'57 El Nomado

[customline]

On 8/27/2024 at 7:35 AM, Zippi said:

 

Edited August 29, 2024 by customline
My bad. Just ignore this :÷)

[customline]

7 hours ago, Zippi said:

That business end is starting to take shape.  Looking pretty good there Jim.  

Thanks, Bob, there's still plenty of work to do. 

[TransAmMike]

I'm another guy who for some reason haven't been following this build.  Well Jim, that's a whole lotta work you've done on this and man, you're doing a great job.  The completed build is gonna be spectacular!!

[customline]

3 hours ago, TransAmMike said:

I'm another guy who for some reason haven't been following this build.  Well Jim, that's a whole lotta work you've done on this and man, you're doing a great job.  The completed build is gonna be spectacular!!

Only if the paint job makes it that way, Mike.  Thanks for your interest and the kind words. I just finished painting the molded-in exhaust system.  When I went to attach the sway bar/tie rod unit to the cross member I got a little surprise. I'll put some pix up later on that. It's just been like that the whole way. 

[customline]

After painting the exhaust system, I attached the tie rod/sway bar to the cross member/control arms. I then discovered the sway bar hold-downs at the leading edge of the cross member were bolted to the ether. Of course I couldn't find this before I painted the chassis!.......?

The yellow line approximately indicates the original leading edge of the front cross member.  I added a piece of .030 sheet to give the sway bar something to hold on to and painted the whole cross member again with a brush. This is the worst kit EHHHHHVER  ?

I found another candidate for rolling stock. This set came off of a Monogram '39 Chevy coupe. The tires are better by virtue of the raised lettering. I tried to "stamp" some flat white acrylic on the letter's but I couldn't come close to making that work. I will use them but the rims are still undecided. 

I also found a pair of high-end custom buckets that would work nicely with this build. I also have a '59 El Camino dash that I would love to use but it's 1/25 scale and not wide enough. It's on my mind, though. ?

That's it for today's efforts, thanks for stopping by. 

[TransAmMike]

16 hours ago, customline said:

After painting the exhaust system, I attached the tie rod/sway bar to the cross member/control arms. I then discovered the sway bar hold-downs at the leading edge of the cross member were bolted to the ether. Of course I couldn't find this before I painted the chassis!.......?

The yellow line approximately indicates the original leading edge of the front cross member.  I added a piece of .030 sheet to give the sway bar something to hold on to and painted the whole cross member again with a brush. This is the worst kit EHHHHHVER  ?

I found another candidate for rolling stock. This set came off of a Monogram '39 Chevy coupe. The tires are better by virtue of the raised lettering. I tried to "stamp" some flat white acrylic on the letter's but I couldn't come close to making that work. I will use them but the rims are still undecided. 

I also found a pair of high-end custom buckets that would work nicely with this build. I also have a '59 El Camino dash that I would love to use but it's 1/25 scale and not wide enough. It's on my mind, though. ?

That's it for today's efforts, thanks for stopping by. 

Well Jim, ya know what they say, ****(fill in the blanks?) happens!!

The mock up looks cool!

[customline]

8 hours ago, TransAmMike said:

Well Jim, ya know what they say, ****(fill in the blanks?) happens!!

The mock up looks cool!

Yes it ( the ? ) does, Mike, and continues to do so with surprising regularity ?

Edited August 29, 2024 by customline
Clarification

[customline]

I was searching a few kits for wheel possibilities and came up dry. I did, however, find something interesting.  I have a stalled build of a customized '56 Del Rey. It's a Revell kit as you all know and the box states the scale is 1:25. I was curious so I grabbed the "El Nomado" just to see if the Del Rey chassis might fit the 1:24 Nomad  body.  Because I had built a custom firewall into the Nomad, and the Del Rey's engine was glued in place I couldn't set the body down all the way but it seemed it could fit with very little modifications.  Then I compared the bodies.  The pictures tell the story. I believe you could combine these two kits to build a half-way decent '57 Nomad (if you frequent Ollie's, you probably have at least one of these)

The width at the rockers was exactly the same and you can see the wheel base is the same or, if not, it's close enough. It appears the chassis, which has separate exhaust and some pretty cool wheels would easily fit. The only question is why would you bash the Del Rey? You figure that out. I'm just sayin'. ?

if you must have a '57 Nomad,  you can make a nice modern style street machine with a nice chassis and detailed engine and some other nice details. 

