First detailed look - Revell's '29 Model A Hot Rod Roadster ...updated with photos of completed builds of both kit versions

[Mark]

These kits finally showed up in my area, and I was able to snag two of them.  I've rummaged through one several times today, in between other things...and every time I'm noticing things I didn't catch earlier.  It reminds me of the Kurtis-Kraft midget kits, it really does look like a labor of love...it seems like great pains were taken to make the parts look as good as possible on the assembled model.  Sprue attachment points are minimized and appear to be (wherever possible) put in places where they won't be readily seen.  Hollowed-out ends on the injector stacks and headers.  Two frames (looks like a trip through the parts box will turn up enough stuff to build a second rolling chassis), three sets of headlights, two seats, two cool steering wheels, and I'll probably see more next time I poke through the box.  Plenty of versions using only what is in the box, and the possibilities with other kits like the Revell '29 pickup and AMT roadster appear to be endless.  Bring on the coupe!  

For those not liking the exhaust port spacing, maybe just swap heads with one of the other Buick engines out there?  (Yeah, you shouldn't have to do it, but so many other things in the kit are so good that I won't get too bothered by the port spacing.)  Casting copies of a "preferred" cylinder head shouldn't be too much trouble.  The inner fender wells can/should probably be cut apart from the interior side panels and installed separately anyway.  It'll probably be easier to sand out the ejector pin marks on the fender wells (so far, the only ones I've seen that really stick out).   

[unclescott58]

Decided to go ahead and cut the rear wheel wells from the interior trim/door panels. I then glued the the wheel wells into the body.

That takes care of the only thing I really disliked in the kit. The more I work on it, the more impressed I am.

Edited September 14, 2015 by unclescott58

[jeff f]

I just got my first one, and a huge Thank You to all involved . Has anyone else found a master cylinder yet ?

Keep the hits coming Revell we'll buy em all .   Jeff

[jbwelda]

wrote that last one at the airport in Miami on my GFs laptop, had a couple (or more) before (and during) so perhaps my communication skills were not at their best. nonetheless, PM was not forthcoming, rather a disappointment as I had some ideas of my own.

I like it and I especially like how it all fits together well, no alignment issues at all for me anyway.

on another subject talked to Norm Veber the other day and those NH valve and plug covers have been available for a long time. picked up a couple sets though and also the cheater slicks which should go great on another something I am working on.

jb

 

[mike 51]

I think those headers look much better minus the plating..on both yours and Cranky's too.   

[jbwelda]

yeah Mike I agree. I think in general chrome headers are just too bright for me, strip off the chrome and then you can really see them.

edit to add: koolest little generator/alternator mounting bracket I have seen in quite a while! nice engraving details and everything!

here it is finished posed on a stand I built for it. very nice little engine. next up is a 409 with a Latham supercharger set up. see pic below

building little projects like this help keep me interested.

jb

 

 

Edited September 15, 2015 by jbwelda

[tim boyd]

JB - great job on that Nailhead!    Cheers...TIM

[jbwelda]

and I would like to apologize to Bill for calling him on his chat. I realize he probably wrote what I quoted in the heat of passion as it were, and we all regret statements made under those circumstances from time to time. it was just too big a target to ignore. Bill, love your models and your attempts at pointing out lack of fidelity to reality, it just gets a bit much sometimes.

jb

 

[bobthehobbyguy]

JB nice group of engines. I think the headers on the buick look good in white. Looking forward to seeing your 409.

[Tom Geiger]

Firstly, like everyone else here, a huge thanks to Tim for the awesome review. I'm so tempted to copy Tim's colour scheme and just swap the steering column to the correct side.   Here in Australia it will probably be 3-6 months before we see it, if recent new kits are anything to go by, and at between $50 and $60 a pop.  But as the owner of a real 29 roadster, I will be buying a bunch.

 

Alan-  I will be seeing  my favorite discount dealer on Friday evening,  let me know if you want me to pick up a few for you and toss them in the mail.....

[Ace-Garageguy]

and I would like to apologize to Bill for calling him on his chat. I realize he probably wrote what I quoted in the heat of passion as it were, and we all regret statements made under those circumstances from time to time. it was just too big a target to ignore. Bill, love your models and your attempts at pointing out lack of fidelity to reality, it just gets a bit much sometimes.

jb

 

Thanks JB. No hard felings on this end either. Life is good. 

[maltsr]

I've had a go at lowering the stance to suit my preferred style with some success.  The channelled crossmember looked flatter, so I switched this to the highboy chassis, raising it as much as I could. 

The transverse spring was relieved of a leaf and dropped lower on the mountings a la '32 front axle.

This is how it looks, the rear tyres are smaller in diameter compared to the kit.

It sits just a little higher than the Revell '32, lowered slightly from stock by changing the front axle mounting as Tim did many years ago.

 

[Dennis Lacy]

Beautiful start to your '29 Roadster, Paul! That shade of blue is awesome.

I trimmed my front spring exactly the same way and replaced the front cross member with a much flatter one from the Revell 32's. 

Did you do anything to drop the back or leave as-is?

[maltsr]

Thanks Dennis.  I haven't lowered the rear, the tyres have done that for me and there's just a little rake.  Having seen the other builds on here, I couldn't stop building once I started .  I'll get this one finished and then make plans for the other one in my stash after this mainly OOB build.

Edited September 18, 2015 by maltsr

[Jantrix]

One of these came my way yesterday via a 40% off Hobby Lobby coupon in Orlando. As many have said this is a bench clearing kit.

I'll be using the channeled chassis, engine & drivetrain with the Revell '29 rat rod RPU kit. Then the Model A chassis and stuff from the RPU will be used on the '29 Roadster with a parts pack Caddy engine. That's the plan anyway. 

