The Nova Express - Chevy II AWB - Completed with Final Pics

[Bernard Kron]

While I wait for decals and wheels to come from abroad for a Ferrari 250GT SWB project I've got going, I thought I do another large scale decal experiment in the form of a quick drag car project based on the AMT Chevy II Rat Packer Altered Wheelbase funny car kit. I'll be sticking pretty close to the kit build with only minor changes to the motor and wheels and tires. My focus is on the decals and paint scheme.

A popular style during the 60's for drag machines was full-body candy stripe style paint jobs. The most famous was probably the Ramchargers cars but many others were done in all manner of colors. The challenge when doing these decals is to align all those stripes with the proper axis of the car and keep them parallel. Making really large sheets with all the stripes for the surface on one piece is pretty much out of the question because the large decal will buckle, bubble and wrinkle. Instead I made patterns for the roof, hood and rear deck and then printed a set of 8 parallel black stripes with red borders spaced to fit across the width of all three areas. I then cut a set for each area (hood, rood and rear deck). Then I divided each set of eight into three pieces, 2 end pieces of 3 stripes each and a center piece of 2 stripes. By applying the outer 2 pieces first I could then center the middle piece and make sure the whole set was parallel within itself and aligned to the other two areas on the body.

Next up was designing (and naming) this fictitious car. With apologies to the late William Burroughs it's the Nova Express. All the decals were designed and made in Photoshop and printed to clear decal stock. Here's a summary of all the basic decal images with a schematic showing the relative areas for the hood, rood and rear deck.

To represent a lightweight fiberglass body I shaved all the trim away, including door handles. I also cut the front bumper away from the grille and made a simple front pan. The body color is Duplicolor Oxford White. The whole ensemble will get several coats of clear once the decals cure. Here's the result so far:

Most of the chassis and engine bits are already painted and waiting for assembly. This is a pretty simple project but a nice contrast from the meticulous attention the Ferrrari is demanding.

Thanx for lookin',
B.

Edited August 26, 2017 by Bernard Kron

[Alan]

Nice work !

[Limeyglue]

Really like the decal work

[Straightliner59]

Nice work, Bernard! Period perfect graphics!

[Snake45]

Very cool!

Bob Peck Chevrolet, Arlington, WA? I have vague memories of a Bob Peck Chevrolet in the Washington DC area, perhaps Arlington VA. Coincidence? (Or was that Bob Beck Chevrolet? It's been so long....)

[Draggon]

Nice work B. I just found this over yonder on TRaK. Carry on!

[iBorg]

Can you share what printer you used?

 

Mike

[Bernard Kron]

Thanks everyone!

Very cool!

Bob Peck Chevrolet, Arlington, WA? I have vague memories of a Bob Peck Chevrolet in the Washington DC area, perhaps Arlington VA. Coincidence? (Or was that Bob Beck Chevrolet? It's been so long....)

Not, not coincidence, but a mistake (or myopia) on my part. When I do my decals I try to include real references from the period of the build. In this case mid-late 60's, so I searched on images of 60's Chevrolet dealers. How could anyone pass up an image like the one below, even if I did mis-read the V for a W?...

The Bob Peck Chevrolet dealership at the corner of Wilson Boulevard and Glebe Road was one of Arlington’s most recognizable structures. The transparent circular auto showroom with the diamond motif canopy spelling out the dealership’s name has long been the focal point at that busy intersection. Architect Tony Musolino, who designed the building for Bob Peck recalls that Mr. Peck "wanted an exceptional building." He says, "I was trying to make the roof a billboard. . .and I was trying to make the roof look like it floats."

Can you share what printer you used?

 

Mike

I use an inexpensive all-in-one inkjet printer (scanner, printer, copier), a Canon MP560. It's now discontinued but similar ones are available from Canon for much less than $100.00. I like the Canon system because it uses separate ink cartridges for each color, including photo back as well as document black. Replacement no-name cartridges are incredibly cheap on eBay. In any case it's nothing special, and because it's an inkjet it doesn't print white, so either I print on white decal paper, or on clear decal paper on a light colored background. In this case the car is white so I printed everything on clear.

