microwheel

Nice work so far Mark. I like the weathering effect your giving everything. Now that's what a daily driver really looks like lol.

Well Joe, I'm imppressed with what you've got done so far my friend. Be patient buddy, it'll all pay off in the end. I run accross my share of issues on every build, but I work through it and end up happy with the final outcome. You will too, I'm sure.

For the front grill of both Novas I plan to use the photo-etched insert from the model car garage detail set. This means a lot of cutting and grinding to open up the needed areas. I removed the area of the molded in grill as well as the openings around the turn signals. I then shaped and trimmed the supplied photo-etched grill to fit the opened up area. The photo-etched grill was then CA glued into place. I then epoxied the headlights in place and CA glued the photo-etched Chevy II and SS emblems onto the grill. I detail painted the turn signals with Tamiya clear orange and added a little body color between the bumper and grill assembly. And that's pretty much where I'm at for today. I'll post more as I get things done. Thanks for looking guys. I will try to get on again later this evening and check out some of you all's builds. I really enjoy watching some of the progress you guys do on your works in progress.

morning guys, been awhile since I had anytime to spend on the bench, but I finally got a little time last night and this morning to do a little work on the Novas. I decided for now to work on completing the 66 nova SS (pops toy) and then move on to the 66 nova wagon. I didn't get a lot done but I did get a few odds and ends done. Last night worked on getting the front suspension shocks and springs made. I still have a lot to do on the front suspension, but I'll get to that I hope later this week. To make the shocks and springs, I coiled a couple of pieces of craft wire around the threads of a screw and cut them to the same length as the kit springs. I then prepped some evergreen plasic tube and rod to make the shocks. After cutting the tube and rod to length for the shocks, I cut the top and bottom off the kit springs and CA glued one of them to the spring and the other to one end of the shock and then test fitted the parts together to make sure they would fit. The parts were then seperated. I detail painted the shocks. And detail painted the springs. The parts were then reassembled and glued into place on the chassis. That's as far as I got on the front suspension for now, but I hope to get the rest of the front suspension finished up later this week. In the post to follow I moved on to working on the front grill and bumper assembly. So check back in a few and I'll have the write up for it posted.

Nice progress Tim. I've been swamped with things to do around here myself the past few weeks and haven't had any bench time on the 2 nova builds or even time to get on the site. But after this weekend I hope to finally be able to get some time back for me. lol

Nice work on the drive shaft and the brake lines Joe. Sorry I ain't been around on the site much the past couple weeks. Been so busy with honey do lists and getting the all the changes made the new motorhome to satisfy the wifey. I hope to get back on the bench with the Novas soon.

Afternoon guys, Just a small update for today. Had a great time with the family over the holiday weekend. Camping was fun even though it we did get a little bit of rain on Monday and had to pack up and leave early. I spent a little time yesterday and this morning getting started on the chassis detail for the Nova SS. Got the main brake line run and the fuel line. Also got started on the E-brake cable. I mocked the drivers side exhaust and the rear-end suspension in place, temporarily, so I could make sure of clearances. Still got to run the brake lines to each rear wheel as well as the e-brake cables to each rear wheel. Then the exhaust has to be completed before I can permanently mount the rear-end. I am giving the rear suspension a little bit of a lift so the car will have a slight rake in the stance. You'll understand my thought process with it when I get that far. Here's a pic of where it's at on the bench so far. More to come as I get it done.

Well regardless of what ya wanna call it, your still doing a outstanding job on it. Sorry if I offended you with my last comment.

Cool project, and very nicely built so far. I'm not trying to be a idoit here, or offend anyone, and this is only my opinion, but actually a "TOY" is something you play with. A model kit is ment to be a scale replica that you assemble, unless you plan to play with it. Just like a die cast replica, only you build them and set them on your shelf for display. A lot of guys in this hobby spend as much time on thier model kits as some people do on building and restoring 1:1 cars. I know, I do both, and enjoy both. And it's ok to build them how you wish. That's the best part about this hobby. But, to call them Toys, humm, I guess it's ok to call them what you want, but to the die hard hobbists, they are scale replicas meant to be enjoyed during assembly and admired on the shelf when completed.

Going to be heading out this afternoon for a little camping this weekend guys. Was hoping to get a little bench time this morning, but got to much to do. Hope to be back at it, on the bench, the first of the week. Have a good holiday everyone.

Well you did it correctly my friend. That's pretty much the way I do it. Just remember flat colored paints close to the same color as the flocking work best. Gloss or semi-gloss colors tend to show through the flocking.

Well dog gone it Tim, I knew there was something I was supposed to be doing this week.... Now see.. you should have reminded me.. I was supposed to do a write up on my interior flocking for ya.. Darn.. Sorry buddy.. Well, from the looks of it, you figured it out anyways. From what I see it turned out just fine my friend. Sometimes ya gotta give this old brain's memory a jolt to get it to remember anything these days lol. But seriously, Nice work Tim.

