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69 COPO Nova (UPDATE - COMPLETED & UNDER GLASS 1-5-17)


lghtngyello03

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Started this one Saturday evening now that I have finished my 3000GT build. Plan on building box stock, maybe lower the front a little bit to get it out of the air, and sanding off the goofy fender vent/gills. May not be correct, but I have never liked the way that these looked on these cars. Paint is going to be Chevrolet Green Mist from ScaleFinishes.

Upon taking this one out of the box, I was impressed with the contents, but not with the mold lines left on the body. The trunk has the most hideous mold line ever on it. Also looks like something happened during shipping to the store that left a huge indention on the drivers side C-pillar. So I addressed this first and foremost. I used Tamiya putty and the painters tape to keep my bodyline present during the sanding.

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This is my reference pic that I am shooting for, Minus the chrome around the windows. I'm on the fence about making the bottom rocker panel chrome trim.

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Here you can see the big dent left in the body from shipping.

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Pretty deep as it almost went through the plastic to the inside of the body.

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As stated, check out the horrible mold line on the trunk. Left side is corrected, right side is terrible.

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Edited by lghtngyello03
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Your body is fairly typical of the molding sinkholes and parting lines with this kit.

Not all '69 Novas had those goofy gills. Mine sure didn't, but it was a low-line 6-cyl.

Nice to know about the gills Richard. I haven't done my research on them yet, lol. I haven't looked enough of them up on the internet yet. My Dad is my biggest resource as he had BLAH_BLAH_BLAH_BLAH tons of SS Nova's, SS Chevelle's, Monte Carlo's, C10's....pretty much all of the cool 60-70 model Chevy's back in the day. I didn't get the chance to ask him about the gills yesterday when I talked to him. Was mainly asking about underbody and correct engines for this car.

Richard, would you happen to know if your Nova was all black on the floorpan/chassis or did it happen to have any red oxide primer with body color overspray?

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Nice to know about the gills Richard. I haven't done my research on them yet, lol. I haven't looked enough of them up on the internet yet. My Dad is my biggest resource as he had BLAH_BLAH_BLAH_BLAH tons of SS Nova's, SS Chevelle's, Monte Carlo's, C10's....pretty much all of the cool 60-70 model Chevy's back in the day. I didn't get the chance to ask him about the gills yesterday when I talked to him. Was mainly asking about underbody and correct engines for this car.

Richard, would you happen to know if your Nova was all black on the floorpan/chassis or did it happen to have any red oxide primer with body color overspray?

Mine was all a dusty/dirty tannish-gray underneath, from what I saw of it.

BTW, if you're interested in accuracy to that level, you DO realize that there's no such thing as a '69 "COPO Nova," don't you? This kit is a phantom, a complete Revell fabrication. Doesn't mean it can't be built as a cool Day Two or What-If model, though.

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Mine was all a dusty/dirty tannish-gray underneath, from what I saw of it.

BTW, if you're interested in accuracy to that level, you DO realize that there's no such thing as a '69 "COPO Nova," don't you? This kit is a phantom, a complete Revell fabrication. Doesn't mean it can't be built as a cool Day Two or What-If model, though.

Yes, I do know there was no such thing as a 69 COPO Nova. Just would like to have the floorpan painted the correct colors for what any trim level of Nova would have had in 1969.

 

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Most Novas and Camaros of this vintage I've seen had dark gray primer* floors, with the front subframe in semgloss black. Don't forget that the subframe was installed AFTER body painting, so, no body-color overspray on the subframe.

*Model Master Gunship Gray 36118 is in the ballpark, as is Rustoleum primer.

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Every Nova I have had or seen had gray primer on the floors, I like to use DupliColor Hot Rod Gray Primer. Odd, my '62 Convertible has Light Gray on the exterior floors, but the inside of the car is red oxide primer.

Regarding the Chrome around the windows, I have never seen a Nova with Chrome drip rails as in the picture, unless it had a vinyl top. The chrome around the doors and rear quarter windows is more common or no chrome at all. Both my '68 and '69 have no chrome around the windows, my '72 6cyl and '72 SS both have the chrome on the door and rear quarter windows.

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Most Novas and Camaros of this vintage I've seen had dark gray primer* floors, with the front subframe in semgloss black. Don't forget that the subframe was installed AFTER body painting, so, no body-color overspray on the subframe.

