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Stacey David's Rat Roaster (My Version)


gwolf

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Finished up my version of Stacey David's Rat Roaster last night. Ditched the corny Moon tank and decided to go without the rear fenders but use the kit's front motorcycle fenders. I was glad to be done with this one.

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I disliked the "padded" interior look, so I drilled out the holes with a variable speed Dremel.

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I must have not followed the directions properly because the motorcycle fenders do not sit over the tires right. And for the first time in years, the back side of my headlights seemed to get crazed from what little glue I used.

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The tail lights are adhesive backed dots found at the craft store, pretty inexpensive, too (see below).

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The interior needs a little touch up on the floor area. Funny how you really only see how bad it it is until after you've taken photos.

The Good:

Easy to mount front headlights. Love them.

The decals for the dash instruments are awesome. This is new technology to me, and seemed a much better solution than using the thinnest brush you have to paint them in.

I liked the radiator parts and the detail. Very easy to set up.

The small block Chevy engine is nice and looks great when you're done. Just the right amount of detail.

The exhaust was nicely done and for the most part fit together well. It would have been nice to have other options (I never cared much for the gaudy headers on any rod), but I understand this isn't just a 32 Ford kit, this is essentially a kit based on a real car from a TV show and that's what they're selling.

The Good: Great, rubbery tires and nice rims. Those of us that build lots of 32's always need more big 'n little tire and rim sets.

The Bad: However, if I had rims and wheelbacks that fit the Revell axle and suspension, I would have used AMT whitewalls instead. Like I said, great rubber tires and the rims look nice, but why on Earth did Revell decide that a spacer needed to be glued on to the rim in order for the wheel/tire combo to be attached to the axle? A spacer is used to add space between things, in this case it was used not to add space, but to actually be able to attach the rim tot he axle. I hated this part of the kit and IMHO this should have been a non issue and the rims should already have had the spacer attached.

The Good: The metal and upholstered interior is pretty cool.

The Bad: It's in three sections that need to be glued to the base. Took a lot of glue, masking tape and a lot of trimming to get the interior to stay together initially in Step 5. Once placed in the body in Step 6 the glue would break and I had to set it up over again with glue. In a perfect world a one piece tub with separate seats and separate upholstery panels would have made things much better.

The Bad: The front suspension and steering assembly. Brittle parts. Several pieces from my kit were broken while trying to place them correctly.

When I heard Revell was kitting a new deuce and it was based on a Stacey David designed Gearz vehicleI was excited. The kit was much anticipated, and like a lot of you, I bought a couple of them. The assembly of the rims and spacers, which IMHO is a terrible and seemingly dated idea is a major disappointment for me. I'll build another one at a later point, but it will be without the kit tires and rims and likely with a Frankensteined front suspension from the parts box.

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Did you forget to paint the engine block?

And the wheels and especially the grille are crying out for a black wash.

The engine is painted, but is hard to see here; color is called Indian White, so it's a light tan-ish white.

Agreed that the grill needs a black wash. I may have to do that.

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:)B) Nicely done and I especially appreciate the review items. I did a "My Version" project too and my take was completely different from yours so my likes and dislikes were also completely different. Being more of a traditionalist, there were plenty of details I didn't like and they were changed, while your approach was to personalize a car whose look you admired. Perhaps it's the unique (and successful) color choice, but the portholes on the hood, which I dislike and omitted on my own build, look more "right" on yours. One thing we share is we both drilled out the holes in the interior. As you pointed out in your W.I.P., those "upholstered" dimples just don't make it at all, IMHO. Anyway, get the black wash out so the grill pops a little and maybe hit some of the other chrome bits with it while you're at it. You have a real sweetheart already and it will only make it better! I dig the color and overall approach...

Edited by Bernard Kron
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I like the look overall, and I like the idea of the holes in the interior sheet metal. However... when you drilled out the holes, the out-of-scale thickness of the panels is revealed. In order to look like scale "sheet metal" you should have thinned out the plastic on the back side wherever the holes are, to get the edges of the holes as thin as possible.

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You brought back some memories to me with your review. I agree with the problem of mounting the wheels with the spacers. They just stick out too far and mess up the look of the front fenders. I think I solved the problem by eliminating the spacers on mine. I do love the kit wheels and tires. The orange looks nice. I wish I would have went with green like Stacy's. Here's a picture of my front end without the spacers.DSC04779_zps4e76d0bd.jpg

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..........When I heard Revell was kitting a new deuce and it was based on a Stacey David designed Gearz vehicleI was excited. The kit was much anticipated, and like a lot of you, I bought a couple of them......

Nice job...! like the color...not a big green fan myself..!

not a totally new kit.... based on Revell's ongoing '32 platform....., includes recent 5 window, sedan. the older highboy, 3 window, and Dan Finks Speedwagon, all based on the same kit...

.....I also bought a couple... great parts kit..!

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often wondered about this kit myself now i'd like to get one....

very neat interior setup very rat roddish for sure if anything the kit would make for great additions to the parts bins

Great build and thanks for the detailed reveiw, and the tip on the craft dots B)

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You brought back some memories to me with your review. I agree with the problem of mounting the wheels with the spacers. They just stick out too far and mess up the look of the front fenders. I think I solved the problem by eliminating the spacers on mine. I do love the kit wheels and tires. The orange looks nice. I wish I would have went with green like Stacy's. Here's a picture of my front end without the spacers.DSC04779_zps4e76d0bd.jpg

That looks great and front end looks proper.

So what did you use to attach the wheels to the axle? I've never really found a decent, dependable way to attach non-kit rims to a kit with a different set up. That's why I've never bought any of the tire and rim sets, I just don't know how people connect them.

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