135 replies to this topic

[mikemodeler]

^I'm not sure if that plow setup was the norm or not; my dad has a Fisher plow from the '80s that was originally on this body style of truck that he had modified to fit his '89 and it mounts in front of the bumper. Mind you, his setup is a 'permanent' one: full hydraulic, with the pump being belt-driven by the engine. This kit comes with an electric-over-hydraulic setup.

Also, come to think of it, in the late 80's-early 90's when I was growing up my dad plowed with a '78 Bronco and it, too, had the christmas tree in front of the plow.

Fisher snow plows were mounted to the trucks differently than the typical Meyer or Western snow plows of the same era. A friend of mine had a Chevy Blazer with the Fisher plow while my Dad drove a 1 ton dump with a Western plow. The brand depicted in these test shots is a Western and I am guessing that because Revell is in the burbs of Chicago, there were a ton of trucks to view for reference.

Should be interesting to see what we end up getting. The last time a model kit came with a snow plow, MPC was putting them in their Jeep kits back around 1970.

[Longbox55]

This bed looks like it shares the same feature as the stepside: no fuel doors!

There is a gas filler cap (feul doors didn't come until '79), it's on the passenger side. That would be correct for a truck with base single tank, which was on the passnger side, however, the kit has the optional (and very common) dual tanks, and should have fillers on both sides.

[kataranga]

Seems like it might be easier to cut out the extra tank than to add the fuel caps.

[kingiguana]

Another oddity I remember about these GM trucks and the Blazers too I believe, is that the door handles are different sizes, or the location was off. I dont have any of these in my stash right now to look. But I still ove these kits, I had a bunch when I was a kid. Built all out of the box, very little painting at all.

[Edsel-Dan]

I am curious as I never had the original issue,
is the bed a Phantom Cameo type (One piece casting)
or made of separate sides, floor, front, etc??MPC's 72 Annual Jeep Commando was the last to include the snow plow.I know most of the Jeepster/Commando's had that, and some Early issues of the CJ.My built Fire Chief Commando has the plow on it

Edited by Edsel-Dan, 22 March 2012 - 05:32 PM.

[Casey]

I am curious as I never had the original issue,
is the bed a Phantom Cameo type (One piece casting)
or made of separate sides, floor, front, etc?

It's a multi-piece stock bed, with separate L & R bed sides, inner and outer tailgate, front bed wall, and a bed floor with inner bed walls as the last piece. The bed is far more accurate than the Fleetside bed in the MPC/AMT '84 GMC 4x4, but it's not perfect. Also included are solidly molded chains for mounting the tailgate in the lowered position.

Here's an assembled bed from one of the Chevy monster truck versions:

Edited by Casey, 23 March 2012 - 10:08 AM.

[Jordan White]

As far as the body lines being questioned, I think the way the bed is mounted to the chassis makes it sit at an angle for some reason.

As for the spare tire mounted to the rear, I'm pretty sure it's either something to do with the Blazer/Jimmy kit (one of which had a rear mounted spare), or to do with the older stepside kit that offered a spare carrier on the tailgate. I find it odd that GM decided to mount a spare carrier on the stepside version, yet didn't offer it for the wideside version.

[Edsel-Dan]

Thanks for the info on the bed, but, it still looks too much like
a Phantom Cameo with those inner bed sides molded with the floor.
They just look too vertical!!

I will have to look at real ones to see how close to a stepside inner
box the inside of a Fleetside of this era actually is.
Luckily I think my brother still has our dad's oldie!!
But, I have not spoken to him in a few years!!

Edited by Edsel-Dan, 23 March 2012 - 06:40 PM.

[plowboy]

The bed is far more accurate than the Fleetside bed in the MPC/AMT '84 GMC 4x4, but it's not perfect.

I gotta disagree with you on that one Casey. The '84 GMC is far more accurate. The only probelm with the '84 bed is the lines for the toolbox and that's from it's Fall Guy days.

