RoR Review 20101203 – Monogramâ„¢ 1:24 1957 Chevyâ„¢ Nomad 85-0883

RoR Review 20101203 – Monogramâ„¢ 1:24 1957 Chevyâ„¢ Nomad 85-0883

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Model by Tony Gibson
Engine by Aaron Gibson

This is a review of the re-released Monogram™ 1957 Chevy™ Nomad kit. The kit has 94 pieces, molded in white/chrome. A decal sheet with flame and optional plates are included. There’s an easy to follow direction sheet with multiple options for building including a stock or custom engine. There are two options for rear suspension. There are also options for the interior: custom look with bucket seats and roll bar or stock with bench seat.

Figure 1

Here is an example of some of the tools that will be helpful while building. Of course, every builder has their own favorites. Tasty beverage and snack choice are strictly the builder’s choice, try to stay away from greasy and salty choices.

Figure 2

There is a lot of aftermarket detailing products available for modeling. If you’re looking for an economical option, there are products available that are pretty close to the products made strictly for models. Look around at craft and hobby stores in the jewelry section. Sometimes it’s trial and error. If you can’t seem to find what is needed, the aftermarket companies have taken all the guess work out of it for you. There is absolutely nothing wrong with their products, but if you build a lot it can get expensive.

Figure 3

Don’t feel sorry for the diecast model that was used to donate parts for this build. It was a garage sale find. Save your old parts, you never know when you’ll need something.

Figure 4

After looking at the kit, it seemed there was a lot of flashing and sharp, jagged edges on the feature lines, and some minor warping. The body took a lot of cleaning up in preparation for paint. This was strange because the kits from Revell have all been pretty clean lately. Maybe this was one kit that just slipped past the inspection. The areas that needed to be fixed were marked in red and 600-1000 grit sandpaper, emery board and a sharp Exactoâ„¢ knife were used to clean those areas up.

Figures 6, 7

Figures 8, 9

Figures 10, 11

Figure12

The hood has a die mark on the underside to use as a template to cut out if wanted. This leaves a visible mark on the outside of the hood as well. This can be removed by sanding out with 1000 grit paper, primed, then sanded again.

Figures 13 & 14

The hood needed a lot of work. At the place where the hood was molded to the tree, the plastic was very thick and the hood itself had a slight bow in it. This kept it from fitting to the body well. The hood was flash heated in very hot water for about 5 minutes, tweaked by hand, then put into ice cold water to set it. Some of the bow came out, but not all.

Figure 15

The plastic seemed so thick that material from the inside of the hood needed to be removed for a better fit. It wasn’t perfect, but close enough to continue.

Figures 16 17

Figure 18

The body was lightly sanded with 1000 grit sandpaper, washed with dish soap, dried completely and then cleaned with a tack cloth before primer and paint was added.

Figure 19

Two light coats of Duplicolor™ white primer were used first and allowed to dry under a warming lamp for about an hour. A piece of t-shirt material was used to wipe the body down before painting to eliminate small nibs or dirt particles. Testors™ one coat lacquer #184m (Flaming Orange) was sprayed on. This product claims that it is one coat but don’t do it in one coat. 2-3 light coats will get the best results. If you try to do this in 1 coat it will run very quickly. The orange color was allowed to dry 24 hours before continuing with the second color.

Figure 20　

The car was masked with 3Mâ„¢ blue tape to leave the top exposed. This is a great product for this type of work in the model world. It leaves nice edges and does not bite hard into the primary painted areas and leaves no residue. Give it a try. A plastic sandwich bag (backside) was cut down the seams to open up to cover the body. Cover all the areas that do not need paint.

Figure 22

The top was painted with Duplicolorâ„¢ satin black. The tape and plastic were removed after about an hour.

Figure 23

The whole body was given a very light coat of Duplicolorâ„¢ Crystal clear, allowed to dry 45 minutes, then a second light coat, allowed to dry 15 minutes, then a third light even coat. After the paint dried a couple of days, the whole body was polished with a very fine polish.

Just a note about combining paints from different manufactures: It’s always best to stay with the same brands for primer, paint and clear. However, this combination was tested on a scrap hood and worked without problems. It’s always best to test before spraying a whole model.

Figure 25　

Three different types of Bare Metal Foilâ„¢ (BMF) were used to bring out body detail. Black foil was used around the side roof molding and down to the orange color line. This gave it a much cleaner and smoother edge than trying to mask and paint these areas. The black foil is a little heavier and harder to use than the other types. It will take a little more time. Gold foil was used for the quarter panel insert moldings to give it a more custom look. When using the gold foil use very light pressure or the gold will rub off. Chrome BMFâ„¢ was used around the front windshield and side window vents as well as the feature lines down the side of the body and door handles. Foiling is a long process and takes a lot of practice but the results are well worth it. Always use a new, sharp blade to trim the excess. A clean cloth and lots of cotton swabs are also needed. To learn to use bare metal foil increase your skill, practice on an old body you may have lying around. The foiling on this model took about 8 hours total and needed a lot of breaks. This is not something you can do without practice.

