FresnoPete

looks like some pretty nice stuff there Pete. we do have a workbench and under glass section where you could post those for everyone to see that may work a bit better than here in the general section.

DoubleD, I have been reading some of the stuff there and learning as few tricks myself. One of the reasons I had wanted to do these here is because of the varied subjects I do, and having to try and decided exactly which area they would go in. With a "garage" in one place everything I can bring to the table can be here. I don't want that to sound egotistical, that wasn't the intent, but there are some great builders that I'm having to run down all of their build strings in all of the different topic areas to see what they did, and how they did it. I'm just hoping to make it easy on anyone trying to do the same for my stuff.

July 28, 2011 - Vinyl top 1969 Nova SS

This is a build of what's left of the 1969 COPO Nova that was robbed for parts with the last couple of projects. I have enough parts to make a really nice SS 396 but I wanted something different that what I've done over the last few builds. Since I am working with one finger down most of what I've done is just paint. I have the SS hood, so the decision to make it so was pretty easy. I have a nice 396 engine that will be a part of this deal. I scanned though a few of the 1969 Chevy code sites and didn't really find a color combination I liked so I sort of went off the radar with the choice. I have some of the nice ruby red pearl metallic left over from the '37 Ford, but that wasn't enough. I've done five red Chevy's in a row, this one couldn't be "just red". I have done a few vinyl tops before, the last was about 12 years ago on a Dart GTS, so the time had come to pull out the book of tricks. After masking off the entire top area I shot about 3 coats of semi-gloss black, after it dried completely (aided by a 101 degree Central California afternoon) I masked off where the top seams would be. I then shot another 4 coats of semi-gloss black and pulled off the masking. After it all dried I shot it with 2 coats of dullcote, and put it back outside for an hour to dry. The raised area on the top replicates the seams perfectly. Once dry it came back inside and allowed to cool for half an hour before I masked it off and shot 3 quick coats of Testors Revving Red Pearl, and then back outside for an hour to cure. After that I started doing the trimming.



The chrome trim on the top was made by putting down a piece of electrical tape and then putting Bare Metal Foil on top. I then carefully cut it and placed it on the border of the top. The rest of the chrome trim was all hand painted with my 5/O brush and Testors Chrome out of the bottle. That's sort of tough, being left handed and having a splint on my index finger. It'll be a lot tougher after Monday I think. I haven't decided on an interior color, I'm trying to avoid black again so it'll more than an likely be a dark gray, I want it to be somewhat visible and the Fred Gibb car isn't all that visible in all semi-gloss black. Another choice would be a red interior, a sort of blood red. Blood red....yeah. The shiny part on the top in the pic was recently touched up black, it'll dry semi-gloss like the rest of the top.

July 30, 2011

Been working a little on the Nova SS, I've been finding that it's not nearly as difficult as I thought, I was going to take time off but even with a splint it's not too hard to do simple stuff. I don't think I'd want to try wiring or anything like that with my index finger out of the picture, especially on my dominant hand. The chassis painting was fairly easy, just patience and property thinned paint, I can actually stripe with my right hand too so there was the advantage. The Nova chassis reminds me a lot of the detail on the 1969 Camaro RS, very nicely done and it fits great.




Since I went off the radar on the body color I did on the interior color too, with a sort of sable gray. The carpeting is just slightly lighter than the rest of the interior which will help add dimension when viewed through the windows. This is a 4 speed car, but there is no center console in the kit. I was planning on using one from another kit but this works too. Since my finger is really a major problem with detailing at the moment this one won't get the engine wired or any special interior extras. But sometimes a nice, clean out of the box build is just as good. I did the extras with the top, that should be enough to make it a nice attractive car on the shelf.

