Ace-Garageguy

It works both ways, you know. What about when someone who DOES know what he's talking about posts a critique and is immediately inundated by 'opinions' that have no basis in FACT, called names, has his credibility questioned and insulted, and is finally vindicated by OTHER posters who did the same measurement or research the original critic did, PROVED him RIGHT, but the truthfulness of the original criticism is never actually acknowledged? The criticisms of kit flaws usually start out as polite pointing-out of a fairly visible inaccuracy, backed by a credible reference or extensive first-hand experience with the subject. It's when the uninformed, groundlessly-opinionated or just plain childish and RUDE defenders of the Holy Model Companies go on the attack that the arguments get nasty. Go back and actually READ the critical posts, and see where the BS REALLY starts.

I'd pay a dollar to see that. Well, maybe not a WHOLE dollar.

Re : First post in the thread. I always wondered about the guys with the pirate scarves tied on their heads. I didn't know there were any pirate ships on dry land. This is pretty cool. Much more of life makes sense to me now. Thank you Greg.

Those are some great looking hot-rod Fords, Tim. I just had a chance to sit down at the bench and briefly go through the kit (arrived today, school tomorrow). First impression...fine kit, as you can of course tell from all of Tim Boyd's photos. The parts tooling is very clean and crisp. The brake drums are just beautiful, and the '40 Ford "juice" backing plates look good too. The engine and trans also look good, and the header-spacing issue (for those of you who see it) is a relatively easy fix. Honestly, it's not as obvious in the flesh, on the bench, as it was in the photos here. No surprise though...I've often caught huge-looking flaws on my own models after posting here that I'd never noticed while working on the things. What I was REALLY curious about was how this kit would mix-and-match with the junkyard full of old AMT and Revell model-A kits I have. The answer is that anything you should want to swap will be pretty straightforward if you're comfortable doing a little styrene surgery. The AMT soft-tops fit like they're made for it, almost, and the AMT hoods do too, almost. There's a very slight forward-slope at the bottom of the new Revell cowl, but a couple licks with a file will cure it. Though the dimensions and shapes of the new Revell '29 body are mostly very close to the old AMT kit's part, the Revell body won't fit the old AMT or Revell '28-'29 fenders...primarily because the rear wheel-well is opened up higher on this new body shell. Fill the wheel-cutouts with styrene (and a little tweaking here and there) and you're back in the game. The way the new Revell model-A frame is zeed in the back makes it easy to graft in an AMT buggy-spring crossmember, if you're so inclined. The new '32 chassis, with stepped rails, will also accept the old AMT buggy-spring rear crossmember easily. Just like in real cars, either an A or a T rear crossmember (and spring) is necessary of you want to drop a '32 into the weeds while running a quick-change with the transverse spring. Really, the interchangeability of the parts from these manufacturers is why accurate scaling is important. And it's why parts from kits tooled over a 50-year-plus span fit together reasonably well. All the manufacturers did their work to a decent standard. Speaking of the '32 frame in this kit...it's by far the nicest '32 rails in styrene so far. The side reveal stamping, one of the signature '32 ONLY styling features, is clean, crisp, and looks right. This is going to be THE frame to use if you're building anything on '32 rails that show. All for now. Time for bed......

OK, I'll bite. What could have possibly come packaged in that ?

First impression...beautiful kit.

Yeah, and that's a really unfortunate truth about media in general. The awful stories are the ones that get top billing, not the good-guy stuff. I don't know if the public actually WANT to hear all the horror-stories, or if the media trains them to. Just for the record, the last two police officers I had contact with, both detectives for my home county, were two of the most intelligent, professional and helpful people I've EVER had the pleasure to do business with, in ANY context.

Jon, I see I offered to send you a copy of the instructions last year in July. Guess I slipped up there. Sorry.

Lucky the "D" isn't close to the "L". Could have been much more entertaining, but I'm afraid if I spell it out, I'll be banned for life.

Just like in the real hot-rod world, no rod, or two rods, are going to have the right "look" for everyone. Beauty is very much in the eye of the beholder when it comes to building cars. What Revell has done here is to present two great starting points for building what YOU want, or building fine looking models right out of the box. This is a far better jumping-off-point than has been previously offered (and mine came today...the FIRST kit I've ever been enthusiastic enough about to order when it was introduced).

This generation Riviera is SO good looking and well-proportioned, it's almost impossible to improve on. My hat is off to you, sir. You made it better. Your chop proportions and pillar layback angle are absolutely perfect.

I agree Del, the Redhead is a real beauty. Probably the most sensuous shape ever built as a car, and about the only one I can think of that I'd make the effort to scratch-build. I haven't searched the internet thoroughly, but so far I haven't come across any bare-chassis shots. Do you, by chance, have any reference material on that fabulous car? For those who don't know what we're talking about, here she is...

Both good looking models, and nicely useful to see both out-of-the-box possibilities presented side-by-side. To have built either of these from what has been available previously would have taken some serious kit-bashing, a very well-stocked stash, and more knowledge of '29 Ford rods than most model builders posses. Even after my critical comments, I have to say, overall, nice work Revell.

I don't see how anyone with even half a brain can fail to respect police officers who routinely and voluntarily risk their own lives, daily, to protect the lives and well-being of clueless civilians. There's something seriously wrong in the world today.

Right on.

Mines otta bee heer enni day.

This one looks like he's not sure whether he's scared or not...

Great to hear that. Model building is one of the fun things that can have a very positive influence on young people's understanding of how things work, help to foster an interest in engineering, science and mechanics, contribute to developing fine motor skills and increased attention spans, teach patience and perseverance, and contribute to improved reading comprehension and the ability to understand written and illustrated instructions. These are good things. All that many kids need to become interested in things outside the tiny sphere of the peer-group-experience is exposure to alternatives, and adults who have the interest and who will take the time to show them things beyond their daily existence are helping to make a better future.

Not working so well here... Missing point entirely...

Check your pockets. Seems to me it's not a card makes you a man.

Once again, a BIG thanks to everyone who's following this thing, and everyone who's commented. I kinda wondered if someone would call me on the 4-link front-end. I did my homework on this a few years back, after seeing a 1949 movie with sprint cars running 4-links on tubular front axles. I did a double-take and ran the scene several times. I even went so far as to make blowups of the movie frames and to verify in other...dated...still shots I've found of period track-cars. Not a lot, but they were out there. Even a Kurtis or two. Honest. I agree, it wasn't 'til much later the setup became ubiquitous on the street, after Pete & Jake's kits hit the market, mid-late '60s I believe. Far as the polyester primer goes, I use it when I think it's appropriate, and you're absolutely right about it being a big time-saver. I usually have it in stock for doing work on the 1:1 cars anyway. It helped a lot on this one. As you may be able to tell, I'm a little obsessed with lakes cars. http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/topic/65965-mickey-thompsons-challenger-one-still-alive-feb-8/

A Lambo Miura engine in the back seat, right?

Yeah, looks like either a baby Volvo or something on the Chrysler K-car platform. But it's not.

Beautiful work.