Revell 1969 Camaro Grille Interchange

[1972coronet]

I'm close to starting on the 1969 ZL-1 Camaro , and am wanting to add the Rallye Sport grille (and other pieces) to it ; how-ever , I can only find the grilles with that "SS" emblems moulded-in . I noted that their 1969 Z-28 / RS kit has the grille I'm looking for , complete with the "RS" emblem on its grille ( ) . Now , I'm wondering if that RS grille will fit any of the other Revell 1969 Camaro kits ?

[gtx6970]

As far as I know all the Revell 1969 Camaro kits are all the same basic kit with drivetrain , hood and wheel changes

[Exotics_Builder]

Yes it should. 

[Snake45]

Yes, it will fit, but the Revell '69 RS grille--either glue kit or snapper--is very inaccurate. I've been trying for over a year to figure out some fairly painless way to correct it, so far without success.

Are you doing a model of a real RS ZL-1? There were only two built. IIRC, one was silver and the other LeMans Blue. Exact options and details of both cars are known and documented. I can send you more details if you need them.

IMHO, the best way to get a '69 RS Camaro is to saw off the front end of the reissued AMT Funny Hugger and graft it (and its grille, bumper, etc) onto the Revell body. (Or fix the wheel openings on the Funny Hugger body and stuff the rest of the Revell kit underneath it.)

[Exotics_Builder]

Yes, it will fit, but the Revell '69 RS grille--either glue kit or snapper--is very inaccurate. I've been trying for over a year to figure out some fairly painless way to correct it, so far without success.

Are you doing a model of a real RS ZL-1? There were only two built. IIRC, one was silver and the other LeMans Blue. Exact options and details of both cars are known and documented. I can send you more details if you need them.

IMHO, the best way to get a '69 RS Camaro is to saw off the front end of the reissued AMT Funny Hugger and graft it (and its grille, bumper, etc) onto the Revell body. (Or fix the wheel openings on the Funny Hugger body and stuff the rest of the Revell kit underneath it.)

I got the MCG 69 Camaro PE set which does a good job to get corrections moving.

[Snake45]

I got the MCG 69 Camaro PE set which does a good job to get corrections moving.

Hard to say for certain from a picture, no matter how good, but I don't think this set, nice as it is, is going to correct the fundamental shape/depth problem of the Revell RS grille and headlight covers. Some other very cool stuff on there, though.

[1972coronet]

Yes, it will fit, but the Revell '69 RS grille--either glue kit or snapper--is very inaccurate. I've been trying for over a year to figure out some fairly painless way to correct it, so far without success.

Are you doing a model of a real RS ZL-1? There were only two built. IIRC, one was silver and the other LeMans Blue. Exact options and details of both cars are known and documented. I can send you more details if you need them.

IMHO, the best way to get a '69 RS Camaro is to saw off the front end of the reissued AMT Funny Hugger and graft it (and its grille, bumper, etc) onto the Revell body. (Or fix the wheel openings on the Funny Hugger body and stuff the rest of the Revell kit underneath it.)

Thanks for your answers , every-one ( Bill "gtx6970" , Gerry "Exotics_Builder" , and , Snake ) .

Snake , I'm not going for a replica of an existing ZL-1 / RS , just a "generic" version thereof . While I recognise that the grille / hide-away headlights combo is 'flawed' out-of-the-box , the only changes I'm planning to undetake would be to detail the hide-aways' doors (e.g. , body colour where appropriate , and the opening-up of the 'plexiglass' covers . I'll whittle some-thing out of clear Evergreen for the 'plexiglass' covers ; then I'll *probably* add some parts' box headlights behind them .) . Additionally ; I'm going to pop a B-N-L Resins Turbo-400 behind that 427 ---even if that means having to make the engine an L72 instead--- and add the console / Dual-Gate shifter from the recent-reissue of the '69 Barracuda .

Thanks again , guys !

[Snake45]

Thanks for your answers , every-one ( Bill "gtx6970" , Gerry "Exotics_Builder" , and , Snake ) .

Snake , I'm not going for a replica of an existing ZL-1 / RS , just a "generic" version thereof . While I recognise that the grille / hide-away headlights combo is 'flawed' out-of-the-box , the only changes I'm planning to undetake would be to detail the hide-aways' doors (e.g. , body colour where appropriate , and the opening-up of the 'plexiglass' covers . I'll whittle some-thing out of clear Evergreen for the 'plexiglass' covers ; then I'll *probably* add some parts' box headlights behind them .) . Additionally ; I'm going to pop a B-N-L Resins Turbo-400 behind that 427 ---even if that means having to make the engine an L72 instead--- and add the console / Dual-Gate shifter from the recent-reissue of the '69 Barracuda .

