First in-depth look - Revell's new '30 Model A Chopped Five Window Coupe kit...

[Toner283]

Here are some detail shots of the cowl area and the sunvisor. Also one of the inside of a bare door. The cowl is narrower at the bottom than it is where the gas tank top meets the cowl sides, that is not an optical illusion. I tried to take a couple of photos to illustrate this. The sunvisor is fairly flat but it does have a distinct gentle arch to it.

[Toner283]

Keep in mind when looking at the pictures of the firewall in this car that the firewall has been flipped 180 degrees. This was done to allow more room for the engine. This is not necessarily a common modification but a well-known trick in Model A circles to gain about 5 inches of engine room. The trade-off is that you lose 5 inches of cabin space.

And to make people really scratch their heads, after the main firewall was flipped I cut the center section of it out and flipped it back to its original orientation. This was done so that the strengthening ribs are facing in the right direction. I enjoy watching hot rod guys and Model A guys looking at the firewall and discussing just exactly what I have done to it to make it look the way it does.

Couple of progress pics of the firewall reconstruction. First shot is of a stock firewall before any modifications.

 

Edited July 20, 2016 by Toner283

[Toner283]

I hope that some of those pictures and measurements are helpful. If anyone needs any other detail shots or specific measurements,  just let me know and I will get you what you need. It may take me a couple of days though. The car is not stored at my house.

[Ace-Garageguy]

Excellent, Chris. Thank you for taking the time. Now to find my calipers...

[afx]

Appreciate all the great photos and measurements Chris!

[Ace-Garageguy]

                                                                          Some comparison measurements taken from the new Revell model: 

 

             On the model, this one comes in at around 38"

                                                                             This next dimension on the model is about 10.25", giving us a nominal chop of 3".

                                                                                                                

[RAT-T]

THANKS FOR THE PICS CHRIS

[Dennis Lacy]

Nice work on the reversed firewall!

[Spex84]

Right on, thanks for the measurements Chris! Way better than looking at photos and guessing.

I've been staring at photos of "A" coupes for so long my eyes are starting to cross and I'm thinking I might build the kit out of the box (!!!) instead of turning it into a marathon accurizing project.

One thing I would love to clarify: the quarter window. Could you measure across the window above the Moon decal and then again below the Wynn decal? It's often hard to tell in photos how much of a non-parallel appearance is due to lens distortion.

Here's a photoshop kludge I did a couple days ago as I was trying to figure out what's going on. Tried to use an image with as little distortion as possible.

 

[Jantrix]

FYI.

Just a heads up. Note how the instructions have you assemble the interior. I do not recommend joining the floor to the chassis when it says to, I'm very happy I didn't. When assembled the interior is VERY difficult to put in the body. I recommend only doing it once.

[geewhiz]

I'm kind of late to the party but thoroughly enjoyed this thread.  Thanks, Tim, for your in depth review of the kit and a huge Kudo's to Revell and all involved in this and the 29 roadster for such excellent kits.  I appreciate all the insight all of you guys here on the forum have brought to light.  I'm going to build mine with a few tweaks here and there and build it my way.  I'm not going to overhaul the kit because it'll be great anyway.  We now have several modern rods to choose from and we are blessed even with the nits.  We are truly in the golden age of modeling and I'm loving it!!!  It's all good, fella's!!!!  I hope everyone enjoys this kit kit as much as I am, no matter how you build it!!!????????

[tim boyd]

Well said, Greg, well said.  And personally, "thanks" to you for  your thanks on my original post.   Looking forward to seeing your projects based on this kit series.....TIM 

[Bert]

I think this is one of the best kits I've ever seen, even though its a Ford, lots of great parts, really nice. lots of parts for my 32 Chevy Hi-Boy. I wonder if the top would fit on it. I'm sure this has been covered but the instructions show the blower belt being installed upside down. Now if I can find a rat roaster for the pipes.

[tim boyd]

I think this is one of the best kits I've ever seen, even though its a Ford, lots of great parts, really nice. lots of parts for my 32 Chevy Hi-Boy. I wonder if the top would fit on it. I'm sure this has been covered but the instructions show the blower belt being installed upside down. Now if I can find a rat roaster for the pipes.

