SteveG

The plastic version of the '68 Bullitt kit has the same interior as the GT. The diecast Bullitt kit is the only one that has the "more correct" interior, it's still not totally correct either as one of the rear seat cushions (I forget which one) still has the 67 pattern. That's as close as you'll get though with the Revell tooling. Feel free to contact Revell but I was recently told by a very reliable source that Revell has already heard about the issue and is now looking into how it happened. Beyond that I don't have any answers but at least we now know they got the message. -Steve

A number of departments ran 57 Chevy's with the Police Package with engines ranging from the Blue Flame six to the Power Pack 220 hp 283. The Ohio State Patrol used the V8 150 2dr sedans and Toronto's used the six. In fact the 2dr sedans were the Standard Police Package and the 4dr sedan and wagons Police Packages were special order. I built this OSP replica from an old AAM resin kit. The Revell kit would be perfect for this, all you need besides the Police Equipment is a back seat. Multi-carbs and F-I would have been passed on due to higher maintence costs but you could always do a phantom. A four door conversion would be pretty easy as they shared the same roof lines and wheelbases. Chicago and the Military both used 57 Chevy 4 door sedans to name two. -Steve

Well done guys !!! I hope to get my hands on one in a couple of days as I've have one on order through my LHS. -Steve

Thanks Len, it's one of my favorite quotes and a great movie. The box art shows the correct factory dummy plates, it's just a circle with a small stamped 4 point star in the center. It goes in place of the dagmars which are rarely seen on the 150 series cars. They should be molded on the bumper if not separate. I'd be really dissapointed if they changed that as they looked to be correct on the early test shot I saw in Chicago. -Steve

Are the dummy plates included as separate parts to replace the dagmars or are they molded on the bumper? -Steve

Nice work on the street version Len, The 283ci Turbo-Fire 4bbI V-8 engine your refering to is commonly refered to as the "Powerpack 283" which had 220 hp. Here are all the other engine choice for the '57 Chevy line up. 235ci Blue Flame lbbl 6cyl-140 hp 265ci Turbo-Fire 2bbl V-8-162 hp 283ci Super Turbo-Fire 2bbI V-8-185 hp 283ci Turbo-Fire 2x4bbl V-8-245 hp 283ci Turbo-Fire 2x4bbl V-8-270 hp 283ci Turbo-Fire FI V-8-250 hp 283ci Turbo-Fire FI V-8-283 hp (solid lifter) There's a Ton of great information out there on the 55-57 Chevy's. Here's an excellent source for more information. Tri-Five.com -Steve

Very nice update guys !!! One question, how were the seat belts done? Steve

My information may be old but that's what I was told late last year. Seems funny they would be in the current catalog and also be an exclusive but I guess anythings possible. Steve

Sorry about the quality but this is the best photo I have of what's actually in the box.

I'm pretty sure both of those kits are scheduled for normal distribution, they were originally scheduled for release late last year. -Steve

I'm certainly not implying that Lindberg's 72 Challenger is a better kit overall. But it's the only other 1/25th scale hardtop kit currently out there to compare it to body wise. I think the overall body shape is more accurate then Revells although I'm not going to give them much credit for it as Palmer looks to have just coppied an MPC kit body and it's certainly not perfect. No stock hood, soft details, etc .... For what it's worth, I could kit bash the Lindberg Hardtop kit with the AMT kit and have pretty nice model without a lot of work. Clearly the Revell kit is way more detailed but I can't get passed the body shape issues and I don't see any easy way to fix it. I guess I'll wait to see how well Mike's 70 Challenger build up comes out before I pass final judgement. -Steve

Here's a few more comparison photos, the Lindberg 72 Challenger is on the left and the AMT is on the right Lindberg kit is on top, the Revell body is noticebly taller. For giggles I parked it next to the AMT 09 Challenger Promo and it's just as big. Maybe Revell got the measurements confused while they tool up their own 09 Challenger kit. While I really like the 68 Mustang GT kit that is also based on a diecast. This one, not so much. It's seems to me like it's lost somewhere between being a 1/24th scale and 1/25th scale kit. I'm having trouble finding the good parts of it, any other thoughts? I do like the sport mirrors with the separate mirror glass. Why does Revell keep having trouble with these E-bodies? Hopefully I'll like the 62 Corvette and the 77 T/A better when they finally come out. -Steve

The only item I see missing from this kit to make the Bullitt car is the correct CA license plate decals. JJZ-109 -Steve

It is the the updated one, I got it at the the Toledo NNL late last year. I didn't notice the rear wheel openings until you mentioned it and I checked my reference photos and your right, the opening is too tall in the rear. Not a huge error but you may want to email Don some photos. -Steve

