Mark's Ford Falcon XB GS 2-Door Coupe

"ThePartsBox" boxart - going with the 2-door coupe on the right - minus rear spoiler 

close up of the rear of the beast - flat battery, so this is the best shot on that day....!;^( 

a little closer... 

A better day & a better overall shot 

the box contents - separated the smaller parts into a sturdy container 

Voila 

The 3 main parts, interior tub, chassis underside and main body. Windows will be left with the blanking IN under after spraying is complete. 

body front 3/4 view - note headlight/grill/bumper blanking  

body rear 3/4 view - note taillight/bumper blanking 

body cleaned up, headlight blanking removed, grill & bumper cleaned up and inserted in place - only some minor adjustments required - looks like a Falcon!! 

lookin good! 

yeah! 

OK, last shot of that 

Also cleaned up the dash, slightly exaggerating the panel lines, so they will show when placed inside model. 

Wheel arches cleaned up well. 

Rear clean-up with first attempt at inserting rear bumper - need a little more work... 

Interior detail carved to complete upholstery seams & detail centre console lid 

Interior with front seats & gear level test fitting. Had to narrow the seat on Drivers side, and flatten the bottom of each 

Had to break-out the windows to help with test fitting interior.
I've also gone around the body's exterior seams and detailed them where necessary 

Worked out a way to install the windscreen - cut a ledge all around the edge, and UNDER the wipers - nearly 2 hours work on the front windscreen 

Decided there must be a better way, so developed a suitable tool - a mutilated SMS ceramic blade.
Doesn't look to flash, but that's a 7x magnification 

Used the tool on the back window - worked well - 15 mins to do this ledge ready to accept rear screen!!! Very happy!! 

Detailed scraping on the undertray to give the exhaust & other parts a decent shadow.
Who's gonna look at that???? Why, me, of course!!! 

As an interim I've used the clear panels from the MetalEarth packaging as temporary windows - starting with the templates provided with the kit, then gradually modifying it to fit into the new ledges that I've created. After MANY hours trimming, grinding, marking... on a seemingly endless loop, these photos show what I've settled for... By the way, none of these temporary windows are glued in any way - just the ledges & shaping keeping them in place.
Passengers window 

Rear Window - I'll try double-sided tape (1/16th inch) to do the final fix which will pull the "glass" into the final position.
The rear window is a bit unusual, in that it has a reverse (convex) shape to it at the trailing tips. 

Front Windscreen, tucked in behind the wipers - again d/s tape will help with the final shape 

Passengers side showing the fit at the front 

Drivers side, ditto 

Above & behind shot - have to fill in those 2 "rear spoiler" mounts holes too. 

Drivers side - The pale marks you can see are the card left over from the MetalEarth packaging glue. 

Front 3/4, showing the sort of reflection I want to see with windows in!! 

WHOAHHH!!! - Upon checking the real car photos.. Need to convert from "Manual" to "T-Bar Auto".
Clutch Pedal Removed and new Gear-shift insert created 

Some PVC carving to make up the T-Bar - size comparison to original gearstick 

Conversion complete - might have to enlarge the brake pedal?!??! 

While working on filling the holes for the rear wing (which my model WON'T have) I noticed that the detail around the rear window was very vague, which would make it very difficult to make the window trim Chrome. So out with the ceramic scraper with fine point to start what turned out to be another 2 hours of resin-carving!! 

Passenger's side showing the lack of detail above the window opening. 

The result of my detail carving...... I hope you agree it's an improvement 

Driver's side completed 

Front window frame completed, together with a lot of detailed carving around the wipers, and grill.
I'm very happy with this work - painting to continue tomorrow - now have fresh supplies of SMS White Prep. 

Under body primed x 3 light coats 

parts primed too 

body primed with 3 x light coats (last one heavier)
now to mess with the "Apollo Blue"!!