Chi-Town Hustler

[iBorg]

Now that the McEwen reissue is out, when might we see the Chi-Town Hustler and the Hawaiian?

I'm interested in the McEwen kit only if the decals are significantly better than the last release. The other two, will be going home with me. Might not even get home before the plastic is off.

Mike

[Len Geisler]

Mike,

I scored the McEwen kit couple days ago, really nice, same as the Blue MAx kit, one pc chassis, new slicks, BUT, my body was a short shot....I will probably buy a couple more of these only becsause of the one piece chassis, as it is much easier to build a straight car with one...Decals, seem ok, but the white is a decal, I may use this body to test the decals, and see how opaque they are....

[iBorg]

Have you thought of modifying the body to make it more correct for that car? That body was only correct for the first year Dusters such as the Whipple and McCullough Revellution car. After that, the greenhouse was reduced as was the rear body hangover.

Mike

[kitswapper]

Has anyone got this kit or seen pictures of the new Revell 69 Chi Town Hustler funny car

the Revell site says they are in stores now.

[kitswapper]

I was also told by Bob Utalski before he left Revell that the Hawaiian Funny Car was going to have the same digger style

one piece chassis as the the Blue Max kit they did 10 years ago with the horrible mustang body

[kitswapper]

I know it makes no sense I totally agree but he was a vice president and I told him they would be alot of pissed off people

..I'm not trying to stir the pot and I hope that it is not true..but that what he told me it was to save money..I tried saying how many cars they could do with a logghe style chassis they could do, such as a Jungle Jim Nova or the flip top Comets..etc

[Chuck Kourouklis]

Maybe Utalski was a bit mixed up on exactly which kit, swapper?

Because the McEwen Duster definitely has the one-piece digger frame and tires that debuted in the Blue Max Mustang.

Seems to me the Hustler and the Hawaiian would largely be decal variations from the same kit, if I have my facts straight...

[Dragline]

You are partly correct Chuck. But the Chi-Town is an exclusive chassis being an offset design and wouldn't be correct for the Leong car.

So it goes back to a new Logghe style chassis for the Leong car. Or a derivative of the Chi-Town tooling. Say, an extra tree with corrected parts on it.

Bob

[Fuel Coupe]

hey guys, I'm waiting intently for these two kits to come out. I can hardly wait.

Now what Ive read that the Hawaiian and the chi town cars will share the same chassis the difference will be that the chi town car will have the offset drivers compartment and the offset engine..

Also the hood will have an insert to accommodate the offset Chi Town and the standard Hawaiian car

I would like to believe that with all the research put into these two kits that revell would throw it all away on an incorrect chassis.

By looking at this pic you can see how easily that can be accomplished

Edited September 10, 2010 by TxRat

[Fuel Coupe]

I saved all your pics Mark. Im soooo ready.....

[Dragline]

Same here broski.. I am totally ready to attack these kits.

I'll put everything aside when they come out to blow em up right away.

I have your pics and the ones posted on NHRA.com Mark.

If anyone wants those PM me and they are yours.

Bob

[1320wayne]

First, here is another link to multiple pics. of both restored cars. The Hawaiian is on page 6.

http://s28.photobucket.com/albums/c214/marty1961/A%20Day%20At%20The%20Races/Nostalgia%20Fest%2009/?start=160

Second, I hope that Revell gets the roof correct between both of these cars. The Chi Town car has a side mounted roof escape hatch due to the side positioned drivers area.

[Jim Kampmann]

Here is a link to the instruction sheet. All of the internet hobby sites say it will be out later this month:

http://manuals.hobbico.com/rmx/85-4286.pdf

Clear the bench!

Jim Kampmann

[tim boyd]

Here is a link to the instruction sheet. All of the internet hobby sites say it will be out later this month:

http://manuals.hobbico.com/rmx/85-4286.pdf

Clear the bench!

Jim Kampmann

I followed Jim's link and printed off the eight page instruction manual. Wow, looks like a really killer funny car kit. Thanks Jim....TIM

[Jim Kampmann]

Thanks Tim. It looks like they hit a home run with this one! I like the way they did the body, and of course the one piece frame is a great idea! Makes me think the Hawaiian will have a one piece Logghe type chassis. Here's a link for some great shots of the duplicate to the original car (Pat Minick had a 'new' car built when the original was restored for the Mopar Museum:

http://public.fotki.com/TommyDz/the-chi-town-hustle-1/

Jim Kampmann

[jbwelda]

i would like to build one just like that prototype: unpainted but very clean. looks kool.

[Chuck Kourouklis]

Thanks for the straightening, Bob & Mark.

Although I have to say, if the Hawaiian did come with the offset chassis, that would still be preferable to the digger under the Duster shell. Maybe that's where the money was truly being saved - but I wouldn't mind being proven wrong...

[Len Woodruff]

This looks like a very good kit. I will be buying several of them!

[Chuck Kourouklis]

There's really nothing wrong with the digger chassis, in my view, especially since Revell modified the tooling to make the frame a one-piece unit a few years back. But, it would be totally incorrect for the Hawaiian or any other '60s funny car because teams didn't start using it until '71 or '72 or thereabouts, based on my recollection.

I agree with whoever it was who said the notion that Revell would invest all that money in the all-new tooling for these kits, only to throw it all away on an incorrect chassis, is preposterous...

