55 Chevy Nomad

[Steve H.]

Heres the latest to come off my bench... Waaaay off the bench! This build is just a bit of nostalgia for me, as these were the first Hot Rods to catch my attention as a little kid. In the late 60's/early 70's, there were several of these running around NorCal. Every year they got just a little bit higher, trying to "one up" the other guy. Imagine what a ten year old thought when he was standing next to one of these!

AMT 55 Chevy Nomad, painted Metalspecks red with Tamiya clear red overcoat, parts box wheels and tires, scratchbuilt suspension, kit engine with modified parts box headers...

This build fought me almost the whole way! Building the suspension went very well, but after that it was just an uphill battle (no pun intended)! The engine wasn't looking too good, so I just glued the hood shut and forgot about detailing it. The primer went on nice... Metalspecks red was lookin' pretty good... Then the Tamiya clear red crazed everything. Oh well... I had a good side and I didn't want to get into the paint/strip/paint/strip routine, so I could live with it (think shelf model!). Then came the BMF... The first session started with bad foil and had to be stripped. The second try worked ok, but not something I'm proud of! Then came the Alclad sessions for the various little bits and peices... bubbles, runs and dark finishes! Some of it got stripped, some of it got repainted with Duplicolor chrome, some just got a pass as good enough. For my finale, as I was waxing the body to clean up fingerprints, I tore off half of the left side Hooker Header decal! Oh well... shelf model!

Thanks for looking... Comments always appreciated!

[Ronster]

WAY Cool! Steve! Looks good from here!

I remember that feeling, coming across a jacked up '57 Safari in the mid sixties. I was probably 8 or so, I think my chin was about even with the doorsill!

Thanks for sharing, Ron

[scubadiver411]

WOW...Where's the step ladder to get into that thing ?? That's how I remember the cars when I was growing up That's a cool build, 2 thumbs up on that one...

STEVE