1969 Nova F/SA NHRA Stock Eliminator

[dragcarz]

It’s coming along nicely Ron! Looking good!

[R. Thorne]

1 hour ago, dragcarz said:

It’s coming along nicely Ron! Looking good!

Again, thanks, Roger.  Some more progress.  My goal is to finish this by Sunday night.  We’ll see.  Installed driveshaft, headers, dipped windows in floor polish, black washed grilles (needs another coat tomorrow).  Trans pan got scuffed up somehow.  Will fix tomorrow.  Done for tonight.

[R. Thorne]

Glued rear tires on with some tacky glue for a trial basis.  Painted the lower edge of grill.  Also, used masking tape to pattern the driver and passengers side windows.  Then cut out some .005” clear styrene.

[dragcarz]

Glad you painted the bumper filler, I think from the factory they were painted argent silver, it’s a nice detail that’s unique to Mikes car. Great work !

[Tortuga Kustomz]

great work

[R. Thorne]

15 hours ago, dragcarz said:

Glad you painted the bumper filler, I think from the factory they were painted argent silver, it’s a nice detail that’s unique to Mikes car. Great work !

 

7 hours ago, Tortuga Kustomz said:

great work

Thanks, guys.  Well, I am not going to meet my goal of finishing today.  Glued some windows in, superglued the front inner wheel halves on, painted the tailights bezels with modelmasters stop light red, some clear parts on the bumpers.  Don’t know what I would do without my excellent sprue cutters on the clear parts that leave essentially no nubs protruding.  Also, the rubber coated tweezers are great.

[R. Thorne]

Got the driver and passengers side windows in with Mod Podge, ca glue on the front rims to chassis with testors bottles for alignment.  Painted a helmet and glued it on.  Gonna let stuff sit over nite , then trial fit chassis and more detail work tomorrow.

[R. Thorne]

Couple of chassis shots with wheels glued on.  Also, the making of a rear license plate.  Some scrap thin styrene sheet, some double back tape to hold it for individual decal application (thanks to Slixx for 1/8” letter sheet), and some semi steady hands and water.  Oh, and a blue jel type pen I am going to experiment with to make blue class numbers tomorrow.  

[R. Thorne]

A day of experimentation and efforts that did not pan out.  The numbers and class designation first.  Tried some blue marker on the white decals to approximate blue numbers.  Didn’t like it.  Then had some stick on numbers I “blued”.  Not impressed.  Finally, after some research, ordered some blue 1/4” and 1/8” numbers and letters decal sheets.  The next less than successful outing was the chrome trim on front and rear windshields.  I had completely forgot about the chrome trim when I installed the glass.  I always do that first, but brain fade got me this time.  Tried some chrome decal strips I had used before on the straight side trim.  Looked okay, but had wrinkles.  Then some 1mm (.040”) wide strips of chrome tape.  Better, but the next step is 1 mm wide strips of bare metal foil.  Will try that tomorrow.

[R. Thorne]

Did this late last night.  Used a #15 scalpel blade and a metal ruler to cut as straight a line as possible with the bare metal foil.  Will have to cut a more narrow piece for the rest of the windshields.   Looks much better.  Finally getting around to the bench tonight.

[R. Thorne]

Front and rear are done.  Finishing up the side windows which are slow going.

Edited October 1, 2023 by R. Thorne
Post pic.

[R. Thorne]

Got the blue numbers and letters yesterday.  Some progress last night with them.  I only have the rear window to do.  Ran out of #3, so made some out of #8.  Not exactly thrilled with the look, but I am moving on with this build.  Still have some foil work to finish, hopefully today.

Edited October 3, 2023 by R. Thorne

[ybsluos]

Wow what a build.  Cool trick with the Bare Metal.  Rock on Brother!

[R. Thorne]

On 10/3/2023 at 9:20 PM, ybsluos said:

Wow what a build.  Cool trick with the Bare Metal.  Rock on Brother!

Thanks, Mark.  I am always experimenting, sometimes with less than optimum results. Finished up the numbers and bare metal foil today.  Two of my most helpful tools when it comes to bare metal foil:  my fingernail and a #15 scalpel blade.  It cuts better than the pointed end of a #11 type blade.

[Straightliner59]

I'll have to give those #15 blades a try! Good tip, Ron. Scalpel blades are a world cheaper than X-Acto blades.

[R. Thorne]

Daniel, what I like about those blades is you can “rock” or pivot them around corners without fear of slipping out of the groove or channel.  Also, you can push or pull (like slicing tomatoes) as you proceed down the panel.

[R. Thorne]

Closer and closer, but always experimenting.  Completed bmf and lettering.  Not thrilled with the results, but I don’t think I will forget to do the bmf before the windows are installed again.  Anyway, some small stuff, drilled the door handles and body for some .025” styrene rod installation.  Some Tamiya black wash on the vent holes, Then made some windshield wiper “stubs” from .025” rod.  Very few people use wipers on stockers, but the mechanisms are still required.  Some “chrome” for the side markers and door and trunk locks. I then noticed some marks on one corner of the roof.  They were not there after painting, but materialized during the last week or so.  Tried some Tamiya polish to remove them with no improvement.  Then the old reliable Novus 2 came through for me and removed the mysterious marks on the top and did the rest of the car with it, too.

Edited October 7, 2023 by R. Thorne

[R. Thorne]

Should finish tonight.  Made subframe connectors from 2mm square stock and driveshaft loop from .010” styrene.  Yes, I know the driveshaft loop is supposed to be 360 degrees, but not this time.  Not my best work, but I guess I’m really getting tired of looking at this and am antsy to move on.  Trial fit of body on frame.  The stance is not perfect (should sit a little lower in the rear).  The Milwaukee marker is not quite as “purply “ as the Sharpie version.  The spreader tool really helps stretch the body for installation.

[R. Thorne]

Sometimes it’s 2 steps forward and 1 step backward.  In the process of installing the front bumper/grille assembly, the right side header fell off.  Then, forgot to drill the hole for the master cylinder (as no booster is used).  My low speed drill saved me there.  Got the top radiator hose on, next is the coil on the firewall.

[R. Thorne]

Put rear bumper on, then looked for hood and remembered it was still in the alcohol tank.  Cleaned both hoods up, ran the sander over them.  Now they’re ready for primer.  

[R. Thorne]

First of all, thanks to all who took the time to look and comment on my build (especially you, Roger).  Secondly, for those expecting perfection, sorry, not in my capabilities.  I am, however, a constant experimenter and curious fellow about all things.  That comes with obvious rewards and pitfalls.  Anyway, I am done with this model.  Put the pesky mirror on (drilled out the mirror back so the nub would go in, removed paint and chrome and used modelmaster cement).  Tried out the fountain pen style Dspiae tool and did the panel lines with it (after scraping them out on the doors with a sharpened toothpick).  Forgot to do that on the trunk and it shows.  I am not really thrilled with the looks (too dark, may soften it a bit on my next build).  Very little cleanup with the pen.  I like it.  Will get some finished pics up in that section.  Thanks for looking.  

[dragcarz]

It turned out really nice Ron, great work, it really looks like Mikes Nova. 

[R. Thorne]

On 10/11/2023 at 9:31 PM, dragcarz said:

It turned out really nice Ron, great work, it really looks like Mikes Nova. 

Thanks, Roger.  Your comments are always appreciated.

[NYLIBUD]

Wow,looks great.

[R. Thorne]

16 hours ago, NYLIBUD said:

Wow,looks great.

Thanks.  I had fun with it.