Rockford

Well work has stopped on the trailer because of the weather. The repair work I had to do on the glue deluge meant that I missed the last spell of warm weather for a while, so no spraying possible in my unheated, brick built garage. However, I do have another trailer to do, the ESCI 20ft container trailer so I'm going to start another thread witb that. This will keep me busy for a little while. However, should we get an "Indian summer" as they call it, I may be brave and get the paint out.

Gareth, this looks really classy, very Lincolnesque! The stance is great. Colour choices are spot on. These cars really benefit from vinyl roofs. I suppose what the promo type kits lack in detail they make up for in accuracy of body lines. ? Very well done sir!

Eric, hello from Liverpool UK, looking forward to seeing some of your builds.

I don't know what to say ? ! Speechless! It's brilliant. I never thought that kit could turn out that right! You've done a grand job on that mate and you've got my juices flowing about mine now. Just spot on mate. The thing is, now you've finished it, what are we all going to talk about? We went all around the houses on this build! (And may I say, you were very gracious about it all) Love it.

That's a very clean build indeed! My love for American trucks began with a Kenworth conventional - no need to guess where, it was green.

If you only managed to make something that even resembled a Galaxie from what you started with it would be a feat but what you've done is staggering! Fantastic work, well done.

I suppose beauty is in the eye of the beholder! Quite an awkward front end with a very bland rear end. From the side it's very 69-70 Cougar. Interesting subject and I'm sure you'll do your usual excellent job of it. Looking forward to seeing it come on.

Wow 30 years! That's some hiatus. Gonna be a great looking car. I remember seeing the film when I was kid and not fully understanding it all, pink slips etc... but I just remember how great the cars looked, the 55 with the howling Muncie and the super smooth GTO. I'm fairly sure the 55 went into American Graffiti as Bob Falfa's car.

Very difficult, my uncontrollable love for 57 Chevies would say a good 57 Chevy kit, but then I'd want a kit of my own car so the MPC 79 Chevy Nova kit, but then again, what about the perfect truck of all time the Kenworth W925, I'd have to have the AMT "Watkins" version. You just cant do this to a person ?

Excellent build! Looks very clean and sharp. Nice day2 upgrades too.

Reading the comments here I realise that the Nova was one of those run of the mill cars that everyone had or rode in through family and friends, but was so common it never achieved enough status to warrant preservation. They all quietly wandered off to the scrapyard until all too late we realised theyd disappeared from the streets. You can sense the degree of fondness people feel for them just from this thread! You've rekindled an old love in many people Doors! Well done on the kit, appears to sit nicely, not like an off roader like some kits though I noticed you altered the front wheels a little so that might account for this. You have made the best of the basic interior tub too. I've had my kits out a few times this week fiddling about with them. You've got me going again!

I did the method of foiling the emblem before topcoating. I rubbed the topcoat off and it shows up great in some angles but not in others. I want to wait until I get my eye done and rub it down again.

Do you ever feel like packing in ? I was using a bottle of liquid cement to flow into the chassis joints with the tank when I dropped the bottle. A huge splurge landed on the LHF of the tank. It makes the plastic swell where it dries quickly but has burnt holes where it pooled. I've rubbed the main part down with P800 and used stopper on the pitting but while the stopper dries I'm having to fight the urge to just throw this in the bin. The only thing that stops me is thinking of the money it cost and how it would cost three times that to replace it. I'm definitely living up to my name Cyclops Kit Cobbler. Any advice on how to repair the mess is most welcome, including "take up knitting"!

Sadly, cataract surgery cancelled due to COVID surge in Liverpool and all nursing staff called off wards and into ICU. So I continue as the Cyclops Kit Cobbler. The SnapTite 1/32 is no stranger to anyone here and falls together. It is superbly engineered when you consider it, falls together so well. The main issue is the joints down the end panels of the tank itself. So, I chamfered the edges and, after glueing everything together I used some stopper to fill the gap then smoothed out with P800 wet & dry.

You're right, it does have the chrome trim on the front of the hood, just looked at my kit and it's there with a little tiny Chevrolet script on the right hand side. I can't get a photo of it though it's so faint. I never knew it was a 79 it was depicting because the box for mine just says Nova Street Machine. Must be honest I'd never seen a square headlight car until this thread, until now I'd thought they'd got the grille so wrong in the kit but now I see it's fairly accurate. GM were obviously squaring the car up to get people ready for the Malibu et al with their square designs.

Wasn't the chrome trim across the front of the hood only on the Nova Concourse? The trim levels under that didn't have the chrome.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m000lz6n This is the link to the BBC radio programme on BL.

BTW there was a programme on Radio4 recently in the series "The Reunion". It was a group of ex BL employees. I couldn't believe some of the stories they had to tell, how badly the company was managed. When I was a kid in the 70s the media made the shopfloor workers the villains of the piece. It's really worth a listen.

It's really looking great mate. The paint appears to have come out great, did you polish it? The Nova script is rather oversized on the front fender you're right. I don't know what I'll do about that on mine. I've got to say you're giving me real guilt pangs that I haven't even started mine.

? let's hope mate! Thanks for the kind words.

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Well, I've decided to go with the tanker. I mocked it up quickly and it just looks perfect, made for the job! The spacing of the duals at each extreme of the trailer and the long chassis of the tractor just does it for me. I'm so grateful for the American Bridge Law because it gave us such distinctive looking trucks. In Europe everything is crammed together for space limitations and turning circles whereas the Americans declare "We've got space!" with their trucks. So I'll make a start on that today. Mind you, I'm going into hospital on Tuesday for removal of my cataract so I'll be out of action for a week or so. I will have proper vision when I get over it though. You don't realise how only having only one good eye affects painting, foiling, locating pieces, it's awful. I'm terrified when I'm using glue because I don't know that I won't get it in the wrong place. Hopefully I'll be able to do some decent work again.

You mention "calmly putting them to one side" I'd have been walking round in circles bellowing like Brian Blessed about how life is not fair! You're a better man than i and the rebuild looks great.

Lovely looking Mack, for some reason my eyes are drawn to the chassis, looks very tidy indeed.

Doors, if you want me to go and take any pictures of my car, interior, engine etc... just ask. It's an eerie feeling seeing you build a green Nova with a white vinyl roof! You've done a fantastic job so far, hope my efforts are as good.