Robberbaron

Outstanding! This is turning out beautiful.

If you haven't seen it already, do yourself a favor and watch the movie "Idiocracy". The plot of the movie is exactly this concept - the dumbening down of the human race as the future progresses. It pretty much flopped in theatres (maybe because it hit a little too close to home for much of the populace), but it's become a cult classic. It's made by the same guy that did Office Space (Mike Judge), so if you appreciate that movie, chances are Idiocracy will be right up your alley, too.

Nice job on those factory stripes, Bob! The 70 - 72 hood stripes were definitely not factory for any 73+ Chevelles or El Caminos. 73 - 77 El Camino SS all had the side/rear tape stripes that you reproduced, in either black or white. 73 Chevelle SS and 74 Laguna Type S-3 had lower body contrasting color painted stripes. 75 and 76 Lagunas had a different style lower body paint stripe,,which were made optional in those years. That doesn't stop a lot of people from adding the 70 - 72 hood stripes to these cars/trucks. When done well, it can look good, even though it's gotten to the point that it's almost too common (which is another reason many people start wondering if it was available from the factory). If I can give my unsolicited advice I say just stick with the factory style stripes you've got there. They look so well done, and I think adding the hood stripes in addition to those might make it look a little too busy. Just my 2 cents...

Take a look at the 3rd to the last picture in this set of "after" pics. Check out how far the rim of the steering wheel is pushed down over the steering column! There's also some significant "fluid leakage" evident. Gives a pretty good glimpse at the condition the guy must have been in when they pried him out of this thing. It also makes sense about him plowing through a wall at some point. Lots of chunks of cinder block in the engine compartment.

Mighty slick! Those Pegasus rims?

Nicest version of this kit that I've seen built. I like the styling of the 56s, but I've never been willing to get this kit due to the nightmare stories I've always heard about it.

Gorgeous! Brings back memories from when I was a kid. These full sized Chevy wagons used to be EVERYWHERE!

Not much I can say that hasn't already been said. Great job!

Accurately stated, Danno. As far as HL kit selection compared to Michael's, my local HL has an entire aisle of model kits, while the nearby Michael's probably has 1/4 of that amount. Michael's stock also seems to veer more towards the "lowest common denomonator" type of kits your likely to find at Wal-Mart. I recently purchased the MPC Laguna Pepsi stock car reissue at HL. You're not likely to find a kit like that at the nearby Michael's. Michael's are fairly common in the Chicago metro area, and not all of them carry model kits. The next nearest one to me doesn't carry any kits at all. It's also definitely true that HL kit selection varies, either by store or by region. I've seen several folks on here post that they've purchased Moebius kits at HL, but my local one doesn't carry them at all, for some reason. Not a huge problem for me, since my LHS has a great kit selection and competitive prices. Makes decisions easy for me: if HL carries a kit I want, I purchase it there using a 40% off coupon. If they don't, I patronize my LHS instead. Pretty much turns out to be a 50/50 mix for me.

I agree - lots of (good) stuff in their pipeline already.

Very nice! Really turned out great!

Stopped at my local Hobby Lobby, they FINALLY restocked and had a bunch of new releases, including this Laguna. With my 40% off coupon, knocked the price down to $14.99 before tax . That's quite a bit cheaper than the old sealed Cannonball Run version of this kit I bought back in the late '90s (which turned out to have a chassis so warped it was unusable! Ah, '80s quality control!) Anyway, as stated above, the roll cage has been totally redone, and the window net is separate. I'll admit I didn't bother looking at the parts layout too closely on the bottom of the box, so I was surprised to see the original cage still in there, too. In addition to the old cage having the net attached, it also has simulated wrapped padding, which was not duplicated on the new cage. I also noticed a new set of valve covers (originals are still in there, too).

Real happy to see that S & H Torino announced. Safe bet that a 72 fastback will be a future variation, that's the next logical variation. And those cars are finally getting some overdue appreciation in the 1:1 car world, too.

Picked up the Polar Lights 1964 GTO at my LHS.

REALLY impressed with level of detail your putting into this build. All the little details truly add to the realism. Everything is very convincing.

Man, that is looking outstanding! This thing is already looking gorgeous.

Just had to pick my jaw up off the floor! Those pumps are incredible!

Very nice work! Looks very true to life.

Haven't been able to check in for a while - love how the chassis & interior turned out. Looking forward to seeing your next progress pics.

There seems to be some kind of disconnect at Revell between the folks that design the packaging and the actual kit design teams. (Not sure if I'm really correctly describing the parties involved.) I agree - this should be an absolute no brainer, why would you NOT mention this? A lot of words come to my mind on this issue, but the most appropriate one is probably ignorance. Whoever is responsible for this box art apparently doesn't know what is actually included in this kit, and/or they don't understand that having multiple build options is a major selling point that should be listed on the box. Whenever I'm in a situation where I need to choose between 2 kits that I'm considering purchasing, the tie-breaker is whether or not one of them offers optional parts or multiple build options. In the Special Edition 68 Charger, I think one of the coolest features was the addition of the baseline steel wheels and poverty caps. Yet there was no pictures of these new parts, or even a description! Why go through the trouble of designing and tooling up new parts, and then not even let people know that they are included? Revell seems to do this the most recently, but even Round 2 seems to shoot themselves in the foot sometimes. Take the newly released Polar Lights Spiderman Volkswagen, with no mention of all the optional parts, including 5 (!) different wheel options.

Incredible chassis detailing there, don't see too many builds with plumbing like that!

I agree - definitely the best version of this kit I've ever seen built. I made the mistake of buying a factory sealed "Hot Rod" issue of this kit about 10 years ago. The roof is so warped it's literally unbuildable.

I agree: good match to the SOM paint. Mods are very true to what you would see on a 1:1.

Well done! The pie pans really give this one the "gotcha" factor. I remember a couple local departments running those caps back when these cars were new. I always got a kick out of seeing them back then. I'm pretty sure these were the last US cars that used a traditional press-on "dog dish" hubcap on old school steelies. Chevy had already switched to the bolt-on center caps and vented wheels on the LT1 Caprices.

Not sure if it's just my perception, but it seems like the last few weeks I've been seeing SA get cited by quite a few people in different threads here. I don't get a chance to read through all the threads, all the time, but it just seems like I've been seeing it more lately. Seems like the better approach may be to simply state that you saw something in another forum, or even "the other forum". Most folks here are in the know, and will get your drift, but it seems like that may be a bit more courteous.