Editors Note: I was fortunate to first meet Brad during an airbrush tutorial at our local hobby shop, Skyway Models. He’s an excellent modeler who’s well on the way to perfecting the technique of shooting clear coats. The finish on his Chevelle is a very nice peace of work. Thanks Brad!)

For more of Brad’s top-notch work check out his site “SmallCars“.

By Brad Huskinson

The ’67 Chevelle SS 396 was always an exceptionally good-looking muscle car. I love the tunneled in rear window and clean design. I decided to build a custom version that I would love to own in 1:1 scale. There were definitely some issues with the kit and painting along the way, but I’m extremely happy with the final results.

The Build:

I use sprue clippers to remove all parts and then scrape mold lines with a special tool or the edge of a #11 blade. I then use both sandpaper and sanding sticks to clean up after scraping.

Parts are assembled using a combination of CA glues (often with Zip Kicker) and Tamiya Thin for unpainted parts.

Modifications included cutting out the handholds on the exterior door handles and then covering with Bare Metal Foil: No easy task. Bare Metal Foil was put on all window trim and windshield wipers.

I cut out the center of the grill and replaced it with a photo-etch grill, along with photo-etch hood vents. I sanded off all brand and model badging and replaced some with photo-etch. The interior was detailed with photo-etch door handles, window cranks, seat belt buckles, and steering wheel center spokes.

I really don’t like kit chrome, so I stripped all the chrome pieces in Purple Power Degreaser and airbrushed them with Molotow Chrome.

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The biggest kit issue for me was the rear bumper, which was quite a bit too wide. I installed and removed it 3 times before getting what I felt looked acceptable.

Color and Markings:

I decanted Dupli-Color Grey Hot Rod Primer and sprayed it undiluted with an Iwata Revolution airbrush. It was quite an unpleasant experience. The primer dried all dusty on the surface of the body, which then required much sanding and re-spraying. I chose this color primer because it made the Tamiya TS-95 Pure Metallic Red look the way I wanted.

The Tamiya TS-95 was shot at ~25psi without dilution with an Iwata fitted with a .3 needle. Both the primer and the TS-95 were a bit troublesome.

And now for the best part: I used Splash 2k Clear shot with my H&S Infinity following an airbrushing lesson with John. I cut the clear 50/50 with thinner and shot it at 18 psi with a .4 needle. A stunning finish to a tedious painting job! The H&S airbrush combined with John’s lesson and paint mixture suggestions made a huge difference (Editors note: Many thanks for the kind words, Brad).

Decals and Final Finish:

I only used the decals that came with the kit for the gauges. It took some amount of Set and Sol to get them to settle into place.

The wheels and tires came from a 1968 Corvette race car kit. The spokes of the wheels were hand painted with flat grey paint. In the interior, I painted the seat centers with the Dupli-Color grey primer and Mr. Hobby 1500 for the black. I used Tamiya semi-gloss over the primer grey seat sections.

I plumbed and wired the engine bay. Photo-etch hose straps, wire looms, radiator cap and battery cable accessories were added. I also made aluminum tube exhaust tips, disk brakes from washers and my own coil springs on the rear axle.

Conclusion:

This took longer than any other build I’ve done but the results were totally worth it. I love looking at this car and wish I either had the 1:1 or I was 3” tall!

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