Edited August 20, 2017 by Bernard Kron

[Bernard Kron]

The chassis and interior are done and the body cleared. I livened up the fornt end a little by adding an additonal Nova Express logo to the front pan. This is a very basic model so I've been adding occasional detail as I go along, although I must admit to being inconsistent in this regard. For example the sides of the interior bucket are absolutely plain with no markings whatsoever. Nonetheless I didn't touch them, just shot them with the same Duplicolor Black Primer as the rest of the interior. And yet, because the model doesn't come with brakes I added discs from a Revell 32 Ford kit on all four corners, even though you'll never see them. The tires are from the kit,.Even though they're funky two-piece solid plastic numbers, they're actually nicely detaioed and with a shot of flat black they look quite nice. I swapped out the kit mags for a pair of deep reverse rim steelies from an AMT '49 Ford kit on the rear, and a set of MPC funny car Halibrand mag spindle mounts at the front. The motor is about half done and will be the subject of the next update. But, generally speaking, this build is pretty close to out-of-the-box.

Thanx for lookin',
B.

[Snake45]

Thanks for not painting the interior silver. Most of the funnies of this era didn't have nice aluminum panel interiors. They typically had the factory upholstery panels pulled off the stock sheetmetal, and whatever was underneath was what they ran with. If someone was feeling particularly "fancy" they might hit it all with some black or speckled paint. But very little aluminum in those days.

[Bernard Kron]

All done! Here are the final completion photos.

Thanx to all who followed along,
B.

[vintagercr]

Very nice!

[John Pol]

Looks good love those decals sure wish I knew how to do them

[magicmustang]

Thanks for not painting the interior silver. Most of the funnies of this era didn't have nice aluminum panel interiors. They typically had the factory upholstery panels pulled off the stock sheetmetal, and whatever was underneath was what they ran with. If someone was feeling particularly "fancy" they might hit it all with some black or speckled paint. But very little aluminum in those days.

Ah, but you gotta love Gene Snow's '66 AWB Dart "Rambunctious" all Aluminum interior. 

[RAT-T]

Ah, but you gotta love Gene Snow's '66 AWB Dart "Rambunctious" all Aluminum interior. 

GERALD, WOULD YOU HAVE MORE CLOSE UP PICS OF THE REST OF THIS CAR? MAYBE POST THEM IN THE 1;1 SECTION

THANKS

Edited August 27, 2017 by RAT-T
ADD TEXT

[eclecticbuilder]

WOW!!  That's just too cool!!  

[magicmustang]

GERALD, WOULD YOU HAVE MORE CLOSE UP PICS OF THE REST OF THIS CAR? MAYBE POST THEM IN THE 1;1 SECTION

THANKS

Yes, I do have more pics. it's a project that has been on my to do list for many years. I will try to put them on the 1:1 section

[RAT-T]

Yes, I do have more pics. it's a project that has been on my to do list for many years. I will try to put them on the 1:1 section

GREAT, THANK YOU

[Snake45]

Ah, but you gotta love Gene Snow's '66 AWB Dart "Rambunctious" all Aluminum interior. 

True, but as I said, the nicely paneled aluminum interior wasn't the rule--especially in the first-gen funnies like the '65 AWB Nova here. Snow's car was a next-gen car, a stepping stone towards the tube-chassised, glass-bodied floppers that Funnies would start becoming in 1966 with the Comets.

[Bernard Kron]

Thanks everyone. Glad you liked it. It's certainly true that home made decals are a way to personalize your model.

[Hmann68]

Great job and good work on those decals!

[Truck parts]

That is a great looking build

[Bernard Kron]

Thanks, Christopher and Gordon. Glad you all dig it.

[Limeyglue]

Really cool build

[Bernard Kron]

Thanks Lee. Glad you dig it!