MILD

Great to see more Australian members floating around... especially considering I was a born and bred Adelaide boy!

Well I guess I only have this thread and the OP to blame for a very late night spent on Youtube and Wikipedia researching a few of these bands. Great thread!

Thank you very much for the taking the time to reply, Matthew. I had an inkling it was simply marketing with maybe a couple of different bits thrown in to fit the theme whether that be Street Burner, being street / strip racers, or California Wheels being cruisers. Thanks again.

Possibly. That particular model was based heavily on an Opel- I've not heard that it had any thing to do with the Caprice. What year Caprice- I'd love to look more into it. The reason I mention the G8 is because the G8 is actually a Holden VE Commodore and produced here- just around the corner from my old home! My car is the earlier VN Calais (Calais being the luxo - spec Commodore... there was a longer wheel based luxo called the Statesman which was a popular car in the Middle Eastern markets although I am not sure if they were marketed in America). Here's a few pics of the VE / G8: Oh and one of the Coupe 60 which is from the same platform and should have been the next Monaro / Pontiac GTO: I know for a fact the V8 in mine is an Australian designed V8 though- home grown muscle Here's another angle:

I've got a 2008 Forester as well as this one which I've had for over 8 years and lavished a fair few dollars and hours on. The car itself is over twenty years old and is a Holden Calais- basically a precursor to your G8. It's a 304 cube push rod V8 with EFI. I've put a bigger cam in, changed the manifold, done some head work and a few other things to neaten it up.

I understand the title may be a little confusing so let me elaborate. My first kit was a Revell California Wheels Impala, my second kit the Revell Special Edition Black Widow. Both are level two kits, however just looking at the sprues I think that the Black Widow is going to go together with much less fuss largely just through better designed components. Is this simply a matter of the later tooling of the Black Widow kit or is there some kind of heirachy within the Revell lines. If so how does it sit with the various Street Burners, California Wheels etc types of kits. I'm curious as to why there are so many different lines but am sure someone here will be able to explain it. Thanks guys.

I've been looking to pick up an individual plastic display case like the Testors or Trumpeter offerings and it's virtually impossible to find them! Any advice- not even Google is my friend at this stage.

Thanks guys- I will place the order now.

So the standard chrome is the way to go?

Just to prove it is actually done! The plan was to get some nice outdoors shots of it for the underglass section however the weather decided against that. Good photos coming as soon as possible. Thanks again to everyone who helped throughout the build.

Gentlemen- I will be picking some of this gear up online as my local hobby store doesn't stock it. The problem I am having is that there are far too many options and I don't know where to begin. For a typical 1950- 1970 muscle car what do I need for the trim? I'm thinking it's bright chrome but am loath to buy sight unseen. Thanks for the help.

Right. Sorry Clay I mis-interpreted it as meaning that you had served for five and then got out for a little while. The terminology is slightly different to how we do things over here.

As the next photos of the car will appear in the Under Glass section of the forum I figured now was a good time to consolidate the things I've learnt this build. I am primarily doing this for my own benefit and to document my mistakes so I hopefully don't make them again. Hopefully if anyone else chooses to read this- especially new builders such as myself- they'll also benefit. - Carefully inspect all parts early in the build- from the body shell through to minor detail parts. It was a little disappointing to discover some very obvious defects with the shell only after paint... a very rookie mistake and I guess next build might include a bit of putty - In line with the above, test fit all parts before glue and next time I will be test fitting the body prior to paint simply to make sure it all fits up nicely without the need for filing or modification after paint. - I will next time assemble a sub assembly before paint where ever most practical to do so. Plastic cement doesn't seem to like enamels and makes quite a mess. Where it's easier to paint on the sprue I will have to give the contact area a small scrape to expose the bare plastic beneath to help it adhere where it needs to. - Don't rush. I think virtually all of the problems I had with this build are a result of being far to eager to slap the whole thing together. Things such as not cleaning each part correctly before assembly or not allowing brush painted parts the required amount of drying time. This was especially true of my foiling experiment- after the first part went on well I proceeded to rush the rest and do quite a shoddy job (and note to self- buy the real BMF next time!). - Don't be scared to try new things. It might not always be perfect (and will no doubt often be far from) but experience is the best teacher and if you don't try you'll never learn. Although it went against some very well intentioned advice I couldn't help myself to try foiling and flocking and I must admit that I am glad I did so... sure, it didn't go so well this time but next time I'll have a good idea what not to do (I was quite impressed by my flocking though ). Now I just need to find somewhere to rest the Impala so I can turn my attention to the Black Widow 57 that arrived in the post today. Thanks to everyone who offered kind words of encourage and advice throughout this project and I will be sure to draw on you all once again. Thanks.

