Snake45 Posted March 7, 2022 Posted March 7, 2022 Still some stuff I want to do to the chassis and interior (and it needs an engine), but I'm calling this one “Done” so I can post it before dozens of nice Moebius '64s and '65s start showing up. To recap from the build thread, this started as a bare '62 body shell, painted Testor Orange and covered with vintage decals, from eBay, and a “project” '63 convertible I bought at the local toy show. I don't care for convertibles so I swapped in the '62 HT body. The project '63's hood turned out to be unusable, so I had to scrounge up another one. Most of the rest of the parts came from the project '63 convertible, others as listed below Body: AMT '62, painted Testor Orange, from ebay Hood, glass: eBay “Nova junkyard” (probably from AMT '65 AWB funnycar) Grille/front bumper, taillights: Resin repros from “project” '63 Nova convertible Chassis, rear bumper: '63 Nova convertible Interior tub, dashboard: Resin repros, possibly '64s, from “project” '63 Nova convertible Steering wheel: AMT '63 Corvette Front wheels/tires: AMT Opel GT glue bomb Rear wheels/tires: Snakepit parts bin “Grumpy Lump” hood bulge: MPC '70s Vega, provided by ExoticsBuilder. ...Hence the name “FrankeNova.” I'd have never painted an early Nova orange, but the paint seemed in such nice shape (considering it was applied more than half a century ago) that I decided to try to save it if possible. I only polished it in areas where the decals left some residue, the rest is just as it came out of the rattlecan so many years ago. Removing those Maltese Cross decals damaged the paint on both lower quarters, so I had to repaint those (airbrushed Testor “little bottle” orange). The paint on the right side door and lower right body was very thin, so I touched up those areas, too, as well as the dirty areas (from handling) of the roof right over the doors. Of course I had to paint the hood, too. Overall, somewhere between 60 and 70 percent of the orange paint is original, the rest new. It all matched up amazingly well, all things considered. The body side trim, rocker panels, and rear emblem are foil; the rest of the trim is Silver Sharpie. Front bumper/grille are Krylon Foil (rear bumper is original plating). Interior was painted Krylon Satin Pebble, closest I could find to '62 Chevy “Fawn.” Between the orange paint (a non-factory color) and the hood with the hole in it, the building style was somewhat limited, so I went for a late-'60s/early '70s street racer and Modified Production-legal dragster. It'll eventually get a SBC engine with 2x4s on a tunnel ram, most likely. I wanted the model to look like it had been originally built in the mid to late '60s by a somewhat skilled teenager (which I was at the time), and then rescued/restored today by a somewhat more skilled adult (which I am now). It actually does fit in nicely with some of the “street fighters” I built around 1968-69. So that's FrankeNova, a build that presented its share of challenges but was a lot of fun, and truth to tell, I'm pretty proud of it. (And I beat the Moebiuses on the board!) Thanks for looking, and as always, comments welcome. (And thanks again to ExoticsBuilder!) 8
bisc63 Posted March 7, 2022 Posted March 7, 2022 This one was fun to watch, and a great save! I love how well that simple orange works for the Nova! Good job.
happy grumpy Posted March 8, 2022 Posted March 8, 2022 great rebuild,I am glad to see people saving those old kits we grew up with. Great looking save Snake. I plan on building the moebius as soon as it's available here in Canada.
Hmann68 Posted March 9, 2022 Posted March 9, 2022 I love the simple and clean theme of the car, love the orange! Another nice save Snake ??
larman Posted March 9, 2022 Posted March 9, 2022 Cool! Love the scoop, wheels and tires. Your choices work perfectly......
1972coronet Posted March 9, 2022 Posted March 9, 2022 Nice save! Salvaging --retaining-- as much of the original build as possible is a wonderful thing. I have the c.2006 issue of the Rat Packer which I'd painted some 15 years ago (Tamiya Gold [aerosol], Tamiya Pearl Clear [aerosol], and Testors Gloss Clear Enamel [aerosol]). For the life of me, I don't remember why I shelved it back then...
TooOld Posted March 10, 2022 Posted March 10, 2022 Great job Snake ! Excellent save and the orange is cool , I'd display it proudly ! As nice as the new Moebius kits are I personally still prefer the original AMT kits , nostalgia I guess .
Snake45 Posted March 16, 2022 Author Posted March 16, 2022 On 3/7/2022 at 3:49 PM, bisc63 said: This one was fun to watch, and a great save! I love how well that simple orange works for the Nova! Good job. The orange is starting to grow on me. Thanks for the kind words!
Snake45 Posted March 16, 2022 Author Posted March 16, 2022 On 3/7/2022 at 6:34 PM, cobraman said: Well done, looks great ! On 3/8/2022 at 1:31 PM, espo said: Great redo. On 3/8/2022 at 7:14 PM, PappyD340 said: Very nice save! Thanks so much! Greatly appreciated!
Snake45 Posted March 16, 2022 Author Posted March 16, 2022 On 3/8/2022 at 3:35 PM, happy grumpy said: great rebuild,I am glad to see people saving those old kits we grew up with. Great looking save Snake. I plan on building the moebius as soon as it's available here in Canada. As I've said several times, I'd rather bring a rare old goody back from the grave than work on the latest wonder-kit. I hope the Moebius Novas make their way north very soon--you'll love them! Model on!
slusher Posted March 17, 2022 Posted March 17, 2022 (edited) Looks great Snake, nice snake pit magic ? Edited March 17, 2022 by slusher
bobthehobbyguy Posted March 17, 2022 Posted March 17, 2022 Nicely done. Great restoration work. Came out very nice.
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