Saturday, February 26, 2011

66 Nova--"Not a Project"

After taking months (!) to build the 66 Olds it's time to cool down. Let's try something easy! Anything with big rear tires and little fronts appeals to the ten year old in me, so why not AMT's Chevy Nova 66 Pro Street #AMT-636. A steal at $18.



Open the kit up--it's molded in blue! Why do manufacturers do this? Do they really think in this day and age most modellers aren't going to paint every part?



Along with the odd blue plastic is flash--everywhere. It's not too hard to get rid of, but takes time.



After faily lengthy cleanup the engine compartment was easily assembled. I will test fit everything I can, and check out the stance in "blue plastic" before doing any real painting. I learned this lesson the hard way--fit first, paint later!





As I was cleaning up the parts, I realized that sanding the soft blue plastic brings out odd white chunks that are strangely resilient to filing, as if the plastic is a bit too soft and too rubbery. Don't know what's up--I think primer-sealer is going to be necessary.



Hefty rear racing axle. The parts didn't fit together quite right, but it looks nice and will get the job done.




Small block Chevy? I would have liked something bigger, but this is a "non-project", remember? No swapping in any other engines for this one--I will stick to what came with the kit.



The body looks good and seems to be void of any major sinkmarks. There are a few mold lines to clean up--so a quick shot of primer-sealer will help identify them.



I have to leave for a few weeks, but when I get back this should hopefully be a quick build--quicker than the last one! We will see!

Saturday, February 19, 2011

66 Olds 442: FINISHED!

After many weeks the Olds 442 build is finally done....



To me this hobby has become like learning an instrument or a language. I am constantly attempting to figure out how to build things "cleaner" or "more professionally". My goal is to be as good as what I see in magazines. But then I realize: it's something that, ultimately, doesn't really matter that much to anyone but myself.....and in the very last stages of this long build I had an epiphany, I realized that improving at a fairly meaningless craft has little or nothing to do any of this.



Nah....I'm not just passing time.



When I have to have some quiet, when I have to be by myself, or when I have to pretend I am 11 years old again for whatever reason, this is what I do: sit at my work bench, smelling paint fumes and plastic and glue, and it all bring back memories of endless hours listening to AM radio in the basement, building model cars with my brothers, like it's the summer of 1970 again.



And my heart aches for the simplicity of those times.



What next? Maybe a sloppy build? A build where I do everything wrong? Use no paint? Intentionally get glue all over everything? I can't see myself doing that. But at the end of the day it doesn't matter how clean a build is.



It was the journey, not the destination, that captivates me.



And by the way, the damn hood doesn't sit flat, no matter what I do.

Question is: What's next?

Blog Archive