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Stacey David's Rat Roaster by : REVELL


Greg Myers

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 3 weeks later...

I just watched the episode of Stacey David's Gearz called "The FinalTouch" which reviews the full build of the Rat Roadster. A view of the model is actually shown and it sure looked close to the real thing to me. I will definitely be buying more than one if only for the parts.

The episode also showed winners of the second Revell model car contest. Congratulations to those winners.

Happy Model Car Building New Year

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Thanx! Hopefully Model Roundup's list of features is accurate:

Features

  • I-Beam Front Axle
  • Front-Mounted Moon Fuel Tank
  • Stock Looking Firewall
  • Halibrand-Like 5-Bolt Wheels
  • Draping Over-Frame Headers
  • Hair Pin Radius Rods
  • Weiand Blower
  • Buick Portals
  • Replica 1:25 scale Gibson-Like Guitar

In particular I have yet to actually see the "I-Beam Front Axle" in any of the pictures but the "Stock Looking Firewall" is quite clear and very welcome as are the "Halibrand-Like 5-Bolt Wheels". Other features not listed but highly significant and welcome are narrow front tires (at last!!!!), the Small Block Chevy motor, the chopped windshield and the simplified and cleaned up dashboard (vs. the dash that comes in the Goodguys Roadster). The rear suspension is clearly the old one from the previous kits. Did Stacey get them to remove the airbags???? The interior, like the hood, is awfully stylized and unique to the rat roaster. So, for us Old Skool builders we'll still have to fabricate our own tuck 'n' roll interiors and buggy spring rear ends... Presumably, given that so many parts are carried over from the prior Deuces, the frame is compatible with the earlier releases.

Edited by Bernard Kron
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From what I've been told, the tooling is "all new" in the sense that it is physically a new piece of steel. Some of the individual part patterns may end up being the same as the parts from earlier kits. This was done intentionally so as to keep the ability to easily kit-bash between all of the other deuce kits.

It's entirely possible the build-up we've seen pictures of was made using parts from the other kits, which might explain why the I-beam front axle isn't visible, or the rear end looks the same (on the real car it's very similar anyway - a "triangulated" four link with coil-overs).

I've also noticed that there's no distributor or steering box on the built-up model. The real car has a pocket in the firewall to clear the distributor, and didn't get it's steering box - a very trick rack-and-pinion unit for solid axle cars - until very late in the build, possibly later than when the kit designers were there to research the kit. We'll have to see what's done to the actual kit to replicate these parts.

From what I understand, the kit does have a few intentional comprimises to allow future development of the tooling, it might not be a 100% accurate replica of the show car, but should come very, very close. I should be seeing an actual sample kit sometime in the next week or so, I'll pass along any info I can. The kit won't be mine to keep, and I probably won't be allowed to post any photos of it, but I'll try to answer any questions I can. It'll only be about a month before this thing is on the shelves, so we don't have long to wait!

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From what I've been told, the tooling is "all new" in the sense that it is physically a new piece of steel. Some of the individual part patterns may end up being the same as the parts from earlier kits. This was done intentionally so as to keep the ability to easily kit-bash between all of the other deuce kits.

It's entirely possible the build-up we've seen pictures of was made using parts from the other kits, which might explain why the I-beam front axle isn't visible, or the rear end looks the same (on the real car it's very similar anyway - a "triangulated" four link with coil-overs)....

From what I understand, the kit does have a few intentional comprimises to allow future development of the tooling, ... I should be seeing an actual sample kit sometime in the next week or so, I'll pass along any info I can. ... and I probably won't be allowed to post any photos of it, but I'll try to answer any questions I can. It'll only be about a month before this thing is on the shelves, so we don't have long to wait!

Thanx for the excellent response. This is an important release in many ways, some of which weren't necessarily known until your comment. Obviously it's an important, throroughly contemporary subject, a car currently owned and shown by a very popular automotive media figure. This alone is very unusual, most releases being historical subjects. Additionally, you've pointed out that, by ensuring a degree of backward compatibility, it serves as a kind of "Mk. II" iteration of Revell's immensely successful series of Deuce cars. While Old Skool enthusiaists such as myself might grump about modern rear suspension setups and idiosyncractic design cues like the hood, this release will represent a strong step forward, introducing a new motor offering, significant changes in the area of wheels and tires, and even a refreshingly modern set of interior parts that will clearly find its way into other modeling projects.