*Model Master Gunship Gray 36118 is in the ballpark, as is Rustoleum primer.

Thanks Richard. I was aware of the subframe as well. I'll look for some Rustoleum primer for that. I just want it to look period correct.

Also, I have a question for the engine color. I couldn't find any model paint for Chevy Engine Orange in my neck of the woods. So, I bought a can of Duplicolor Engine Enamel for the Chevrolet orange, but I want to airbrush it. Have you ever airbrushed any of the Duplicolor engine paint? If so, how and what did you use to thin it, ratio etc.?

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If I'm rattlecanning Chevy engines, I just prime 'em and them shoot em right out of the can. I lay on two or three misty coats--put it on too wet and it will flow out and look too thick and glossy.

Also, for an engine of this vintage, you want Chevrolet Engine Red, a brilliant red-orange. Chevrolet Engine Orange is a pure orange color for late '50s-early '60s small blocks.

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Every Nova I have had or seen had gray primer on the floors, I like to use DupliColor Hot Rod Gray Primer. Odd, my '62 Convertible has Light Gray on the exterior floors, but the inside of the car is red oxide primer.

Regarding the Chrome around the windows, I have never seen a Nova with Chrome drip rails as in the picture, unless it had a vinyl top. The chrome around the doors and rear quarter windows is more common or no chrome at all. Both my '68 and '69 have no chrome around the windows, my '72 6cyl and '72 SS both have the chrome on the door and rear quarter windows.

I didn't plan on doing the chrome around the doors or drip rails either. Just planned on doing the front windshield chrome, and back glass chrome.

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If I'm rattlecanning Chevy engines, I just prime 'em and them shoot em right out of the can. I lay on two or three misty coats--put it on too wet and it will flow out and look too thick and glossy.

Also, for an engine of this vintage, you want Chevrolet Engine Red, a brilliant red-orange. Chevrolet Engine Orange is a pure orange color for late '50s-early '60s small blocks.

Thanks Snake,

Edited by lghtngyello03
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Didn't get much done, but at least the body is ready for primer now.  I got all of the panel lines scribed, mold lines removed, and removed all of the emblems and fender gills on the body. I plan on buying the Model Cars Garage photo etch kit for all of the emblems. Can anyone tell me if the side marker lights are included in the photo etch kit? This way I can get these sanded off as well if they are included with the photo etch.

Before pics

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I put painters tape on all of my body lines/panel lines so I wouldn't lose any of them while sanding.

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After pics

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If you've taken off the gills and side emblems, you can soften the body crease line a little bit--Revell molded that just a little too crisply. It's hard to do and keep the Nova side emblem, but you've eliminated that obstacle.

Thanks, I'll give it a try.

cool build !

Thanks Richard.

There was a Nova and a Camaro in that color on the tables at this weekend's NNL in Atlanta

 

I wish I could have made it to that one. Hope to do a lot of detailing on this car for the Hope it Don't Snow Show in January.

That looks like a nice start to what should be a great model.

Thank you.

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I had a little time tonight to spray all of my chrome parts with SpazStix Chrome through my airbrush. All of these parts pictured have NOT been buffed yet. Everything laid down good and smooth and looks really chrome-like, a much more realistic look compared to the kit plated chrome. Again, I'm much more impressed with the SpazStix Chrome vs. the Alclad Chrome.

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Got a good bit accomplished last night with the small amount of time I had. I sprayed the engine, with my airbrush, using Model Masters Chevrolet Engine Red enamel last Friday. So, it has had 4-5 days to dry so I can handle it with no worries.

I really want to go detailed on this build so, this is my first build with plug wires, breather hoses, heater hoses, and fuel lines, so go easy on me, lol.

I also managed to get my front bumper/grille detailed and ready to go after painting with SpazStix Chrome. I just noticed while I was uploading the pics, I have to detail around the headlights, doh, lol.

I decided to go with a cowl hood from the SS Nova kit as well, so I picked one up off of Ebay.

Also pictured are all parts after painting with SpazStix Chrome.

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I know the air cleaner isn't pushed down all of the way, I just did this pic for reference of the breather on the passenger side valve cover.20161115_213954.jpg

 

 I just noticed while I was uploading the pics, I have to detail around the headlights, doh, lol.20161115_213640.jpg

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Edited by lghtngyello03
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