# One Patriotic Nomad



## tolenmar

I bought this kit yesterday, because I also like the Nomad:










Can't argue about the price either, $10? Sold!

Ever since I brought it home, I've been trying to decide how to paint it. I don't want to start until I know what I want to do for certain, that way I don't do something I'll want to change later. 

I was inspired by the Patriotic line from M2 Machines. They released a set of diecast cars a while back done up in a stars and stripes motif. I like the idea, not the execution. 

So basically, here's the plan: Below the trim line is blue, above the trim line is red. The top is white. The roof, if you recall your Nomad anatomy, has a large area in the front unbroken by any lines, then a striped sort of sculpting running the rest of the length. The larger front will be blue with white stars, and each stripe will alternate between red and white, just like Old Glory.

It looks good in my head, at any rate. I haven't decided how to do the interior yet, I obviously would like to reference the exterior, but that much red white and blue may be overkill. I think the interior may end up tan or some such, maybe grey just to keep things from becoming too busy.

More to come...


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## 71 Charger 500

What happened to your picture?


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## tolenmar

I moved it to a different directory in photobucket. I forgot to update the link. Fixed now!


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## tolenmar

Body primed? check.
Tape off blue section? check.
First layer of blue paint? check.

I started the engine assembly tonight. It went pretty quick. The block is ready to prime and paint now, as is the transmission. This is the first model car I've built where the transmission and engine block weren't one solid piece in two halves. This is a good thing, as I enjoy more complex builds. Interestingly enough, the transmission doesn't fit well onto the engine block. Before I glue it permanently, I'm going to have to sand the end of the transmission down so it fits flush, and doesn't try to rock back and forth.

Building the cobra's I started using the diamond shaped black tube of liquid cement from Testors. I sooo much prefer that glue to the cheap red tube. But the black is downstairs, and the red was handy here...This is the last piece I assemble with the red tube. It's so thick, it comes out all at once, and is so much more messy than that black tube. I don't know where I'll use the red tube, but I'll find something.

Also, the engine block is to be painted "Chevy Engine Red", a color I don't have. But I have a few shades of red downstairs, and a pretty good idea what Chevy engine red looks like (thanks to google, though if my monitor color is off, my research will be as well), so there's no problem there. I plan on dinging up the bottom of the motor, maybe trying to grease it up and dirty it up a bit. (Suggestions on that process are welcome.) I figure that yes, it is a show car, but at the same time, it is driven, and so the undercarriage is not going to be pristine like most of my models.

Finally, my brother (who is an electronics whiz where I am not) has agreed to help me wire LED's for headlights and taillights. However, to hide the batteries is going to take a bit of thought. My first idea was to fabricate a killer sound system in the cargo area with monster subs. I'm not terribly fond of that idea, though. Then I thought about cargo. Again, not too high on my list. Instead I think I'm going to make a display stand with a mirrored surface (to show off the weathering I plan to do to the undercarriage anyway), and hide the batteries under that. It does mean running the wires down through a hole in the base next to one of the wheels, but then I don't have to work out how to modify the model to hold the batteries.

I wish the tailgate would open. That seems like a missed opportunity. I've already decided I don't have the confidence to cut the panel out and make hinges, so I'll just learn to live with it. 

One other gripe is the seats. If I use the stock bench seat, it is a single piece of plastic (once glued together). I've seen where some folks have glued the pieces, then cut them where they fold in real life, filled in the edges and then finished the build. That's a pretty good idea, and something I think I could handle. However, I always liked bucket seats, and so I plan on using the buckets that the kit comes with. The problem with that is that the seat backs are hollow. I have to fill them in before I paint them. no problems really, just an extra step.

So that's where I am. No pictures, but that's mostly because there's nothing to show yet. After all, everyone has seen a masked model kit with drying paint on it. Once I get a little bit closer to a final paint job (or at least once I remove some of the tape for the next color), I'll show you what it looks like so far.


