Jump to content
Login Change Coming. Update your account now. ×
Model Cars Magazine Forum

55 Nomad Gasser

Raul_Perez

By Raul_Perez
in Model Cars

 Share

Recommended Posts

Raul_Perez MCM Ohana

Raul_Perez

Posted
Posted

I also posted this on the Drag Racing Models forum, but a friend of mine said that I should have posted it here...

While I'm not very big on building resin kits, I must admit that the resin from Scale Modeling by Chris is excellent stuff. No cleanup or pinholes to deal with and the warpage was pretty minimal.

In the kit, the resin body and interior pan were made from altered versions of the AMT 55 Nomad parts. The chassis, suspension, engine and drivetrain kit parts are resin casts from the recent Model King release of the old AMT Chevy II Rat Packer kit. Since the chassis floor pan was much smaller in length and width than the Nomad body, I had to spend a bit of time building filler panels to make the model suit my needs. I also added support rods from the firewall down to the front of the chassis that helped stiffen up the front end.

I added the machined Moon tank, parachute pack and cabling, machined tachometer, hood pin kit, machined blower pulleys and blower belt. I didn't like the way the front suspension sat with the kit parts, so I built a new axle and leaf spring assembly from brass stock.

All of the decals were from the kit. They were easy to apply, very thin with great color and registration. One coat of clear and a light color sanding covered the edges of the decals completely. I used an opaque white marker for the "A/FX" markings on the side windows and the time stamp in the windshield.

DSC03248-vi.jpg

DSC03249-vi.jpg

DSC03270-vi.jpg

DSC03255-vi.jpg

DSC03264-vi.jpg

DSC03268-vi.jpg

It looks pretty good sitting next to my Daddy Warbucks A/FX Falcon...

6bblbird MCM Ohana

6bblbird

Posted
Posted
Great looking Gasser! :P and yea Chris's stuff is very nice

That is actually a great looking Altered!

I came really close to buying one of those at the last NNL East. After seeing yours, I'm kicking myself for not getting one!

There is always next year! :)

Walter Frey

Raul_Perez MCM Ohana

Raul_Perez

Posted
  • Author
Posted (edited)
I came really close to buying one of those at the last NNL East. After seeing yours, I'm kicking myself for not getting one!

Walter,

I bought mine through the mail after talking to Chris on the phone about it a few months ago. He guaranteed me that his resin was top quality, no pinholes, no flash and very little cleanup. He was correct. His resin is as nice right from the box as any AMT/Revell plastic kit.

The full kit includes the aluminum distributor, but I bought the Moon tank and the tach separately. I wasn't impressed with the vacuform windows in the kit, so I used the glass from the AMT 55 Nomad kit that he used to make the mold. I also built my own parachute pack, only because I've never been able to paint one well enough to look as good as a fabric one.

One thing to be aware of, I did a fair amount of scratch-building to get the chassis and the front suspension to look the way I wanted it to look. None of it was very difficult, but it took a bit of time. If I had to do it again, I'd buy just the body and interior tub for $40 instead of the whole kit for $65. The partial kit comes with everything except for the chassis, engine, tires and wheels.

Here's the link to Chris' stuff:

http://www.scalemodelingbychris.com/smbc_bodies.htm

Thanks for the compliments and regards,

Edited by Raul_Perez
Raul_Perez MCM Ohana

Raul_Perez

Posted
  • Author
Posted
Wow, I love gassers and you nailed this perfectly! I love the paint to, it goes with the '55 very well. :D

Thanks for the compliments, Nick!! The piant is Testors spray can lacquer with their clear coat. I tried to stay with a color that was close to the box art. I thought that the photos on the box looked pretty good with the gold "Altered State of Mind" decals, so I stayed close to Chris' theme.

I never did ask him if this was a model of an actual car or just something that he dreamed up. I looked up "Altered State of Mind" on the internet, but I found just about everything except a 55 A/FX gasser...with that in mind, I made a few "alterations" of my own.