Yep.....the blower belt is upside down and backwards in the assembly manual, and the numbers are reversed on the front radius rods for the highboy version.  Revell has been notified on both of these issues.   

Bert....glad to hear your take on this kit, and of course, I thoroughly agree with you!   I think that blown Chevy engine fairly BEGS for some cool '32/'37/'48 et al Chevy hot rod and gasser builds.looking forward to seeing your done too.  Cheers...TIM

[oldscool]

So far, I have bought one coupe and one roadster kit. Revell IMO did hit a home run with this one but it just barely cleared the fence. The lip on the edge of the body and the hump in the headers and not giving us whitewall inserts for the tires are minor gripes for me. The blower looks too square shaped to me also, but I think a lot of scale blowers look this way .

[Greg Myers]

The blower looks too square shaped to me also, but I think a lot of scale blowers look this way .

They don't have too.

 

and look at that fire wall 

[Jantrix]

In case you missed them in my build thread, here's my notes on this kit.

1. The windshield frame mounts from the OUTSIDE. Then the windshield goes in from the inside. The instructions say otherwise but it is all lies. Lies I tell you! 

2. For the channeled version, DO NOT glue the interior floor to the chassis, (it say to says in the instructions, but it's just more lies!) until your final assembly. Build the interior as a separate assembly. It is not easy to get into the body, but it would be impossible with the chassis attached.

3. Even with un-upholstered panels, the battery and gas tank can hardly be seen from the outside of the model. Unless you are opening the trunk/rumble seat, I would just save those for another build. 

4. The very tiny gauge decals are not worth the hassle. They are so small the adhesive is gone in a flash. 

5. The headlights are beautiful. Although I would like to meet the engineer who decided to put a mounting tab right on the top of the part, which is a chromed piece. I have a few choice words for him/her.

6. The surface of the headlight support where it meets the chassis is shaped oddly. I'm not sure what the original plan was. 

7. I will very likely build at least one more of these soon. A very unusual thing for me.

[MrObsessive]

 

2. For the channeled version, DO NOT glue the interior floor to the chassis, (it say to says in the instructions, but it's just more lies!) until your final assembly. Build the interior as a separate assembly. It is not easy to get into the body, but it would be impossible with the chassis attached.

Rob, is that that the reason on some of 'em I've seen, there's a gap where the roof attaches at the beltline? I know there was a complaint on the other board about this. This is a good heads up as that can be a major turnoff for someone tackling this for the first time.

I'm not much of a street rod guy (I have a few in my stash), but who knows--------I might shock you all and build one someday. 

Just "out of the box" of course........

[Jantrix]

Bill, there is a gap, on the inside. The two pieces are not flush. However it's the width of the whole assembly at the floorboard that makes it difficult to get in. You have to work it in from the wheel well, sliding forward. The gaps in the door panels make this a challenge as the front corner of the wheel well gets caught in them as you are sliding the interior in. Once you have gotten it mostly in, but not in place, push up and in, from the back of the interior. It should slide past the gap between top and bottom, which is covered by the door panels. Working carefully, I was able to get my interior in, fully assembled, dash and all.

Also as I've noted before, if you glue in the roof panel before final assembly, you'll have to add the steering wheel through the drivers window, unless you find other, more creative options. I did and it worked out. If you find yourself in this situation, shoot me a PM and I'll let you know how I did it. It's pretty simple.

Bill, I think I speak for all of us when I say, we'd love to see you tackle a hot rod project.

Edited August 6, 2016 by Jantrix

[tim boyd]

In case you missed them in my build thread, here's my notes on this kit.

1. The windshield frame mounts from the OUTSIDE. Then the windshield goes in from the inside. The instructions say otherwise but it is all lies. Lies I tell you! 

2. For the channeled version, DO NOT glue the interior floor to the chassis, (it say to says in the instructions, but it's just more lies!) until your final assembly. Build the interior as a separate assembly. It is not easy to get into the body, but it would be impossible with the chassis attached.

3. Even with un-upholstered panels, the battery and gas tank can hardly be seen from the outside of the model. Unless you are opening the trunk/rumble seat, I would just save those for another build. 

