Revell '64 Fleetside (Out of Box) + info needed

[Faust]

Every now and then, I get motivated to take a look at building a kit of a vehicle I might not normally consider building. In this case, it is a mid-‘60s pickup truck. This isn’t a subject I know much about, and it isn’t the usual thing most people would expect would turn my crank, so to speak. However, the kit itself is actually really nice and I wanted to try something different.

I found this Revell 1964 Fleetside at a local swap meet and couldn’t resist. It’s actually a really nice kit, but it’s giving me trouble trying to figure out some things. It’s almost impossible to find examples on the net that AREN’T customized somehow, so if anyone has any links or info they can share with me I’d appreciate it.

1.) Is the engine supposed to be Chevy blue?  They say orange on the instructions, but I’m sure that’s wrong.

2.) I think I read that if you got two toning, you got the whitewalls and body-coloured wheels. Is that correct?

3.) There is a chrome group for these trucks, but I think it’s separate from the side trim. If you got chrome grille and bumpers, is it true you got the chrome hubcaps too? Could you get this without the side trim?

4.) The box shows that there’s some kind of paint/chrome around the grille. However, I can’t tell if it’s supposed to be chrome or white paint. Not all examples seem to have it. Any ideas?

 

https://adamrehorn.wordpress.com/revell-125-1964-chevy-fleetside-pickup-out-of-box

Edited June 29, 2017 by Faust

[mike 51]

#1 no  it's orange.

#2 no, wide white walls were no longer available by 64.

#3  there was a "deluxe" version that had side trim down the sides,trim on the cab B pilars and around the windshield and the front bumber and grille.

#4 the grille opening surround is painted white.

There is no shortage of pictures of these trucks on the net including sales brochures......Google is your friend for questions like this.

 

[Faust]

#1 no  it's orange.

#2 no, wide white walls were no longer available by 64.

#3  there was a "deluxe" version that had side trim down the sides,trim on the cab B pilars and around the windshield and the front bumber and grille.

#4 the grille opening surround is painted white.

There is no shortage of pictures of these trucks on the net including sales brochures......Google is your friend for questions like this.

 

Thanks, Mike.

I've actually been mining Google pretty hard in the last day or so, and just after posting this (of course!) I found a couple of pictures, including a '65 with a blue engine. It looked a bit dingy, and thus I figured it was original. I have seen lots of customs and maybe restored ones with red, but if it's not an original, I don't usually trust the colours to be right. 

I wondered; in the '64 Canadian sales brochure I have, it doesn't show white whitewalls like that. Such a shame, because they look good. 

Is the grille surround white even on ones with chomed grilles?

Thanks!

[mike 51]

Wide whites ended in 61 as on option.

The grille surround is painted, usually,if not always, white. 

 

[Longbox55]

#1 The engine should be Gray, specifically, Chevrolet Gray, which is a blueish gray. Battleship Gray is a close match. Orange engines were Passenger car only.  Trucks did not get Orange engines until '67.

#2, As others have stated, wide whites were gone by '64. However, a narrow band whitewall was available (RPO P92 and R51).

#3 The Chrome option, RPO V37, is a separate option from the Custom Appearance option RPO Z61, and the Side Trim Molding, RPO B98 (Fleetside only), is a separate option from those. The kit is inaccurate in having RPO V37 and Z61 but does not have the cab trim on the B pillar. That trim piece can be found in the MCG photoetch kit for the AMT '60 Chevrolet truck. The absence of the side trim is not inaccurate, as it was a separate option.

#4 The grille surround is Off White on all models except White trucks, which use the same shade of white as the rest of the truck. This is the same regardless of standard off white (white on white trucks) or anodized aluminum grille.

[Faust]

Okay, thank you very much for the help, Bill!

I'd started to find references to orange being wrong for original engines, and it didn't seem right to me, either, but I had to check.  I think my brother has some thin whites I can scam. I like the look of the whitewalls a lot. 

Great on the chrome option! I thought I'd read that somewhere. 

So let me get this straight:

1.) The chrome option is just the bumpers and grille, and even with this, the surround on the grille is off-white (same as the steering wheel and column, I assume)? I have a Canadian '64 Chevy truck brochure that's not super-detailed, but it looks like the chromed trucks have chrome surrounds on the grilles. 

2.) The side trim and custom cab thing are separate items from the chrome group.

3.) I thought I read that two toning gave you a white roof/pillars (is it white, or off-white?) and body-coloured wheels, with chrome caps (they might have been part of the chrome group?). Is that right?

