Matchbox/AMT '55 Chevrolet Nomad PK4116

[TonyW]

Another car addition to the GB. This time it's the '55 Nomad by AMT, reboxed and sold in the UK by Matchbox.

The car is an upmarket two door Station Wagon, although Matchbox call theirs an Estate Car. On either side of the Atlantic, not many saw use on Estates or Stations. Marketing is weird.

 

 

This one wouldn't have got started as the hood was missing in my example, lost over the years.

 

Thanks to the generosity of Forum Member @rs2man, who sent me his hood to take a mould from, I can now get on with the build. 

 

I bought the kit when I lived in Croydon, so I've had it now for about twenty five years. It's time it got built!

 

It's the primered one at the top in this picture: That's a newly moulded hood sat on it.

 

 

I'll be adding more pictures later, this pair will do as a thread opener for now.

 

[JOCKNEY]

Delighted to see this one Tony.

 

Now if have 10 minutes spare, could you mould an entire kit as I know @bigbadbadgewould love one 

 

Best of luck.

 

Cheers Pat 

[bigbadbadge]

Oooooo yes please, this was a kit I built as a teen, wish I still had it, would love another one and apparently Revell will be reissuing it ti's year too. Very excited.

Good luck with your build Tony.

Chris

[TonyW]

A bit of trying out of ideas took place today.

While the Airfix Mako Shark kit was out, I set up the trailer that comes with the kit. The chassis and ramps are painted aluminium, but that's all, nothings glued yet. Adding a pair of the Keystones that came with the '57 Chevy to the trailer and the Nomad see's a wheel combo I quite like. If I go this route I'll need another pair of Keystones, but I think I have that covered.

 

 

I can use the Nomad as a hauler for the Corvette or '57 as the mood takes.

 

 

A few spoons got colour thrown at them as well.

Left to right, Tamiya gold with clear red over it. Clear red over base white. Clear orange over base white. Lastly, Gold base with clear red, then clear orange over that.

 

 

The Red and the Orange over white really pop. Coloured bases seem to darken the clear finishes quite a bit.

I can see me using either the red or orange on the '57 build, probably the orange. The Nomad is still undecided but black is a definite contender. The box top picture looks pretty near perfect to me. Black with a red interior, towing a screaming red or orange '57 behind it. The idea has a certain appeal...

 

[bigbadbadge]

Nice, I like the idea of the Nomad hauling a racing machine.

Chris

[Pete in Lincs]

Nice. I have one of these I built some years ago. I did it in pale yellow with a white roof. 

Always did like the Nomad. The base model, the 210, was known as the Handyman.

There is a four door Station Wagon but it seems that few survive. 

One can be seen being restored on an old episode of Fantom Works. I can't find it on the tube though.

I did find this picture of one though. 

 

AND, I see you have not one but two split window Corvettes. Lovely stuff. I saw this great Vette rescue on the tube..

 

[Mike Dean]

2 hours ago, TonyW said:

If I go this route I'll need another pair of Keystones, but I think I have that covered.

If those wheels are called Keystones, then I have a couple of (different) matching pairs that can go on the trailer if needed.

 

You know where to find me.........

 

 

[TonyW]

10 minutes ago, Mike Dean said:

If those wheels are called Keystones, then I have a couple of (different) matching pairs that can go on the trailer if needed.

 

You know where to find me.........

 

 

 

I'm browsing the Fireball Model Works website at the moment Mike. Cragar SS wheels, and slot mags in multiple widths. Just add Molotow for the full sixties aftermarket wheel experience. The Keystones are under threat.

I'll be placing an order with them in a day or so, I'm just trying to justify over spending with myself at the moment.

[johnlambert]

That Chevrolet Nomad should be stunning when done.  It's a kit I'd like to get.

[Mike Dean]

22 minutes ago, TonyW said:

Cragar SS wheels, and slot mags in multiple widths. The Keystones are under threat.

Help needed:

 

What's the difference between Cragar SS and Keystones (in one sentence or less)?

 

 

[TonyW]

The five individual spokes of each wheel are different shapes, the Cragars have rounded spokes, the Keystones have sharper edges with scallops on them. 

 

Cragar on the left, Keystone on the right.

 

 

[Mike Dean]

Thanks Tony 👍

 

Right, then. I don't have Keystones, I have Cragars. But then I guess you've got a ton of those too?

 

 

[TonyW]

I'm OK for Cragars I think, thanks though.

 

The 1960's aftermarket wheel industry is hard work getting your head around. I think it was Anson who first released the classic ally slot mag shape, they were so successful that all the manufacturers copied them soon after. As each different shape started selling, so the copies followed. Rostyles in the UK were very similar to Magnum 500's in the USA, just a bit smaller. Both were offered as options on factory built cars. Ford USA released a steel wheel that looked like a slot mag around the time of the Mustang II and it was an option on that car. They weighed a ton!

[TimJ]

Nice to see the Nomad making an appearance in the GB. I remember building one as the 'El Camino' version about 40 years ago. 

[TonyW]

A bit of prep work and an optimistic stab at improving the kit grill bars took place over yesterday and this morning.

 

The body got a bit of milliput filler added to a couple of sink marks and the fuel filler door. This ones going to be a semi custom type of build and the outside filler door is a bit too eye catching. It had to go.

 

 

The chrome parts I'm using, plus the kit hubcaps got a bleach bath to remove the chrome. The parts have mould lines and rough edges that need a clean up.

 

 

The kit grill won't be on the final finished model. I tried thinning it down to open up the mesh. It was always going to be a long shot as the kit part doesn't have much depth. It was all going great, right up until it wasn't

 

 

 

Nearly there, then OOOPS. The part ended up too thin to work on and kind of gave up and surrendered itself. Not to worry, a new grill will be found or made for it.

 

 

It's all moving in the right direction though, and that's the important thing.

 

 

[bigbadbadge]

Great to see the Nomad getting some attention. Shame about the grill though, looking forward to seeing what you replace  it with.

Chris

[TonyW]

The Nomad is putting up a bit of a fight at the moment.

 

After a bit of experimentation, a final colour was decided. Tamiya Bright Orange, with Tamiya Clear Orange over that. The bodyshell in the picture is in Orange, the dash panel has had clear orange over it, the colour really pops at that point. It gets a whole lot deeper and richer.

 

 

Adding the clear orange over the base orange went rather wrong though. The clear colour seemed to eat through the base orange and primer on the raised edges right back to the blue plastic, The coats seemed to soften all the paint and it started moving about! Once dry, there were bits of blue plastic showing through around the doors, windows and side trims. I bit the bullet and dunked the whole lot into a bath of rubbing alcohol for a few days and removed everything.

 

 

The alcohol has softened the resin hood, meaning another needs casting. I've done that this morning, along with making a start on a new paint job. This time I'll be loosing the base orange and going for a clear orange over white primer. Trying that out on a couple of spoons shows that it gives an even better bright finish.

It's the third from the left here...

 

 

The paint on the spoon has pooled at the edges a bit. I'm putting that down to me putting too much paint on in one hit. More practice needed before attacking the Nomad, methinks.

Tamiya clear colours are really difficult to apply. They stay wet for longer than the regular colours, giving them a chance to run if you let them. They need an even coat to prevent shadows showing but putting an even coat on over trims and details isn't easy. Adding a really fine mist coat as a key for further coats to grip onto is my usual method with painting bodyshells. Trying to mist on clear colours without getting a pebble like finish that would show through the final coats is a trick I have yet to master.