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Moebius 1965 Chevy II Sedan Gasser - First Look Inside the Final Kit Release


tim boyd

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At the link at the bottom of this post is an album with 50 images and information comprising a look at the final production version of the Moebius 1965 Chevy II 100 series (base trim level) two door sedan (aka "Post") Gasser kit. (This album is a follow-on to an earlier album showing the Gasser-specific Kit components at the late-stage test shot stage, and the assembly of same. If you have not already done so, you may want to review that album either before or after checking out the images and captions here. )

As you review the kit contents, keep in mind that this kit was designed as a modern-day Gasser style drag racer, not an era-correct mid 1960's drag racing machine.

 

WHAT"S CHANGED VS. THE TEST SHOT STATUS?

The biggest change between the test shot and final kit form is that Moebius did considerable revisions to the "Daylight Opening" (DLO in design studio parlance) - that is, the view of the greenhouse area from a straight-on profile side view. The refinements addressed the perception of many that the top was "chopped" when in fact it was of the correct height but added material along the top of the doors ("beltline" in Design Studio parlance) along with too-thick upper door window frames and drip molding made the DLO appear too short in visual height and too long in horizontal dimension. I'm including comparison photos of the original completed test shot model and the revised body so you can form your own conclusions on this subject.

To institute this level of change (as it affected not just the body itself, but several other kit components that mate to the body) at this very late stage of kit development is pretty much unprecedented to my level of understanding of the model kit industry.


WHAT ELSE IS NEW VS. THE TEST SHOT?

The other surprise in this kit is that, just like the Nova SS kit I reviewed a few days ago, this kit is stuffed with extra, unused parts that will be welcome additions to your parts box or kitbashing efforts. I've noted some of these extra parts in the album photos.


CHECK OUT THE CAPTIONS, TOO:

Make sure to use the "Roll" feature at the album so you can quickly scroll through the pictures without missing the added information in the captions that go with each picture.  Here's the link to the album....


WHEN CAN WE ACTUALLY BUY THE KIT?

The first production run of this kit is now complete, and this shipment is due to enter transit to the States this coming week. Dave Metzner at Moebius Models advises that best available information at this point (26 December 2021) is that this kit will be in the stores and at your favorite mail order or model show vendors in early by mid-February 2022, barring any other supply chain or Covid-related disruptions.

DSC 0609

DSC 0608

Thanks to Dave Metzner and the entire Moebius team for their development of this kit, their commitment to further refine the body appearance at a very late stage in the kit's development, and for providing this kit sample to allow us an early glimpse of the final kit contents and appearance.  Hope you enjoy the kit preview, and Happy New Year to you all....TIM 

Edited by tim boyd
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Thank you once again, @tim boyd for another stellar kit review. Everything in the final version somehow looks “crisper” compared to the test shot you built not too long back. The revised body looks terrific and I love the inclusion of that blower belt tensioner bracket. I can’t wait to get a few of these and build one with my touches. Dang, Between AMT’s recent efforts with their ‘63 Wagon kits (just got the follow up Customizing kit for Christmas yesterday!)  and now these Moebius efforts on the horizon I can’t believe how excited I am about Chevy II’s! 

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Thanks Tim for this thorough presentation! I have to give MAJOR props to Moebius for changing the body to be that much more correct. Yes, it's a pain, but this will go a long way in cementing a relationship with us builders that they ARE willing to make changes when needed.

They did a similar thing with their '61 Pontiac Ventura when we pointed out how the test shot was missing the trademark "kickup" at the base of the bubbletop's C pillar. Dave took note of this, got back to Moebius and sure enough, the final kit version did have that change. Terrific!

While this Gasser is not my sort of building, the built-up example looks VERY good, and the ambitious among us have now a very good kit for turning this into a nice Plain Jane grocery getter.

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7 hours ago, Dennis Lacy said:

Dang, Between AMT’s recent efforts with their ‘63 Wagon kits (just got the follow up Customizing kit for Christmas yesterday!)  and now these Moebius efforts on the horizon I can’t believe how excited I am about Chevy II’s! 

