Revell 32 Ford Roadster REVISED (former Rat Roaster tool)

[rrb124@sbcglobal.net]

Good history. Very informative.

[horsepower]

On 10/2/2022 at 7:58 AM, Bernard Kron said:

I suspect that adapting the stock style windshield copped, as supplied in this and the Stacey David variants, or stock height as supplied in all previous versions, may be as simple as either re-shapng the bottoms of the windshield frame stanchions to conform to the cowl curve, or of filing small flat areas into the cowl surface, or some combination of the two. It certainly would be far less work than replacing the cowl.

I guess this is where I get on my soapbox and complain about the gradual "butchering" of the original stock-style roadster body to make these more specialized versions, but in reality, airbags, butchered body, now the DuVall, and all, this is a marvelous kit to build authentic traditional rods, and the "additional" work required remains, for me, as much of a pleasure of the hobby, as it might be a chore. But I  must admit that a "shrink-ray" version of the Big Deuce would be the ultimate version. I can dream...

The Monogrt/Revell 1/24th scale roadster is a modified reissue of the original '32 Li'l Deuce kit, some of the mods that are easily swapped are the Corvette rear axle that can be replaced with the one from the 1/24th scale T-bucket kit and the engine in the ZZ Top Eliminator coupe is the Pontiac block heads and transmission with small block Chevy exhaust headers and intake stuck on. But it has a really close pedigree, just like the fore mentioned T-bucket kit has its ancestry in the original Li'l T kit that was originally released way back when... all this reminiscing makes me want one of the Peabody and the Professor "Wayback machines" to get a few of those older kits at a reasonable cost.

[Mr. Metallic]

3 hours ago, horsepower said:

The Monogrt/Revell 1/24th scale roadster is a modified reissue of the original '32 Li'l Deuce kit, some of the mods that are easily swapped are the Corvette rear axle that can be replaced with the one from the 1/24th scale T-bucket kit and the engine in the ZZ Top Eliminator coupe is the Pontiac block heads and transmission with small block Chevy exhaust headers and intake stuck on. But it has a really close pedigree, just like the fore mentioned T-bucket kit has its ancestry in the original Li'l T kit that was originally released way back when... all this reminiscing makes me want one of the Peabody and the Professor "Wayback machines" to get a few of those older kits at a reasonable cost.

I think what @Bernard Kron is getting at is if they were going to do a new tool of a 32 Roadster that making a miniature version of the Big Deuce would be a boon for traditional hot rod builders as far as parts content, not necessarily to build a Little Deuce itself. Even the original Little Deuce kit was not an exact copy of the Big Deuce when it could still be built that way straight out of the box. Different wheels, no quick change and a bunch of other small details (mostly made in the name of simplification I'm sure)

Incidentally, I did make my own version of a 1/25 Big Deuce (not a Little deuce) a few months ago, which sticks much more closely to what was available in the BD

[Mr. Metallic]

On 10/2/2022 at 9:58 AM, Bernard Kron said:

I suspect that adapting the stock style windshield copped, as supplied in this and the Stacey David variants, or stock height as supplied in all previous versions, may be as simple as either re-shapng the bottoms of the windshield frame stanchions to conform to the cowl curve, or of filing small flat areas into the cowl surface, or some combination of the two. It certainly would be far less work than replacing the cowl.

 

I did just that on my current build featured in the On the Bench section by gently sanding the underside of the stanchions and making slight indentations in the cowl to give the windshield a home. About 5 minutes of work

[Rocking Rodney Rat]

Now that I finally got my grubby mitts on one of these, I looked over the parts (and the parts list on the instruction sheet) and it appears there is no master cylinder and brake booster. The tab for mounting one is on the center xmember. Anyone else notice this or am I mistaken? -RRR

[tim boyd]

1 minute ago, Rocking Rodney Rat said:

Now that I finally got my grubby mitts on one of these, I looked over the parts (and the parts list on the instruction sheet) and it appears there is no master cylinder and brake booster. The tab for mounting one is on the center xmember. Anyone else notice this or am I mistaken? -RRR

That's my take as well....TB

[slusher]

over looked maybe?