The '77s lip around the fenderwell is way too big. It's more like a fender flare.
The '84s is a little too big,but much better proportioned.
The '77 doesn't have the lip at the bottom of the bed in front of the tires (or the cab) that is so prominent on GM trucks
The '84 has the lip.
The '77 has no corner below the tail lights. The corner should go all the way to the bottom and wrap around.
The '84 does.
The '77 has opened tail light housings that make it a little difficult to glue the tail light in. It also has clear tail lights.
The '84 has a recess for the tail light with clear red tail lights.
The '77 has no GMC letters on the tail gate.
The '84 has a nice chrome filler panel (it could use a shot of dull cote) with the GMC lettering. However, it doesn't have a handle for opening the tail gate.
The '77 bed is a multi piece: a tub with two bed sides and a seperate tail gate.
The '84 is molded in one piece with a seperate tail gate.
When you add it all up,the '84 is the clear winner. If you figure in the rest of both kits,cab, chassis,engine and interior. The AMT kit has it a mile over the Monogram kit.

[Casey]

It's the inside of the MPC/AMT bed which I have a problem with- the side walls are smooth, there's zero lip detail where the side and front walls meet the bed sides, and the wheel housings look generically half hex-shaped.




They both need improvement, but I think the Monogram beds are easier to re-work because of their multi-piece construction...or we can all just build Stepside/Fenderside pickups.

[kataranga]

It would be nice to have the option to use one bed or the other, but unfortunately they're different scales and don't match up at all. However, the parts are all available to build a GMC stepside and a Chevy wideside in both scales.

[Repstock]

If I might pile on a bit. The MPC grilles look much better, too. The Revell '77 GMC grille openings are too big, and the grille is too tall from top to bottom. Their '75 Chevy grille doesn't even have the right amount of openings, and depicts no truck grille I've ever seen. MPC's grilles look much better.

Now that's not to say I don't have nits with MPC's trucks, but between the two, I'd take MPC.

[kataranga]

The only thing good about Revell's '78 C10 is the cab. The MPC cabs don't have the model badging on them. The Revell C10 is an abomination of a kit with the California stepside bed and the poor excuse for a front suspension...

[Longbox55]

The MPC cabs have the badging. The early ones are badged Scottsdale, the later ones ('81) are badges Custom Deluxe. The Monogram and Revell trucks did not have any badging.

[plowboy]

The MPC cabs have the badging. The early ones are badged Scottsdale, the later ones ('81) are badges Custom Deluxe. The Monogram and Revell trucks did not have any badging.

The '84 GMC doesn't have any badges. Wonder why the earlier Chevies had the badges and the '84 GMC didn't?

[kataranga]

My mistake. I should've known, considering I have three MPC cabs. I was thinking of the Monogram cabs...

[Casey]

Won't be long now...it's (almost) out!

http://www.revell.com/new.html

[mikemodeler]

Casey,

What is the likelihood that Model Empire will have these in 3 weeks when I am up there? I sure would like to pick these up, along with a few other goodies, when I make the annual family vacation trip to Cheeseland!

Your mirrors should go out tomorrow. It finally cooled off to the mid-90's this week and I can go out to the garage without melting!

[mjsjr]

i heard end of july can't wait i have a few ideas take the cab,engine and plow and add to the tow truck

[MyBradKeselowski]

The '84 GMC doesn't have any badges. Wonder why the earlier Chevies had the badges and the '84 GMC didn't?

IMO, I think MPC would have had to look at the cost consideration of redoing the mold for the GMC to have the badging on the sides to say SIERRA, HIGH SIERRA or SIERRA CLASSIC where on the Chevy's they could just cover up the CUSTOM DELUXE, SCOTTSDALE or SILVERADO badging without maybe having to redo the molds.

Even though this is probably and no way true, this seems like a reasonable way of why the Chevy's had the badging and the GMC does not...