Same here! I have couple "project" glue bomb AMT 1st-gen Novas in the queue, and I'm hoping to get at least one of them finished by the time the Moebius kits show up. 

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Having a 1:1 scale '62 Chevy II 2D Sedan that I'm building as a Gasser, both of these kits are a must have. Actually, I need several of both... There are lots of possibilities for building these kits, and kitbashing a factory stock '65 Chevy II 2D Sedan or more realistic station wagon by using the AMT kit together with one of these, should not be too hard to do either...

Can't wait!

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Again, thanks for the review Tim. But, I don’t know what is, even though I’m anxiously awaiting Moebius’ ‘64 Nova, I have little to no interest in this kit. I like Gassers. But, I have, and built, and like AMT’s old ‘65 “Rat Packer” kit. So I just can’t get overly excited by this one. I do hope they eventually plan on offering us a stock ‘65 Chevy II kit. Preferably a Nova SS. 

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On 12/27/2021 at 12:38 AM, Daddyfink said:

Wow, this is a knockout kit! With a little effort, and not that much at that, this can be made to be period correct. 

Thanks to you Dave for taking the time to post it up, and thanks to Mobius for listening and caring enough to make the changes. 

X2!

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6 hours ago, Snake45 said:

Tim, I'm getting a message that your Fotki account has been blocked. :(

 

2 hours ago, 1972coronet said:

I just saw that , too . What the deuce ? 

Still blocked as of 15:45 on 2nd Jan. 2022...

Thanks Richard and John for the heads-up. 

I was on automatic renewal with Fotki, and had just updated my credit card info (new expiration date) last week.  Still they put me on hold today.  What the heck????  Anyway, went back in and updated manually.  Looks like it is back OK now.  Really appreciate you guys letting me know.  Best....TIM  

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Glad to hear you got it sorted out, Tim. 

For those of you looking for build ideas for the '65 "gasser," I highly recommend checking out the George Klass FX page.  I just spent about 20 minutes there checking out the various combinations. There must have been dozens of '62-'65 Novas campaigned back in the day as "match racers." Surprisingly, quite a few of them didn't have altered wheelbases, and even more surprisingly, some of them really had wheelbases shortened as much as the AMT Rat Packer/Twister. :blink: Got a good picture in my head of what I want to build--a '64 2DS with full-length wheelbase. If the '65 kit rear window won't work in the 2DS body after I alter the roof to the pre-'65 shape, no problem--it looks like quite a few of these cars ran with no back glass in 'em at all! :D

http://www.georgeklass.net/fx.html

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8 hours ago, Snake45 said:

Glad to hear you got it sorted out, Tim. 

For those of you looking for build ideas for the '65 "gasser," I highly recommend checking out the George Klass FX page.  I just spent about 20 minutes there checking out the various combinations. There must have been dozens of '62-'65 Novas campaigned back in the day as "match racers." Surprisingly, quite a few of them didn't have altered wheelbases, and even more surprisingly, some of them really had wheelbases shortened as much as the AMT Rat Packer/Twister. :blink: Got a good picture in my head of what I want to build--a '64 2DS with full-length wheelbase. If the '65 kit rear window won't work in the 2DS body after I alter the roof to the pre-'65 shape, no problem--it looks like quite a few of these cars ran with no back glass in 'em at all! :D

http://www.georgeklass.net/fx.html

Neat site.  Lots of ideas for Chevy IIs, Chevelles, etc there.  Surprised by all the 4dr Chevy II drag race cars.  

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3 hours ago, charlie8575 said:

Impressive. It appears I'd still need to buy one of the hardtops (or maybe even substitute an AMT Chassis plate/six) for a stock Nova, aside from the interior modifications needed?

Charlie Larkin

Or wait, till Moebius releases one, cuz they do their homework and incorporate multiple versions on their tooling designs.

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4 hours ago, Luc Janssens said:

Or wait, till Moebius releases one, cuz they do their homework and incorporate multiple versions on their tooling designs.

Yeah, it wouldn't surprise me if a stock '65 2dr sedan and stock '65 2dr ht are in the works, among other variations... 

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