The popular CW show “Supernatural” just ended its final episode to many viewers’ chagrin. The timing of this car kit’s release couldn’t have been better. Nobody puts “Baby” in the corner…sorry- couldn’t resist. And from what I have been reading online, many modelers who aren’t fans or have never seen the show are really excited as it is the first 4-door version of this popular car model. As I will mention in the review, there is some disappointing aspects of this kit however that would’ve made this so much better. I’m not a highly skilled car modeler, but enjoy one now and again…so keep that in mind.

What’s Inside the Box

The kit comes in a standard top opening rigid box- and there are 109 parts scattered over a dozen sprues. One of the main parts is the 4 door hardtop body- and therein lies one of the major issues of building this kit out of the box to the fan of the Supernatural show. If they are trying to tempt younger folks who adore the show to enter modeling with the iconic car, having the trunk molded as part of the top body hull and not separate is a head scratcher. Again—the skilled car modeler who is just happy and pleased to have this 4 door sample will have no issues here…but to the average or beginner, this is not ideal. There are even decals included on the sheet for the inside of the trunk lid as the show car has—but why have the truck lid molded shut and require surgery to modify it to use them? I try to keep as OOB as I can with these reviews, but this was a let-down. If I were building this on my own, I would’ve cut the lid apart and stowed all sorts of weapons (also not included) inside the trunk. The only other authentic “supernatural” details the box mentions include the spotlights and decals for the trunk markings and license plate decals matching the car from the show.

Construction

Construction begins with the engine (which is apparently wrong for the show’s car). The three parts of step 1 include the engine assembly. This was a nice bit with no fit issues and I enjoyed this part the most. Step 2 involves assembling the chassis and attaching it to the floor pan. Steps 3 & 4 are involved in the interior assembly. There are decals for the dashboard and instrument panel. Adding in the front and rear seats, side panels, and front panel completes this step.

Step 5 is the body assembly—adding the clear parts and engine firewall to the main body. From there, this entire assembly is added to the chassis, as well as the engine and radiator assembly. I had some real fit issues here—the chassis didn’t have a true attachment point to the main body that I could see and the directions were pretty sketchy. I am still not 100% sure I got everything together correctly, but I did my best. The step concludes on the next page with the addition of the front and rear bumpers, battery and heater hoses.

Steps 6 & 7 involve the exhaust system assembly and the tire/wheel assembly. The wheels fit are a bit wonky and one definitely was loose so I had to apply some glue carefully to get it to sit correctly. Step 8 is the final step for assembly- and adds the hood, wheels, wipers, mirrors, and spotlights. There is no easy way to attach the mirrors and spotlights…no holes or any way to line things up.

Painting and Weathering

There are no true details anywhere for how to paint the car. Luckily, there isn’t much to it—the whole thing is gloss black, with silver trim. I used my usual Testor’s Gloss Black spray paint, but despite washing the parts first and priming, I could not get a nice gloss finish on the plastic. The silver was applied with a Molotow chrome marker.

Conclusion

Car modelers who are looking for a 4 door Impala have much to rejoice about- and this kit is exactly that. The niggling issues I had with adjusting the assembly and attaching the mirrors and spotlights would be nothing to one with experience. To the fan of the “Supernatural” show who might be picking up their first model because they really dig the car and wanted to try their hand at it, this is a bit disappointing. If they take the time to do surgery on the main body to remove the truck lid so they can add the decals and some scale weapons, they might be quite happy with the results. Yet the box is misleading in the fact that it leads one to think they can model the car from the show as is in the box, and this is simply not true.

My sincere thanks to AMT and Round2 and IPMS-USA for the review sample.