Bill, Here's a photo of the rear floor area of a beautifully restored 57 Bel Air I took years ago. It's been a while since I researched these cars and I'm talking about stock 57 Chevy's not the SEDCO prepped cars. I'm 99% sure the color represents the factory applied primer which is generally called Red-oxide. Of course no restorer these days would actually use lacquer primer. They would use their mixing system to make the color in paint. There's probably no standard color either as the Red-oxide primer was probably supplied by several paint manufacturers and they all probably had their own shade which could have been more Red or more Brown then the other guys. I guess you can say that we're both right. My suggestion to the builder is to use what you have available that can best match the color. -Steve

Excellent update, keep them coming Len and Bill. As far as the floor pan underside, I'm assuming plain old Red-Oxide primer would work just as well if you have it available. I think I still have a nearly full can from the last 57 Chevy I built. -Steve

Nice work Irv !!! I also have a stripped built up '60 El Camino just begging to get restored. I hope mine comes out lookng that good. -Steve

..... other then a couple of minor touch-ups, I'm calling this one done. It's my '70 Coronet Montville Township Fire Chief's Car. It's built from a Modelhaus kit which I removed the door trim and changed the dash and steering wheel to make it look more like a Municipal vehicle. I also modified the exhaust and added a few pieces that I borrowed from a Johan Police Fury along with several other kits. Special thanks to Brandon VanNess for the custom decals. If your interested in the build up photos just follow the link below. Thanks for looking !!! -Steve 70 Coronet Sedan build up

Metal axles has never been a deal breaker for me, probably half of what I build have them whether it's a vintage kit or a Modelhaus resin or whatever. In cases where I want to eliminate them it's never been all that hard. For me the deal breaker is this body shape, as far this kit goes it's very acceptable. Not so much on the 70 Challenger. I bought them both at the same time and I was very dissapointed when I opened the Challenger. -Steve

To answer a couple of questions, I hear the interior may have been carried over from Revell's 67 Shelby diecast. Once it's built the metal axles are well hidden, they are also carried over from the diecast version. Here's a photo of the kit body compared to a built diecast version. The box art shows the Drag car with two mags on the front and two steel wheels on the rear and I guess that's how the Tasca cars were build although my refence photos show a deeper dish steel wheel and the kit wheel looks shallow to me. This car has chrome rear while other were painted and others had four mags. -Steve

..... I won't go as far as saying Revell nailed it, but it looks a heck of a lot closer to the real thing then the 70 Challenger 2n1 I also picked up recently. Still like the Challenger it's diecast roots are showing but nowhere near as glaring in my eyes. Some of the trim is a little on the heavy side and the rear edge of the hood and cowl panel fit leaves something to be desired. But these areas are very fixable along with the screw hole in the gas tank center. Here's the new Cobra Jet S/S drag parts and hood You can probably call this a 3n1 one as the Bullitt grille is still here, it's right above the fan blade. It looks like there are two new chrome trees for the stock GT and drag versions. The Bullitt Style mags are still here too. There are no brake details or backing plated for the wheels but I'm sure someone here will suggest an easy solution. It's looks like the same hollow tires as used in the Challenger plus some hollow drag slicks, also without sidewall details I have very few Diecasts in my collection but Revell's Bullitt Mustang is one of them. When I first got it I wished they had done it in plastic, I guess here's one time my wish was granted. -Steve

While the subject matter is certainly on the fringe of Car Modeling, Bill is clearly considered a Car and Truck modeler and has been contibuting to our Hobby long before I got back into it. That tractor has been displayed at all kinds of Car Modeling events although it typically lands in the Misc class. While the subject matter is not my thing either I have certainly have learned a lot from Bill over the years that I can apply to the subjects I do build. I can easlily same the same thing about articles on exotic cars and Nascar models. I don't build those either but I almost always get some ideas and tips from the articles that cover them. Here's a couple of photos of Bill's Trucks model. Many of the techniques used to build the steam tractor were used on these two Trucks. -Steve

Another beauty Don, hopefully it will turn up somewhere. I've shipped a lot of models around and they have all found there way home. My problem is getting them back in one piece. -Steve

Well back before good 57 Chevy reproduction parts were everywhere and you were looking for a good restoration candidate or a nice original car one of the places you always checked were the rear bumper ends. First because they were a known rust area and also they were commonly replaced after a rear collision. 1st design and still the most most desired style has a ridge or a hump on the top and a stamped and painted lower exhaust split. 2nd design lost the hump but had still the split, this was either a late production or early GM replacement part. 3rd design was also smooth top and lost the stamped split, it was just painted on and strictly a GM replacement part. The last one was very easy to spot and a clear sign you were looking at a car that wasn't all original. It's funny that I can't remember what I ate for breakfast a few days ago or family birthdays and I have even forgot my wedding anniversary once but I can remember trivial details about 55-57 Chevy's that learned over 30 years ago ..... -Steve

The back up lamps was an option on all models including the 150 series regardless of which bumper end they had. They all got the aluminum dummy plate otherwise. Your getting warm on the simulated exhaust outlets. From a distance they all three looked the same. All the front bumpers were chrome plated. The California Front bumpers were stamped in one piece. The rest of us got a three piece front bumper consisting of a center bar and two ends. -Steve