Brett Barrow

Well, I work in that industry, but since I don't run it I guess I'm not a backward hillbilly with half a brain. But you know what I do have? Data. Facts. The ability to look at sales numbers and see how well a kit is doing. #1 best selling car model kit over the past 12 months (for my company, anyway) - 1950 Olds. C'mon it's the Rocket 88, Ike Turner wrote one of the earliest rock and roll songs about it. #2 - Revell's 57 Ford. And it's only been out a couple of months. I predict in 12 months it will have outsold the Olds. #4 is Moebius' 55 Chrysler 300. Moebius' 52 Hudson Hornet convertible is in the top 10, and it would appear that if you added up all the variants, the 53 coupe and all the NASCAR versions, it'd still be solidly in the top 5 or so. (the 53 Hornet is the #1 kit over the past 2 years) But again, what do I know? I just do this for a living...

Thanks for taking the time to snap some pics. I tried to snap a few while working the past couple days, but all I had was my iPhone and a poorly lit office!

Nope, it's not. Look at the back end when you get one. The RR has been modified to fit tight around the gas tank, just like the 1:1 car. Subtle, but it is different. It's new tooling. Is it radically different? Nope. The roadster tooling was just plain wore out, and Revell chose to cut a new mold to do this kit and help preserve the future of the '32 series.

That's what I was wondering. I think I'll sand them off before painting and use the decals.

Few more pics - here's the engine block sprue. It's a little flashy for a new tool, but that could just be from not having the mold clamping or injection pressure quite right. Small-block Chevy w/ deep T sump oil pan and Tremec TKO trans:

If you have an LHS, pressure them to become an RPP store. Tell them to ask their rep at whichever distributor they get their Revell from about the program. Mine is from our store's RPP shipment, not because I have any special contacts or anything.

Front cycle fenders - the supports are molded onto an optional set of disc brakes on the chrome tree: back of radiator - there's another layer that goes on top of this, should make a nicely detailed electric fan when assembled. That's the way a lot of this kit is, it's sort of familiar, but new and different than the older tooling. Still more Street Rodder than Rodder's Journal, though More TK...

Here's some quick iPhone pics from one sprue and the tires. Sorry for the quality it's all I've got here. When I get it home I'll take some better pics, once I figure out what's buggin' out my DLSR (I tried to take some pics of the reissued Ohio George Willys the other night and it didn't want to focus) Tires - Stock firewall The infamous hood: bobbed rear fenders: The unfilled grille shell - the blue oval is a decal, and the radiator cap is a separate chrome piece.

Looking good! I'm waiting on the new 57 Bel Air convertible due out later this year to snag the dual carb and batwing aircleaner set up to replicate a 1:1 150 Utility restoration I've seen. I've got the parts from the AMT Pro Shop 57, but they just don't match the detail level of the newer Revell tooling. How did you do the Chevrolet script on the valve covers? With the kit decals, or paint?

I'll try to snap some tomorrow. I forgot and left it at work! I would have had to try and sneak it past SWMBO tonight anyway...

There's just one hood. The holes are in the hood and the chrome parts are two separate inserts. I'm sure a lot of custom guys will be chopping the hood up and grafting them into lots of customs. There is the option of leaving the hood off and using the velocity stacks.

I wouldn't call this one a generic as heck SBC, though - I'm sure its Tremec trans is going to find its way into a lot of models. And I don't think Weiand offers that particular blower for anything other than Chevys in the 1:1 world. If you go back and watch the Gearz show where Mr David speaks about why he chose the SBC he even says "yeah, I know, another '32 with a small-block Chevy", but then he gives his reasons why and makes a pretty good case for the SBC. I'm somewhat surprised it took Revell this long to offer an SBC in the Deuce series. But I'm sure you'll be glad to see there's now a blue oval on the grille shell!

THEY ARE WHAT WE THOUGHT THEY WERE!!!! The tires are hollow, but not real thin. Think of the new AMT pie-crust slicks.

Been a longtime rumor floating around inside the industry that someone's working on that. I've got a good feeling it might happen sometime in the next year or two.

Yeah, seeing how they just released a brand new 57 ford kit that already has the correct wheelbase for wagons and Rancheros. I've got a good feeling about them doing a Ranch Wagon. A very good feeling...

