1972 Chevelle SS454 Convertible, Gray (Maisto)

The grills on these models just take so well to detailing. Too bad Maisto didn't just paint them right in the first place. They went to all the trouble to paint the grill, so why didn't they bother to do it correctly? At least they molded it quite nicely.

The wheels really perk up when painted. Maisto got a very nice shape to the body. The model sits nice and low but not too low, just like it should.

The dash was molded in white which is wrong for a white interior. The gauge panel was painted black but that was not enough. I finished the job and also painted the steering column and steering wheel in the process. Note the chrome rings on the tail lights.

A bit of paint on the wheels and a bit more paint on the side marker light and this model wakes up to say hello to detail. These details are so easy to add and certainly add to the visual impact.

Maisto tooled this one just like the 71 which is wrong. The engine call out is 71 vintage not 72 and they painted the valve covers silver and they should be engine color. I couldn't do much about the air cleaner but I did paint the valve covers. While I was in there I mounted the "distributor on the motor to make it look like a fully wired motor. Too bad the wires aren't black. For what it's worth I painted the master cylinder too. Not much detail in that casting.

Here you can see the effect of painting the dash black. Maisto added trim to the doors but I added a little to the door badges to help them show up. I had to repaint the switches and knobs since the repaint to black covered things up. The console got some black paint to the background areas but it is not visible here.

This one got the full treatment here so you can see I've added a drive shaft and cleaned up the horrible looking exhaust. I wish Maisto would have at least spent a little time on the floor pans and suspension components so this modification would have even more impact.