-chevrolet-malibu-4d-sedan/  though it's mislabeled as a '78 Malibu even though it really is a 1979. I just couldn't figure out a way to edit the thread title.

 

[Jim B]

Great looking sedan.  Very well done.

[XYHARRY]

Nice detail considering it's a snap tite kit. Well done Niko.

Cheers, 

David. ??

[ncbuckeye67]

That's pretty cool! It looks like a detective's car, with those dog dishes on it. Your detail work is amazing! I always wanted one of these in 1/25th scale.

[slusher]

Super nice!

[charger74]

Very well done 

[ewetwo]

Nice build.

[LittleJoey]

Cool

[PappyD340]

Great looking Malibu!

[stavanzer]

What an Awesome Build!

You really turned that kit into a Gem!

 

Good Show.

[W-409]

I'm a little late (was out on vacation and just been super busy overall), but wanted to say thank you for the kind comments! They are appreciated.

I also would like to see one of these in 1/25 scale. It's a little newer car that I'm usually interested in, but I like these GM G-Bodies. So with that said, even though this was a smaller scale and a Snap Tite kit, I had to try building it.

[TarheelRick]

Very well done, overall clean build. 1/32 kits are a lot of fun to work with. I have converted the 69 Mach 1 Mustang into a dirt track racer being hauled on a Mack Pumper firetruck converted to a tilting flatbed and the 55 Chevy into a tube front axled Gasser.  Have several static models of 1/32 slot cars from my younger days: Ferraris, Porsche, Lotus, and Lola.

[W-409]

Thanks for the kind words!

The worst thing with these smaller scale kits in my opinion, is that it's really hard to find any optional parts other than what you'll find in the box, which will lead to scratchbuilding and then it usually takes forever to get finished.

But this was a fun project. I might consider another 1/32 scale kit at some point.

[RACINE ISHRAQUR RAZA]

Wow! Awesome build!