Thanks again , guys !

Well, if you're going for a phantom or "tribute" or resto-mod version, no reason not to go ahead and use the TH400 if that's what you want. Hey, it's only plastic, and it's YOUR plastic.

Here's another idea: Just cut the headlight doors off, and run it with open headlights. I drove a '69 SS/RS Camaro for 7 years and sometimes I'd open the headlight doors and leave them open for weeks or months at a time, just for a "different look." I don't think you're going to make anything like authentic RS doors out of clear styrene, and if you could, you wouldn't be able to see the headlights behind them. You couldn't see them on the real car, unless the lights were on.

BTW, I still have the original RS grille of that very car hanging on the wall of my garage/smoking lounge and get look at it six or eight times a day. That's how/why I know the Revell RS grille treatment is so wrong. (Why is it there? Because at the time I didn't particularly like the '69 RS grille treatment and I had a standard front end put on it before I had it repainted in 1978. The car is long gone but I still have the grille and headlight doors.)

[1972coronet]

Well, if you're going for a phantom or "tribute" or resto-mod version, no reason not to go ahead and use the TH400 if that's what you want. Hey, it's only plastic, and it's YOUR plastic.

Here's another idea: Just cut the headlight doors off, and run it with open headlights. I drove a '69 SS/RS Camaro for 7 years and sometimes I'd open the headlight doors and leave them open for weeks or months at a time, just for a "different look." I don't think you're going to make anything like authentic RS doors out of clear styrene, and if you could, you wouldn't be able to see the headlights behind them. You couldn't see them on the real car, unless the lights were on.

BTW, I still have the original RS grille of that very car hanging on the wall of my garage/smoking lounge and get look at it six or eight times a day. That's how/why I know the Revell RS grille treatment is so wrong. (Why is it there? Because at the time I didn't particularly like the '69 RS grille treatment and I had a standard front end put on it before I had it repainted in 1978. The car is long gone but I still have the grille and headlight doors.)

Thanks again for your reply . Funny thing about the '69  RS Camaro  ; I used to love it , then I hated it , then I started to really like it again ! Not sure as to why I didn't like it for a brief period , but I can tell you what '69 Camaro COPO / RS had me liking it again: the Daytona Yellow L72 with yellow houndstooth interior ! To make it even more interesting , it's an export-to-Canada ! Let me see if I can find a nice image of it ... http://www.hotrod.com/cars/featured/mscp-1204-1969-chevy-camaro-rs/

The out-of-the-box RS grille does look wonky , which is disappointing to say the least . Almost a characature of itself !

The reason that I thought of clear Evergreen is that I could swear that the "louvers" were clear ! Ha ha ha ! That tells you how long it's been since I've seen a '69 RS in person ... Google Images , here I come !

 

Edited April 8, 2016 by 1972coronet

[1972coronet]

Here's another yellow / yellow '69 RS ; a Yenko "tribute"  :

[Snake45]

Thanks again for your reply . Funny thing about the '69  RS Camaro  ; I used to love it , then I hated it , then I started to really like it again ! Not sure as to why I didn't like it for a brief period , but I can tell you what '69 Camaro COPO / RS had me liking it again: the Daytona Yellow L72 with yellow houndstooth interior ! To make it even more interesting , it's an export-to-Canada ! Let me see if I can find a nice image of it ...

The out-of-the-box RS grille does look wonky , which is disappointing to say the least . Almost a characature of itself !

The reason that I thought of clear Evergreen is that I could swear that the "louvers" were clear ! Ha ha ha ! That tells you how long it's been since I've seen a '69 RS in person ... Google Images , here I come !

 

The louvers do have clear in them, but you can hardly see through them, certainly wouldn't be able to see a model headlight in there. Not worth the effort.

I've seen that yellow on yellow Camaro. Very interesting.

Do you have the '69 Z/RS kit for the grille? If not, I can prolly scare you up one. I've bought several of those kits just for the parts (when I have a Michael's coupon and they don't have anything else I particularly want that day but hate to waste the trip).

[Snake45]

Here's another yellow / yellow '69 RS ; a Yenko "tribute"  :

There were no RS Yenkos, and they all had black interiors, so this is not so much a "tribute" (clone) as a cool phantom.

