Casey

Thanks for the info, Bill. The RR's body is steel, too. I'm going to do a bit more mocking up today and find out what it'll take to use the RR's firewall with the 5W's body, hood, and hood side panels. So far it look like the rear edge of the 5W's hood needs to be thinned at the underside corners, and the rear edges of the hood sides may need thinning to match the hood.

An optimist might call that a happy medium. This is one of those answerless topics, like "good" art (wait, I think that has an answer. ), because the next question is, "How accurate is accurate enough?" I wonder if the Dank Fink Speedwagon was gone through with a fine tooth comb when it was first released?

Yes. Is it the same on the real cars that the 5W cowl shape is different from that of both the roadster and 3W bodies? I did more test fitting and comparing tonight, and I there are so many subtle differences, it no longer surprises me this is an all-new kit instead of a continuation of the existing Revell Deuce quadruplets (quintuplets if we're counting the Speedwagon, too?). As Glenn(?) pointed out somewhere here on the forum, the kickup on the frame rail's recess is slightly different, and I verified the frame crossmembers are slightly different, the front axle/spring pieces are different, and even the rearend parts are different. There seem to be enough differences (and room for future changes and additions?) between this new RR kit and the previous Deuces that Revell felt it best to start anew, rather than prolonging the inevitable. Not every kit series (i.e., '69 Camaro) can last 23+ years, so maybe Revell is just being proactive with the Dueces.

The Revell '41 Chevy pickup has some six-lug steel wheels which might be close to what you're looking for.

I think this is the original release?: But this one...

I know an A on Deuce rails is a common thing to do in the real world, but for those of you yearning for another Revell '32 Ford-based variation, would a Model A roadster/coupe/sedan on the existing Revell Deuce chassis (frame, suspension, engine/trans) satisfy you?

Could you post pics of the shells, please, Greg?

I just thought of something which I didn't mention earlier, but if Revell needs to mold new tires for this kit (which, IIRC, I was told they do since their manufacturing source can no longer supply them. Hmmm, they were made in Japan from what I remember...tsunami related, perhaps?), perhaps the new tires will solve the collapsing/deformation problem the old, hollow, thin wall slicks had. Revell could tool up new wheels and tires in the newer "ribbed" style, much like those in the '50 Olds and Stacey David Rat Roaster kits. These new wheels and tires could turn out to be a good thing after all.

Yes, I am aware of what a spindle mount wheel is and how it's retained, which I tried to convey in my comment using "style" to indicate the RR's wheels were similar to, but not exactly like the spindle mount Sprint wheels. I think these'll be quite popular.

Greg Myers, on 04 Feb 2013 - 11:11, said: Rat Roaster - check Orange Crate-check American Graffiti coupe-check Speedwagon-check Little Deuce Coupe

Other than for nostalgia, I don-- oh, it's only because of nostalgia? Carry on then... Seriously, though, the AMT '40 Willys is rather crude, non? I know the newer Revell '41 Willys is a bit less detailed and more specific, but the Revell '32 Sedan surely trumps almost all of what the AMT '32 Sedan would have to offer. Oh, I see it now, Greg is dead set on building that Beach Boys cover car.

I agree there's nothing wrong with mentioning a new product, be it created by a forum member or not, but I also understand where Lee's coming from, taking into account the first thirty second's of each video Virgil posts. There's almost never a clearly defined line between self-promotion, advertising, and genuinely wanting to share a new product, idea, or technique with fellow forum members, but I think Harry's post makes it clear. Leave the price and/or a direct link to purchase said product out of the post and there are no issues. You can get the book directly from Virgil's website.

Danny, what's the date code on the topside of the floorpan on your kit? Mine, and the only flash on the entire kit, around the transmission case:

The tires may be the best part of the kit and are probably the best tires Revell has produced in a long, long time. $20 is a fair chunk o' change to drop on only a set of tires, but these might be worth it to some. That said, I wonder if this new style of one-piece wheels and matching tires is going to turn a lot of people off, as once they get the kit home, the tires out, and dry fit the wheels they planned to use with the tires, the incompatibility with traditional kit wheels becomes painfully obvious. No matter how thin the wheel's lip/rim, they aren't going to look right when used with these tires. Some people won't notice and others might not care, but to me, it sticks out like a sore thumb. I have no idea if the tires are true to the 1:1 tires Mr. David used on the Rat Roaster, but they are nicely molded, crisp, a are totally lacking the "re-blended" mix of not-quite-fully-mixed vinyl I've noticed with some of AMT's slicks ('76 Gremlin M&H's for one): Front tires: All together now: I placed some 1/25 scale wheels in the tires, so you can see how the wheel lips are still very prominent and noticeable, even when fully seated: The below AMT Minilite 8-spoke wheel had he thinnest lip I could find, and still, not good: And a wheel test fit inside the rear slicks: I'm sure with a lathe or with lots of careful, consistent sanding your wheel of choice could be snugged down a little closer to the tire's sidewall, but this is a bit of a buzzkill for me. I realize these new style tires and wheels are here to stay, but it's gonna take time to get used to them. As with the tires, the wheels are gorgeous, too. I don't think there have ever been a set of 5-slug (or any lug-mount style for that matter) Halibrand spindle mount Sprint style street wheels, but there are now:

It looks to me like using the RR firewall on the Revell Dueces (at least my test subject 5W) isn't going to be as straightforward as I thought it might be. I don't know how close to stock or correct(?) any of these firewalls are, so with that said, here are some more comparison shots of the RR and 5W firewalls and hoods: Here's a face-to-face firewall comparison, but the general difference is the RR's firewall is more squared off, while the 5W's is more rounded, especially at the top corners. The 5W's firewall is also more tapered toward the bottom: Looking at the hoods next, we can see the rabbeted rear edge on the RR's hood Brett mentioned, while the 5W's hood remains a consistent thickness: The below image shows the slight width difference between the two hoods, a difference which is confirmed when comparing the cowl area of both bodies: What this all means is the RR's firewall will not simply swap over to the existing Deuce body shells without any other modifications. That was probably expected by most, but in order to use the existing Deuce hoods and hood sides (the RR sneakily avoids the hood side fit issues, as it include no hood sides) you'll need to either re-contour the perimeter of the RR firewall or modify the hood and hood sides you plan to use with the RR firewall. I don't think adding a small, thin, consistent rabbet to both the Duece hood and side panels will be an easy task, and my fear with modifying the RR firewall is that the perimeter bead will be lost at the upper corners, leaving the firewall looking, well, hacked up looking for lack of a better term. Hopefully you can make out the perimeter bead in this comparison shot: This (poor quality, low contrast) pic shows the how the RR firewall look on the 5W body, with emphasis on the top edge: Here's a pic taken a bot lower, in which you can see the difference between the RR's firewall sides (much straighter) and the 5W's cowl (more curved, with a more "bulge"): There is good news, though. The grille shells should interchange without any modification:

The RR chassis/frame/floorboard piece appears to be a copy of the same part in the '32 Ford 5-window Deuce kit (which is what I have have on hand for comparison), but the mold half joints are slightly different, as are the ejector pin locations. The sides of the engine mounts on the Rat Roaster are slightly beefier and run the full width of the mount, but for all intents and purposes, the two chassis should interchange with little or no modification necessary.

This gap, where to locating pin on the backside of the firewall meets the inside corner on the body's cutout?:

See post #573.

These are eight years old, at least. http://z7.invisionfree.com/ravenshrine/ar/t3457.htm http://www.gizmag.com/go/3603/ Can you imagine the imbalance once those open areas between the "spokes" get filled with mud, rocks, gravel?

This went downhill quickly.

Patrick, read Don Wheeler's advice and reviews, and you're sure to find what you need: https://sites.google.com/site/donsairbrushtips/ It's IMHO the best airbrush review and advice 'site on the 'net, and it's pretty clear from reading his reviews what the limitations and strong points of each airbrush are. That said, I suggest you go with a dual action airbrush, as there's not much more cost compared to a single action, and a dual action will do everything you need it to, probably for as long as you own it. I finally bought an Iwata Eclipse HP-BCS and it was just over $110, so not very expensive at all. You can probably find a good used pancake style compressor on your local craigslist for $50 or so, and be in the airbrush game for less than $300. There are a bunch or reviews here on the forum, but the gist of what I read was this- decide which features you want an what you'll use it for, then buy the best airbrush which meets your needs. If you stay away from the cheapy disposable 'brushes, it should last you a lifetime, and with different size needles and tips available, you can change between very fine linework and broader, larger area painting with ease. I went with the .05 mm tip/needle, which will be fine for painting bodies and parts, as I don't forsee myself doing much fine, detail work. If that changes, I can always change to a .35mm tip/needle for $35 or so.

It appears to be a straight reissue. Are the newly tooled Goodyear Polyglas GT tires included in this version, Brett?

For the Opel Kadett body, maybe start with the soon to be reissued AMT Opel GT kit.

OK, OK, back to the Rat Roaster. I have yet to have my kit delivered, so I am curious if the instruction sheet shows the master cylinder at all or not. I wish Revell would have the instruction sheets available online once the kit appears on their 'site. It would make things much easier.

The previous one they listed ended on January 26th, so they'll probably list another this week.