4. The very tiny gauge decals are not worth the hassle. They are so small the adhesive is gone in a flash. 

5. The headlights are beautiful. Although I would like to meet the engineer who decided to put a mounting tab right on the top of the part, which is a chromed piece. I have a few choice words for him/her.

6. The surface of the headlight support where it meets the chassis is shaped oddly. I'm not sure what the original plan was. 

7. I will very likely build at least one more of these soon. A very unusual thing for me.

I just finished my own Coupe kit builds #3 and #4.  My comments:

In addition to the blower drive illustration error in the instructions and the reversed numbers in the instructions for the front radius rods of the highboy version.....

Referring to Rob's comments above (using his same numbers to address the topics....) 

1. I mounted the windows in the top before mounting the top to the body  I assembled the windshield to the windshield frame, then inserted the assembly into the top from underneath.  Make sure to push it ALL THE WAY TO THE TOP of the underside of the roof.  If you fail to do this, you'll too have the problem with a big gap where the top fits to the body during final assembly. 

2. I also did the interior assembly to the body first rather than to the floorboard, as Rob suggests.  It's very easy as long as you make sure that the interior side panels are located all the way up in the body.  The interior panels extend above the body side (subsequently hidden by the belt line of the top assembly)  You also have to push down on the body and up on the chassis during final assembly to make sure that the interior side panels fully engage the notches on the floorboard, both at the front and the rear of the interior  If you model is sitting with an exaggerated rake, you still need to push further down on the back of the interior to get it fully flush with the floorboard.   

3.  I finished the fuel cell and battery box anyway.  But they are irrelevant for the Highboy version unless you also open and hinge the trunk.  

4.  I used the two big IP decals, but omitted the smaller side gauges.  The gauges are provided with both black/white and cream/black faces, the latter looking very cool!   

5. Agree completely.  

6. I believe Rob is referring to the junction between the shock mount to the frame rails of the chassis, and it has a dual step that allows the part to be used for both the highboy and the channeled versions which have two very different frames.  As a result, it does look a bit odd in the channeled version application    

7. I plan to start my version #5 this week.... using the '30 Model A grille shell on the highboy version (there are parts in the box for this, although they are not mentioned on the instructions) and probably the Nailhead Buick from the '29 Roadster kit (there are radiator hoses for this application, though they are not mentioned in the instructions), plus a number of other minor mods and personalized features.  

Bottom line....this kit is challenging, but in a good way.  Take your time, personalize it to your own taste, and you will almost certainly get an excellent result.    Cheers....TIM   

 

Edited August 7, 2016 by tim boyd

[Jantrix]

Thanks Tim. Most likely my troubles with the interior was due to the fact that I glued the top to the body before painting. I'm looking forward to seeing yours with the two pieces painted separately.

[tim boyd]

Thanks Tim. Most likely my troubles with the interior was due to the fact that I glued the top to the body before painting. I'm looking forward to seeing yours with the two pieces painted separately.

Rob...I really should try to build one that way (body and top glued together before painting) to see how that works out.  Hmm....maybe I should add that to the list of features for build #5.

Best...TIM 

[Earl Marischal]

Has anyone seen this kit for sale in the UK?

steve

[stavanzer]

Ordered my kit yesterday. Should be in my hands in a week or two. (Hobby Shop of Mom, personally gifting the kit to me)

I'll settle back and keep reading the building tips and planning my 401 Nailhead powered Coupe build for when it arrives.

[Mr. Metallic]

  7. I plan to start my version #5 this week.... using the '30 Model A grille shell on the highboy version (there are parts in the box for this, although they are not mentioned on the instructions) and probably the Nailhead Buick from the '29 Roadster kit (there are radiator hoses for this application, though they are not mentioned in the instructions), plus a number of other minor mods and personalized features.  

Bottom line....this kit is challenging, but in a good way.  Take your time, personalize it to your own taste, and you will almost certainly get an excellent result.    Cheers....TIM   

 

Tim, make sure you use the right set of parts when using the Nailhead and the 30 body/interiors. I speak from experience, and had to do a lot of grinding on the top of the tranny on an otherwise box stock build. I'm pretty sure I used the wrong floorpan. Great kit, this issue was all my fault.