Well this didn't take too long at all using course grit sandpaper and a block. The ugly black paint revealed a really pretty wood grain, so I am going to try to bring that out a bit more. Not sure how I will manage to get rid of the black in the truss-groove, but I will figure it out.
As for removing the finish of the body... I am going to need a heat gun for that. A solid 30 minutes of extra-course sandpaper and I hadn't even gotten to the wood. So I'll have to pick one of those up from Bunnings next weekend. I'll have to be extra careful with the scraping though, as I want to maintain the grain. A couple of dings here and there won't be too bad though. Relics are all chic n' shit these days anyhow.
So that pretty much means I'm at an impasse until I get the heat gun.
In other news, how fucking amazing was the Batman V Superman trailer?? Affleck IS Batman, no question. I was a wee bit surprised that the filmmakers went the Doomsday route, but it seems like he is a sort of, er, bizarre Doomsday/Bizarro mix. And nice to see Wonder Woman stepping in to save the day.
Step aside, Marvel, you've had your time in the sun. Best run along back to Disneyland and let the big kids play.