22 replies to this topic

[Randy]

Got this into the shop this week.
At first glance, it looks good. Can be built stock, or modern custom(bling wheels) Separate chrome (very good chrome I might add), opening hood, and trunk. 348/409 motor, with stock, and custom parts. It's 1/25th.

Body is molded in white with no visible sink marks. They have made a new plug for the inside of the mold, it doesn't have the slab sides that we've seen in the past in other kit done based on diecast. It has separate hood, and trunk. All of the chrome trim is cast separate, and looks to be very nice(may be fun getting off the sprue, very fine in places). We get a straight rear bump, as well as a continental rear bump. Skirts are optional, and nicely done. Head lights are multi piece(maybe not a good idea, I'm missing one of the head light buckets) with really nice separate head light trim. Tail light are molded in clear red, and clear for back-up, they come with their own plated trim. Windows are spilt with separate front and rear.

Interior has a base plate that runs from the front to the rear of the car, includes the trunk area, and the engine compartments front inner fenders(these look a little odd, but may look right once the other parts are added to it, i.e. Outer fenders) The base of the rear seat is molded in to the floor, with separate seat back. The front seat is a bench style. The seats seem a little soft on engraving, but include decals for the seat pattern. The dash has several decals for gages, and separate steering column, and very fine wheel. Door pad engraving looks good.

The motor looks to be a 348. Engraving on this is a little soft, not very sharp, and details like bolts are missing. It has a 3 deuce set-up for carburetors, and comes with separate air cleaners, set-up looks to be small, . They have done the “rams horn” styled exhaust headers, with the heat shields molded on. Radiator looks good with a 2 piece fan shroud. There is a nice set of custom valve covers, along with stock ones.

The chassis looks good with “X” frame molded in. It has separate front and rear suspension pieces, as well as stock exhaust. Can be built at 2 ride heights, fixed steering.

2 different wheel sets are supplied in this kit, stock, and bling(which are not too bad, just big) The stock hub caps look right, with very fine line engraving, and separate spinners. Stock tires are 2 piece with white wall inserts. The bling rims a directional, with no profile tires.

Over all not too bad for a kit with it’s diecast heritage. Think I may need to build one white, with some red ascents

 58_impala_Revell_03.jpg   18.65K   168 downloads

 58_impala_Revell_01.jpg   29.04K   132 downloads

 58_impala_Revell_02.jpg   29.95K   136 downloads

Edited by Randy, 05 December 2007 - 02:37 PM.

[LVZ2881]

pics would be great if you could, Randy!

[rollinoldskoo]

small block or 348?

[Dave Van]

Thanks for the imfo....gonna build me a AG car at last!

[Rob Hall]

Cool to hear stock hubcaps incl...I wasn't sure if the 2n1 versions were both lowriders or not..

Edited by Rob Hall, 03 December 2007 - 03:16 PM.

[ramonesblues]

Has this kit been released yet? My LHS doesn't have it yet.

[Rob Hall]

Has this kit been released yet? My LHS doesn't have it yet.

Looks like it came out this week....several online vendors have it in stock now..

[Dave in Seattle]

Did not see the scale mentioned in your otherwise informative review. With its die-cast heritage, is it 1/24 or 1/25? Or sumpin else?

[Randy]

Did not see the scale mentioned in your otherwise informative review. With its die-cast heritage, is it 1/24 or 1/25? Or sumpin else?

The box says 1/25th.
Randy

[Lyle Willits]

I got one today at my LHS and just finished giving it good grokking.
There are quite a few places where the kit's diecast origins are very evident ... the front and rear suspensions, for example. Overall, though, the kit looks very good and I'm happy that Revell decided to do a plastic version of it.
Kind of interesting that Revell is marketing the kit as a lowrider. The wheels are the same style found in the "Motor City Muscle" '69 Camaros and are decidedly pro touring, rather than lowrider style. Also, while the model can be built with the front end at stock or lowered height, there are no such provisions for the rear.
Incidentally, as with many other newer Revell kits, the wheels mount with metal pins, meaning this would be another good place to use those chrome reversed wheels from the '49 Merc! In fact, I would think those would be perfect for an AG car!
For the optimal appearance, The separate chrome trim pieces should probably be stripped, mounted to the body prior to painting then covered with Bare-Metal Foil. That way, the trim will all have the same level of shine when the model is completed. I probably won't do that, though, because I just don't think I'm up to foiling that much trim!
Whether this kit represents an improvement over the old AMT '58 Chevy kit is, I suppose, a matter of perspective. One thing's for sure, though ... this one should be a LOT easier to build!

They are probably the same wheels that were in the diecast version.

Of course, I can never leave anything alone and had to build the diecast my way.

[rollinoldskoo]

Something else I noticed about this kit upon further inspection ... in the box are lowrider batteries for the trunk and two different lowrider plaques for the interior, neither of which are mentioned in the instructions! I thought that was a bit odd for a kit that is being marketed as a lowrider!
I am REALLY looking forward to getting started on this one! I've always wanted to build a '58, but was always a little intimidated by AMT's.

I'll take them if any of you don't want them for that matter, i'll take any of the lowrider prts most of you won't use......

[MrObsessive]

I just picked up this kit Saturday, and I'm very impressed! You've all seen the '58 I've done, this kit bests AMT's in a lot of ways------namely you don't have to screw around with the fiddly doors, and the chassis engraving is very well done.

The separate chrome is curious, in that I'd much rather BMF the body-------but I'm kind of a masochist with things like that! I'll probably strip the chrome, mount it on the body making sure everything lines up and then BMF the chrome after polish.

The body lines are exactly right, and even the A pillars are well done being the correct thickness, shape, and angle for a '58. The spinners for the hubcaps are nicely done, and reference material for this car is all over the 'net.