Slightly off topic, but where would I get one of those engine stands? I've seen them pop up in a few threads now and I must have at least one!

Looks serious mate. I have come across some boys from 26MEU once but never saw any gear like that. Best of luck with the whole thing. Out of curiousity, how much recognition of previous service do you get when you go for another ride? Do you walk back into your previous rank and seniority?

Nice. How much time up did you get last time Clay? And if you do't mind me asking, what was your specialisation (trade equivilent I guess?)?

Excellent- I'll be giving this method a try to complete the foiling on my Impala. I tried applying the glue to the areas to be trimmed and then the foil and the result was less than stellar (most likely my fault more than anything though ).

I too like the red. The darker colour really highlights the chrome trim. Plus the darker rims really work well. That interior is simply amazing. That level of attention to detail is something I really aspire to.

Thanks Dave. I did a bit of a test fit tonight and it's obvious the chassis sits a little lower than in should. Specifically the outer rail (almost the rocker panel) protrudes a bit. I've attached some new photos of the test fit. The body will be polished and waxed once complete- obviously I've got a bit of trim to do and still foil a couple of areas. My first time foiling was a little hit and miss. The first bit went well and I think I probably rushed the rest. From a distance it's ok but it doesn't stand up to close inspection. This was with kitchen foil and white glue- next time I'll be using BMF as I feel the foil was a little too thick and the white glue didn't hold it as well as it could. Apologies for the photos being a little washed out.

A question to anyone has built this kit before- when fitting the body up to the chassis, I'm assuming you clip the back in first and then push the front guards over? Does anyone have any advice for making this work easy? I've heard some filing may be required?

A Panasonic Lumix (DMC-TZ15). I leave it on the Intelligent Auto setting and hope for the best. It might take a couple of shots before I get a nice, in focus one, so I just keep shooting until I get close enough to post here It really wasn't a pricey camera. For the car- I have foiled all of the window surrounds. I need to foil a couple of body details but I won't be doing the locks- that's a bit much for me! Hopefully I'll have some new photos tomorrow.

I've gone with the black decal on that trim, Jim. I agree, I think it will tie in with the rest of the car better than the red or white option. I'll be working on foiling tonight- I am very, very curious as to how it will go but I think with most of the information I can pilfer from this very site I am in good stead.

I picked up Revell's 2 in 1 Black Widow 57. I'm not sure what I'm going to do with it at this stage though.

Thanks Rick. The photo was taken under some pretty serious halogens and the photo does hide some imperfections. Over all though, I'm happy with it. I've learnt a lot of little tricks for next time (the what not to do's ) and that's the whole point. Thanks again.

The clear has now gone on and I think the gold colour is starting to grow on me. Highlight of the pic is my very cost effective spray booth and rigs to support the panels I had almost as much fun relieving them of their contents as I did spraying the model! I used Humbrol grey primer, Tamiya TS-21 gold, Scratch X to polish before the clear and then Mr Topcoat in gloss all out of pressure packs. I am waiting to see how much peel is present before I decide whether to rub it back again with the Scratch X or just go straight to a glaze and then wax. I found with the gold it really did smooth it out quite nicely so I'm confident I can get any peel from the clear buffed smooth. Having said that, I have made a number of mistakes- more through a lack of patience in the body prep stage. The top of one of the rear wings should have been puttied and smoothed and there seems to be an injection (?) mark beneath the other. Thankfully I did remember to polish the finger oils off before clearing. I would really like an after market spray booth with closable lid to limit dust settling during drying but it's something I'll have to beg Santa for. I'll be sure to post more pics once the clear has dried and sufficiently hardened to begin foiling.