What happened to the Revell '53-'54 Chevy kits ?

[Greg Myers]

 

These kits were originally similar to their '55-'57 Chevy kits with opening everything. 

Now the recent kits have the doors molded closed,you can see evidence inside the body. 

Edited May 8, 2018 by Greg Myers

[Mark]

The doors on these were never molded as separate parts, they were always attached to the body.  The bodies were paper-thin in the panel line areas, so trimming the panels open wasn't tough.  Getting the slop out of the hinges is another matter, though...

[Pat Minarick]

The windows don't fit at all. I filled the gaps with clear Elmers glue and dullcoted them to make them look like old separating glass around the edges. 

Edited May 8, 2018 by Pat Minarick

[Greg Myers]

It works 

[Greg Myers]

Guess they changed their minds. 

[Eshaver]

7 hours ago, Mark said:

The doors on these were never molded as separate parts, they were always attached to the body.  The bodies were paper-thin in the panel line areas, so trimming the panels open wasn't tough.  Getting the slop out of the hinges is another matter, though...

My suggestion is to look closely at Mr. Obsessive , Bill Gerry's work he did on the IMC Cougar II . Bill took a junk hinge and of course re worked it into something very usable and sturdy ....

 

[Bucky]

Borrowed from the WWW:

The kit is a 1973 issue. It shows opening doors, but the body clearly has the doors molded in. 

That shouldn't be hard to overcome, in order to open the doors.

[Mark]

The doors on these were never separate from the body.  The box for the original (1969 issue) delivery reads: "one-piece body with opening hood, and optional opening doors and rear door".  I had an original issue sedan (1970) back in the day, and have another unbuilt one now.  Doors and trunk lid are molded in place as they always have been, instructions tell how to get opening doors during body assembly.  Trimming open the molded-in doors doesn't give you any door jamb or inner trunk lid detail though.  The hinges are sloppy in these kits just like the '55-'57 kits.  First thing you do is toss the kit hinges and replace them.  Better hinges can be fabbed from wire or even paperclips.

 

[1972coronet]

Those ol' fiddly kits went the way of high-button shoes !  

[SfanGoch]

High button shoes.............

Fashion savvy dames an' gorillas know dat spats are de cat's pyjamas:

[Oldcarfan27]

You're such the Hep Cat, like the mostest, Daddy O!

[ChrisBcritter]

Have to give Revell an E for effort (if not execution) on these; at least this way the shapes of the doors matched the body perfectly - an improvement over the Tri-Fives. The sedan had some door jamb area attached to the inner quarter panels, but I don't think the sedan delivery did?

[unclescott58]

9 hours ago, SfanGoch said:

High button shoes.............

Fashion savvy dames an' gorillas know dat spats are de cat's pyjamas:

Sorry to say. But spats are not the same as high button shoes. Two trends I will not be joining, if they ever do make a come back. ?

[SfanGoch]

Yer missin' me pernt, pally. Now I gots to pound me flippers on de keys to explain tings. Dem high button shoes is like yesterday's race results - in udder woids, old news. Wot I was tryin' t'say was dat only de old Mustache Petes stuff their dogs into dose straight jackets. 

Getting back to the '53-'54 Chevys,  I would imagine that it would have been just as easy to mold the doors and trunk lid separately as was done with the earlier '55 and '56 Bel Airs.

[Ace-Garageguy]

The molded-shut "opening" doors were also on the 1/8 scale Big Deuce kit. You could easily cut them open, or not.

Frankly, "fiddly" and non-symmetrical as the Chevy kits in question are, I like them a LOT, because they can make really cool models, and you don't mind hacking one up (well, I don't, anyway).

 

[Lunajammer]

The 210 sedans were gone for a long time, but when they came back, they became plentiful. I can't resist them and have three unbuilts and a couple parts bombs. Except for the windows as mentioned, the fiddly-ness I don't find discouraging.

[Greg Myers]

and if yer lookin fer a '57 you're in luck, same old fiddlie kit.

Edited May 10, 2018 by Greg Myers

[Jantrix]

I bought one of the gasser kits, but after five minutes looking at the kit I knew it was just gonna be a donor kit. I've a gasser Avanti planned with the 409 and gasser parts planned.

[SfanGoch]

13 hours ago, Greg Myers said:

and if yer lookin fer a '57 you're in luck, same old fiddlie kit.

And, they're available on the cheap.