Take care,

Raul_Perez MCM Ohana

Raul_Perez

Posted
  • Author
Posted
Beautiful job on the model. Are you going to take this to the NNLWest? I would like to see in up close.

Brendan,

Thanks for the compliment!! Yes, it'll be at the NNL West. That's why I built it. Their theme this year is gassers.

I look forward to seeing you,

82notch MCM Regular

82notch

Posted
Posted

Very nice build. I also like drag racing type models. Your build makes me want to do one now.LOL I agree about SMBC , his stuff is top notch. His store is about 45 minutes from me and i tell you it is a modelers dream..

Raul_Perez MCM Ohana

Raul_Perez

Posted
  • Author
Posted
Very nice build. I also like drag racing type models. Your build makes me want to do one now.LOL I agree about SMBC , his stuff is top notch. His store is about 45 minutes from me and i tell you it is a modelers dream..

Thanks for the compliments!!

His new store or his old store? I spoke with Chris this morning. They're in the middle of getting the new store setup, so he's not able to take internet orders for a few days. Maybe I need to take a trip to MI!!

82notch MCM Regular

82notch

Posted
Posted
Thanks for the compliments!!

His new store or his old store? I spoke with Chris this morning. They're in the middle of getting the new store setup, so he's not able to take internet orders for a few days. Maybe I need to take a trip to MI!!

I was at the old location....If you can make here some time you should...

curt raitz MCM Ohana

curt raitz

Posted
Posted

Well...I joined the forum, the 55 gasser looks great...even after all your grumbling about working with resin

now i'll see if i can figure out how to load photos of some of the stuff i got on the bench :lol:

Raul_Perez MCM Ohana

Raul_Perez

Posted
  • Author
Posted
Well...I joined the forum, the 55 gasser looks great...even after all your grumbling about working with resin

now i'll see if i can figure out how to load photos of some of the stuff i got on the bench :blink:

Curt,

Call me when you get time and I'll walk you through it. I setup my photo account on Fotki. Once you've posted your pics on Fotki it's as simple as copying and pasting the link for the photo into your post...

I was certainly simpler than working with a resin kit!! :lol:;););)

Raul_Perez MCM Ohana

Raul_Perez

Posted
  • Author
Posted
Thanks! Man you did justice to our kit, and i hope you like any others you buy. :P

Thanks for the compliment, Chris. Yes, I think that I might get the "Superfly" Mustang II.

  • 4 weeks later...
Raul_Perez MCM Ohana

Raul_Perez

Posted
  • Author
Posted
Real nice Raul.Thanks for the heads up on the building of it to and what mods you had to do.I totally agree that Chris's stuff is top notch.I have bought 3 of his garage and new car showroom buildings and a lot of diorama stuff for my Smallville dio and his resin is excellent with very minimal clean-up.Thinking also about getting that Super-fly kit too.Keep up the great looking builds.

Thanks, George. I have also bought a lot of Chris' resin diorama bits and pieces. I was amazed to see how nice Chris' stuff is. I don't think that I've ever gotten a piece from him with a pinhole in it.

From my phone conversations with Chris, I suspect that the Super-Fly kit is much nicer to build than the Nomad gasser. That's because Chris redesigned and built new masters for virtually every part of the Super-Fly Mustang. The problem with the Nomad, like I think I mentioned, is that it was done using a tub from an AMT kit that AMT used over and over for just about every gasser they ever did. It takes a fair amount of time to properly fill in all of the gaps between the chassis and the body. Not a difficult task, but very time consuming. For me that's a problem because I don't get a lot of time for model building.

Here's a picture of the completed chassis:

55NomadGasserBottom01-vi.jpg

Let me know if you get the Super-Fly. I'd be very interested in your initial and final impressions of the kit.

Regards,

  • 9 months later...
Clay MCM Ohana

Clay

Posted
Posted

Hehe, I love what you did with this one, I havent had the chance to mess with resin yet, but I do got a delivery Stude I am going to be working on. May need a few pointers with it.

Nice job on all of your builds Raul :) :) :) :) :)

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share
Go to topic listing
×
×
  • Create New...