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## 1970AMX

Love them Nomads


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## tolenmar

Just a photo dump. The most notable thing about these pics is how they are not completely up to date and you can see how my spray cans have taken over my workspace. Also I got a couple of shots of other projects currently in the works.


























































Later on, I'll get up to date shots of the model with some notes about what's going on.


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## scottnkat

cool - I like seeing pics of people's workspace and what they're doing


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## tolenmar

Ok, so here we are with the tape off the body.








As you can see, I had to re-do the paint, this time without tape (since I'm just starting). The reason being that when I took the tape off, I found voids in the blue paint where I hadn't gotten the tape over that trim line as well as I needed. So as I progress this time, I'll tape off each section and re-do the trim last, after everything is taped up flush.

























This is one tall engine. Obviously, I decided not to use the "stock" option. The thing is, the stock option is fuel injected, and I'm pretty sure they didn't have that back in '57. Either way, it was the look of the thing I was after. The downside is when I was scraping chrome plating off the riser, my knife must have slipped and took a layer off the front. I noticed it after I got it all mounted up, and I'm not sure what to do about it.









I had other pictures of the hood, including one that showed the depression that guides you in cutting the opening. It was just a big white blur, though. Currently sanding that smooth, and looking for a way to fill a couple of voids. The plastic is acting weird. Instead of cracking, it's coming apart in layers where there is stress. I've never seen that before, and it's left me a spot or two that needs filled.


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## tolenmar

I'm starting to think this kit was only worth what I paid for it, and not much more. Test fits of the hood haven't gone well. The plastic has split here and there for no good visible reason, and then there's the alternator.

There is no detail. No cooling fins, no bolts, nothing. It's just a plain cylinder that kind of indicates that there is a shaft though the middle of it. And it hangs out into space. There's no bracket. You attach it to the back of the belt, and the belt holds it up in space over one of the rocker covers. The closest I can come to any kind of support is with the fuel injected version, there's a cooling hose that sticks through the belt on its way to the radiator.

It'll look good when I'm done, but there are so many little disappointments along the way...


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## scottnkat

tolenmar said:


> The thing is, the stock option is fuel injected, and I'm pretty sure they didn't have that back in '57.


Actually, 1957 is when Chevrolet did release its first fuel injected engine. It was quite popular in the Corvettes of that year.


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## tolenmar

Huh. Did not know that. Learn something every day.


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## scottnkat

Heck, we all teach each other on here - lots of people have provided me with info I didn't have before and it's been helpful (for the most part).


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## Jimzhuang

so cool, you are professional!:thumbsup:


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## CorvairJim

To elaborate on what Scoot said about the Fuel Injection: The setup was made by Rochester (of Quadrajet fame) and was available in two states of tune: 260 and 283 h.p., the latter giving it it's much-touted "One Horsepower Per Cubic Inch". The same basic unit continued to be offered on full-size Chevys on the 283 smal block engine through 1959, and on Corvettes on the 283 and later 327 small block (which took over for the 283 in Corvettes starting in 1962) V-8s through the middle of 1965, by which time the higher-output version was producing 360 horses. When Chevy started offering the 396 c.i.d. big block V-8 midway through the 1965 model year, the "Fuelie" small block faded into history. 

(Now you learned something else on here! See, you're NOT wasting your time here on HobbyTalk - it's an educational experience!)


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## tolenmar

So I now have the main red, white, and blue paint on. I'm ready to start the stripes on top. I don't yet have good looking star templates yet, so the blue area on the top will have to wait a bit longer.

Construction-wise all I really have together is the engine. I'm going slow on building it so I can focus all of my effort on getting the overall paint correct. I hope within the next two days to get the remaining paints I need (for the interior), plus start to figure out how to wire up the lights.


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## tolenmar

Well, tonight I unwrapped the nomad after all of the different layers of paint aside for the blue field that would hold the stars. I gotta say that I'm not really feeling it. Though this pic looks light, the model is actually darker than this. It just doesn't look as good to me as I envisioned when I started. I think it's too busy, and will only get worse if I continue as planned.