***I had cut the legiment in my index finger a few days before this project was started**



July 31, 2011

OK, the little Nova SS is off to the detailer for a wax job, but otherwise it's done. The tires are Goodyear Polyglass GT's, they look oversized on this car but they were an option that most high performance guys picked. They ride on the 15" SS wheels that were also optional. The black pin stripe came with the SS kit, I had considered a white stripe but with a black vinyl top the black stripe make more sense. The 396 is not details as I said earlier, but it is painted correctly and sits well in what was an engine bay for a COPO 427. I have a good reference book for this car, with the optional tires and wheels, bucket seats, 4 speed and a posi rear end, vinyl top and AF/FM with an underdash Delco 8-track player (model #91BT411) the car would have topped out at a whopping $2,863.








***This Nova sits next to the red El Camino on my nephews shelf.***

July 21, 2011 - Lindberg 1937 Ford Convertible

This is Lindberg's 1937 Custom Ford Convertible. This is an out of the box build, metallic dark red with black fenders, black and red interior. This is a fabulous kit, one of the best street rods I have ever built. The chassis alone would make a great base for '32 Ford's. The suspension is very well done, the rear end is an IRS type and the engine is a nice big block style without a lot of detail, like a lot of the contemporary street rods have. Wheels are big 'n littles with directional tread generic tires. The interior has some interesting accents molded in, I chose mine to be the black and red with the chrome of the body being repeated in the interior. I sort of wish I had gone a little darker red on the seats and door panels but it's fine the way it is now. The main body, frame, drive shaft and intake plenum are all Testors Revving Red, suspension is aluminum metalizer, engine and tranny are a mix of aluminum and stainless steel metailizer.





July 23, 2011

OK, the Lindberg '37 Ford is done, not quite a day but minimal detailing so no big deal. The customer wants the top on so I threw in a nice photoetched mirror and some red dice. This is a great kit, very anemic on the engine details but it wouldn't take much to bring that out too.









***Ultimately the customer for this car failed to pay for the build so it was repossessed and now sits on my wife's dresser. It is her car for all intents and purposes.***

WOW ! Pete, I think you've found a new home, welcome, and thanks for bringing all yer stuff ,some really great tips, pic's, and models.

Greg, thanks. Like any move it's going to take a few trips to move my stuff in. I'm not going to do every project I posted over there, some will just be finished pics, but the projects that I did something someone may learn from will be featured here. I haven't been building for a couple of months now because of a health issue, but I have started tinkering with some of the kits I was working on when I got sick. Those, if finished, will also be posted here on MCM.

July 16, 2011 - Red El Camino L79

The Monogram 1966 El Camino is a great kit, I've never built one myself and I'm really impressed with this one. This car is a 396 cubic inch car, not the 327 car that I'm patterning it after, but everything else will be nearly identical. The car I'm doing will be a Regal Red with black interior car and bucket seats. The car will have body color steel wheels with dog dish hub caps donated by a '69 Nova COPO. This will be a moderately detailed car, the biggest problem is going to be the chrome trim. I tried using the paint markers like another member had done with his Shelby, I couldn't match his results so I applied Bare Metal foil over it. In some places the foil came out really rough, such as it is sometimes with foil. After the foil was applied the entire car had 4 coats of Future wax applied and eas then hand rubbed to smooth it out. The combination of the clear coating and rubbing did help with some of the foil issues.





Frame rails are gloss black over the same red as the body. Exhausts are my usual multi tones of metalizer. The interior is coming along too, I need to hit it was some dullcote, but the flocking/carpeting is in and seat belts are right around the corner. I thought I had some PE window cranks but I can't find them if I do, so the molded in parts just got a touch of chrome paint.





July 19, 2011

OK, the last few steps of the El camino build: The wheels and tires were taken from a Revell 1969 Nova COPO, the red line is a decal that I had the dickens of a time with getting straight. Other than problems with the foil in places (old foil mixed with my shaking hands) I'm happy with the way it came out. On the shelf it seems like I have more red Chevy's than any other color.







*** This El Camino was given to my nephew who proudly has it displayed on his shelf in his bedroom.***