Chopping a Chevy Nova

[Fantom]

Any tips for chopping Revells 69 Nova?

[NOBLNG]

You might have more luck in the Q&A section? I have never chopped anything that new. Try googling chopping the real thing. Any vehicle from that era would be a similar method.

[Ace-Garageguy]

I haven't done a Nova, but the '70 Chevelle I did is the identical procedure.

Carefully make your cut measurements, keep your cut lines square and parallel.

Come straight down with the top panel. And you don't want to lengthen the roof on these, as some think is necessary. It ruins the proportions and makes the car look squashed.

You can lean the A-pillars to line up again fairly easily, but I made new ones from styrene stock. Stronger and cleaner.

Because of the inward tilt of the sail panels (C-pillars), they won't line up at all, but if you haven't taken out too much material, there will be enough contact area to glue them back together...and let them dry thoroughly.

Reinforce the inside of the C-pillar joint. I use very fine fiberglass cloth and epoxy.

Then reshape the rear window and quarter window openings into smooth curves. This may require adding styrene stock to the openings.

The outer surfaces of the C-pillars will need to be smoothed. I accomplished it by adding styrene sheet to the area above the step between the upper and lower cut areas, letting it set hard, then filing/sanding to shape. This method ends up requiring almost zero filler.

The shape of the trailing edges of the sail panels will need to be addressed, and each one shaped into a smooth curve as well. Make sure both sides match.

The original clear styrene windows can be carefully reshaped to fit the modified openings, or clear PET or styrene sheet replacements are easily made using paper templates traced from the openings.

Prime and paint as usual.

The only progress shot of mine I could find quickly:

And done:

 

Edited February 16, 2023 by Ace-Garageguy

[Fantom]

3 hours ago, Ace-Garageguy said:

I haven't done a Nova, but the '70 Chevelle I did is the identical procedure.

Carefully make your cut measurements, keep your cut lines square and parallel.

Come straight down with the top panel. And you don't want to lengthen the roof on these, as some think is necessary. It ruins the proportions and makes the car look squashed.

You can lean the A-pillars to line up again fairly easily, but I made new ones from styrene stock. Stronger and cleaner.

Because of the inward tilt of the sail panels (C-pillars), they won't line up at all, but if you haven't taken out too much material, there will be enough contact area to glue them back together...and let them dry thoroughly.

Reinforce the inside of the C-pillar joint. I use very fine fiberglass cloth and epoxy.

Then reshape the rear window and quarter window openings into smooth curves. This may require adding styrene stock to the openings.

The outer surfaces of the C-pillars will need to be smoothed. I accomplished it by adding styrene sheet to the area above the step between the upper and lower cut areas, letting it set hard, then filing/sanding to shape. This method ends up requiring almost zero filler.

The shape of the trailing edges of the sail panels will need to be addressed, and each one shaped into a smooth curve as well. Make sure both sides match.

The original clear styrene windows can be carefully reshaped to fit the modified openings, or clear PET or styrene sheet replacements are easily made using paper templates traced from the openings.

Prime and paint as usual.

The only progress shot of mine I could find quickly:

And done:

 

Thank you very much!!! Not sure I wanna tackle that but I may try!

[Andrew McD]

Bill,

You suggest using a fine fiberglass.  Would this be of the sort one might find used structurally in radio control aircraft?

Great looking Chevelle!

Andrew

[Andrew McD]

On 2/14/2023 at 7:33 PM, Fantom said:

Any tips for chopping Revells 69 Nova?

It's out of my area of experience but would be interested to see what you do with it. 

[Ace-Garageguy]

6 hours ago, Andrew McD said:

You suggest using a fine fiberglass.  Would this be of the sort one might find used structurally in radio control aircraft?

Great looking Chevelle!

Yes, that will work fine.

I'd recommend an epoxy resin that's rated at least "30 minutes". The 5-minute stuff really doesn't wet out the cloth or adhere well enough in my experience.

And thanks. 

Edited February 16, 2023 by Ace-Garageguy