It's not that it looks terrible, just that I think I've changed my mind. The problem is, what now?


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## scottnkat

Oh, I'm sure we can all make suggestions, but it all comes down to you - what sounds best to you for you. We're just along for the ride. I'm sure whatever you decide will look great.


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## tolenmar

Well, its in the stripper now. I'm pretty sure I'm going to end up with black and silver flames now. And if I don't like the look s of it then...I'll re-do it again.


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## tolenmar

Ok, I think I figured it out. It will be finished at the last minute and in a completely different style.


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## scottnkat

cool - you gonna leave it a surprise for us to see, or are you gonna tell us what you are gonna do? I know I'm curious, bur surprises are fun, too


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## tolenmar

We went out to get some supplies for a couple of different projects, and as I was looking at paints, there was this one can on clearance that just struck a chord. 

So the current plan is metallic red with gold and silver flames. At this point, I have the old paint off, and I've started to re-prime the model. The engine is together, and I'm going to add some rust to it, maybe grease it up, as originally planned. I'm also ready to detail the suspension, as the underbody pan is primed and blacked.

WIP's to come.


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## tolenmar

So here's the undercarriage as it stands. I've got glue and paint drying on it, so I'm not able to finish them yet. I'll be adding more rust to the exhaust system and the fuel tank. I broke one of the exhaust headers, so now I need to clip a piece of sprue and fill in the gap. No big deal.


















My apologies for this next pic. I have a devil of a time getting proper close-ups. But you can kind of see the rusty tubes, and the beginnings of an oil pan seal leak.









Aside for details, it's time to move on to suspension.

As far as body work is concerned, I used the metallic red on another project and it didn't shine like I expected. Turns out it's supposed to be used over shiny metal or chromed plastic. That's okay, though. I tested it on yet another project that had gold paint on it, and as long as I go really thin with it, it'll sparkle like I was expecting. This isn't a problem since I am going to use gold and silver for the flames, and that just means I have to base coat the whole thing with gold instead of just enough to get the flames going.


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## scottnkat

Looks good - can't wait to see the red over the gold


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## tolenmar

Got several things done today, more detailing of the undercarriage, the first layer of gold paint, my first flame mask (which I don't like, I think I'll cut new ones tomorrow), cleaned up my workspace, and discovered a few things along the way.

First, here's the red paint I bought:








This will be sprayed over the gold in light layers, creating a metallic red body. At least that's the plan. 

As a test, I used an old T-bird toy that's been sitting around.








While this isn't the best picture ever, it should give you an idea of where this is going. You can kind of see the gold underneath it, but it is definitely red. You can also see where I went one pass too many and how if the paint goes on too thick, you lose the metallic look.

Another shot of the underbody, this time with a rusty fuel tank and rusty exhaust all the way back. The floor pan isn't as rusty because this car does go on the show circuit, so you can't exactly have a Flinstones style floorboard and win any prizes.








If you look close you can see the piece of sprue I had to use to patch a gap in the exhaust system. I broke the piece while I was getting it ready to prime and the bit that broke flew off into the ether. Once the glue dries, I'll make it look like it belongs there better. The good thing is, I've done exhaust patches before and I think with a little touch up, it'll look just like one.

But you can also see yet another complaint about this kit: the engine and exhaust just don't line up very well. The exhaust system is molded onto the body pan, so you have to hope and finagle, and in the end, It'll end up tweaked more once I attach the driveshaft.

This also tells me I am more than ready for a more complex kit (like maybe one with individual exhaust system parts!)

Then I made a pretty cool discovery. I started assembling the wheels. The model comes with lift blocks, and I knew I wanted to lift the rear-end. But I wanted to give it as aggressive a stance as I could manage. So I got to looking around, and found the tires from the roached out Cobra I built just prior to this project. The differences between the tires that came with and the tires I found is not very big. But It will tweak the stance a bit.
Not only that, but the smaller, narrower wheels fit the hubs of this kit.
















