1956 Chevrolet Nomad wagon

[Peter Lombardo]

I was not planning to post any shots of these until done, but what the hey….why not, with snow on the ground I can't play golf today. Among others, I am working on these two right now. First up, and most likely of little interest to most of you guys is the absolutely beautiful 1/20th scale kit by Hasegawa of the 1975 Ferrari 312T. I am doing the Niki Lauda version of the winning car in the 1975 Monaco GP. This car has always been my favorite F1 car of all time, followed closely by the Williams FW14B that Nigel Mansell won the World Championship in 1992 in….which I have and will build soon in 1/20 scale, and I have a completed 1/24 scale of it….I know, big deal who cares…it’s just an F1 car….

anyway, here is the motor and transmission on the Ferrari with the spark plugs and fuel lines in place.

The body is painted and waiting to dry and then I will get to final assemble……I am looking forward to that…..this will be complete with Niki behind the wheel.

The second build I am working on is a 1956 Chevrolet Nomad wagon. As you can see, it is mostly done in primer now. I chopped the top about 3 scale inches and laid back the windshield to a more modern rake.

The original design is very upright, which works ok on the standard height roof, but with the chop, I like the raked windshield better.

I like the reverse symmetry of the lines of the A and B pillars with the rake I added. I made the A pillar from sheet styrene and used a couple of different size styrene strips for the new molding I added which later will be BMF’ed.

As you can see I opened the doors.

I used my standard shaped hinge design which, depending upon the direction they are installed, gives you the “door opening in†style or the “door opening out†style.

This car has the former so the doors are opening in, which is the more modern way of doing things.

I like this style of hinge because it is easy to shape, it works great either direction and you can leave it so the door will slide off the car so it can be removed after the car is done…..if that matters to you.

Next, I cut out the interior panels for the doors. You can see the marks I put into the top of the panel and door to aid in the alignment of the panels when I finally permanently attached them.

I glue spacers to the inside of the door so that the inner panel is the proper distance and closes properly. When dry I fill in the gaps with Bondo.

When the Bondo is just firmly set (about 3 to 4 minutes) I use a sharp knife to cut away the excess Bondo. Once fully dry I sand everything smooth. If I screw up and have a small imperfection or gap, I just fill that with regular modeling putty and sand smooth when dry. I like this method of making the door jams as it does a nice job without a lot of drama…….no more cutting styrene filler pieces to fit in a long “trial and error†episode and glue smears all over the place.

I have shaved off the insignias and door handles along with the rather large center trim piece on the hood. This car will be painted in a two tone combo with Off-White on the roof and rear quarter panels and light soft pastel purple on the hood, front quarter and lower body below the spear molding. The interior will be a light Ivory off-white and light tan combo. I am planning on using the kit version custom wheels and tires and engine….but I want to make a unique intake system for the engine….so it is a small block Chevy, but I am not sure yet how the air and gas get into it.

[Custom Hearse]

The F-1 car engine looks awesome! Your detailing skills are great. I think it'll be cool when finished, and I myself can't wait to see it!

I love the Nomad! Laying the windshield back like that really sets it off. Another build that is gonna be awesome when finished!!! Keep up the great work on your builds!

[Rob Hall]

Sweet build on the Ferrari engine...I have that Hasegawa 312T in my to-build pile of about 2 dozen 1:20th F1 kits..

[Tumbler75]

That Ferrari engine is stunning in itself! I can't wait to see the car. Now that 56 Nomad is gorgous!!! I love the roofline and how you sloped the roof's "A" pillars back like that. The reradiused rear door edges give it that sexiness it needed. Great job! Thanx for the tip on the bondo. Might make my job of door jambs and such easier too. Gotta give that a try.

[Greg Pugh]

Wow, very nice!!

[Ryan S.]

That Nomad is going to be sweet. Nice job on the chop. I'll be keeping an eye on this one!

[jbwelda]

dont underestimate the allure of that F1 car! its looking great and i thank you for that tutorial on the doors. opening doors remain a mystery to me and your photos showed me a lot of things like how those hinges actually work!

[curt raitz]

dont underestimate the allure of that F1 car! its looking great and i thank you for that tutorial on the doors. opening doors remain a mystery to me and your photos showed me a lot of things like how those hinges actually work!

I concur with Bill...

the only problem with the Ferrari for you would be: "nothing to hinge!"

note: I did get in 18 holes of golf yesterday...the rain clouds parted just enough