I’m gonna kick this off with a little background on the concept for this AMT kit. Motörhead was a hard rock band that started out in the 70s and was super popular in my high school years in the 1980s. They were out of the UK and had a number of top 10 singles and albums. Being a car guy, Motörhead just fit my mentality at the time, even though I wasn’t as much into hard rock in that era. Ace of Spades was one of their singles on an album of the same name. It was on their second album and reached pretty high in the charts. Doing a themed Camaro based on this band just seems to be a natural thing to do!

This was an exciting kit to see on the Reviewer Corps list! Being in High School in the 80’s this was a must-build kit, like printing money as a hard rock singer in that era! Hard charging, no holds barred, loud and proud band, no, I mean Camaro! This review is going to be an exercise in seeing how many exclamation points I can use 🤣

I have built three of these kits, and I feel very confident in identifying the foibles and the smooth aspects of the build. It really is a good overall kit, with the typical hurdles to get through. Given the theme for the kit, I was really looking forward to the quality of the decals. It has not disappointed. These are bold and really representative of the theme for Motörhead’s second album, Ace Of Spades. Lots of options with these decals, and since we’re really recreating a concept, you can do anything you want, from the 3 options shown to a unique mix, and end up with a sharp-looking Camaro.

Onto the build itself. The interior is pretty standard; no options here other than the steering wheel. Everything goes together and fits well, and it ends up sliding into the body with nothing more than the typical effort. The engine goes together as described. It’s the classic small block 350, maybe LT1 version. Carb spacer and a four-barrel carb (though only 3 barrels so leaving the air cleaner off will give car guys a chuckle), and if you want to leave a rocker cover off, it actually has the rocker arms molded into the head. I can actually see doing a few things in terms of a little vignette with somebody working on the engine. Underneath, the one problem I had was missing parts. There is supposed to be an electric fuel pump for this and there’s also supposed to be a fuel cooling can, plus an ignition module on the cowl. These parts are nowhere to be found in the kit. I even went out and looked at some pictures and other open box reviews to see if I was missing something somewhere. It doesn’t appear I am, but they are in the instructions. Which is a shame because when I first saw that it had the electric fuel pump on it, I was thinking, oh I wonder what I’ve got for an engine option, but it was the small block carb version. Side note, the grill says 454. The body itself is pretty clean and has just a few minor mold lines to clean up. The hardest part is getting the sink mark out of the roof without causing too many issues like thin spots or sanding through the center. On a related note, there are four pretty good-sized ejector pin marks on the headliner in the car. Make sure you get them taken care of before doing any paint work. The bottom section of the front end, you have to decide whether you want to fit it to the fender or if you want to fit it to the nose itself. I opted to try and fit it to the fender, to try and hold that visual line on the side of the body. I then had about a 1/16^th of an inch to fill between that lower fender section and the nose itself. Next on the modification list was the rear taillight valence. Mine fit well across the top, against the trunk seal, but it needed to be trimmed on both sides to make it fit and match up with the rear fender area. Didn’t take a whole lot and it was relatively clean in the end. I liked both the rear wing and the front splitter; both really nice, clean parts that give the car that mean look you want for Motörhead. My last pet peeve for this kit, there are NO hood hinges…but hey, that’s the way it’s always been, so no worries. Later I’ll make some stands to hold it up. Final paint was done with MCW enamels, with a Vallejo gloss clear from the spray can.

Ok let’s call it like it is…this review is about this wild decal option. They are perfect! They laid down with no silvering and no issues molding around curves. I used only setting solution on these, no solvent solution. Rolled over them with a cotton bud and DONE, ready for clear coat! Polishing up the paint really gives this car a sharp look and sets off those special Motörhead black and white decals.

Many thanks to Round2 and IPMS for providing me with this model to build and show you 👍