Revell or AMT ?

[CrazyGirl]

well Monday i am going on an Elvis type car buying spree around 10 cars but i have a question on 3 of them , a 62 ,63, 64 Chevy's, my Q is who has the more detailed kit , Revell or AMT , or are there other better kits for these 3 , Thanks !

[Casey]

The Revell '62, '63, and '64 Impala kits are all good kits, so you can't go wrong with any/all of them. The '63 and '64 are both Impala SSs, while the '62 is an Impala. There are both "Special Edition" (review HERE ) and "California Wheels" (review HERE ) packaged '62 Impala kits from Revell, with the latter being slightly decontented compared to the former. I recall some bumper differences, too.

The AMT '62 Bel Air 409 kit has the "bubble top" roof and is also a good kit, an although it's been out of production for a few years now, it's still easy to find on eBay. They did a convertible version, too.

Here's a good look at the current/recent Impala kits, and while I've never bought anything here, they do have many of the kits' instruction sheets listed as clickable .pdf files, so you can see what the parts look like, too: http://www.modelcars.com/model-kit-search.html?search=impala&Search.x=46&Search.y=9

[horsepower]

I may not be looking at the box correctly, but isn't the second Limited Edition Release of the '62 Impala from Revell an Impala SS?

couldn't stand it, it's kit 85-4281

Edited March 17, 2013 by horsepower

[W-409]

In my opinion....

'62 Impala/Bel Air kits are great quality, doesn't matter if it's AMT or Revell. I think the body style counts at this point. Both have 409 Engines, only the AMT kit is Bel Air. Then AMT has those Super Stock Bel Airs too, they are great kits also with Racing parts added...

'63 Impala is absolutely Revell. I have both, AMT and Revell and I can't say much good words from AMT's Impala. The body is okay, and interior can be built nice, but that's it. Engine looks very simple, Firewall is missing from the kit and chassis is promo style once piece with metal axles.... It can be built nice model, if you don't show the engine bay and chassis. Revell is great quality, it just has 327 engine, which is not the best either, but a lot better than AMT's effort on 409. Revell kit has seperate chassis components and nice interior too. Body looks good also. There are at least two different releases from the Revell kit, another one has Lowrider parts inside it, other one has ugly big wheels with flat tires in it. But it is a great kit and can be built stock, too (At least the Lowrider version can be built Stock, I don't have the California Wheels version).

I'm not sure about AMT's '64 Impala, so I'll just say that Revell kits is very nice, and it can be built as a very fine looking model.

I hope this helps.

Edited March 17, 2013 by W-409

[Casey]

I may not be looking at the box correctly, but isn't the second Limited Edition Release of the '62 Impala from Revell an Impala SS?

couldn't stand it, it's kit 85-4281

The "California Wheels" version is labelled Impala SS, the previous/original Special Edition version of the kit is simply Impala.

[Guest]

The old AMT 64 has a nice body, but the balance cannot hold a candle to the Revell 64, interior is bucket type, and all chassis detail is molded in.

[CrazyGirl]

ok great info guys ,, and Michelle !!! ,, ok i can now use Michelle as an excuse to continue on , you have now become my enabler

[Helix]

Hi Anne, recently completed the Revell '64 Impala and just about to finish the AMT '64 Impala, like the other guys have said, Revell more detailed whilst the AMT is very simple, both look good in my opinion....cheers Ray!

[TurboKitty]

Lol you seem to be off to a good start (checked out your '40 Ford), Lord knows it wouldn't hurt to have a few more gals here Out of curiosity what other Elvis cars are you considering building?

[Edsel-Dan]

What you have to realize here, is ALL 3 of those Revell Impala's are Modern Tooling.

The 2 62's from AMT are also New/Modern tooling with increased parts count & detail.

The AMT 63 & 64 Impals's are OLD Original kits based off the Promo's From 63 & 64

The 64 being released almost every 5 to 10 years Since 64, while we did not see the

63 for almost 25 years since it was a part of the 3 kit Drag team set in about 67-68.

The first re-issue was in the early/mid 80's Prestiege series.

As said above, Both can be made to look good, The choice is, How do you want to do it.

Modern Tooled kit, or can you accept the Classic tooling that is as old as what it represents.

[my80malibu]

The AMT 62 impala is a nice kit. The Revell 62 impala is a nice kit, from what I have heard 'I dont own one or have built one, I dont like either 63 impala's from AMT or Revell, AMT Prestige series is just old & worn out mold, from what I Have seen kind of toylike.The Revell is based on a diecast,the Engine is garbage.However it can be improved with the Revell 64 impala, if you want a SBC engine, and chassis. The AMT 64 impala is not too bad, it seems to have been around for ever the last one I built was in the late 70's early 80's and its still readily available. Again the Revell 64 appears to have more in the way of detail and could be a little harder to find.

My disclaimer here, these old eyes have seen all of these kits and this is my best recollection IMHO.

[johnbuzzed]

When it was first released, the AMT '64 Impala had working headlights (and tail lights, I think); that was 'way back in '64- I'm dating myself. Anyhow, it's a nice kit for an easy build.

[Nxr]

it actually all depends on the impalas you want to build, 59 impala - Revell ( old big box kit) is great, 60 impala - Revell (The old big box lowrider kit with amazing art decals, easily convertable to a hot rod with cragars and a raised suspension) 61 Impala i am not so sure about i believe maybe lindberg makes them? one i never owned, 62 impala both amt and revell have great quality, i would probably pick the new special edition as they seem to be the top of the line revell kits and have decals for gauges badges and small things that save building time, 63 Impala actually has a decent amigo pack kit with Aztec decals and an identical diecast, this one i would not mind building as a lowrider, the AMT Prestige kit has a more of a promo styled building with few parts but authentic whitewalls and a more vanilla look, 64 Impala AMT has an older kit with some racing decals and revell has a very nice lowrider 2 n 1 kit which is basiclly 3 n 1 one cause you can always build a hot rod and put the lowrider decals on it ( in my opinion a good change and the decals are often too good to pass up) 65 Impala is the best BLAH_BLAH_BLAH_BLAH impala kits period, The revell convertible large box kit from around 1998 is the best one you can find, the purple lowrider magazine kit is also great for a hot rod conversion, model car garage sells update sets for almost all impalas and the 65 set is amazing with the tail light bezel details ( one of my favorite things to detail period is those BLAH_BLAH_BLAH_BLAH 65 tail lights) 66 Impala can be bought as an ss kit from the new edition of revell, i do not own one so cant describe too well but it does have 66 tail lights and many changes from 65. Now for 67 Impala you cant go wrong with the AMT ss 396 kit which is very hunted on ebay and hardly find the original 90s issue for under 35$ Great kit thought and one of the Impala years where it only really works as a performance muscle car. For 68 and 69 Impalas there are a few very old mpc kits that go for over 200$ and honestly we need more of those released! The hidden headlight 67 impala and along with 68 and 69 are very badass cars. 70 Impala you can get it as an amt kit which is a nice car overall. Oh i forgot 58 Impala go with older amt kits! Probably a bit too much info for covering all Impala years but should give a good idea...