The camera exaggerated the size difference. With larger wheels and a lift kit on the back, and smaller wheels on the front, this thing should have a pretty nice stance. I find myself wanting to get the suspension done so I can see how it looks!


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## scottnkat

nice! should be a looker when it's done


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## tolenmar

Ok, suspension is together, and while I can't yet mount up the body to double-check, I think it's going to be pretty awesome:









There's not a whole lot of extra detail on the front end, but I was able to squeeze in some fancy after market shocks on the back: (Does more than one picture make up for the fuzziness of them all?)

























Now this pic looks really grainy, I must have screwed up the lighting or one of the camera settings. It shows the first part of the masking for the flames:








If you recall, I decided to do a two-step flame job, gold first: silver second. Once I get the first mask done correctly, I'll spray everything silver, top to bottom. Then I'll mask the second part of the flames and the trim panel before putting on the red.

Also, I have started the interior. I'm going to mirror the exterior finish with red and yellow and a bit of white (though not metallic). I plan on running a mini-flame pattern down the seats (first in yellow, then white, with red after that). But since they'll be much smaller, I'll hand-paint the flames on the seats.

And wouldn't you know it? I pulled the steering column off the sprue today to begin it's priming. I was paranoid careful because the shifter and the turn signal lever are really fiddly. Of course, being more careful, I still broke on of the levers off. But as I type this, I realize I had planned on putting in the chrome shifter on the floor, so I don't need both levers. I just need to to sand the stub off. 

That's enough rambling from me for now. More pics to come!


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## tolenmar

Ok, so the reason I mentioned above that I couldn't do a test-fit of the body was because I have the interior masked off so I don't ruin it while painting the exterior. But I peeled the tape back a bit and manage a fit anyway, and this is how she'll sit:








Considering what I'm after, that's just about the perfect amount of lift.


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## Sevaa

Lookin' good tolen.


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## CorvairJim

I can see this one coming off with a real 1960's vibe. Hey. what's more 60's than a Candy Apple Red '57 Chevy with flames? Keep going, it's coming along great! :thumbsup:


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## tolenmar

Ack! A fingerprint in the paint!

Nope, not gonna sand it out. That'll just be the side that points away from the viewer, I think...


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## tolenmar

Today was the great unveiling, where we finally see all the different colors together, and get a look at the flame job.

I suck at cutting flame masks.










This is not a complete do-over like before. I'm thinking now of just covering over the flames I did, and then using the decals that came with. The color is beautiful. I'm very happy with the combination of the red, gold and silver paint. But those flames are just too cartoonish. I definitely need more practice at them.

As I type this, though, it occurs to me that I can still keep the gold without completely covering it over. I can mask off a 'wedge' shape, paint it gold, make a silver stripe, and then add the flames over that.

Gotta think on it.


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## CorvairJim

Hang in there and keep trying. You'll never get perfect results the first time you try something new. George Barris didn't. Boyd Coddington didn't. Chip Foose didn't. Each and every big name customizer had to get a start somewhere, and they all learned from their mistakes. 

I'm not any good at flames either. Next time, I plan to use narrow tape and mask them out that way instead of using a hand-cut mask. Pre cut masks are also available, where you peel off a backing sheet, apply the entire stencil, remove a "carrier" sheet, and then peel out the areas to be painted. I'm on too tight a budget to invest in tha sort of thing to try it out, but I'd like to some time in the future. My wife worked in the sign business for a while, and she made signs using the same basic technique with vinyl lettering and graphics made in-house on a specialized stencil-cutting machine.


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## tolenmar

Status Update:

I decided to strip the paint after all. Since I am now going to use the decals that came with it, I figured it would be best to create an even coat of silver and red all over. This lets me fix the fingerprints I put in the side by accident. However, while cleaning the parts up, I accidentally grabbed the wrong can. I meant to grab the primer, since I finally had all the paint off and the piece cleaned. Instead I grabbed the stripper can, which damaged the plastic. Now the hood has a nice texture in it. 