Oh, don't get me wrong. Aside from the, uh, impressionist body shell, I was pretty stoked about that Blue Max Mustang from years back. Thought it brought about some great improvements, all of which were plenty worthwhile for use in the Duster - in fact, I think the McEwen kit is far better than it would have been without them.

Putting those parts in the Hawaiian woulda been way off, though, which is why if there's any cost-cutting to be done, it'd make more sense to me to have the Hustler and the Hawaiian as decal variations than it would to have a total anachronism under Leong's body shell.

That said, the hood is separate, as you point out, and the instruction sheet makes some hay out of the offset chassis. So here's hopin'.

Gotta say, the Hustler looks fantastic so far. If the Midgets live up to this promise...

[Dragline]

That instruction sheet was a coup! Taking a look at it is equivelent to looking up a gals skirt before taking her out. It's going to be a great kit and the seperate hood is clear evidence that the other chassis will be a non offset one. That and the hood insert prove it out to me. The motors can be the same since they basically are in the 1:1 cars. Motors can be changed or modified with even a modest parts box. The new tires should be good and the body looks spot on by my A-B'ing them with the 1:1 cars.

Now if the NHRA [or NASCAR for that matter], can get their grubby mitts out of our pockets, new pro stock and fuel motored cars could be made. Even the modern [sic] Revell funny cars were using 80's frames, which while close, were not quite right. A modern chassis for AA/FC and an easily updated Top Fuel chassis and motors for both is quite possible with the current tooling. Revell got a LOT of mileage out of those initial Monogram offerings. Time to pony up.

I'll be buying a few of these to make the JJ and USA 1 cars mentioned above. This chassis looks to be as good the PL kits. Although I happen to like multi piece frames. For me, they are easier to sand and are not flat on one side. But I'll save that for when I have one of these in my hands.

Bob

[Dragline]

KH, you are preaching to the choir here.

Here. here for more vintage gear indeed sir.

I just thought I'd pipe one for the newer vintage guys [like myself]. I'd like to see modern tooling so I can model the same car for the next 15 years. LOL....

Even newer high detail builds [Dave T's cover feature springs to mind] require extensive mods to handle the newer bodies.

It's my slacker mode in primary I guess. I have such a build on the table. Just waiting to start it I guess. Slacker mode firmly pressed into OD.

I have a LOT of projects envisioned. Every time I see a bit of forward I make a squeak towards slacker heaven.

OK, there was this one time at band camp................................

B

[oldscool]

To me, it defies logic, too, to believe Revell would spend all that money on a newly tooled chassis that could be used only in one specific kit of one specific car. Makes no sense whatsoever.

I think one of the major reasons I'm so excited about these kits, and was so thrilled when they were announced, is that I think it's fantastic that Revell opted to continue its proud tradition of producing state-of-the art kits of drag racing subjects _ a tradition that dates back to kits like the Tony Nancy double set and the original Stone, Woods and Cooke Willys. Bravo, Revell!

And, Bob, while I certainly would not turn up my nose at kits of modern drag cars, I, for one, would rather, as was suggested in the midget thread, see Revell go back to the nostalgia well once again and produce a killer series of front-engine dragsters ... starting, with, perhaps, the Greer-Black-Prudhomme rail?

Don't forget about the beautiful 1/16 funny car kits that Revell did like the Gene Snow car with the very accurate mini-charger body and the Revellution Demon.

Yes it does seem to be a tradition with Revell to do great drag car kits.

I can't wait to get my hands on this one.

oldscool

Edited September 15, 2010 by oldscool

[Brett Barrow]

Revell stated in their press release announcing their withdrawal from NASCAR kits that they would be focusing on vintage NHRA subjects, so I think we'll see a lot more reissues and new-tool kits of similar subjects. I would straight-up freak out if they did a new-tool Greer-Black-Prudhomme rail! And think about it, that thing had like zero sponsor decals on it, so no licensing worries!

[Len Carsner]

Here's the next project on the workbench for Bill and I, the all-new Revell Chi Town Hustler.

This time there's no teasers or guessing games, we're diving in with both feet and anxious to get started.

For our first installment, lets take a look at the contents.

As is the case with most kits these days, all parts are bagged for protection. This kit has five individual bags plus the tree of tires (not shown here). Total piece count for the kit is listed as 97 pieces. The kit is marked as Skill Level 3.

The tires are unmarked generic items. Markings for M&H Racemaster slicks are provided on the decal sheet.

Here we have the decal sheet and instructions.

The decals have the white background for the side panel markings which means the builder has only to paint the solid body color.

The Hustler was unique in that the driver was offset to one side of the car and the engine was offset to the other side. We already know we will be getting the Hawaiian funny car in the near future, by making this hood insert a separate item Revell need only tool one body - a new hood insert and chassis are the only major components needed to complete the Hawaiian kit.

Painting the molded in bumpers may prove to be a challenge for inexperienced modelers.

continued.....

[Len Carsner]

The next three images are of the white molded parts trees.

Here we have the chassis securely fastened to a sturdy tree to prevent in-transit damage. This looks like it might take some time to clean up any mold lines. We'll see if that's true during the build up.

The two chrome trees are shown here. There are a few items that I'll probably strip and paint instead of leaving the chrome finish.

Last two images show the two-piece front and rear wheels.

This will be something new for us - our first single version kit and a race-only car at that. Should be interesting to see what we can come up with to hold your interest.

Next installment should drop this weekend. We'll see you then.

Bill and Len