[Mr. Metallic]

I thought when Frank Luque over on Spotlight built one he mentioned that it's not there because it would interfere with the way the exhaust is routed from the new exhaust? Haven't made it that far on mine to know for sure, but it seems odd they would take the trouble to delete it with so many other extra parts still on the trees. Did the Rat Roaster have one?

Edited November 15, 2022 by Mr. Metallic

[Dave Darby]

1 hour ago, Mr. Metallic said:

I thought when Frank Luque over on Spotlight built one he mentioned that it's not there because it would interfere with the way the exhaust is routed from the new exhaust? Haven't made it that far on mine to know for sure, but it seems odd they would take the trouble to delete it with so many other extra parts still on the trees. Did the Rat Roaster have one?

I just happen to have a Rat Roaster, and I'm working from home, so I just opened mine up and looked at both the contents and the instructions. I didn't see a master cylinder in either place. So unless I'm blind (which happens to me once in a while, LOL) apparently it never had one.

[Rocking Rodney Rat]

23 hours ago, Mr. Metallic said:

I thought when Frank Luque over on Spotlight built one he mentioned that it's not there because it would interfere with the way the exhaust is routed from the new exhaust? Haven't made it that far on mine to know for sure, but it seems odd they would take the trouble to delete it with so many other extra parts still on the trees. Did the Rat Roaster have one?

That's what I was thinking, but the bb/mc does fit, a tight squeeze, though.... -RRR

[Calb56]

On 9/16/2022 at 8:04 AM, Luc Janssens said:

Took pics of all the framesr

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Modern cheater slicks?

[Calb56]

On 10/1/2022 at 1:40 AM, crossfire 2004 said:

Here you go.

50 Pontiac taillights???

[tim boyd]

2 hours ago, Calb56 said:

50 Pontiac taillights???

That's sure what they look like to me...TB

[Calb56]

32 minutes ago, tim boyd said:

That's sure what they look like to me...TB

?

[Kit Karson]

17 hours ago, Calb56 said:

Modern cheater slicks?

Same as in the Rat Roaster:

Picture complements of @Rocking Rodney Rat

Edited December 10, 2022 by Kit Karson
Add Text

[Mr. Metallic]

I'm working on a resin master and stumbled on something I'm not sure has been mentioned here before or not. But the hoods between the older tooled Revell 32s vs the new roadster/rat roaster tool are a little different. This is the result of a conversation between myself and @68shortfleet

Well, here are my findings.

I compared the new tooled roadster hood (NEW) to the following...

first issue three window (3W)

five window (5W)

Rat Roaster (RR)

Width wise, it appears the NEW and the RR are the same. The crown is the same too. Interesting bit is note the slight forward angle of the NEW hood towards the bottom. This is right out of the box.

Here is the NEW compared to the 3W. Note the hoods are aligned at the bottom to show the very slight overall width difference at the top of the pic. About 1mm (or roughly 1 scale inch)

 

Same result with the NEW compared to the 5W hood. Maybe even less of a difference than the 3W

Now this is where the difference is more readily apparent, is the thickness and inner contour of the new hood (and the RR). Both of those kits have a stock-ish firewall. The upper profile of this firewall is flatter and wider than the modern style firewall with the recessed clearance box molded in it that has been in every previous version of the venerable Revell 32 Ford line. Note how tightly the NEW hood snugs against the NEW firewall

 

Here is the modern firewall, see how far into the NEW hood the firewall goes, that illustrates what the 1mm width change, the thinner hood thickness and the smaller firewall dimension makes. You can use the NEW hood on old builds, but using the old hoods on builds based on the RR and NEW kits (plus any resin conversions based on those bodies) will require alteration of the hood.

 

Lastly, here are the old modern firewall piled on top of the NEW firewall to illustrate the differences. Revell actually did a good thing when they tooled up this NEW firewall to address an issue that has always existed with the Revell 32 Ford line, is that there is often a visible gap towards the bottom of the firewall where it meets the cowl. Much appreciated Revell!

