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A pair of 66 Novas- small update for now on the wagon


microwheel

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Evening everyone. I haven't had much time to get on the site in a couple weeks. Since finishing up my 67 vette build, I have been busy trying to work on the brakes on my 97 ford ranger while the weather has been good enough up here in northern Mi to do it. I had a steel line for the front brakes rust through on it and I have to replace it. Now I'm working on getting the dang system bled out and with all the rust on everything it hasn't been going easy, I may end up replacing the rear brake lines as well, and the rear wheels cylinders if the beeders on the back brakes don't free up for me. Anyways, that's my story and I'm sticking to it! lol.

 

Now on to what this build post is all about. I have been working on collecting a few odds and ends, these past few months, for a build I have been wanting to do for my wife. I had a original AMT 66 nova kit (boy I build a few of these way back when they first came out), and recently bought one of the reissued 66 nova kits. I'm glad they decided to repair the chassis from all the cutting up AMT did to it over the years when they decided to release it as a prostreet kit. As well as adding the front bench seat and steel wheels, though I probably wont be using those parts anyways.

 

For the original Kit, I plan to build it as a stock two door SS with a vinyl top, with maybe a stroker engine. And for the new release, it will donate it's chassis and most of it's running gear for a station wagon version to go with the body I ordered from bandit resins. By the way, it's a fantastic resin conversion kit.

 

I'll be refering to the 2 door SS in the build as Pop's Toy, and the station wagon Build as Mom's Toy. Just where these builds will go and how much detail they will get, will depend on how the builds talk to me as I work on them.

 

I'll be posting a few posts tonight with lots of pics. So stay tuned and check often till I get them all up. Here are a couple of reference pics to start with to give you an idea of my intentions for these twin builds.

 

Idea for Pop's Toy, which I will be starting on first.

 

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Idea for Mom's Toy, with maybe some sleeper mods added. (you'll see as it goes along)

 

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And the starting point with a few of the needed supplies on the workbench (still got to order a few more odds and ends)

 

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For Pop's Toy 2 door SS I have decanted some Tamiya bright red and clear red can spray paint and it will get cleared with Tamiya Acrylic Clear.

 

Mom's Toy will be done in all Tamiya Acrylics with Titan Gold as the Base coat and Acrylic Clear over that. (maybe. I may decide on another color)

 

I have one set of The Model Car Garage's 66 nova detail set on hand with another one ordered.

 

Pop's Toy will either use the kit supplied 327 or a BNL resains 383 stroker engine I picked up. (Haven't made up my mind yet)

 

Mom's Toy will most likey get one of two engines depending one Where I go with the build. Either a 283 stock engine from the Revell 64/65 pickup truck, or Ross Gibson 350 TPI Roadent resin cast engine. (I'll make up my mind on that later as well)

 

I also picked up a nice set of photo reduced guages from Best Model Car parts off ebay.

 

Anyways that's just a taste of some of what I have for a direction for these two. Exactly where they go, will depend on how the builds speak to me as I go along. I do know that Pop's toy is gonna look pretty much like the reference Pic. Mom's Toy may be a little bit more of a custom sleeper . But we will see.

 

Stuff for Mom's Toy so far

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Stuff for Pop's Toy so far

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Start of build in following post...

Edited by microwheel
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I decided to start with Pop's Toy first. The kit body had a lot of mold seems that needed to be cleaned up. I also decided to do away with the molded on wiperblades (I'll scratched make new ones later) and once removed I cleaned up the vents as best I could.

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I also carefully removed the door handles and set them aside as I intend to alclad chrome them and reuse them. And I drilled out the gas cap and made a new one with a hole punch the same size as the newly made hole. And since this is gonna be a vinyl top version, I had to add evergreen strip for the chrome molding along both sides cpillers, as well as some side chrome molding trim on each side of the rear window opening. I also sanded off all the molded on script and the rear panel guide lines to make it easier to color sand out the paint when applied. I will be using the script from the MCG photoetched kit anyways.

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More progress in the folowing post...

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Nice project. Although, AMT never altered / cut up the tooling when they released the pro street version back in the day. There were two setups of tooling made up for this kit back in 89. the stock release first and then the pro street right after. They both pretty much remained unchanged in various releases for two decades until recently with the grumpy's toy version..

I'm really digging that 4dr wagon body. Didn't know someone offered it. One I really wish someone would make avaliable in resin would be the 1st gen 62-64 nova post sedan in both 2 and 4dr bodies..

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With the body work done, the panel lines were scribbed deeper and then the body was primered with Tamiya white fine primer. After the primer dried, black wash was applied to all the panel lines.