BTW, I built the Revell Z kit shortly after it was released, yellow with black stripes. I did it as the CARS magazine modified test car, with Astro slot mags and a flat hood modified from an AMT '68.Don't have any pics of loaded up at the moment, though.

I'm currently trying to do the Car & Driver project car Blue Maxi, which was an SS/RS (with a '70 LT-1 engine), but a satisfactory RS front has brought the project to a screeching halt. I might just give up and use a standard grille in the poor thing.

[1972coronet]

There were no RS Yenkos, and they all had black interiors, so this is not so much a "tribute" (clone) as a cool phantom.

BTW, I built the Revell Z kit shortly after it was released, yellow with black stripes. I did it as the CARS magazine modified test car, with Astro slot mags and a flat hood modified from an AMT '68.Don't have any pics of loaded up at the moment, though.

I'm currently trying to do the Car & Driver project car Blue Maxi, which was an SS/RS (with a '70 LT-1 engine), but a satisfactory RS front has brought the project to a screeching halt. I might just give up and use a standard grille in the poor thing.

Blue Maxi !   I positively love that car , and its counterpart , Green Meanie ! The latter was the High Performance CARS / Motion Performance version ,   and  IIRC , its nomenclature was "Z/30" . By the way , CARS Magazine's one-and-only Martyn L. Schorr is still kickin' it ; I'm friends with him on Facebook . Same with Joe Oldham and his son Scott Oldham .

[1972coronet]

The louvers do have clear in them, but you can hardly see through them, certainly wouldn't be able to see a model headlight in there. Not worth the effort.

I've seen that yellow on yellow Camaro. Very interesting.

Do you have the '69 Z/RS kit for the grille? If not, I can prolly scare you up one. I've bought several of those kits just for the parts (when I have a Michael's coupon and they don't have anything else I particularly want that day but hate to waste the trip).

I thought that there was a clear-ish element to those doors ! Perhaps some Tamiya Pearl White would suffice .

I don't have the RS-specific-only-to-the-Z/28 grille (has the "RS" been removed from subsequent issues ? The new-er one doesn't appear to have that embellishment ...) . The only RS-esque grille that I have is the one that comes with the "ZL-1" ; how-ever , it has the "SS" emblem , which is ostensiblt incorrect for a COPO . I would love to have one of the grilles with the "RS" emblem , if you were so inclined . I have been trolling eBay for earlier releases of the Z/28 RS . I can always just pop the standard grille (from the ZL1) into it ... after all , I do want to build a Z/28 any-how .

[Snake45]

I thought that there was a clear-ish element to those doors ! Perhaps some Tamiya Pearl White would suffice .

I don't have the RS-specific-only-to-the-Z/28 grille (has the "RS" been removed from subsequent issues ? The new-er one doesn't appear to have that embellishment ...) . The only RS-esque grille that I have is the one that comes with the "ZL-1" ; how-ever , it has the "SS" emblem , which is ostensiblt incorrect for a COPO . I would love to have one of the grilles with the "RS" emblem , if you were so inclined . I have been trolling eBay for earlier releases of the Z/28 RS . I can always just pop the standard grille (from the ZL1) into it ... after all , I do want to build a Z/28 any-how .

Tamiya Pearl White might actually be the perfect thing to put in those slots. Thanks for the idea!

I'll check my Z kits this weekend and see if any of them have the RS emblem. I know I have at least one early kit but have no idea where it is--prolly WAY at the bottom of the pile in the Snakepit. But I also have a 1/24 M2 diecast '69 RS--straight RS, no SS or Z--that might have the RS in the grille. If it does, I could burn off a foil-and-epoxy copy of that emblem for you. Will try to remember to check all that out this weekend.

[Snake45]

 But I also have a 1/24 M2 diecast '69 RS--straight RS, no SS or Z--that might have the RS in the grille. If it does, I could burn off a foil-and-epoxy copy of that emblem for you. Will try to remember to check all that out this weekend.

Checked that--the rs is just tampo-printed on a little chrome rectangular "badge" in the center of the grille. They prolly printed SS in another issue. So that one won't help.

Haven't found a cherry Revell RS grille for you yet, but worse comes to worst, I might be able to foil-copy that thing off the first-issue Z/28 that I built. IIRC, I just painted the whole rs emblem black, but it should still be a good candidate for a foil copy.