In conclusion, I'm not trying to say Revell did anything wrong. Just wanted to raise the awareness among my fellow scale hot rodders out there.

[68shortfleet]

Thank you @Mr. Metallic for the excellent comparison pics on these hoods.

These highlight the differences i was also finding in these hoods and why I wasn't willing to sell my louvered hoods as a fit to the RR kit..

Looks like i need to master a louvered hood specific to the RR/new roadster kit.

Jason

[Rocking Rodney Rat]

37 minutes ago, 68shortfleet said:

Looks like i need to master a louvered hood specific to the RR/new roadster kit.

Bring it on! -RRR

[Calb56]

18 hours ago, Rocking Rodney Rat said:

Bring it on! -RRR

Yes please!!!

[stavanzer]

From the Spotlight Board. Re: the Revell 29/30 Model A Hot Rod kits. Comments by Tim Boyd.

"Revell has never provided a public explanation, at least to my knowledge. What is evident is that there was some type of production disruption and that some of the tooling was irreparably damaged or was lost somehow. The newly tooled sprues are what had to be recreated to make the kits commercially sellable once again.

I've heard more through unofficial channels, but the explanations vary enough that it makes me question what is the actual story. At least initially, and through to the present, I suspect that Revell's management (both then and now) have concluded that there is no upside to providing any more explanation.

So I guess this will be one of those forever unexplained occurrences in our hobby's history. Which really matters very little in the big picture, given that the situation has been resolved and we can buy these great kits again at retail prices (plug for our hosts here at Spotlight Hobbies).

Best....TB"

And some more from Tim.

"I did a sprue-by-sprue comparison; roughly 1/2 the parts were retooled (I think the Coupe version had the higher number, the Roadster less so). The '32 frame was completely redone with new sprue feedpoints which made it more likely to show possible warpage, and the inside frame rails were not finished and polished, so they show the rough, pebbled surface that occurs from the "EDM" (Electronic Discharge Machining) process used to create the tool. The pebbled surfaces can be sanded away, but the frame warpage is a bigger issue if your kit particular kit exhibits that. .

Accordingly, in my view the second issue Roadster is more desirable due Salft Flats/Halibrand wheels not in the first issue, but somewhat less desirable due to the SBC instead of the nailhead and the 1932 frame issues, particularly if you are building the highboy version."

I wanted to share Tim's thoughts here, since this site Archives better than the other sight does. Besides, there may very well be readers here who do not read Spotlight, and may have missed these comments.

(My Apologies to Tim if he does not want these here)

Edited December 14, 2022 by stavanzer

[Mr. Metallic]

2 hours ago, stavanzer said:

From the Spotlight Board. Re: the Revell 29/30 Model A Hot Rod kits. Comments by Tim Boyd.

 

Great info, but not sure why you shared it in this thread about Revells revision of the Rat Roaster 32 Ford? 

[stavanzer]

Because I had a Brain Fade...

Sorry.

[OldNYJim]

Interesting to note that this frame is the only one in the Revell 32 Series (I think) that has the notch in the frame rails for the exhaust.  I hadn’t immediately spotted that.

About the worse part of this entire series of kits for me was the awkward ejector pin marks on the floorboards under the frame.  I didn’t unwrap my kit yet, but if they did something to help make that chore less chore-like then that would be a real bonus 

Edited December 16, 2022 by CabDriver

[Chuck Kourouklis]

Re master cylinder, nope, never had it from its Roaster origins.

I might have mentioned this in my extremely restrained and sanitized review of the original Roaster in the other publication.

Edited December 16, 2022 by Chuck Kourouklis

[keyser]

1 hour ago, Chuck Kourouklis said:

…my extremely restrained and sanitized review of the original Roaster in the other publication.

????????????…breathe..??????????

Yep, CK restrained. First thing I think of. 
Hadda wipe off my phone. Ya owe me a Coke Zero.