I've sanded it as smooth as I can manage. Now I have to fill in the texture with primer. Which means prime it, sand it smooth, prime it again...and so on, until it's back in shape. Oh well, that buys me the time I need to buy some frisket film to try again at the flame-job.

If I can't get it smooth enough for my tastes, I'll leave the hood off. It does have a racing engine after all.


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## scottnkat

ouch! sorry to hear about the hood. I think it's something most of us can relate to.


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## tolenmar

Yeah, it's a nuisance, but won't kill the project if I have to leave it off. Though I did for about 5 minutes almost decide to "Mad Max" the thing.


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## CorvairJim

Hey, the "Post Apocalyptic Toothless Zombie Hunter" look is all the rage nowadays! I can imagine a hoodless, armor-plated Nomad jacked up on a Bigfoot-style Monster Truck chassis...


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## tolenmar

Lest anyone think that zombie hunting has taken up all of my time of late, an update on this project.

First, after several sandings and re-primings, I almost have the distortion out of the top of the hood. The bottom, not so much. But the bottom is going to be painted black and of course, the worse part of the distortion will be near the hinges, so it will be tough to see that when finished. The downside: I no longer have the '57 Chevy emblem on the front of the hood. It was molded on, and was not up to repeated sandings.

Also, the old paint is off, and I'm finally ready to begin repainting, inside and out. In fact, I've already started applying the white to the interior.

Anyway, I want to share with you the next complaint I have about this kit. Now, normally I don't have a big problem with Monogram kits, but this one has so many little problems. I won't go over the ones I mentioned earlier, instead bringing you the newest issue: The seats.









If you build the stock model, you get a bench seat. It is in two parts. They go together something like this:









No problem you say. Except that if you build the custom version of the car, you get bucket seats. One piece each:








Can you see the problem here? The bucket seats are hollow backed and have the part number stamped (well molded) into the backside. Why not make each of the buckets two-piece like the bench? Now I have to figure out a way to fill in that back so that it looks right.

My first try will be to cut the back of the bench to fit. If it works, we're groovy. If not, I have to find other alternatives. One possibility is expanding foam to fill in the void, trimmed to fit. That will leave a texture behind. My wife suggested plaster of paris. Not a bad suggestion. Either way, I'll figure something out.

It's a good thing I've gotten a taste of what it will look like when finished, because as often as I've had to start over, and with all the little places where the kit lets you down, I might have pitched it into my junk bin by now and moved on. So that's where I am at the moment.


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## scottnkat

If you can get some sheet styrene, you can just cut the backs of the chairs out of that, then you can save the bench for some future build.


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## tolenmar

I wish I could find some. But it seems to be hard to come by around here. I'm on vacation (and broke), so I'd like to get close to finishing it before I go back, and I'd rather not wait for it to ship. I have lots of resources around here. I'll update everyone on how I solved it once I do so.


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## tolenmar

The seat backs are resolved. I started by cutting the back of the bench, but screwed up the shape. So I started looking around for anything else I had to work with. I found this:








It's another throwaway toy. The plastic is thicker than that in the kit, but I'll make it work.

So I cut away the ends:









And after a lot of cutting, sanding and time with a dremel, this is what I have:









For a few minutes I considered creating a racing harness, but that would mean modifying the roll bar (which I've already painted and glued in), and cutting holes in the seats (or at least making it look like there were holes). Then I decided that these were the wrong kind of seats for that anyway. So they'll get painted without further modification and added to the kit.

As long as I don't screw up the paint again, I'm actually pretty close to being finished.


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## CorvairJim

Looks good to me. It's innovation and creativity like this that seperates us "Modelers" from mere "model builders". Sort of like what Dale Earnhardt said about the difference between "Racers" and "race drivers".


