Revell rally wheel diameters (Update 6/1/16)

[Russell C]

First, I'm aware that the rally wheels in the Revell '77 van are not correct for that vehicle, that's covered in another thread. However, not knowing these two kit types well (and not finding any results about it in a lengthy search here), I'm wondering if Revell created new wheels for the van that actually are 1/24th scale, or did they rob the tool out of the 1/25th scale Camaro kits. If anybody has one or both styles rattling around in the ol' parts box, could you post the diameter of 'em?

Edited June 1, 2016 by Russell C

[Russell C]

I've been keeping an eye on ebay parts listings for rally wheels, and in a reply from ebay seller "kit-parts", I have a related answer on the diameter of the rallys in the Revell '69 Chevy Nova SS kit that he is selling here , where he replied, "I didn't have a good, detailed ruler for inches, but I did for CM. I have approx 1.6 cm.." Fabulous that he could answer that question.

That would be almost .63", too small for what I'm aiming for in a 24th scale rally wheel.

[GrumpyGrowly]

The diameter measurement of the Chevy Van rally wheels, 11/16..0.6875

Hope this helps.

[Russell C]

... measurement of the Chevy Van rally wheels, 11/16..0.6875...

Very helpful, confirms that Revell didn't cheat and use other 25th scale tooling in this kit.

[Russell C]

Bought a cheap glue bomb Revell '69 Camaro Z28 RS off ebay pretty much because the seller's photo had the wheels looking oversized, as though they were mismatched out of the Revell '77 Chevy van kit. They measure out to .688" in diameter, multiply by 24 and it would be 16.5". But they have the same metallic blue plastic under the chrome as the rest of the kit, and in 25th scale, that would measure out to 17.2".  So I suppose the next question is whether the rest of the Camaro is actually 24th scale despite what it says on the box, or if they just used the tooling from the '77 Chevy van wheels?

[Casey]

Since real wheel diameter is measured where the tires sits on the wheel, you will need to account for that on the scale wheel. Measure the actual diameter of the scale wheel, multiply by the scale, then subtract 1" to get the true 1:1 diameter.

Also, if the Chevy Rally wheels have trim rings, they will add to the overall diameter, too, since they overlap the 1:1 wheel's lip a bit.

The van's wheels are all new, and not copies of the 1/25 '69 Camaro Z/28 kit's wheels. The design/details are different, too. IIRC, the 1/24 Revell Chevy van includes the old Monogram Goodyear GT Radial tires which are 14" diameter tires.

Edited November 24, 2015 by Casey

[Russell C]

Good points. For my own measurement of the glue bomb Camaro, I was going with the outermost diameter, which would be the outermost part of a trim ring. Ultimately for my 1/24 scale Quicksilver rebuild / mod project, my goal is to maintain the appearance of similar size tires, thus I need a trim ring front & rear that corresponds to the tire size openings of right around .71". I'll most likely have to borrow some other 1/24 wheel rims that look like trim rings, slice out the wheel centers and splice them onto whatever GM 5-slot wheels I can find, along with separate 'derby hat' caps. Like the wheel / cap parts out of AMT's '69 Chevelle kits or maybe one of the resin caster wheel kits. One other option is to find a good set of rally wheels out of a dirt cheap 24th scale diecast ......

Edited November 25, 2015 by Russell C

[Casey]

I think the 1/25 Chevy Rally wheel center caps look a bit oversized for 1/25, but honestly, I've never actually measured them. I suspect they would look right at home on a 1/24 scale build, though.

Are you using the Goodyear Rally GT big 'n' little tires on your Quicksilver build?

[Russell C]

I think the 1/25 Chevy Rally wheel center caps look a bit oversized for 1/25, but honestly, I've never actually measured them. I suspect they would look right at home on a 1/24 scale build, though.

Are you using the Goodyear Rally GT big 'n' little tires on your Quicksilver build?

I'll have to keep an eye out for the AMT version of the wheels / separate caps. Meanwhile, in the mail today was my latest cheap ebay score of the remnants of a Revell 24th scale '32 Ford , where I can most likely use the chrome rim sections at the trim rings, and its Goodyear big & little Blue Streaks. The big & little Goodyears in the Quicksilver (shared among many other old Monogram hot rods) have always bugged me with their dome-shaped tread profile, so I was hoping -- and it turned out to be -- that the Blue Streaks where pretty much the same height for front & rear while having a proper flat tread profile. I'll try mocking it up in a week or two with the rally wheels out of the glue bomb Camaro to see how it looks.

[Steven Zimmerman]

Since real wheel diameter is measured where the tires sits on the wheel, you will need to account for that on the scale wheel. Measure the actual diameter of the scale wheel, multiply by the scale, then subtract 1" to get the true 1:1 diameter.

Also, if the Chevy Rally wheels have trim rings, they will add to the overall diameter, too, since they overlap the 1:1 wheel's lip a bit.

The van's wheels are all new, and not copies of the 1/25 '69 Camaro Z/28 kit's wheels. The design/details are different, too. IIRC, the 1/24 Revell Chevy van includes the old Monogram Goodyear GT Radial tires which are 14" diameter tires.

Hmmm, on the ralley wheels I own in 1/1, the trim ring on  the 15 / 7 , 15 / 8 and 14 / 7, the factory trim rings are not larger then the steel wheel. I just went out and checked................

[Russell C]

For comparison, left-to-right: the unpainted wheels from the AMT '69 Chevelle, the wheel & tire out of the Revell '69 Camaro Z28 RS, the wheel (in a borrowed tire) from the Revell '69 Nova, and the wheel / tire out of the Revell '68 Corvette.

As a guy who fixates on tiny details, I like the way the Corvette wheel trim rings have the small lip in the inner diameter, while the Nova wheel seems to have an outer edge of the center cap that looks the most like the 1:1 car. It looks like the unpainted Chevelle wheel has the best looking slots and 'flat area' between the slots. While the slots in the Nova wheel look too oversized, especially since they are reflected larger straight onto the trim rings, one potential way of knocking down that appearance would to drop in a ring of bright this silver wire so that it would look like the lip of the 1:1 trim ring.

Chore as it might sound, I have what I need now to create the regular & wide wheels for my de-tuned Quicksilver street machine project, stay tuned there for a build sequence of how I put these together for a set of regular / wide rally wheels that suit my tastes.