[slusher]

Jim, those centerlines wheels looke much better than those from the 39 Chevy. Just my opinion..

[customline]

54 minutes ago, slusher said:

Jim, those centerlines wheels looke much better than those from the 39 Chevy. Just my opinion..

Thanks, Carl, but you're too late.

It's a done deal. I waited for opinions on this but my poor taste won out.

Moving right along, I used Wifey's card stock ( don't tell her ?) to make a template for the bed deck. The pictures, again, tell the story.

This is not a done deal.....yet ?.  I still have another trick up my sleeve. Thanks for looking and not saying anything until it's too late ☺️

[slusher]

Nice painting on your exhaust and tank, I can’t freehand those pipes anymore..

[customline]

Thanks, Carl, this was my second attempt on a different chassis (I am using the chassis from a second kit - the first one went back in the box.)  On my first attempt I used masking tape for the areas where I could actually put it but that was a total waste of time and patience. 

For the pipes and muffs I used Model Master metalizer "aluminum plate"  which is a fairly thin lacquer.  I used some acrylic satin black to fix all the goofs. The gas tank presented a problem due to the way its molded as just the bottom half of the tank sitting on a.... "foundation".... that we are expected to ignore, I guess.  It was like "What do I paint?" 

Anyway, these days it's not easy for me, there's a lot of touching up.

Edited August 29, 2024 by customline

[customline]

FOR THE RECORD

THIS BUILD WAS A PASSENGER CAR, NOT A TRUCK. IT IS A REPRESENTATION OF A CUSTOMIZED STATION WAGON - A CAR.  

Edited August 31, 2024 by customline

[espo]

You had mentioned the thought of using the '59 El Camino dash and wondering if that is still something you're considering?  I put an AMT '57 Chevy dash in a '57 1/2-ton model ones. Much the same issue you mentioned. I used the outer edge of the pickups dash and cut out the center and installed the '57 passenger car dash with a little putty to smooth it all out. Would this work for what you would like to do? 

[customline]

4 hours ago, espo said:

You had mentioned the thought of using the '59 El Camino dash and wondering if that is still something you're considering?  I put an AMT '57 Chevy dash in a '57 1/2-ton model ones. Much the same issue you mentioned. I used the outer edge of the pickups dash and cut out the center and installed the '57 passenger car dash with a little putty to smooth it all out. Would this work for what you would like to do? 

I suppose it could, Dave.  The big thing, of course, is how it mates with the windshield. I just my explore that. Thank you! It would be a very cool mod.  I found the dash in an ebay buy of  model A junk along with motorcycle fenders. A nice little junkyard ?

[DJMar]

Lots of cool stuff here. ??

FWIW, I like the wheel choice!

[customline]

4 hours ago, DJMar said:

Lots of cool stuff here. ??

FWIW, I like the wheel choice!

Yeah. It took me a while but those kit wheels..... naaah. I don't have much 1:24 stuff that I could adapt so they'll have to do.  I'm tempted to just go ahead and swap the chassis with that Del Rey but there's too much work already on both of them. There is one small possibility.....

[David G.]

I like the floor choice you made for the cargo area and the chassis looks great.

David G.

[customline]

I figured I would do some detail stuff today, you know, odds and ends. When I got around to the grille, I checked the kit box photo to see how the grille emblem was painted (too lazy to get off my duff and get my tablet - big mistake)

So I used the box art photo as my reference ?

Later I was looking at reference photos for another reason and I spotted it ?

• The kit continues to fight me at every turn. I can't explain it. ?.   And then there's the gold anodized mesh that I forgot about (no help from Monogram on this either.) Time for a do-over. ?

