How could I possible have lasted this long without a classic Chevy on the bench! What was I thinking? It’s been weeks, time to rectify this serious problem
Some of you may remember this kit from the old AutoModeler site. I picked it up on a work trip in Adelaide back in 2015 when I found it on the top shelf of a hobby shop with a “Started” sticker on it. I just had to take a look of course! It had previously belonged to an Adelaide local who unfortunately passed away a little while earlier, but he had done a really good job on the Nomad-to-El Camino body conversion. This is what it looked like when I found it.
I’ve been tinkering with it a bit over the last couple of years, refitted and secured the doors in place and cleaned up some of the putty work, but with all of the different colours on the body it was really hard to clearly see how the clean-up of the panels was progressing. I decided today that it was time to shoot the body with some MS1500 Grey so that I can focus in on the problem areas and get the body properly prepared for paint.
Looking at this, and considering how much you enjoy Chevy cars, Nomads, pickups, and modifying them (recognizing that this one came pre-modified) reminded me of a youtube site called DD Speedshop. The projects the guy works on are not over the top, extravaganzas.
The guy finds old and not in good shape Chevrolets, and well, changes or modifies them to suit his interest- ie four to two doors, extensive fixes to Nomads and so on. He is pretty clear up front - he acknowledges that the cars he is starting with are in bad shape, and that he is doing what he likes - this is not about concourse level restoration.
I find it pretty interesting - the guy describes what he is doing and is not condescending or at all preachy. His results are what I can understand, especially as an enthusiast for scratch building and kitbashing! He’s doing the same with real cars
I’m liking the idea of doing this one black and a bit beaten up because there has been so much work done on the panels it will be hard to get it perfect for a high-gloss finish. I’m definitely going to do another one of these conversions myself once this one is finished.
@Stickframe I’m going to check out DD Speedshop now, thanks for the tip mate!
The other colour is blue, close to baby-blue …
That yellow coloured El Camino looked good though,
I wouldn’t buy any other yellow car myself but
that El Camino looked good in yellow
Regarding the condition of the kit when you bought it, I would have been temped to go the other way and make it more of a rusted junkyard derelict or a vehicle in a body shop, because it looks like bondo work to me!!!
There are still a few rough patches to work on, and I think I’m going to leave it as a satin finish to contrast the chrome trim. The next one of these I do will definitely be a bright yellow or red. Very happy to get some colour down on this one.
Hello, what do we have here? I just came across this post and, well I hate to say it, but I think it looked pretty cool with the original paint sanded down, like a car about to be repainted. Since we’re casting votes for final color I’m throwing in with the red crowd, or maybe that tourqoise color so popular back in the 50’s. Anyway nice job on resurecting this Camino, I’d never seen one or knew they went back that far. Eager to see this one get finished, would’ve looked cool tubbed with fatty’s on the rear. Say . . . what was the name of the '56 Chevy truck with the fleetside bed and wheel covers? Cabriolet?
A variant of the Task Force was the Cameo.
" The Cameo offered an array of car-like features that included passenger-car styling, fiberglass rear fenders, two-tone paint, a relatively luxurious interior, as well as an optional V8 engine, automatic transmission, and power assists."
A little more progress between other project work, I’ve sorted out and started sub-assemblies, test fitted the floor pan and chassis and exhaust parts.
Masking off the trim on the body to start the chrome work and the tape lifted off a piece of paint/primer/putty. This body is so old that the work done by the previous owner has become brittle. I will need to take extra care with this process.
I sanded the area and applied some MS1000 with a brush.
SMS Super Clear for a gloss base, then a couple of light coats of SMS Hyperchrome Cold Tone. A few hours to fully cure then I will protect it with Alclad Aqua Gloss because the body will still get a lot of handling.