Your firewall turned out nice Carl. Would have got on to get it out sooner, but had a issue with the batteries in my motorhome, earlier that needed my attention.

A test fit of the painted rear end on the chassis Still alot of chassis detail work to do. I plan to add brake and fuel lines and E-brake cables. A few shots of the rear wheels test fitted to the rear end and chassis That's pretty much where I'm at for now. Heading out to go camping with the wife and son tomarrow. Hope to get back on the bench after the weekend.

Started working on a few things the past few days for the chassis. To start with I got the rear wheels detail painted. I'm using a set of AMT wheel pack redline F60-15's for the tires on the Nova SS for both front and back. I painted the outer hub area of the rims Tamiya gloss red, leaving the center caps and outer rings chrome. I gave the wheel backings a complete coat of gloss red and then painted the inner parts gunmetal. I applied a black wash to the groved area. I also painted the insides of the wheel backing gunmental and then painted the lip that meets the outer rims and shows through the outer rim holes, titan gold. Next I assembled and detail painted the rear end and leaf springs. The rear end was painted in Tamiya semi-gloss black and the leaf springs where painted in Tamiya gun metal. Not being a fan of metal axles, (mostly because they always seem to rotate with loose slop) I added some evergreen tubing to the areas where the metal axle exits both sides of the rear end housing to tighten them up. Later on I will detail the rear end with brake lines. Next I cleaned up the front engine bay firewall and fender panels and drilled mounting holes at the heater area for the heater hoses off the engine. To assemble the engine bay parts, I taped them unpainted to the chassis and then guled them together. Once the glue set up, I removed them and then painted the engine bay assembly Tamiya Semi-gloss black. Later I will add the engine bay detail components to the engine bay. That will get done later as I detail the chassis and install the engine. A test fit of the firewall and inner fender assembly to the painted chassis. More in the following post.....

Nicely done. Love the color

Same here. Been waiting to see someone start a build on this one.

Thanks Greg, I used aftermarket photo-etched linkage from the Model Car Garage. Thanks Carl my friend. We hope to, if the weather plays nice for us. It cooled off up here the past few days. Went from low 80s over this past weekend to only in the 50s and 60s the past few days. They say it's supposed to get back up around 70 this weekend, but we will see lol.

Greg what are you using for clear coat? Are you using automotive acrylic clear over Tamiya acrylic paints? If so, it may be what is causing it. Some atomotive acrylics dry faster and harder than tamiya acrylics. Aside from that, the only other time I've seen that probem is when I was polishing out a body, I flexed it too much, as I was handling it, during the wet sanding process, causing the paint to crack, but that was usually only in areas where the body could flex alot. If it's a compatibility issue between the tamiya acrylic color coats and a non-tamiya acrylic clear, you can always try clearing it with tamiya acrylic clear the next go round and it should work out fine.

Really looking good Joe. I know what ya mean about ejector pin marks. Seems like ya find them alot on domestic kits especially older ones.

Looking Really good Tim. Nice write up on the Maskol.

LOL can't wait for the day to come when the wife and I hit the road for a few years of traveling around the country. Less than 2 years till she retires and then its, Prep The Motorhome, and away we go!

Well if you want to simulate bolt and nut harware without actually using true nuts and bolts, you can always buy some Plastruct brand plastic hex rod. Most local hobby shops that sell train detailing supplies will have both the Evergreen and Plastruct brands of scratch building plastics. Only the Plastruct brand makes plastic hex rod. For the average 1/25 scale common sizes of bolts and nuts, you'll want the hex rod in .020 (smallest), .030 (average for common sizes) and .040 (makes great line fittings). Nice thing about it, is, it comes with 10 pieces in a pack and each piece is 10 inches long. How many bolts and nuts can you cut and make out of 10- 10 inch pieces? Can you say, it will last a loooooong time. To make a scale bolt, just cut a piece of hex rod for the bolt head and glue it to a smaller diameter length of round rod and you have whatever length bolt you need. For a nut, same thing, cut a piece of hex rod and drill a hole in the center of it and ya got a nut. And best part of all, if the floor monster swallows one on you, it's not hard or costly to make another one.

I have scratch made my own and even drilled out a few kit supplied ones, and I have used many aftermarket distributors over the years. But just recently, I tried a few from Madmodeling.com and I'm hooked. I like the idea that they let you choose you plug wire colors with your cap selection, this makes custom detailing for them almost limitless. Mad distributors get my vote for aftermarket distributor of choice.

Thank you kindly Kris. We sure will. We camp over near Gaylord. I know what you mean about a rough winter. By the way you distributors really worked out nice on these builds. I'll be ordering more of them in the future, as well as some of your other stuff.