This kit will cut a wide swath among a large variety of modelers, from those wanting to exceute a well built replica of the 1:1 to those who may never build this kit at all but will buy multiple copies for all the highly useful parts it contains.

I look forward to your "peak inside the box" of what will doubtless be a very popular new offering.

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Thanx for the excellent response. This is an important release in many ways, some of which weren't necessarily known until your comment. Obviously it's an important, throroughly contemporary subject, a car currently owned and shown by a very popular automotive media figure. This alone is very unusual, most releases being historical subjects. Additionally, you've pointed out that, by ensuring a degree of backward compatibility, it serves as a kind of "Mk. II" iteration of Revell's immensely successful series of Deuce cars. While Old Skool enthusiaists such as myself might grump about modern rear suspension setups and idiosyncractic design cues like the hood, this release will represent a strong step forward, introducing a new motor offering, significant changes in the area of wheels and tires, and even a refreshingly modern set of interior parts that will clearly find its way into other modeling projects.

This kit will cut a wide swath among a large variety of modelers, from those wanting to exceute a well built replica of the 1:1 to those who may never build this kit at all but will buy multiple copies for all the highly useful parts it contains.

I look forward to your "peak inside the box" of what will doubtless be a very popular new offering.

It's hard to believe that the orignal 32 tooling is now nearly 20 years old and has been in pretty much constant production.

I should get to see it sometime next week, but it won't be mine :( I'll have to wait 'til the kit hits the shelves to have one for my own :) And I'm more exited about the AMT Ohio George Willys re-issue anyway!

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The suspense is killing me. I don't think I can wait much longer to see what the parts of this kit look like. I have a feeling this will be my favorite kit of all time.

On a side note, I would absolutely love it if Revell decided tool up an all new chassis (rails with removable floor) and create something like a 3 in 1 kit of the 32 Ford: all stock, 50s period hot rod with quickchange rear end, and something like a 60s period street rod. That would appeal to a very wide variety of hot rod enthusiasts.

With Revell tooling up all new parts like the firewall and those amazing rims/tires, I think the chassis would be the next logical step.

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"Rat Roaster", "Rat Rod", "Rat Roadster" or "Rat Snot Booger Picker"......I don't care what they call it or what it's supposed to be....I think it's a cool car and a killer attempt by Revell to improve our hobby!

Wild horses couldn't stop me from getting the first one....but what I see in there will determine weather or not I buy 5 more!

Parts, parts, parts, parts, PARTS! Woohoo!

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So I take it your a stones fan

"Rat Roaster", "Rat Rod", "Rat Roadster" or "Rat Snot Booger Picker"......I don't care what they call it or what it's supposed to be....I think it's a cool car and a killer attempt by Revell to improve our hobby!

Wild horses couldn't stop me from getting the first one....but what I see in there will determine weather or not I buy 5 more!

Parts, parts, parts, parts, PARTS! Woohoo!

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Yeah, the valve covers look like the ones we've seen on other SBC's, like the California Wheels versions of the Tri-Fives. And since the Vega steering box didn't fit on the real car, I doubt the Vega box from the existing 32's would fit either. The real car had Edelbrock valve covers that were machined out to accept the breathers anyway, and the steering is a trick rack and pinion unit that went in very late in the build, probably after the kit had already been measured and in development.

We'll see what's in actually in there when we see the actual kit. Who knows (other than whoever built the box-top kit) what went into the box-top photo build? It's entirely possible it was built from existing kit parts and resin or STL mockups of the unique parts. There could be very litle actual kit styrene in that build-up. You have to have box art mocked up for licensing approval so early in the process these days that a lot of box-top built-ups for the recent Revell releases have been built from very early mockups or early test shots.

We'll see, we'll see. In a couple weeks it'll all be clear...

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