[Snake45]

 

I seem to recall reading a post from Tim, after completion of both versions, about some minor problem with the radiator/grille placement, but I can't find it again. Can someone point me in the right direction, or recap the problem and its suggested fix?

I finally got hold of one of these yesterday. Spent last evening cleaning up the channeled frame. I'm looking to put the Revell '29 A cab pickup body on it. BTW, the earlier hood does not seem to fit the new body cowling, which suggests to me that I'll have to use the pickup's grille shell if I want to use the hood with that body, which I do. (I didn't check the fit of the front of that hood to the roadster's grille, only to the body, so it might be just fine.)

[Dennis Lacy]

I seem to recall reading a post from Tim, after completion of both versions, about some minor problem with the radiator/grille placement, but I can't find it again. Can someone point me in the right direction, or recap the problem and its suggested fix?

 

There was no issue with how the grill/radiator mounts but there was conversation where Tim (and others, myself included) stated that we felt where Revell chose to put the grill was too far forward and makes the proportions a little wonky, especially on the channeled version which has a radiator that's a scale foot thick. Tim suggested that the radiators could be thinned down (the channeled version substantially) to locate the grill rearward in a more eye-pleasing position. 

[tim boyd]

There was no issue with how the grill/radiator mounts but there was conversation where Tim (and others, myself included) stated that we felt where Revell chose to put the grill was too far forward and makes the proportions a little wonky, especially on the channeled version which has a radiator that's a scale foot thick. Tim suggested that the radiators could be thinned down (the channeled version substantially) to locate the grill rearward in a more eye-pleasing position. 

 

Thanks Dennis...exactly correct.  Richard...hope that helps.   Cheers...TIM 

[Korsair]

I have spent several hours pouring over this thread, and I appreciate all of the suggestions about rake, engines, and using other bodies.

I looked at using the Revell 31 Model A sedan body from the 3-set Hot Rod kit. May need some work to fit, especially since the body is a bit warped.

But my biggest complaint in comparing the bodies, was I found that mym body had "serious" flaws on each side, just rear of the doors, slightly lower than the door handle. Did anyone else have these same flaws, as it looks like I will have to use some Tamiya white putty on it to fix it up. Not sure my pick "really" shows it well, but look at your bodies and let me know if I am alone in this, and have the only blemished body.This side is the worst of the two.

 

[fractalign]

I can't speak for the quality of the body because I have yet to get the kit but I actually prefer the AMT version because of the stock wheel wells. It would be very hard to build a full fendered version of this kit with the raised wheel wells. Also not sure why they did not include a 32 grill shell, most hi boys have them, the stock grill shell is more suited to a stock bodied version. Having said that, I am looking forward to getting this kit simply for the fact that its an all new tooling and the parts including the tyres and the chassis really stand out. I can certainly use them in my other model A builds.

[tim boyd]

I have spent several hours pouring over this thread, and I appreciate all of the suggestions about rake, engines, and using other bodies.

I looked at using the Revell 31 Model A sedan body from the 3-set Hot Rod kit. May need some work to fit, especially since the body is a bit warped.

But my biggest complaint in comparing the bodies, was I found that mym body had "serious" flaws on each side, just rear of the doors, slightly lower than the door handle. Did anyone else have these same flaws, as it looks like I will have to use some Tamiya white putty on it to fix it up. Not sure my pick "really" shows it well, but look at your bodies and let me know if I am alone in this, and have the only blemished body.This side is the worst of the two.

 

I have purchased about ten of these kits now, and have opened the bodies on four of them.  One of them had a similar type of depression to yours on each side, one worse than the other, but neither as prominent as the one you show here.  In both cases, I was able to file/sand it out without using body putty.  You can see the result in the gray/green '32 Ford Highboy pictures posted above.  Other bodies I have looked at have either no depressions, or much less obvious ones.  If you look at the backside of the body, you can see that there are small feed tags - this is where the styrene is inserted into the body mold.  The depression on the outside is an artifact of that.  

The first kit I got (the same one described above) also had some minor sink marks in the Deuce frame rails - the left side worse than the right side. In both cases, they were sandable without putty.  Other kits purchased later that I have looked at, have no discernible flaws in the Deuce frame rails.  .  

TIM 

 

 

 

[Korsair]

Thanks for the feedback. I will try my best to work out the issue, but there seemed to be little rise to take away in order to level out the depression.

I guess at worst, It'll be my first "RAT ROD" body works......

 

I plan on buying more, so hopefully then, I'll get a better one next time.

[Ace-Garageguy]

... It would be very hard to build a full fendered version of this kit with the raised wheel wells. 

I have to respectfully disagree. Filling the wheel wells with styrene stock is really quite easy, as is re-cutting the AMT fender-opening profile afterwards. Because Revell got the rear-deck profile so much better than AMT did, I'll definitely be doing a full-fendered car for visual comparison.

Here's one wheel-well filled for my Eddie Dye iteration...I didn't set the filler piece completely flush for a variety of reasons, but if I had, a light skim of bondo after cutting the new opening, and a little careful fitting will do it.

 

[tim boyd]

Here's a link to my first completed kitbash of this kit as posted in the "Under Glass" Forum here...a Model A Roadster Highboy based on the Z'ed Model A frame instead of the Deuce frame....  http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/topic/106064-my-first-completed-kitbash-of-revells-29a-hot-rod-roadster-kit/

Cheers...TIM 

Edited September 22, 2015 by tim boyd

[bobthehobbyguy]

Picked up 2 of these this week. Very impressive kit. Just started cleanup on first kit which will be the highboy. Revell really made the cleanup up work minimal. Most of ejection marks are out of site, not much as far as sink marks, and very clean as far as parting lines. The injeftor stacks are also nice. Hoping to get the first one done this weekend.