'70 Grande

Was hopeful, (but doubtful), that this '64 Cutlass convertible kit would be available to purchase in November but it doesn't look like that will happen. Should I keep my hopes up for December or just coincide to a 2021 release date?

A really nice build of this vintage kit that can sometimes be difficult to make look good! The way you cleany-attached that separate roof piece is so well-done that it looks like it came out of the box that way! Did you smooth-away/blend-in the lip of that roof-piece where it attaches just in front of the trunk lid? ( I'm curious how you did that).

Thanks for sharing these pieces of history... they are an incredible look back in time! I think my favorite is the Ultra Rod.

Since re-tooling major body pieces seems like the way to go now, it'd be fun if they re-tooled either the MPC '69 Camaro or '70 Chevelle dirt track body to package with all the non-body engine/interior/chassis parts found inside that GTO Super-Stocker dirt track kit. I seem to remember there'd only be the body, hood, front & rear bumpers, lower rear valance panel and maybe windshield glass to tool-up again, so not that many parts!

In early-1957, my father drove his new, 1:1 Montclair in a Red/White color scheme out to San Diego from the Midwest when he was shipped-out on his first US Navy vessel for an all-expenses-paid tour of the Pacific; said it was his favorite car to drive of the dozens he's owned over the years and it broke his heart when having to leave it behind!

Was thinking if I were to kitbash that '66 Nova Pro-street chassis, I'd narrow-it-down by cutting on each side, just outside those extended frame rails... taking some width out of those rear wheels wells in the process.

Mock-up pic of the overall stance; the wheels will be painted a Dark Blue.

Couple of not-so-good in-quality progress pics... engine is mounted into chassis. Second shot shows the already-painted hood in the paint color the rest of the body will be in, (but I'm thinking of keeping the roof in plain ol' White).

Well, certainly not the first time that I've made a suggestion that was labeled as "foolish"... pretty sure I'll do it again tomorrow!

Still would enjoy seeing Revell make the unprecedented move of showing the general public the entire process of developing a model car kit like this, from start-to-finish.

Yes, I did scratchbuild the back seat structural panels to my own design as I couldn't find good reference pics on how this area truly looks on a 1:1.

AFX... A very good point that is unclear to me. I believe Nascar and/or USAC cars of the early-1960's would have been pretty much factory-stock for their frames and such; around 1964/65 was when those components would have started being upgraded/revised/strengthened. I also remember reading somewhere that this era of GM X-frames were incredibly strong and solid, even tho they visually look like they'd really twist and flex when going round dirt track corners! My research thus far hasn't provided me with many answers... anyone here have any thoughts on this reinforced-X-frame topic for a mid-1960's Chevy race car?

Interior pics:

These are some in-progress shots of my 1961 Chevrolet Impala USAC race car project. Building this fictitious race car at the end of its racing career in 1965, weathered and worn after having battled on the USAC dirt & paved tracks of the Midwest like Milwaukee, Indianapolis Raceway Park and others. Next steps are removing trim and applying battle-damage to the body. Appreciate any build-suggestions you might have to improve this build.

Wow... that is very cool!

Since this project has been announced by Revell so early in the process, this would be a great opportunity for Revell to post the entire process on Facebook to educate model builders about everything it takes to bring a kit from concept-to-finished production!

Looking at those reference pics of the 1:1 with all of those image registration spots attached makes me extremely curious how the entire scanning process goes to get from that 1:1 to a ready to use 1/25 mold that styrene can be poured into to pop-out kits.

I've longed for the MPC '71 Mercury Cyclone Spoiler kit for 25 years now and still can't give-up my hope. I remember back in 2007/08 when it was announced, but then heard the story that they poured styrene into its molds and out came the Hemi Dart so they reissued that kit! The molds were mis-labelled... but I still hang-on to that everlasting hope of a '71 Spoiler reissue!

Any thoughts about using the chassis and suspension pieces from the 1/25 '66 Chevy Nova Pro-Street kit as a chassis-upgrade for this Vega reissue? (Understanding, of course, that you'd have to cut a section-out of the overall-length to get down to the Vega's shorter wheelbase, and probably have to narrow it as well).

One additional thought here; to my eye it looks like the kit's tailight bezels/frames and lenses are about 10% to 15% oversized in those kit parts; the tailights just look too big to me which can "push' things out-of-place pretty quickly.

One thing that I think might help; notice the gap between the rear bumper's corner and the top-edge of the bumper opening on the endcap, (on the built-up). Looks like that built-up's rear bumper is mounted too low; snugging it up will help but I don't think it'll completely solve the issue. This "solution" leads to a host of additional mods tho.

What is your process for creating those excellent-looking body dents? Really like this build and want to steal your dent-making methods for some of my in-progress builds!

Really nice. Would love to see a side-view-pic of both builds nose-to-nose just to better visualize how these cars changed over 20+ years of time.

Really nice diorama here! Makes me think something fishy and/or illegal is going on at the Boxing Club in the late, late evening! Cuda looks excellent too!

Beautiful build! Everything about it looks so "right"! How did you get those Impala emblems on the front fenders and Chevrolet emblem on the deck lid to look so incredibly crisp... outstanding!