4.) This model has two visors, the "Chevrolet" writing on the dash (under glovebox) and the armrests on the door - that's part of the custom interior, and this gets the metal b-pillar decoration. (The brochure only mentions 1 armrest, though, for the driver's side...) However, I am also reading something about the custom cabs having a larger "panoramic"rear window. This kit doesn't appear to have that. It also has the basic vinyl seat. So does that mean this cab is mostly basic, with just a bit of custom? I can shave the armrests and no-one will notice the visors. Can you help me verify the window size issue?

5.) The chrome window trim is only on Custom cabs, and isn't part of the Chrome group or other options?

Thanks!

[Edsel-Dan]

One problem with the Fleetside bed in this and the 66 kits

As molded it is a Stepside bed with Fleetside type fenders added

They should have molded the bed in separate parts like the AMT/MPC 67-72 kits!!

But Cut corners here

I cut my Fantom Cameo Bed apart to make a more accurate Fleetside.

Still it Is a Nice kit

I want the 2 66 kits, and at least 1 more 65 to build a Stepside out of

Mine is getting the Model King Open Road Mini-Motor Home body!!!

YES, I had to stretch the chassis!!!!

[Longbox55]

Some clarification on the options;

The Chrome option is for the front bumper and hubcaps, plus optional rear bumper on Pickup models (excluding 4x4).

The Anodized aluminum grille is part of the Custom Appearance option, which also includes the Bright windshield molding, cab trim plate, Steering wheel with chrome horn ring, chrome dash knobs, and a 2 tome interior with a portion of the door panels painted Off White.

The 2 toning would be a separate option from the Custom Appearance package, but most trucks with that package are 2 toned. On the interior, the way the kit is done, it has the upscale interior. The second armrest was an option, only the drivers side was standard. The seat is correct, a vinyl bench was the only option, with the difference being the pattern as far as visuals. Scale Motorsport has a very close decal sheet to get the appropriate pattern.

On the window, the kit is tooled with the Full View window, the standard window is considerably smaller. It was a separate option from the Custom Appearance option, and was RPO A10.

[Tom Geiger]

Adam... It's supposed to look like this when you are done. Ignore the others!   

[Faust]

Thanks for all the info, guys!

As for the bench seat, it's got the same pattern as the non-custom seat (in the '64 brochure I was guided to on-line). That seems to be the only real "not custom" part. The pattern is dead-on for the base seat. I'll paint it as a custom seat to get it as close as I can. 

Everywhere I see chrome bumpers the grille looks chromed too. It's not? It's actually aluminum? And the surround is always white (off white), correct? 

Man, there were so many options back then! 

Tom: I will take that under advisement!

[Longbox55]

Upon taking a second look, I see what you're talking about on the seat. An easy way to get the pattern will be to use Scale Motorsports Cane upholstery decal, SKU 1963 https://www.scalemotorsport.com/decals/upholstery-pattern-decals/cane-upholstery-pattern-decal.html. It's pretty close. 

Yes, the option grille is silver anodized aluminum on the 1:1, rather than chrome. Leaving the kit grille in chrome will replicate the 1:1 fairly close, though. Yes, the grille surround is Off White with either grille, except on trucks painted White, which get a white surround (there's a slight difference in the shade). 

 

[Faust]

Unfortunatley, the URL for that decal doesn't come up, but maybe I can just paint it "close enough" and  no one will notice? 

Weird about the grille. but now that I look VERY closely at some restored example pics I can find, I guess it really is SLIGHTLY different. Wow. Am I ever glad you pointed that out!

Thanks a tonne for the help. Now, all I have to do is make it work!

 

 

[chadrob30]

...

Edited July 4, 2017 by chadrob30
Not sure what is going on.

[chadrob30]

"#1 The engine should be Gray, specifically, Chevrolet Gray, which is a blueish gray. Battleship Gray is a close match. Orange engines were Passenger car only.  Trucks did not get Orange engines until '67"

This is not entirely true. I did have a '65 with the 292 six that was the blue gray...the 283 V8's were orange.

[Longbox55]

"#1 The engine should be Gray, specifically, Chevrolet Gray, which is a blueish gray. Battleship Gray is a close match. Orange engines were Passenger car only.  Trucks did not get Orange engines until '67"

This is not entirely true. I did have a '65 with the 292 six that was the blue gray...the 283 V8's were orange.

Not from the factory. Maybe a replacement 283 or one that has been rebuilt in the aftermarket. According to GM, they were gray.

http://1954advance-design.com/Web images/PPIP/PPIP-1912-1966-EngineColors.html

[chadrob30]

Well you can't argue with that lol. However, I did find the exact same list used by permission from the author and it is different. The list you posted shows 1964 as gray. The list that was used by a different site has different info. It shows 1964 Truck as orange. No wonder nobody can get a straight answer. 

[Casey]

 

Edited August 23, 2021 by Casey