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Next, after allowing the aerosol propellant to gass out of the decanted Tamiya can spray paint overnight, I applied 4 coats of tamiya bright red (one mist coat, one medium coat, and two wet coats) and once that was applied and sat for 20 minutes while I cleaned out my air brush I applied 3 medium coats of Tamiya clear red. Once that had sat again while I cleaned out my airbrush, I appled 4 coats of Tamiya acrylic clear mixed 50/50 with denatured alcohol.(1 mist coat, 1 medium coat, and two wet coats) I'll let the body sit for a good 3 days and then it will get wet sanded and polished out. The top was left pretty much unpainted since it will get a vinyl top anyways.

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That's pretty much where I'm at with it at the moment.

More to come as I get it more done. Thanks for checking out my build and stay tuned for more.

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Nice project. Although, AMT never altered / cut up the tooling when they released the pro street version back in the day. There were two setups of tooling made up for this kit back in 89. the stock release first and then the pro street right after. They both pretty much remained unchanged in various releases for two decades until recently with the grumpy's toy version..

I'm really digging that 4dr wagon body. Didn't know someone offered it. One I really wish someone would make avaliable in resin would be the 1st gen 62-64 nova post sedan in both 2 and 4dr bodies..

Thanks Matt. And thanks for the corrected info. I was out of the hobby for awhile so I don't remember another release of the stock version, after the initial 89 release, until right around the year 2000 when they released the Millennium Issue, and then not again until the Resto Rod version. There have been many reissues of the pro-street version over the years from what I remember seeing on store shelves. The tooling on the very few newer releases of the stock versions all seem to have a lot shallower panel lines and the mold seam lines seem alot more prevalent. The reason why I thought maybe AMT modified the original chassis, was for a couple reason.. one because the stock version dissappeared for quite a long time after the pro-street came out, and the secound was comparing the chassis on the recent releases to the original, there is a "trade mark" and "rights use" scribed on the newer ones that wasnt on the original one, which suggests they did work on the chassis tooling at some point.

As for the wagon body, you can get both a 4 door and a nomad version from Bandit resins. And Jimmy Flintstone also offers a nomad version. I agree, I would love to see a gen one post sedan version.

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Now I see why you were asking about '67 Rally wheels. BTW in your original pics, the coupe is a '66 with '67 Rally wheels, and the wagon is a '67 also with '67 Rally wheels.

This should be a cool project. Model on!

Hi Snake, thanks alot. You are correct my friend. That's the reason I went on the hunt for the rallys. And your right on the years of the refference pics. But I wanted to give everyone a general idea of the color schemes and styles Im think of for these builds.

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Jim,

I love your projects and attention to detail. Bandit Resins also did an excellent '66-7 Chevy II 2-door post sedan. I have it, and I am very happy. One day I will build it. I have not gotten my hands on a wagon, as I may try my hand at scratchbuilding one, using the bones from the AMT Boss Nova Funny Car, if I do not turn it into a gasser.

RH

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The AMT 67 chevelle, stock version, has those rallys with the 67 specific center cap. So does the AMT 67 impala. I would use either of those over the Revell 67 chevelle as the AMT wheels would look more in scale and fit the nova kit tires better since the Revell version is a bit larger in rim diameter and might look too big.

I need to pick up a few of these "grumpy's" Novas as I haven't built the stock version since the 89 issuie. They released the pro street version more than the stock version over the years. The stock chassis/ suspension is pretty much the same as the 1st gen Novas and could be used under the " rat packer" 65 Nova or the "BossNova" 64 wagon. to help convert either back to stock.

It would have been neat if they included the stock chassis plate with related rear suspension/ stock exhaust and stock/ cragar wheels/ tires along with the stock interior all in with the pro street kit and made the 66 nova a 3 in 1 kit allowing you to built it as stock, street machine or pro streeter.

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Very cool builds and concept. I love wagons!

I have a question though, what is your method for black washing the panel lines? They look very crisp and realistic.

Hi James, for panel lines. I always scribe the lines a little deeper with the back edge of a number 11 exacto blade. I always use a new blade and use the back edge of the very tip of it so it scribes clean. Once that is done, I use a black wash of eiher an acrylic simi-gloss black paint extremely thinned out with water so it flows into the panel lines and the excess can be wiped off easier, or sometimes I use a product I get from my LHS called Game Color Wash from Lavado. Usually their black shade, its a pre-mixed wash. To apply it I use a super fine tipped hobby brush. Just dip it in the wash and touch the panel lines and let it flow into the seems. Once it drys, I go on and paint my model as usual. And no the paint does not completely cover the black wash. If you scribed the lines deep enough then the paint cant reach deep enough to cover the black wash, leaving a nice crisp looking shadow that looks more realistic.