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## tolenmar

Used to be, I'd be plenty happy to build the kit as-is. I think I'm going to start buying discount NASCAR kits just to have the extra roll cage and safety harnesses to use on other projects...


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## tolenmar

Well, progress is being made. I apologize again for the quality of the pics, but they do give you an idea of what we're looking at, not counting the exterior.

Roll bar with fire extinguisher, bucket seats, 4 on the floor. Unfortunately, the black and white interior came about because after all the repainting I've done, I'm at a loss as to what it should look like. I think I did a fair job. A few touch-ups is all that's left.


































Also, I have a toy Impala that I aim to re-paint and do a little custom work on. It's (well, was) an electric toy with motors to actuate the suspension as if it were on hydraulics. I don't like that. So in stripping the electrics to figure out how to fix the axles in place, I found the LED's I'll need to finish the nomad. I hope this weekend to go to my brother's place and get them wired up properly.


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## scottnkat

looks good - I absolutely love the seats - good job


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## tolenmar

So I went to double check the state of my paint job, only to find out the driver's side worked out pretty well, but all the rest, front, top, passenger side, and tailgate were all rough-textured. Not sure what caused that. A couple of hours sanding smooth, and a new coat of red paint. Hopefully it works out correctly this time.


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## CorvairJim

Every now and then everyone seems to get a model that just wants to fight them every step of the way. I think you have one of them here. I think you're going to win this one, judging by the interior shots. Hang in there.


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## tolenmar

Well, I sanded (again) the texture off, down to the gold underlay. Repainted. Then went to spend the day with the in-laws. Haven't looked yet to see how it looks yet. I haven't given up on it.

I do know that the color is beautiful on the side that co-operated with me. It will be a very sharp looking car when I'm done.


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## tolenmar

Well, I made a couple of decisions. Firstly, I'm not going to bother with the head and taillights with this model. I'll go ahead and get the harness made up and then keep it around for the next project. Second, I'm going to finish the assembly of this model, save my decals for another project, and just get done with this one. The following pics will explain why (remember that I've had a lot of other complaints with this kit up to this point anyway):









This side looks pretty good. The color is pretty even, the paint is smooth, and so glossy without polish that water just rolls right off of it. But something got under the paint layer, and you can see it, its a black dot of some kind.

This side, however, is pretty bad. 








Very uneven tone, it sucks. It's smooth now, but looks terrible. And this is after sanding off all the rough texture I got last go around. I took this entire side down to the gold paint, but it looks like I left some of the irregular paint. I didn't, but it looks like I did.

...and then to top it off, the hood doesn't fit with the intakes sticking up like that.









I'll mask off the trim and paint them silver, but otherwise I am so tired of trying to make this work correctly that I'm just going to get it finished and move on. I'll try another brand of nomad kit in the future, and maybe not use this brand of paint anymore. Between the paint and the other issues I'm having, I'm just not enjoying this build.


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## CorvairJim

This is a VERY old kit, with the tooling dating back to the early to mid 1960's. I have one up in my workroom that's been sitting, halfway finished, for over a decade now. I've never really liked the kit's proportions. For instace, the roof looks too tall. The bad thing is that I don't know of any other 1:24/1:25 '57 Nomads available. With some work, you could probably adapt Revell's '56 Nomad roof and tailgate to a different '57 Chevy coupe body, then do a "Mix 'n' Match on the interior pieces.


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## tolenmar

I'm gonna give this thing one more try. I'll strip the paint one more time. Once the paint is gone, I'll do what I need to modify the hood to fit around the engine. And then if it works out this one more time, good. If not, I'll finish it, forget it and move on.

But just this one more attempt. 

While it's stripping, I'll experiment with paints: alternate reds, how does this metallic work on white plastic, how does it work on just primer...things like that. Maybe I'll go a completely different route and finish her up in yellow. I don't know. I do have a lighting harness ready to go. We'll see if I use it in this kit or a different one.


