AdamC

I'm reviving this thread after a 3 month break. Everything was going along smoothly until I screwed up some of the interior painting. That frustrated me a bit so I set this kit aside and worked on some other things. This past week I brought it back out and stripped and repainted the pieces I messed up so I'll start posting more updates. When I last posted about color selection the plan was to use an airbrush and some acrylic craft paint. Somewhere between that post and actually painting the exterior I ended up switching to a rattle can. I used Tamiya TS-22 Light Green and for me it falls into the "close enough" category, even if it is a bit psychedelic. I don't think my phone liked a bright green car on a green place mat. It doesn't look quite as bright green in person. Next up, painting the black trim pieces on the body and working on the interior. I'm not 100% happy with the interior color I chose so I may play around with some oil washes to shift the color. If I screw it up it'll get stripped and repainted again.

I saw this nifty Dodge A100 van today.

I saw this engine upgrade when I was looking around online for kit reviews and build logs. I was tempted to buy it, but decided to stick with an OOTB build. I'm still SUPER tempted to replace the kit seats though. Looking forward to seeing your build progress!

I may try to draw them up in 3D myself to have printed. I found photos on Ebay listings that I can use for reference, including some that are almost directly perpendicular to the face. I use SketchUp at work on a fairly regular basis, and I think I can draw a hub cap. We'll see!

Does anyone know if these hubcaps are made by anyone? I'm gathering parts to model my family's '78 Chevy 2WD truck and these are the last major parts I'd need.

Since you guys like old photos, let me share this one. I'm not related to either of these ladies. Occasionally when I'm at a thrift store or antique mall I'll find boxes of old photos and I love to go through them, especially for interesting candid shots. I found this one a few years ago and love everything about it.

I found another one last night I forgot I had on my phone. This is my dad, probably in the fall/winter of 1950. Any guesses on the car?

I'll probably try spraying it as-is over regular grey primer, black primer, and maybe try to tone it down very slightly with some darker color and see what they look like before spraying on the body.

That's really interesting. I'd love to know the story behind that. I'll have to look through my grandma's photos the next time I'm in WV for a visit. Maybe she'll have more photos of it.

I'd say you're right. Certainly looks very similar to the photo Casey shared. I'm seeing a different bumper, and maybe a deeper head light. Thanks!

Hi everyone. While home over Christmas, looking for photos of my parent's '70 Nova, I came across these old family photos and I'm trying to ID the cars. I think, based on looking at some old car brochures the first car is a 1941 Chevy Town Sedan. That would have been my grandparent's car when my mom was born. The third photo, I'm not sure. So, would anyone like to test their car ID skills? Thanks! '41 Chevy Town Sedan? Can anyone ID this one?

I went looking for paint this weekend, trying to find a color close to Bali Green. I've read about using craft paints and watched a few YouTube videos so I'm going to try one of those and see what happens. Obviously I'll experiment on some spoons before air brushing the body. I ended up with a Martha Stewart multi-surface satin acrylic called "Snow Pea". It's close in my eye, but just slightly too "bright". If I want to try to tone it down a bit, without darkening it too much, should I use a drop black or a darker shade of green? Any thoughts?

Two months ago I posted an introduction, and today I finally started the first model I've attempted in over 20 years. I know this kind of car isn't everyone's cup of tea, but it's supposed to go together pretty easily and for whatever reason I've always liked little hatchbacks. My goal is to finish it by the end of January. I found a pretty detailed build log on YouTube for this kit and I'll be following along with most of that. After searching the stock color options for VW Rabbits I landed on this Bali Green example with a tan interior. The plan is to build it out of the box, no super detailing or anything. For my first car model I want to enjoy the build, and have fun with it. Tonight I did some body work. I sanded down the mold seams and removed some very minor flash. Then I sanded down the whole body to get it ready for primer. I also started with "step 1" and worked on painting some bits of the engine. I'll post updates as they come.

Thanks Casey. I'll definitely be practicing doing this on some scrap styrene before I attempt this on a final model. I found a close up of the trim on ebay. If you were trying to do this profile would you do the whole chrome trim as one piece and them somehow add the black stripe to it? It looks like the trim is around 1.5" wide, which if I'm doing the calculations correctly would be .06" at 1:24 scale. That's around 1/16" worth of Evergreen styrene. I may make a trip to some local shops tomorrow to see what kind of styrene strips they have.

Does anyone have any insight into adding trim to a model that doesn't already have it? Specifically, I'm looking at this 78 Short Bed Chevy build. I want to build a similar model of the family truck we had from '78 through the mid 80s. I'll need to add the chrome trim package but I've never done this before and I'm not sure where to start.

I wanted to post a quick update. I've got the Revell '69 Nova to start that project. I went with the COPO boxing suggested by @espo. I didn't have time at Thanksgiving to go through old photos, but I should be able to do it this weekend. I'll bring them home and scan them and share a few when I start a build log. As for the '78 Chevy pickup, I bought the Dust Devil kit that @Can-Con suggested so I think I have the correct front half of the truck. I'll still have to find a bench seat somewhere. I also found out my parent's truck was a short bed. Would the MPC Deserter kit give me the bed I need? Thanks again everyone for the help.

Art, I found this while looking around online. Would this aftermarket bed work for what I need it for? Chevy Long Bed - madmodeling.com

If memory serves me correctly that's what it looked like. It sounds like, based on your comments and Art's comments that it's possible to make a model of this truck, but it's going to take a bit of work. Sounds like it could be a fun challenge. I'll have to just wait I guess and keep an eye out for the '74 Caprice model. If one shows up and doesn't cost an arm and a leg I'll grab it. Based on all the comments it looks like the '70 Nova will be the easiest to try to replicate. I guess I'll start with that one!

Casey, thanks for the info. My knowledge of cars in general is pretty shallow so I appreciate your help. I'll keep my eyes open for a '74 Caprice. I'm also willing to wait and hope it's reissued at some point. Regarding the truck (after googling what a fleetside is), yes it was a fleetside. This is probably the first vehicle I can say I have memories of, and I'm almost sure my dad let me "drive" it once between our house and my grandparent's house; a whole 200' down what was more or less a gravel driveway. According to my mom it was 2-tone tan w/ burgundy side panels, and she had my dad get the side panels repainted to light blue when she started driving it as her primary vehicle.

I'm looking for some knowledge/advice on modeling the cars my parents owned during the '70s. They traded the first one the year I was born so I'm not 100% sure I ever rode in it, but photos exist somewhere so I should have references for all of these post Thanksgiving. First: 1970 Chevy Nova (not an SS though). I'm assuming I should start with a Revell or AMT kit. Is one a better option? How hard will it be to "downgrade" it to a non SS model? Next: 1974 Chevy Impala. Does anyone make a model of this and/or is it possible to model with another model year kit? And finally: 1978 Chevy Cheyenne Pickup. I saw this morning Revell is issuing a '78 GMC pickup in December. Would that be the best place to start? All help and comments welcome!

Hey all. First let me say I'm glad to have found what appears to be an active, friendly, and helpful forum. I'm returning to the model building hobby after at least 20 years away. I used to build model aircraft and I'm still interested in those, but for whatever reason I've developed an interest in cars this time around. I'm not sure what my first kit will be, but at some point I want to build a '70 Nova based on my parent's first car. I'm going to dig through some family albums over Thanksgiving for some reference photos.