Figure 26

The engine block was painted the same color as the body for a more custom look. This is a builder’s preference as any color could be used. The engine was built with the custom specs in section 1a of the instructions. After a quick mock up it was noticed that the hood would not clear without cutting the hood open. Instead of doing this, the engine high rise manifold was altered (part 102). Material was removed from the top to make it flat. The air intake (part 103) was eliminated. This gave room for the hood to close so it could be left stock.

Figure 27

Two small holes were drilled into the side of the carburetors using a #72 jeweler’s drill bit. The wire used for fuel lines is a sturdy stainless steel wire (0.5mm gauge). The end is inserted into the drilled hole and held in place with a very small drop of fast setting glue (Gorilla™ glue was used for this build).

Figure 28

Holes were drilled in the side of the head for spark plug wires with a #72 jeweler’s bit.

Figure 29

Holes were drilled in the distributer for the spark plug wires. These were held in place with Gorillaâ„¢ glue. The wire used here was a 0.5mm color coated wire.

Figure 30

After the glue was dried, each wire was cut to length and inserted into the side of the head with a very small bit of glue at the tip of the wire. Braided wire was attached to the end of the fuel lines and the other end was attached to a small hole drilled into the fuel pump. Just a note here about the scale of the wires, tubing and hoses: Even with aftermarket parts, these will not be to exact scale. If they were, they would be the size of garden hoses on a real car. There is really nothing out there that is exactly to scale. Do the best you can with what you have.

Figure 31

Final assembly was done on the engine. The headers and transmission were given a wash of thinned out Testorsâ„¢ flat black (dab off the excess with a q-tip before it dries).

Figure 42

The front suspension (part 44, section B, step 2) was altered to lower the front end. After mocking it up, the front end seemed too high. The molded pins that hold the front wheels in place were cut off and moved to the very top of the mold where it assembles to the chassis (in the picture, the left side is done, right side is as it comes in the kit). This was a very easy step and made a huge difference.

Figure 35

Use a straight edge to square the pins off. This whole process took about 15 minutes and was well worth it.

Figure 37

There was only one option for wheels and tires offered in this kit. It would have been nice to have some stock wheels and white walls, but those provided were pretty nice. To make the tires look used, an emery board was used to take the shine off the tread. Scuffing the tires took about 10 minutes and is a nice touch.

Figure 38 & 39

The interior was painted with Duplicolorâ„¢ flat white. The seat inserts and floor were painted with Testorsâ„¢ flat black and a good brush.

Figure 32

Seat belts were made of ribbon (1/8”). This can be found in many sizes and colors. Trim to length and glue into place. The ends were brushed with a little silver paint to look like buckles. Again, there are lots of aftermarket products for this. The window cranks and steering wheel were taken front a broken down diecast. Simply remove, clean up and glue them into place, matching up with the molded parts. Gorilla™ glue was used for this. Don’t feel too bad for the donor car, all the parts will be used somewhere else.

Figure 33　

The dash was painted the same color as the body for a custom look. The instrument panel gauges were brush painted.

Figure 34

Regarding step 7 A&B, parts 57 (headlight bezels) and 99 (headlight lens). It is easier to put these parts together on the tree before putting them on the body.

Figure 40

The pin of the lens can be glued to the backside of the bezel. This will help keep the lens clear. In this area, stay away from Crazy Glueâ„¢ or Gorillaâ„¢ glue, the fumes can cause the lens to fog. Use regular model glue.

Figure 41

As stated before, the hood would not close with the velocity stacks in place (part 72, step 1 custom). The hood can be cut out to accommodate this. For this build the velocity stacks were not glued on. If the car is displayed with the hood down, they can’t be seen anyways. If displayed with the hood up, the stacks can be set on top of the motor as they should be. Whether or not to cut the hood is the builder’s choice. Here it was just left stock.

Figure 43

The assembly was pretty straight forward for the underside. The rear end, stock section B, of the direction sheet was used. The shocks (parts 81) were cut down because riser blocks (part 45) weren’t used. This had to be done because the rear end was built stock but the custom shocks were used. If you choose to use stock shocks you will not have to do this. The insides of the front fender wells were painted with black bottle paint to make it look a little more finished and to give a nice clean look.

Figure 45　
　
The front grill was given a wash of thinned flat black bottle paint (paint on then dab off with a clean cloth). The license plate was taken from the donor diecast for this model. The fit  of the rear tail lights and bumper were a huge issue. Take your time and mock up several times to get the fit you want. This could be done before painting to avoid issues later. Hopefully this was a one-off defect and will go smoother with your build.

Figure 46

Overall, this kit gave me, as a skilled builder, a rough time. There were a lot of issues with the flashing and molding of the body. I don’t believe this will be a problem with all of them but be ready if it is. This kit is rated a Skill Level 2 and that is correct except for some of the fit issues. The directions are easy to follow and assembly goes fairly well. I was very happy and relieved in the end with the build. The look and stance were great. Total time for the build was about 80 hours over about 6 weeks. I made it harder than it had to be.

Keep the glue off the windshield
Tony Gibson