Edited August 30, 2024 by customline

[espo]

On 8/29/2024 at 4:31 PM, customline said:

I suppose it could, Dave.  The big thing, of course, is how it mates with the windshield. I just my explore that. Thank you! It would be a very cool mod.  I found the dash in an ebay buy of  model A junk along with motorcycle fenders. A nice little junkyard ?

If it comes to pass and you try using the '59 El Camino dash, or any other dash for that matter. Stay with the kits dash since it should fit the areas of the windshield and where it meets the door panels. Lay some tape over the top of the El Camino dash and cut the tape to match its shape. Lay the tape over the top of the "57 Kits dash and see how much you would need to remove from the kits dash before you ever start cutting. This should give you an idea as to whether it is even a feasible modification. What I found was the key was to use the outer edges of the kits dash and then carve out the area where the aftermarket dash would fit. This way the dash will fit the body just as it would if no mods were done.  Your grill looks great, maybe a little gold paint if you're going for the stock look. 

[customline]

3 hours ago, espo said:

If it comes to pass and you try using the '59 El Camino dash, or any other dash for that matter. Stay with the kits dash since it should fit the areas of the windshield and where it meets the door panels. Lay some tape over the top of the El Camino dash and cut the tape to match its shape. Lay the tape over the top of the "57 Kits dash and see how much you would need to remove from the kits dash before you ever start cutting. This should give you an idea as to whether it is even a feasible modification. What I found was the key was to use the outer edges of the kits dash and then carve out the area where the aftermarket dash would fit. This way the dash will fit the body just as it would if no mods were done.  Your grill looks great, maybe a little gold paint if you're going for the stock look. 

Thanks, David, that sounds like a fool-proof technique. I just remembered, though, why I was saving that dash; a  "kustom" Fleetline Chevy. It'll be pretty snazzy in that car. ? 

Stick around - you can follow me down the rabbit hole.

[customline]

Compare these two fronts. This stuff bothers me. After you look at it a while, it will bother you too. It's as if they didn't even try to get it right. Oh well, here I go again...

Two things are being dealt with. The hood trim is now on the hood where it belongs and the grille height is more in line with reality. I removed about 1/8" from each end of the upper piece.  Then I sanded off the plating (I was excited) and cut it into three pieces....and this is where I begin my journey down the rabbit hole. I glued the 3 pieces in their places. I can, at this point, leave it at that and proceed as if the bumper and trim will remain as stock, with foil applied to the upper trim (after paint, of course ?) and I may be able to obtain a can of chrome everybody is excited about or just do a Molotow touch-up on the bumper.  I would need to get some PE mesh and I would retain the center bar and paint the badge correctly this time. Or....or mold it all to the body and paint it for a monochrome look. It is, after all, a custom. The grille would be something as yet not imagined.  There's body work either way because I had to butcher the lower front corners of the fenders to get the bumper to fit up where it should be.  Wish me luck. ?

 

[David G.]

Nice work fixing the hood trim/bumper mess Jim!

I think I've seen other kits where this was done correctly out of the box, I just don't recall which ones they were.

I guess that mispaint on the badge is moot.  

David G.

[customline]

10 minutes ago, David G. said:

Nice work fixing the hood trim/bumper mess Jim!

I think I've seen other kits where this was done correctly out of the box, I just don't recall which ones they were.

I guess that mispaint on the badge is moot.  

David G.

 It wasn't AMT, I checked. The shape is a lot better, though.

The Revell maybe? 

OK, ANYBODY, WHO MAKES THE MOST ACCURATE '57 CHEVY? see what I did there? I shouted to get everyone's attention ?.

[David G.]

2 minutes ago, customline said:

 It wasn't AMT, I checked. The shape is a lot better, though.

The Revell maybe? 

OK, ANYBODY, WHO MAKES THE MOST ACCURATE '57 CHEVY? see what I did there? I shouted to get everyone's attention ?.

 

It may have been one of the other Tri-Fives too, 55 maybe?

-D-