The good, the bad, and the ugly - Part 1 - The Good: Fresh tooling - it's clear this is a brand new mold. Everything is sharp and clean. Gorgeous wheel and tire combo - we'll be seeing these on a lot of models over the next few years. Great decals - all the black interior panels and those weird padded circle cut outs are on the decal sheet, along with gauge faces and "Rat Roaster" embroidered floor mats. Looks like you'll be able to paint the interior panels body color and do the black upholstery without complex masking. The "trim" on the 1:1 car is not molded onto the body shell - it's on the decal sheet. (I don't like it on the 1:1, so that's a plus in my book!) SBC w/ Tremec TKO transmission. We'll be seeing a lot of this puppy, too. Weiand 250 series supercharger - While we're still waiting for a decent 4-71, I applaud Mr. David for using something other than the ubiquitous 6-71. The tall velocity stacks and front cycle fenders are offered as options in the kit. Stock-appearing firewall - IMO this is the star part of this kit. No doubt we'll be seeing a lot of these used on other deuces. Stock-appearing grille and shell - I'm not a deuce expert, but I think this part is how Henry made 'em. Bobbed rear fenders - just plain cool. The over-the-frame headers - personally I think they'd look better on a T bucket, but they're what the 1:1 has. I would have prefered lakes-style headers (aka "limefire-style") on the 1:1 Chopped windshield - 'nuff said. The Buick port holes - I don't care for them, but I'm sure a lot of guys will be using them on other projects. Appears at first glance that this kit will be 100% compatible with current Revell deuces - which leads me to... Part 2 - The Bad. There's a lot of familiar looking parts in here. Mainly the tube-style front axle. I was told there would be an I-beam front axle. Apparently there must have been some confusion somewhere up the line as to what an I-beam dropped axle actually looks like. To me, and I'm sure most fans of the car, the dropped I-beam axle is as much a part of the car's heart and soul as the blower, or the interior, or the headers, and it would have been a very visible part of the finished model, and would have added to the list of parts that already make this a great source for donor parts for other projects. The rear suspension and frame are pretty much the same as before, right down to the air bags. As I said, it's a new mold, but this part is more like an old friend that went to the plastic surgeon to get a facelift than being a totally new design. I can excuse them for this, as It's not nearly as visible when the finished model is on 4 wheels. No hood sides - I don't care for them on the 1:1 with those headers, so not really a big deal to me. Part 3 - The Ugly. That interior. Don't get me wrong, Revell did a great job capturing the look of the 1:1, but I don't like it on the 1:1!!! The seats are kinda cool, though. Overall, I'd give this kit an A-. An accurate I-beam front axle would have bumped it to an A, and an accurate rear setup would have gotten it to an A+. I'm sure there will be plenty of nit-picking and gnashing of teeth over some of the concessions and omissions, but kudos to Revell for freshing up the old girl. Now they have a fresh tool to help further the life of this now classic series. Hopefully one day soon we'll get closer to something a little more 50's and 60's period-correct. I've got a feeling we will...

I've got one in my grubby little paws right now... And it's mine, all mine!!! Got to get back to work, but I'll try to snag a few quick pics when I can today. Even while working in the model business, sitting in your office playing with models is still sorta frowned upon...

Yeah, there were quite a few companies doing private label runs - Stevens Int'l and Model King did the most. You first had to make sure RC2 could find the tooling, and it was usable, then design the box art and decal sheet and commit to a certain purchase of x number of kits and they would run and box the kits at their factory and ship the kits to them where they'd take over and handle the sale and distribution of them. IMHO, and I'm a bit biased since I worked for one of those companies during that period, RC2 was a bit of a rudderless ship at the time and it was these private label reissues that really helped save these iconic brands during a rough time when a lot of these private label runs ended up being more popular and better received by modelers than the choices RC2 was making on their own. That was when Tom Lowe and Round 2 came in and signed an exclusive deal for the rights to the AMT, MPC, and Polar Lights brand names and exclusive access to their tooling, which led eventually to them purchasing those brands outright a few months ago. All in all I have to say I've been generally very pleased with what they've done to save and restore these iconic brands to the place where they belong in the hobby world.

Well, it was during the flurry of third-party reissues when RC2 was letting whoever could pony up the $$$ and do their own box art and decal art run whatever they wanted. I'm sure that was one of the examples of "dilution of the brand" that led to Round 2 coming in and taking over the brands and ultimately purchasing the company. A straight reissue of the Vicky would have been welcome at the time, and that's how we ended up marketing the kit at the wholesale level - we were clear with our dealers as to what was inside. I can imagine it was a tougher sell at retail. It was only a small run by DTR, there were only a couple thousand pieces done. They did another one, I can't remember which body it was, the coupe I think.

Stock kit with a sheet of written instructions outlining how to convert it to a jalopy race car with Evergreen and telling you to order wheels from an aftermarket source. Oh, yeah, and a decal sheet of sponsor markings. Basically a stock kit with a how-to article included.

End of the month. Even earlier if your LHS is an RPP. Nobody outside of Revell has seen one yet.

1953 Cadillac Pastorial Blue. Nothing in the hobby shop is close out of the can/bottle, but Testors Light Blue lightened with some white would probably be a decent match if you airbrush.

Lemme see, I know quite a few things in the works that I'm not allowed to talk about yet, but here's some nuggets that I think are public knowledge by now - Moebius - '71 Ford Pickup Int'l ProStar 56 Chrysler 300B AMT - numerous re-issues, but a couple that have caught my eye are a "Grumpy" Jenkins boxing of the 66 Nova and an Ohio George version of the '60 Ranchero he won as a prize for winning the '60 Nationals. MPC - several reissues, the couple that stand out to me are the re-issue of the 71 Mercury Cyclone w/ Donnie Allison/Wood Brothers decals and the Ohio George 67 Mustang Malco Gasser. Oh, and the 71 Dodge Demon seems to have grabbed some interest, not to me personally... Fujimi has a couple really cool new garage tools sets coming out, stuff like air compressors and shop vacs, diagnostic computers, creepers and roll-abouts, all new contemporary stuff. We already know what Revell US & Revell AG are going to do in 2013... but as for 2014 or 2015... All I'll say is they've got something in the works that will have folks dancing in the streets when it's announced. And that's all I'm going to say. edit - almost forgot - Tamiya - Jagermeister Porsche 934 in 1/24 scale w/ PE

First real mainstream impact will be in making masters for resin casters. It's already happening in the military side, Eduard's "Brassin" resin line uses it, there's Live Resin, DEF Model, and I'm sure several others, these are just the first that popped into my mind. I don't think STL will be the death of the hobby, I think it will become a part of it though, with parts printing services and many more resin parts available as a result, as well as better fitting and more accurate mainstream model kits (they're pretty much all using rapid prototyping now and a quite a few models have been mastered with 3D "scanning" tools - see Wingnut Wings' 1/32 line of WWI airplanes).

Revell Germany's VW's are confirmed new tooling - "neue Form" http://www.plastik-modellbau.org/blog/revell-neuheiten-2013/2013/