A BETTER Old Pro Nova

[Brutalform]

Not getting too involved with this one right now. My carpal tunnel, ulnar nerve entrapment, and back problems have kept me from the bench. Especially when I have a few other projects to finish up. But I was toying around with this idea. Revell 69 Nova, with the vents removed, and the actual Old Pro scoop grafted onto the Revell hood. Stole a set of wheels and tires from the Dyno Don Comet. I’d like to paint it black, with the nice set of the AMT decals. What do you all think? 

[afx]

Not a Nova expert but IMHO the Revell is a significant improvement over the AMT.

[Brutalform]

4 minutes ago, afx said:

Not a Nova expert but IMHO the Revell is a significant improvement over the AMT.

I agree. This Old Pro kit caught my eye as a kid. I thought it was the coolest looking car. Then you were fooled by its contents. All I ever wanted was to have the car look like it does on the box. I’m sure a few people have done this before, but I figured I might as well too. I carved out the rear tail lights, to remove the separate back up light, but I’ll have to head to the LHS and get some red clear Evergreen. 

Edited March 16, 2021 by Brutalform

[Snake45]

Sounds like a plan, but I'd chop that goofy-ass hood scoop down to about half to two-thirds of its height. I think NHRA had a 7" scoop height rule at the time. 

2 hours ago, afx said:

Not a Nova expert but IMHO the Revell is a significant improvement over the AMT.

It is, except for the shapes of the wheel openings and the whole rear end. Sigh. We could still use a definitive '69-'72 Nova, but I doubt we'll ever get one now. 

I have one on the Shelf of Doom where I grafted the back panel and bumper of an AMT into a Revell body. I need to BOYD that thing sometime soon. 

[larman]

10 minutes ago, Snake45 said:

Sounds like a plan, but I'd chop that goofy-ass hood scoop down to about half to two-thirds of its height. I think NHRA had a 7" scoop height rule at the time. 

It is, except for the shapes of the wheel openings and the whole rear end. Sigh. We could still use a definitive '69-'72 Nova, but I doubt we'll ever get one now. 

I have one on the Shelf of Doom where I grafted the back panel and bumper of an AMT into a Revell body. I need to BOYD that thing sometime soon. 

I have one sitting here, an older issue of the Amt kit. I too, always wanted to build one like the box art, but could not live with the stupid hood scoop so I removed it and added a "Grumpy Lump" from Competition Resins. Looks MUCH better IMO.  Some day I should finish it. ?

[Brutalform]

13 hours ago, Snake45 said:

Sounds like a plan, but I'd chop that goofy-ass hood scoop down to about half to two-thirds of its height. I think NHRA had a 7" scoop height rule at the time. 

It is, except for the shapes of the wheel openings and the whole rear end. Sigh. We could still use a definitive '69-'72 Nova, but I doubt we'll ever get one now. 

I have one on the Shelf of Doom where I grafted the back panel and bumper of an AMT into a Revell body. I need to BOYD that thing sometime soon. 

Thanks Snake.. I think the scoop is a bit overkill myself, but I just want the car to look like it does on the box top. I’ve seen issues of this kit with a blue car on the box, but on the original box, the car always looked black to me. I especially like the “Edelbrock” decal on the scoop. So.. I’ll be sanding off the “Weiand” on the resin hi rise intake I’ll be using. 

Edited March 17, 2021 by Brutalform

[Snake45]

56 minutes ago, Brutalform said:

Thanks Snake.. I think the scoop is a bit overkill myself, but I just want the car to look like it does on the box top. I’ve seen issues of this kit with a blue car on the box, but on the original box, the car always looked black to me. I especially like the “Edelbrock” decal on the scoop. So.. I’ll be sanding off the “Weiand” on the resin hi rise intake I’ll be using. 

I used the Old Pro scoop on my '65 Chevelle Mod Prod wagon, chopped down and turned around. Looks the part! 

Meanwhile, you're putting me in the mood to build a "box stock" Old Pro of my own. I'll use the AMT body and since you're going black, I'll go dark blue. I've got a giant can of Rustoleum metallic blue I need to use on something. 

[Scott8950]

I also think the scoop is overkill but something about that box art always grabbed my attention. I would build it exactly like you are planning with the black paint. Now i need to get and old pro kit for a donor ?. Great idea and i sure can't wait to see it done.

[Snake45]

Maybe we need an "Old Pro Group Build." 

[Scott8950]

2 minutes ago, Snake45 said:

Maybe we need an "Old Pro Group Build." 

not a bad idea ?

[iBorg]

The NHRA had a very strict rule concerning PS hood height at 7 inches. see: https://www.nhra.com/news/2020/50-years-pro-stock-salute-look-back-1970-nhra-pro-stock-rules

The Old Pro look to be a half inch tall or 12 inches. Way too tall. I've always thought it made the kit look wrong....sorta like a Zinger.

[Snake45]

30 minutes ago, Scott8950 said:

not a bad idea ?

I bought this glue bomb Old Pro at the local toy show a couple years ago. It first appeared on one vendor's table with a price of $35. I tried to haggle him down, but he told me "It's a rare, original kit." "I just bought two of them at Ollie's last week in Beverly Hills Cop boxes for $8 apiece," I told him. No deal.  Couple months later, another vendor had it on his table and I got it for eight or ten bucks. 

