Aussie muscle!

[stump]

Hey gang, been a while since I've posted anything here, and progress on these won't get under way for a bit yet...

I've been away from the hobby for a good few years, life and general has just kicked me around. COVID was thrown into the mix, I lost my dear Mum and a brother just two years apart. Adding to the horrible life mix was a huge flood in 2022 which inundated my home of 63 years, totaling my hobby room, along with enormous loss of personal memories. Life goes on they say. The old homestead was stripped, freshened up, refurnished and painted and put on the market. After selling, I bought myself a small 2 bed unit and have just started to convert the second bedroom into a workshop. ??

Building small scale? Yep, I've been working on large 1/12 stuff previously and love it, these two projects however are both 1/24.....Hmm, hope the eyes can handle them. Now, my only reason for dropping down in size, both cars are "Aussie icons", both from Holden, our branch of GMH. A HQ Kingswood sedan, complete with an Aussie 6-banger motor. (this might get swapped) I'm toying with the idea of swapping in a legendary Aussie "308" V8 or an LS. Make for a nice sleeper. ? Second in line, a 1977 Torana A9X SS hatchback. I owned an original black SS hatch back in my day, not an A9X, but I loved it anyway. This will be a box stock kinda build, with lots of added detail....yeah, probably not box stock. ?

The Torana has factory fitted wheel arch flares which look undersize. ? I saved an old build from the flood and hope to use the flares off it. I'll graft them onto the new body.

Early pics, more will come but please be patient, my hobby room is a little way off yet. ?

 

[STU111]

G’day Greg. Good to see you’ve prevailed over the crappy things life has chucked at you. I’ll be watching on keenly as you put these two together being an Aussie myself.

Cheers, Stuart.

[stump]

20 hours ago, STU111 said:

G’day Greg. Good to see you’ve prevailed over the crappy things life has chucked at you. I’ll be watching on keenly as you put these two together being an Aussie myself.

Cheers, Stuart.

Hey Stuart, cheers mate, I'm sure most have had tough times the last few years, specially with COVID thrown in. ?

Advance apologies for my crappy pics, I'm a little out of practice. ?

So, I've explored the Torana kit a little further as it will get most of my attention once things get rolling. The flares are definitely undersize. ? So I hope my idea of exchanging them works. The body looks pretty accurate aside from them. The chassis will end up in the bin, it's horrible...very diecast in origin. I'll need to source a more accurate chassis, probably a Chevelle? It will require a 4-link whatever I choose. Interior should build up nice, the seats are a rubberized compound, very flexible. (bad photo, sorry) The distributor and wiring......where do I start. Looks like it would be more at home in a marine diorama as a giant squid. The leads must be at least an inch in diameter. ? In tha Bin!!! The wheels look okay and will hopefully look better when I'm done. The plan is to add some width, I love the look when these are fitted in staggered fitment on 1:1 Torana's. ? My biggest gripe is the lack of any chrome parts??? Not even the bumpers. Oh well, I'll find something to fix that.

 

 

[lordairgtar]

Oh yeah. that chassis needs to be binned. I am in possession of the Kingswood kit. Want to get a Torana but funds are limited because the ride is expensive to the USA. Use Revel Chrom Paint. Pretty good stuff. You would think that with the diecast versions having chrome, the kits would as well for the price they are.

[STU111]

G’day Greg, you’re right about that distributor and wiring! I thought for a second that you’d posted a pic of a nasty big spider in there! ? I’ve got the LJ XU-1 and the HQ Kingswood kits and the chassis plates are underwhelming to say the least, and those bums at DDA  should have put in a chrome sprue, but they aren’t too bad, as I’ve seen a couple of nice HQ’s posted on here lately, so can be made to look pretty good.?? 

[lordairgtar]

21 hours ago, STU111 said:

G’day Greg, you’re right about that distributor and wiring! I thought for a second that you’d posted a pic of a nasty big spider in there! ? I’ve got the LJ XU-1 and the HQ Kingswood kits and the chassis plates are underwhelming to say the least, and those bums at DDA  should have put in a chrome sprue, but they aren’t too bad, as I’ve seen a couple of nice HQ’s posted on here lately, so can be made to look pretty good.?? 

I'm still happy I have the ability to build an Australian car of any kind. I had a resin Torana but it was real off. I had a Mad Max Falcon from Aoshima but no way to build stock.

[stump]

On 10/7/2024 at 9:26 AM, lordairgtar said:

Oh yeah. that chassis needs to be binned. I am in possession of the Kingswood kit. Want to get a Torana but funds are limited because the ride is expensive to the USA. Use Revel Chrom Paint. Pretty good stuff. You would think that with the diecast versions having chrome, the kits would as well for the price they are.

LOL, full agreement on the chassis. ? Thanks for the headsup on paint too, I'm sure someone down here will have the Revell chrome. I'd have thought that a chrome tree would be a given, bumpers, headlight buckets rims...? ? I'll sort it.

23 hours ago, STU111 said:

G’day Greg, you’re right about that distributor and wiring! I thought for a second that you’d posted a pic of a nasty big spider in there! ? I’ve got the LJ XU-1 and the HQ Kingswood kits and the chassis plates are underwhelming to say the least, and those bums at DDA  should have put in a chrome sprue, but they aren’t too bad, as I’ve seen a couple of nice HQ’s posted on here lately, so can be made to look pretty good.?? 

Stuart.. spider comment. ? I haven't dived into the Kingswood yet mate, but I'm guessing these basic chassis are across the range? ? More kit-bashing. LOL

1 hour ago, lordairgtar said:

I'm still happy I have the ability to build an Australian car of any kind. I had a resin Torana but it was real off. I had a Mad Max Falcon from Aoshima but no way to build stock.

I hear ya about the Mad Max Coupe..a stock version would've been sweet. ? Was your resin Torana from Cavalier? Do you recall. They came out about 20 year ago, a hatch version as well.

I built my Cavalier Torana back around that time. (just checked, it was 21 years ago ?) It needed work, plus a 69 Camaro chassis to help fix things. Being curbside, it had nothing aside from an interior. I used the seats, console and dash, I build my own inner door panels and made them fit the Camaro tub. The bonnet (hood) was cut open and I fabricated the entire engine bay, adding brake booster and accessories from the parts bin. For the "308" Holden motor, I used the basic block and gearbox from the Camaro, I added SB Ford heads (similar shape) and modified Ford 289 rocker covers.