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Jim,

I love your projects and attention to detail. Bandit Resins also did an excellent '66-7 Chevy II 2-door post sedan. I have it, and I am very happy. One day I will build it. I have not gotten my hands on a wagon, as I may try my hand at scratchbuilding one, using the bones from the AMT Boss Nova Funny Car, if I do not turn it into a gasser.

RH

Thanks Ron, and yes Bandit does do a nice 2 door post version as well. I also thought about scratch building a wagon, but figured since Bandit already did one, why waste the time and energy on doing my one when I was able to get his and it was well done.

Edited by microwheel
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The AMT 67 chevelle, stock version, has those rallys with the 67 specific center cap. So does the AMT 67 impala. I would use either of those over the Revell 67 chevelle as the AMT wheels would look more in scale and fit the nova kit tires better since the Revell version is a bit larger in rim diameter and might look too big.

I need to pick up a few of these "grumpy's" Novas as I haven't built the stock version since the 89 issuie. They released the pro street version more than the stock version over the years. The stock chassis/ suspension is pretty much the same as the 1st gen Novas and could be used under the " rat packer" 65 Nova or the "BossNova" 64 wagon. to help convert either back to stock.

It would have been neat if they included the stock chassis plate with related rear suspension/ stock exhaust and stock/ cragar wheels/ tires along with the stock interior all in with the pro street kit and made the 66 nova a 3 in 1 kit allowing you to built it as stock, street machine or pro streeter.

Thanks Matt, and yes those kits have the correct rally wheels, several kits do, but at the moment I dont have any of them in my collection and I cant see buying a full kit right now just for a set of wheels. And your right with some modiying for fitment, Im sure the chassis could be used for the 64 or 65 novas to do a stock version. And I totally agree with you. If AMT had released a 3 in one kit with all the needed parts for any of the versions, I bet they would have some even more of them than they did.

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tuned in... can't wait to see what you do with these...

Thans Tyrone, I hope to get back on this project in the next couple of days. I'm finishing up some work on my 1:1 truck brakes. It's been down on my for the past week and I need to get it finished so I can get it out of my garage. I sould have it finished my tomarrow afternoon. So my hope is to finally get back to work on this project this weekend.

Great job Jim. Very compelling project.

Thanks alot Gene I'm hoping they turn out the way I'm seeing both of them in my head lol. We'll see as I go along.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Evening guys, and sorry for the lack of updates. I havent had much time on the bench the past week or so. Had some personal family issues that had to be taken care of. Thanks for all of you who posted and I didn't get a chance to respond to.

I did try to get some time on the bench yesterday and today to get mom's toy started. It got the same body work treatment as pop's toy and then got a few coats of Tamiya fine white primer. Once the primer set up, I decanted a bottle full of Tamiya Dark Mica Blue and then applied two mist coats, one medium coat and two wet coats using my airbrush. When that was dry, I mixed up some Tamiya acrylic clear blue and applied one medium coat over the Mica blue to tone down the metal flake a little bit. Then just like Pop's toy, I mixed up some Tamiya acrylic clear coat at 50/50 with denatured alcohol and apply one mist coat, two medium coats and two wet coats. Now it has to site for a few days to a week to gas out, and I will wet sand and polish it out. I know it looks black in the pics, but it's not, and once I have it wet sanded and polished out I will take a few outdoor pics so you can see the difference.

I also decided that mom's toy will get a little bit of a custom street machine look. I plan to go with the Gibson Roadent 350 TPI engine for it. And no it will not get big wheels and it will not be a weed eater. Its just getting a mild custom sleeper look, so it will keep as close to a stock stance as I can get it. It will hopefully make sence later on.

I also took some time to start prepping the chassises for the two cars. Got them primered and getting ready to detail paint them.

Sorry to say thats as far as I've had time for the past two days. I will try to get more time on the bench to get more done this weekend. Pop's toy is about ready for wet sanding and polishing, so that will probably be my next task.

The paints used for mom's toy body

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The engine I plan to use for mom's toy (but it still isn't written in store on this one). Or I may go with the 283 yet or5 even the stroker engine I was thinking of using in pop's toy.

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Very early start on both cars chassis

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And finally a few pics of mom's toy with some color on the body.

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I hope to have more to post after the weekend if I get to spend some time on the workbench. I'm still waiting for a few odds and ends aftermarket stuff to come in and, I'm still planning out the detail stages.

Edited by microwheel
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