1970 Chevy Impala Heavy Chevy Original Art

I've built other AMT kits and had no issues. This kit for me, however, was different. It's a re-issue with some cool box art, but for the money I am disappointed. AMT is still using old tooling that is leaving a lot of flash. That's easy enough to deal with, the issues were endless. The engine halves don't quite fit properly, and the whole exhaust system is cheap, looking like a bunch of broomstick handles glued end to end. Because of this I just built my own out of aluminum tubing. The decals were so-so, many are so brittle they just tore into pieces. I had no issues with decals on ANY kit, new or old that I had built before this one. The instructions are lacking, because instead of a technical drawing with clear, concise description showing specific orientation of parts, it looks like a child drew a line with a crayon marker. The chassis frame fits the tub okay, but the body fit is a gamble in itself. The engine sits way to far back from the firewall, looking like you could smuggle a 55 gallon drum in between the radiator and the front grill. The firewall is a poor fit and although it has great mold detail of wiring, it's another piece best chucked and replaced with your own measured cut and design. The back slicks fell off no matter what I glued them with, so I put in my own solid metal axle for better support. The windshield is a poor fit. Interior is fine, no issues there. The intake pipes on the engine are good on one side, but the other side, although they meet in the header collector fine, on the other side going to the engine there were two pipes that were way, way off. I almost had to scrap this but ended up cutting it down just enough and adding other styrene, which at this point looked tacky at best. The engine does not sit quite level because the drive shaft is too short, causing a good fit with the drive shaft to pull the engine down. Poor fitting, poor molding, crumbling decals...master model builders will be able to work around it, but I would not recommend getting this for the beginning modeler.

just got done doing my mock up and many many parts needed to be shaved down sanded and modified to get them to fit right. alot of flash on the parts but great detail on the parts. the body lines are nice and deep. trying to get the rear end to sit right and clear everything was a pain but with some work it comes out good. its a so so kit. i wish it was a little better at going together

I really enjoyed building the Heavy Chevy 1970 Impala. I was happy with the results of the finished model but there were challenges with the fit of the body to the frame. As a plus the kit comes with three different engine intake options, a nice decal sheet, and multiple wheel and tire combinations. I chose to use the stock front and rear ends instead of the custom ones provided in the kit. It is a non rolling model but I was able to add metal axles and wheel hubs from another kit. Like all modelers who like more options, I wish the kit had an option for bucket seats and center console. The engine compartment was a little sparse and the location of the brake master cylinder was placed behind the wheel well but this too can be fixed. Overall it is a good model and I'm glad it is available.