I'd like to build mine as a Fuelie........very rare in '58, maybe in Sierra or Anniversary Gold. Of course everything else will be stock as stone!

[Harry P.]

The separate chrome is curious, in that I'd much rather BMF the body

Huh???

Man, I wish every kit had separate chrome trim, like the Lindberg Cutlass. It makes for a much sharper look, and takes away the pain of fooling with BMF. Foiling a finished painted body always requires way too much handling of the body.

[MrObsessive]

Harry, what I meant by the separate chrome is that in some instances, the chrome doesn't quite fit right in its recesses (or the recesses too big), and seems to me somewhat heavy handed.

Better for me (some'll disagree of course) if the chrome is stripped, put on the body, primered and painted/polished with everything else, and then BMF'd.

It lends to me a more in scale (and consistent) appearance as chrome fender/window trim on 1:1's are more of a polished stainless or aluminum finish, and not mirror chrome like the bumpers.

I'm looking at the kit as I type this, and it has some sprue tabs that'll have to be filed and smoothed down anyway, so might as well go for the whole nine yards.

True, I can empathize with those builders who have shaky hands and or no patience.....................but for me this works best.

Just a matter of taste.

[Harry P.]

Trim detail can be "off" whether it's a separate piece or molded together with the body. It all depends on whether the kitmaker did it right.

I'd prefer chrome trim as separate pieces (assuming of course, that it's accurately scaled and that it fits!). The chances of messing up a finished body go up the more that body is handled...and foiling a body can't be done without a lot of handling of the finished paint. And then there's always the chance of the blade slipping...

I built the old AMT kit of the 58 Impala, and foiling it took almost as long as building the dang thing!

But to each his own. Happy stripping, filing, gluing and foiling, Mr. O!

Edited by harrypri, 17 December 2007 - 06:56 AM.

[jbwelda]

i dont really recall this car and its separate chrome from any earlier incarnation from my youth, but in my experience separate chrome strips for the sides never really worked out too well. unless there were very positive mounting pins and hidden glue-points, i would always mess up the mounting of strips like that.

>The chances of messing up a finished body go up the more that body is handled

ah but for me the chances of messing up a finished body go WAY more up when you have to get glue near it. the times ive tried applying separate side trim after finishing the body, it invariably ends up with glue (typically super glue) somehow either oozing out under the trim, or slight adjustments making marks on the finish, and often have led to tragedy as the trajectory of a thrown body is researched on its way from my hand to the dustbin. ahem.

so, much as i dislike bmf, i think i would prefer my shaky hand on a knife blade than waving around a super-glue laden long thin piece of plastic!

maybe its just me though...

[Modelmartin]

ah but for me the chances of messing up a finished body go WAY more up when you have to get glue near it. the times ive tried applying separate side trim after finishing the body, it invariably ends up with glue (typically super glue) somehow either oozing out under the trim, or slight adjustments making marks on the finish, and often have led to tragedy as the trajectory of a thrown body is researched on its way from my hand to the dustbin. ahem.

so, much as i dislike bmf, i think i would prefer my shaky hand on a knife blade than waving around a super-glue laden long thin piece of plastic!

maybe its just me though...

YIKES! You superglue trim pieces to a painted body? Dude! Use white glue or clear acrylic for small items. I tend to go Bill Geary's direction with chrome trim. They can't plate everything so you usualy end up with a mix of plated and foiled trim anyway. I think it looks better if all the trim is foiled and the bigger parts are plated because foil or Alclad looks good on small pieces but falls down a bit on larger surfaces.

Anyway I will have to get one of these kits since I love 58-61 Chevs. It's funny because I am actually building an AMT right now! I guess I will have to do a Comparo!

[Modelmartin]

ah but for me the chances of messing up a finished body go WAY more up when you have to get glue near it. the times ive tried applying separate side trim after finishing the body, it invariably ends up with glue (typically super glue) somehow either oozing out under the trim, or slight adjustments making marks on the finish, and often have led to tragedy as the trajectory of a thrown body is researched on its way from my hand to the dustbin. ahem.

so, much as i dislike bmf, i think i would prefer my shaky hand on a knife blade than waving around a super-glue laden long thin piece of plastic!

maybe its just me though...

YIKES! You superglue trim pieces to a painted body? Dude! Use white glue or clear acrylic for small items. I tend to go Bill Geary's direction with chrome trim. They can't plate everything so you usualy end up with a mix of plated and foiled trim anyway. I think it looks better if all the trim is foiled and the bigger parts are plated because foil or Alclad looks good on small pieces but falls down a bit on larger surfaces.

Anyway I will have to get one of these kits since I love 58-61 Chevs. It's funny because I am actually building an AMT right now! I guess I will have to do a Comparo!

[Chuck Kourouklis]

Don't forget one other thing, y'all -

The mounting pins on these trim bits are long, because they were originally designed to be heat-swaged from inside the diecast body shell.

This opens up two possibilities: you can either mushroom the pins yourself from inside (that is, if you have a bit less trouble with heated screwdrivers near your painted body than you do with glue or shaky blades), or you can trim the pins a bit and apply the glue from inside.

All told, this set of trim promises to be a bit easier to deal with than what you see in some other kits **COUGH-TRUMPETER-COUGHCOUGH**.

[jbwelda]

>YIKES! You superglue trim pieces to a painted body?

well, no, actually, i dont build kits with big old chrome strips to glue to the body!



i didnt mean little trim pieces, i typically use future to hold those, i meant like big chrome side trim pieces.

>**COUGH-TRUMPETER-COUGHCOUGH**

exactly.

but if they do have a positive contact system for mounting even long trim, then no problemo. i just tense up anytime i have to get any kind of glue near a finished body...