AMT '72 Nova

[polybius]

First, let me explain the color.  I had an old can of Duplicolor DSGM4780 Dark Green that would have otherwise been thrown away but I was hoping to find a use for it.  Second, let me explain the kit.  A few years ago the local Ollie's had a shelf full of these kits at their 'good stuff cheap' price.  So I picked up a few of them with some ideas of variations.  Having never built one of these before, and never having much interest in them, I figured I could still put them to good use.  Then I opened one and saw the horribly misaligned roof and c-pillars.  Then I saw the separate front fenders that looked like they'd never align with the body.  Initially I thought it must have been a bad batch of kits and likely the reason they were at Ollie's and thus cheap.  But after reading the years and years worth of reviews and builds it soon became obvious these were just badly molded kits from its Pro Stocker and Novacaine beginnings back in the 70s.  I took the unopened kits and my receipt back to the store and returned them, keeping only this one that I'd already opened.

I set about to work on the roof and c-pillars to get them as close to aligned as possible and with much fitting and fiddling got the front fenders attached.  After finishing up the bodywork and getting it in primer, the search for its color quickly ended when I came across that can of green paint.  Combining what might be one of the worst kits with such an unwanted color seemed an appropriate conspiracy to put them both to good use.  After spraying and clearcoating the paint, the interior, chassis, and engine assembly progressed until it was time to mate it all together.  It then sat in its box for more than two years until I recently rediscovered it.  After looking it over, I decided to list the painted and partially assembled heap on a popular online auction site.  After weeks of offending online shoppers with its hideousness and nary bid for even $15, I sympathized with it and took down the listing.  The only option, at that point, was to finish the ugly thing.

It's box stock with only some ignition and battery wires added.  The kit lacked mirrors of any sort, so the sideview was sourced from the parts bin.  The interior is a creamy white with black flocking and chrome trim.  The wheels are the kit's ZJ7 style rally wheels but the tires are some Firestone Super Sports sourced from the parts bin.  Since the theme of this kit is 'nothing fits' the metal axles were no exception and were too short.  Some metal rod was cut to the correct size.  Along with the aforementioned bodywork on the roofline, I removed the molded in SS style hood vents to give it a more basic appearance.  It reminds me of a story my aunt once told us about our colorblind uncle who bought a new Chevy Scottsdale in the late 70s.  He pointed it out to her and said, "It's that black one over there."  As they walked closer to it she realized he bought an ugly green truck believing it was shiny black.  I'm pretty sure this can of Duplicolor would have been the perfect match.  

[Can-Con]

Looks good to me ,, I like the color.

[Scott8950]

Looks like you done a great with it.

[cobraman]

Looks good to me as well.

[Snake45]

Wow, you did GREAT with this wretched old backbirth of a kit! Great fixes on the roof/C-pillars AND the fit of the fenders. I don't think I've ever seen one built better. Well done and model on! 

[Hard_2_Handle_454]

Dude, you took a turd an polished it into something beautiful.  I got one of these kits from a Hobbytown store and they were horrible kits like you said.  Mine looks nowhere near as good.

[Rotorbolt73]

Man that turned out great looking . I've got several of these. Some from Ollie's too.. I can't see what you guys go on about them being a terrible kit..I see nothing wrong..it turns out great with some work..you showed it could be built . Just takes a thing called skill to do it. Which you have..I recently built the 72 GTO with no problem showing it too can be built. these kits are the same as they were when I was a kid 30-40 years ago. I've built the more recent revell 69 Nova..it was ok..but lacking in a challenge to my skills..given the choice, I would still buy the AMT kit here. Which I'm grateful that it is still available all these decades later.

So you did a superb job on building this. It's a testimony to your building skills. excellent.

[Rotorbolt73]

Nice colors too. The stock flat hood is a unique touch.

Edited April 6, 2020 by Rotorbolt73

[charger74]

Very nice

[shoopdog]

Looks good, I also like the color.

[NOBLNG]

Turned out great! I admire your skills and your diligence.

[rickcaps55]

All the times I have seen someone build one of these kits this one is really a awesome build very nice I have a couple of these kits I should really start one now we have the time right.!!!

[Tom99]

Very nice!

[wrenchr]

10 hours ago, Snake45 said:

Wow, you did GREAT with this wretched old backbirth of a kit! Great fixes on the roof/C-pillars AND the fit of the fenders. I don't think I've ever seen one built better. Well done and model on! 

X2!!

[espo]

Your correct, that color is an acquired taste , but the build looks great. The kit's body proportions look a little off in the area of the Windshield and side Windows look to tall. The Roof over the Windshield would have extended down a little bit over the top of the Windshield. You did get a great paint job with that paint. The tinted windshield is a nice touch as well as the extra cost chrome moldings around the side windows.     

[Classicgas]

Wow! Hands down the best build I have EVER seen of that kit, and the green is great, not far from Rally green if it had some metallic in it.

Edited April 6, 2020 by Classicgas

[Nazz]

Color looks great. Nice job on a very difficult kit. I like it!  Color is perceptive, what one person likes another will not. Great  example off making lemonade  out of lemons.

[1972coronet]

Nice , perfect '72 Nova !

I have the c.1996 issue of the Old Pro in the stash ( Lord knows how many of the original issue I've built over the years -- K-Mart used to sell them for something like 50 cents back in the 80's ! ) .

I'm planning on building a phantom 1972 LT-1 COPO from mine .

[spencer1984]

Add another voice to the "looks good to me" chorus. I built two of these, and while I was happy with the results both were intentionally rough (one being the "crappy blue Chevy Nova" suggested by the box art). Nice to see that with some effort they can be built clean as well!

[Bob Ellis]

Nice job on this Nova, Front fenders can be a bit finicky. AMT did this to sell the Novacaine kit with different fenders and then selling the Ventura kit with totally different front end.

Don't say that" they don't make them like they used to anymore." This kit is proof.

[stavanzer]

Great Build. Inspires me to get back to mine.

[LouO]

Having built it's sister kit (The Old Pro) a few times; this is one of the nicest (if not THE nicest) builds of this kit I have ever seen. Nice work.

[RAMBENNA]

turned out great. nicely done

[gman]

That certainly looks like a '72 Nova to me. Paintwork (and the rest of the build) looks great!

[afx]

Very nice.