62Parts Posted April 10, 2016 Report Share Posted April 10, 2016 (edited) This is an old 1/25 AMT kit of the very popular Chevrolet Nomad wagon. The kit included parts to build a factory stock version only, and I envisioned a lower, custom version to carry stuff to the beach in style. The body shell is painted with Testors One Coat Fiery Orange Lacquer, and the roof is Tamiya Light Gunmetal, all polished up with Meguiar's Scratch-X, and 3200 grit abrasive. Instead of the dull kit wheels, I used AMT Deluxe Champion wide whitewall tires, and American Racing slotted mags. Then I lowered the stance about 4mm all around. The kit engine was tweaked with dual Holley carbs and parts-box velocity stacks, then everything was wired and plumbed.The interior got a lot of work--Detail Master Gray flock was used for carpeting, the dashboard got Bare Metal Foil at the guage level, and the seats were dressed in a snazzy 4-color scheme. Starting with Tamiya Racing White as a base coat, seat tops and fronts were striped with alternating silver and semi-gloss black, the silver being outlined with a black .01mm Microperm pen for better contrast. The seat middles were painted silver, with a top coat of Tamiya Clear Orange. The seatbelts are gunmetal with Bare Metal Foil for the buckles.Surfboard's are made from DAS air-dry clay. The clay was warmed by hand, laid out in pieces, and rolled with a heavy steel pipe, then cut to approximate shape a bit larger than needed to allow for shrinkage when dry. The skags were made the same. Once dry the boards were sanded with 200 grit thru 800 grit, primed with Krylon white primer, painted with Tamiya Racing White and decaled to resemble surf boards from 60's. Decals used were from an old Revell '40 Ford Woody kit, and a newer AMT Woody kit.Firewood for camping was made with yard twigs bundled up with hemp rope, beach blankets are paper towels rolled and folded, then painted with Tamiya bottle acrylics, and the Boogie Board is made from the same clay as the boards, painted Tamiya Light Blue, ankle strap added, touched with clear acrylic at random with baby powder added to look dirty from a day at the beach! Edited April 11, 2016 by 62Parts 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mustang1989 Posted April 10, 2016 Report Share Posted April 10, 2016 Thats one sweet ride right there Bob! Clean build all the way through!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ewahl Posted April 11, 2016 Report Share Posted April 11, 2016 Hi, Bob, My father bought a new '55 Chevy Bel Air,so I know this vehicle up close. This is beautiful. Since your photos do not show the driver's side of the car or the interior dashboard, I have to ask: Did this old kit contain the outside rear view mirror and the inside windshield mirror? I ask only because I know kits from the old days did not have them as part of the kit. I'm finishing just such an old MPC annual kit that also did have them. Great work on the boards! Ed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
62Parts Posted April 11, 2016 Author Report Share Posted April 11, 2016 (edited) Hi Ed - Your are correct, this kit did not include mirrors of any kind - I didn't even realize it until you mentioned it (how did I miss that?) Something else about this kit (MPC too) -- you will have to decide if you want to use the rear bumper guards, or if you want the tailgate to fully open....can't have both. I had scraped the chrome from the bumper and fixed the guards in place long before I installed the tailgate. Since I have a full load in the back of the wagon, I want the tailgate to open all the way down - so now I need to go back remove the bumper guards--strip & sand the bumper, and repaint with Alclad Chrome. Edited April 11, 2016 by 62Parts Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
62Parts Posted April 11, 2016 Author Report Share Posted April 11, 2016 Thats one sweet ride right there Bob! Clean build all the way through!! Thank you Joseph - along with all the extras, this was a fun build. I'm planning a sandy shore & ocean base to display this one plus the 57 Ford Del Rio ranch wagon that's in the works....just waiting for the Carolina pollen to cease. I do not have an airbrush, so I use spray-can paint, which puts me in a holding pattern during pollen season - otherwise, every paint job would have the look of metallic, except that it's never in a smooth, even pattern....just another week or so, and I'll be back on track with the del Rio surf beast! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davewahl Posted June 14, 2016 Report Share Posted June 14, 2016 Bob, I love how your Nomad turned out. It is a killer ride. I have a 65 Chevelle wagon that I'm doing "surf style". I got a few surf boards from looking around for spare parts bags while shopping at our local IPMS show, BUFCON. I always manage to snag several sets of parts bags while there, and managed to get several surfboards in the search. Plus theres also the boards you get with the Surf Woody and the '41 Ford woody. Those are all good alternatives. Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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