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## CorvairJim

I'll use primer under everything just to be on the safe side. I use different shades of primer depending on the effect I'm looking for: Light or medium gray under light or medium blues, greens, and grays (including metallics), white under REALLY light colors (like the yellow you're talking about using on the Nomad next time), medium or dark red under medium or dark reds, browns, and purples, Black under blacks and really dark colors. Using Candy colors like you currently have on the Nomad, I key off of the color of the basecoat, not the topcoat.


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## tolenmar

I'm mostly just trying to figure out this metallized red paint. I'm also trying to get an even tone all the way across the entire model. So I'm just going to try out a few things and see which gives the best results before I move on. I thought to try primer-less since it's designed to go over chrome, which implies that it doesn't need primer to work.

I'm also hoping to simplify things by using fewer layers of paint. Either way, I'm only doing this to this kit one more time.


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## tolenmar

Well, I think my biggest problem is that this paint isn't intended for this application. It's actually designed for chromed steel. Used by itself, it turns a little grey. Spraying it over with clear gloss works for a while, but it still goes gray. It really needs that reflective surface underneath it.

It's very difficult o cover a model with it without getting darker areas where the spray overlapped. And of course, being semi-transparent, any mistake on the underlayer is still very obvious. At this point, if I go with red, I'll use a more traditional red. 

I doubt I will, though. I was trying to avoid the "on the cover" look, and I wanted to do something different. I'm looking at my choices right now, now that it's back to primer, and I think I've narrowed it down to one of my blues. I may also do black or white. I'm currently thinking that the flame decals that came with the kit would look really sharp over a white car. (especially since I have to keep the interior color in mind).


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## JenaLove

tolenmar said:


> Well, progress is being made. I apologize again for the quality of the pics, but they do give you an idea of what we're looking at, not counting the exterior.
> 
> Roll bar with fire extinguisher, bucket seats, 4 on the floor. Unfortunately, the black and white interior came about because after all the repainting I've done, I'm at a loss as to what it should look like. I think I did a fair job. A few touch-ups is all that's left.
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> Also, I have a toy Impala that I aim to re-paint and do a little custom work on. It's (well, was) an electric toy with motors to actuate the suspension as if it were on hydraulics. I don't like that. So in stripping the electrics to figure out how to fix the axles in place, I found the LED's I'll need to finish the nomad. I hope this weekend to go to my brother's place and get them wired up properly.


Vintage....

Is that even considered as vintage? i just love vintage things.


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## tolenmar

I don't really want to jinx myself, but I switched types of paint. I'm doing red with a white top (seems to be a theme among my cars these days). Aside for one spot on the roof, the entire paint job is looking considerably better than before.

Once the red dries, I'll mask off everything but the engine compartment (which will be black), and the trim panels (silver). WIP's incoming.


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## tolenmar

Honest! I did clean up! I had most of the paint off the table, and plenty of room to work. But then the paint took over again...









And here is my "color wall." Since this is my basement, and I can't really hurt anything, anytime I need to see what a color looks like, I'll spray a swatch up here.









But you didn't come to see that, you came to see how the nomad was working out. So here's the hood using Wal-Mart's "Fire Red":









And the body. Under that tape, the top is white. 









The kit came with a spoiler. Currently, I have not stripped or repainted it. It remains the only piece that actually worked correctly with the metallic paint. Should the spoiler remain red? Or should it be repainted White to match the top? Decisions, decisions...


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## tolenmar

One more note: While I had the hood stripped, I enlarged the hole, so hopefully it will fit properly over the engine this time.


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## tolenmar

Since I got the color right (if not metallic), it's decal time:









I'm not overly excited about the decals. that's why I attempted my own custom flame job. From here, I clearcoat to seal them down. Then I can mask everything off and finish the other colors. After that, it'll be time for a polish and wax. In the mean time, there are still a few things to assemble.

This shot isn't good, but the hood somehow came out darker than the rest. I forgot to tape it down to the body before I started. That's the only way to ensure you get the same shade all the way across. However, it isn't garish. I think it still works. I still have to finish the spoiler...


