69 Nova - Do over

[Kmb0319]

I built the Revell 69 Nova kit back in the Spring of last year.  I loved the kit... just fell together beautifully, and I like Novas... they weren't my all time favorite, but they were cool, and they were common when I was in my teen years back in the 80s.  I built the model and posted it here back in April.  When I was finished, while it was a great kit and everything came out OK, I wasn't quite happy with my result:

It all came out nicely, but I had 3 things that bothered me.  1.  The dark green, while a great color, just didn't seem to match this car somehow.  That sounds stupid, but something wasn't right.  Maybe I'd have liked the green better if:     2.  I found an ugly green called pea soup at my local hobby shop, and grabbed it.  The Nova wasn't Chevy's high-end vehicle... the ugly green interior fit, to me, and I liked how it came out:

But, the yellow-y pea green didn't mesh at all with the "Deep Jewel Green Metallic," and it just looked odd.  

Finally...     3.  I didn't like the Chevy Rallys in this kit... too flat and the holes were too square.  I had wanted to put a little wider rubber on it, but the rear fenders got in the way.  I wanted to use some of the pad-printed Goodyear Polyglas, but I couldn't get them to fit or hold any of the wheels I was thinking about using, so I ended up using the kit tires, which are just a little too skinny.  Then, for wheels, I couldn't find anything I liked, so I settled on a set of Magnum 500s from the 68 Charger kit.  All in all, not bad, but I just wasn't satisfied with it.

SO... this isn't a new build, but I took the Nova apart and set about making it into something that I liked better.  I played with different ideas, even thinking about repainting that interior without ruining the black portions and wrecking the decals, when the simplest solution presented itself:  my can of Verdoro Green.  Then, for wheels and tires, another idea:  I had a set of the larger diameter Magnum 500s from the 67 GTX kit available...  the slightly lower profile tires were also a little wider while still fitting under the wheel wells, and the larger diameter wheels gave the car a little more presence while still looking stock.  I painted the wheel centers in a steel paint since Chevy's Magnums weren't chrome, and stuck them on.  As of the pics, I still have to paint on the side marker lights and I'm looking for where I stashed the door handles when I took it apart, but overall, I'm happier.  Whatcha think?

Almost the same pic as the posted original version:

[Daniel Lynch]

Very nice ! Great job, I like these color ! 

Brsvo! 

[charger74]

Very nice, love the color

[Ron Hamilton]

The second round does look better. Great job!!!!

[DumpyDan]

Well your right, the new color looks really nice suits the car

[NYLIBUD]

Great looking car.I really like the color,and the interior came out great too.

[D. Battista]

Looks good...!

[vintagercr]

The new colour is much better.   Nice buils.

[PARTSMARTY]

That is awesome !!!

[donb]

The second round does look better. Great job!!!!

Agree! Much nicer.

[Snake45]

Very nice! I might have to try to find some of that paint myself.

[Kmb0319]

Very nice! I might have to try to find some of that paint myself.

I got mine from Automotive Touchup.  (automotivetouchup.com)  They sell any color for any model year of car.  I got verdoro green and Mercedes B396 blue for my 300 SL build.  Great paint, great automotive clearcoat.  I don't own an airbrush, so I buy the spray cans.  Those are $20 apiece, but they are big 16 oz cans. They also sell paint in cans for mixing.