1/25 Chevy Nova Salt Rat

[Pierre Rivard]

A bit off the wall. Imagine a low budget effort run at Bonneville. It starts with a barn find 72 Nova. The sun burnt paint with plenty of surface rust makes it look ratty but the structure is sound. Fix up the chassis, build a nice 427 with a 6-71 blower and Hilborn injection, add the mandatory roll cage and lets go racing!

So it is an improbable, unrealistic endeavor but it adds up to a fun scale model build. I started with a Revell Yenko Nova kit and mashed in parts from the spares and some home made aero elements. Paints are all Vallejo acrylics either brush or sponge applied.

The car was designed to run in the B engine size Classic Blown Gas Altered class. It looks like a rat but is meant to be a salt racer, so a SALT RAT it is.

 

[kensar]

Great result - you've earned a vacation.  👍

[satterwhite78]

Lol!  Should have shows the pictures with the background of the Salt flat first! The car looks great but after seeing the background picture I would be the first to argue that was the real deal.

A tip of the hat to you and Chuck Most for both of ya'll weathering techniques. 

[Belugawrx]

Very nice Pierre !...Like Chuck said ^^ the salt flat pics are an awesome background to your build.

Hard to say it's a nice clean build with all the rust, but..it is !!

Well done (2thumsup)

 

[MarkJ]

This car is so beyond cool it would freeze your hand off if you touched it. Like everybody else has said the photos of it actually at the salt flats are just the most excellent way to pose this build. Felicitations, Pierre and now go enjoy Paris and eat some of that wonderful food they have over there. I can only dream of doing that.

[PappyD340]

Awesome build, excellent weathering and photography!!

[papajohn97]

That is very cool. The pics with the salt flats and racing activity in the background are amazing. Well done!!!

[bondo bill]

beautiful ugliness neat concept well done

[Roger U]

What a great looking model. The details and the weathering are beautiful. I really like your land speed record builds, they're all so interesting.

[Darbo]

Oh yeah, great details !

[Pierre Rivard]

21 hours ago, kensar said:

Great result - you've earned a vacation.  👍

Thanks Ken. I built this thing too fast to fully enjoy it. I need that vacation!

20 hours ago, satterwhite78 said:

Lol!  Should have shows the pictures with the background of the Salt flat first! The car looks great but after seeing the background picture I would be the first to argue that was the real deal.

A tip of the hat to you and Chuck Most for both of ya'll weathering techniques. 

Thanks Chuck. Making our builds look like real cars is what we always try to do but only occasionally achieve.

20 hours ago, Belugawrx said:

Very nice Pierre !...Like Chuck said ^^ the salt flat pics are an awesome background to your build.

Hard to say it's a nice clean build with all the rust, but..it is !!

Well done (2thumsup)

 

Thank you sir. I just painted a 12x12 board to match the salt and use my laptop screen as a background. Works surprisingly well.

15 hours ago, MarkJ said:

This car is so beyond cool it would freeze your hand off if you touched it. Like everybody else has said the photos of it actually at the salt flats are just the most excellent way to pose this build. Felicitations, Pierre and now go enjoy Paris and eat some of that wonderful food they have over there. I can only dream of doing that.

This new technique for creating this paint effect has produced surprisingly good results. Actually easier than trying for the perfect paint job. I like the look and will definitely repeat the experience.

13 hours ago, PappyD340 said:

Awesome build, excellent weathering and photography!!

Thanks Larry, much appreciated.

13 hours ago, papajohn97 said:

That is very cool. The pics with the salt flats and racing activity in the background are amazing. Well done!!!

Like I said, I just found neat pictures and used my laptop screen as the background. Quick and easy but it does look pretty cool!

7 hours ago, bondo bill said:

beautiful ugliness neat concept well done

You are so right Bill. Your words perfectly describe what this build is about. Thanks!

6 hours ago, Roger U said:

What a great looking model. The details and the weathering are beautiful. I really like your land speed record builds, they're all so interesting.

Thank you sir, it is actually my first LSR build but I am fascinated with these so these is definitely more of them in my future

3 hours ago, Darbo said:

Oh yeah, great details !

Thank you Andrew. I ended up adding more details to this build than I initially planned but it has come together quite nicely. It helps when we start with a good quality kit such as this Revell Nova is.

[Rich Chernosky]

Not your  basic average  Pierrre Rivard build but very cool none the less.  You have considerable talent and this is a fine example of your out of the box thinking. Keep up the great work. 

[ksnow]

That is an awesome build. Love the subject matter, love the execution.

[Muncie]

Looks really good, I enjoyed following the build.  Be aware, there is no known cure for salt fever, and you've got it.

OK, so what did it run on the first pass?

Edited yesterday at 03:58 PM by Muncie

[Pierre Rivard]

21 hours ago, Rich Chernosky said:

Not your  basic average  Pierrre Rivard build but very cool none the less.  You have considerable talent and this is a fine example of your out of the box thinking. Keep up the great work. 

Thanks Rich. I usually try to replicate a real race car at a specific race venue, which requires research of facts and replicating it as best we can. In this case I did research salt racing but the car is is pure imagination. Refreshing change.

21 hours ago, ksnow said:

That is an awesome build. Love the subject matter, love the execution.

Thanks Kyle. A strange combination but researching LSR at Bonneville indicated there are many many strange combinations out there. So why not?

19 hours ago, Muncie said:

Looks really good, I enjoyed following the build.  Be aware, there is no known cure for salt fever, and you've got it.

OK, so what did it run on the first pass?

I have about 700 hp, was geared for 200 (foolish me) but inexperience, aero of a brick (well... it IS a brick), stability issues, not enough ballast...

So we went 170 on the first run, spun on the return run. We'll be back next year... salt fever!

[Claude Thibodeau]

Salut Pierre!

I'll say it again: this thing belongs on a contest table. There can never be too many salt cars. Bravo!

CT

[AmericanMuscleFan]

I knew you would be a hit Pierre, you prove how versatile and talented you are, it's a fantastic final product that you achieved in record time, like the record time that your Nova could beat in its category, at Bonneville or on the table of a model car show. 🏆

[absmiami]

Let’s see …

[absmiami]