It looked like an easy Snake-Fu rescue, but as is so often the case, I decided it needed more work than I wanted to invest in it. I guess it wouldn't take THAT much to get it back on the shelf (though there are some things I'd simply HAVE to fix.) It probably wouldn't be any more trouble to build a whole new body for the thing--I've bought several of these kits over the years just for parts. Hmmmmmm

[Scott8950]

36 minutes ago, Snake45 said:

I bought this glue bomb Old Pro at the local toy show a couple years ago. It first appeared on one vendor's table with a price of $35. I tried to haggle him down, but he told me "It's a rare, original kit." "I just bought two of them at Ollie's last week in Beverly Hills Cop boxes for $8 apiece," I told him. No deal.  Couple months later, another vendor had it on his table and I got it for eight or ten bucks. 

It looked like an easy Snake-Fu rescue, but as is so often the case, I decided it needed more work than I wanted to invest in it. I guess it wouldn't take THAT much to get it back on the shelf (though there are some things I'd simply HAVE to fix.) It probably wouldn't be any more trouble to build a whole new body for the thing--I've bought several of these kits over the years just for parts. Hmmmmmm

looks to be worth fixing to me.

[Snake45]

1 hour ago, Scott8950 said:

looks to be worth fixing to me.

That's what I thought too, when I bought it! 

[Brutalform]

On 3/17/2021 at 1:11 PM, iBorg said:

The NHRA had a very strict rule concerning PS hood height at 7 inches. see: https://www.nhra.com/news/2020/50-years-pro-stock-salute-look-back-1970-nhra-pro-stock-rules

The Old Pro look to be a half inch tall or 12 inches. Way too tall. I've always thought it made the kit look wrong....sorta like a Zinger.

Yea. I was checking out the old 1970s rule book. And I’m not a big fan of large scoops.  I dunno, but for some reason that scoop looks like it belongs. Especially with the “Edelbrock” decal on it. For this particular build anyway. I still remember when this kit caught my eye many years ago. 

[Brutalform]

It’s hard to tell but I also noticed that the box art car seems to have the rallys that is supplied. I think I’ll be using the Cragers. 

[Brutalform]

On 3/16/2021 at 10:15 PM, larman said:

I have one sitting here, an older issue of the Amt kit. I too, always wanted to build one like the box art, but could not live with the stupid hood scoop so I removed it and added a "Grumpy Lump" from Competition Resins. Looks MUCH better IMO.  Some day I should finish it. ?

I do have a Comp Resin grump lump that I was saving for one of da grumps Camaro builds. Maybe I’ll graft it on to one of the other Nova hoods I have. I have a spare because the other Revell  69 Nova is going to have the cowl  induction hood. 

[dragcarz]

On 3/17/2021 at 12:08 PM, Snake45 said:

I used the Old Pro scoop on my '65 Chevelle Mod Prod wagon, chopped down and turned around. Looks the part! 

Meanwhile, you're putting me in the mood to build a "box stock" Old Pro of my own. I'll use the AMT body and since you're going black, I'll go dark blue. I've got a giant can of Rustoleum metallic blue I need to use on something. 

I’m loving this wagon Snake

[Snake45]

1 hour ago, dragcarz said:

I’m loving this wagon Snake

Thanks for the kind words. I'm planning to do something similar with the new '63 Nova wagon, as soon as I can decide on a color. 

Edited March 19, 2021 by Snake45

[Tortuga Kustomz]

this a cool project my friend, in my opinion the hood scoop looks fine, probably is too much but for this car looks fine for some reason, looking forward to see updates on it

[Kromolly]

Modeling is art, and art is creativity and what's in the eye of the artist.  Build each model to your vision and what you want to look at on your shelf.  If you want accuracy, then that's your vision.  If you want a tall hood scoop just for the look, do it... for yourself.

[Scott8950]

21 hours ago, Brutalform said:

I do have a Comp Resin grump lump that I was saving for one of da grumps Camaro builds. Maybe I’ll graft it on to one of the other Nova hoods I have. I have a spare because the other Revell  69 Nova is going to have the cowl  induction hood. 

I'd stay with your original plan, when you swap the scoops out then it's really no longer the old pro. I remember seeing  the box art when i was young and it always got my attention, that scoop is the first thing you notice. Someone posted the rules for nhra 1970 but the car wears an ahra decal . Jmo but I'd leave the hood for nostalgic reasons and I think you'll be glad you did in the end. If we all built the same way then the hobby would be boring.

Edited March 19, 2021 by Scott8950

[BuilderX]

Yes I am building one also from the Revell Nova ,started it 2 yrs ago and dragging my feet on it. I painted it dark blue.

Like to see your build done.

 

 

Edited March 19, 2021 by BuilderX

[Brutalform]

The first time I built this kit, I was disappointed with the fenders, and the way the car sat ridiculously high in the rear. Those were the two things that needed immediate attention to make it look somewhat similar to the box. At that time, I didn’t even know about, or cared about the other little things like the door pillars. And I surly wouldn’t have even thought about correcting the hood scoop. I found the Grump Lump, but for some reason I only have the cowl induction hood in my other 69 Nova box. Must have got misplaced. 

[Brutalform]

5 minutes ago, BuilderX said:

Yes I am building one also from the Revell Nova ,started it 2 yrs ago and dragging my feet on it. I painted it dark blue.

Like to your build done.

 

 

Looking good. I had my rear sitting like yours, but then decided to lift mine up just a bit more, while trying to keep some of the tops of the rear tires under the fender lip.