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## tolenmar

SPOILER ALERT!!!

If you recall, aside for mentioning that I haven't worked on the spoiler yet, I was stuck with trying to decide whether to paint it white to match the top of the nomad, or red to match the rest of the body. There was a certain amount going for it to make it red and letting it contrast a bit, put a little bit of color on the top.

Well, the problem is solved. I can't find it anywhere. It's probably on my shop floor somewhere, and the light isn't terribly grand down there. This isn't the first bit I've lost down there, but it certainly is the largest. Oh well, it doesn't need the spoiler anyway. In fact, the spoiler that came with it is so small that I really can't see it doing much for a beast like a nomad anyway.


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## scottnkat

it looks good with the flames, and it doesn't need a spoiler


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## tolenmar

Well, I found the spoiler. It was in...the box.

But as I said, I don't need it. All that's left is the silver trim, and the remaining pieces to assemble. As I work on getting those pieces together, I intend to try and rig up the lights. We have them wired and ready to go. I just hope we left enough wire length to route around between the body shell and the interior tub. We're closing on the finish line with this one, finally.


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## tolenmar

Sorely disappointed in this project. I finished it, finally. 

I was not able to mount the head- and taillight LED's, but that was my fault. We didn't leave enough wire to make the trip. 

Got the chrome mounted up, only to find even more issues with the proportions and fit. The exhaust system (which is molded onto the body pan) ends behind the bumper, not under it. Speaking of the rear bumper, it is wider than the car, but not in a wrap-around style. From the front, it looks like it has two mini-scoops all the way in the back.

Somehow I lost the hinge bracket for the hood, but that's okay, since the hood is also too narrow for the gap. 

I could see where the upper radiator hose connected to the radiator, but not to the engine.

If I had known about all of these fit issues I would have:
1) not likely have bought the kit in the first place
2) gotten some gap filler (which I should have on hand anyway), and made sure everything was going to fit before I even put on the primer.

I naturally assumed that things would fit reasonably closely by the time I got to the end. After all, a kit that doesn't fit together wouldn't sell well, right? But then again, I did get it on clearance... So I've learned to at least try a rough fit at the beginning of the project and maybe spot some of those gotcha's before I get too far in. It's done, it'll go on the shelf with the rest of my projects, but it won't be my favorite.

There are things I like about the kit, however. Although most of them are things I did to it that were new and outside my regular experience. The seat backs for example, and the rusty, used, oil-covered parts of the chassis.

Ah well, they can't all turn out to be brilliant pieces of art.

I'll get some pics up once the glue dries.


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## CorvairJim

I think it's just time to put this one behind you. Don't let it get to you - everyone has a project like this one from time to time. You learn from it and do it differently in the future. The main thing is you stuck with it and saw it through to completion. :thumbsup:


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## tolenmar

Ayep, time to put it away. It doesn't look terrible, just not as good as I had hoped. The only reason it gets me down is because I spent so much time on it, and I am really happy with the work I put into the undercarriage.

This isn't the kind of thing to make me drop the hobby. I've had plenty of other, more successful models in the past. Heck, my "Concurrent Cobra's" are enough to keep me going, there was enough success there for several models.


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## tolenmar

Here are the final pics. There are spots I still need to touch up, but my hands aren't as steady as they once were, so painting that chrome stripe was another exercise in frustration. 










































Ok, so it doesn't look terrible. A good night's sleep often helps. Still, I'm done with this one.


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## scottnkat

Good for you! You beat it instead of letting it beat you. Put that away now and have some pride in it - it's done!!


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## CorvairJim

Believe it or not, yours is about the best I've seen this rough-as-a-cob old model ever come out. I think it looks great, especially given all of the troubles it gave you and it's generally lousy proportions!


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## DOM-19

'57 chev. Wagon came out good ,red & gray sides ,good,looks great ---dom


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