Revell: Stranger Things; Billy´s Chevy Camaro

[Fat Brian]

So, the roof from the Firebird kit about 2mm wider than the Camaro roof. For the amount of effort it would take to make it fit you could fix the kit roof.

[1972coronet]

I don't remember if the Firebird, et al., had the wraparound backlite every year, of if they shared the Camaro backlite '70-'73 ?

[ClassicDarts]

1 hour ago, 1972coronet said:

I don't remember if the Firebird, et al., had the wraparound backlite every year, of if they shared the Camaro backlite '70-'73 ?

Same for both cars... '70-'74. '75 was the first year for the wraparound rear window.

[OldSkool81]

6 hours ago, Fat Brian said:

So, the roof from the Firebird kit about 2mm wider than the Camaro roof. For the amount of effort it would take to make it fit you could fix the kit roof.

Dang, that sucks... Every hobby shop seems to have a bunch of those Trans Ams, and sell them cheap like they just can't get rid of them; it could've been a good donor canditate. Ah well....

[Robberbaron]

4 hours ago, ClassicDarts said:

Same for both cars... '70-'74. '75 was the first year for the wraparound rear window.

Interesting factoid that many of you may already know:

GM's designers wanted the wraparound glass on the original 1970-1/2 models, but the bean counters nixed it.  Lots of photos of in-progress clay models with the wraparound glass.

Personally, I'm glad that happened since I think the 70-74 style rear windows look better.

[mikos]

3 hours ago, Robberbaron said:

Interesting factoid that many of you may already know:

GM's designers wanted the wraparound glass on the original 1970-1/2 models, but the bean counters nixed it.  Lots of photos of in-progress clay models with the wraparound glass.

Personally, I'm glad that happened since I think the 70-74 style rear windows look better.

I remember reading that it was because Fisher Body was having problems installing the wraparound glass with the ears (the corner edges of the glass) constantly swiping or wiping off the window adhesive when they tried installing the glass on the body.  This delayed the introduction of the wraparound glass until they found a workable solution that kept the glass adhesive intact in those areas.

I like the non wraparound rear window on the early models.  The later ones that came with T-tops with the wraparound glass look good too.  The T-top option with the wraparound glass gave the greenhouse an airy C-pillar targa top look that looked very modern back then.

 

Edited March 18 by mikos

[53_Sedandelivery]

On 1/13/2025 at 9:54 AM, stavanzer said:

Revell, was trying to make a Quik Buk by using an already tooled kit. And that is completely Fair. Modify an existing tool, and make more money? Great!

The intended market for this kit, will not know or care about the flat roof/window niggles that bother some on the internet. Like Round2 Coca Cola kits, the Fringe, is not who this kit is for. Will we buy them? Of Course! I need a new Camaro, and this is a good one.  The lack of chrome does  not worry me, and I can make a blown Street Warrior with this kit, with just whats in the box. I suspect most of these that actually get built, will be the box art car.

Well said! I think that the fender vent can be sanded down a little for correct appearance, and the window can be sanded a little more round, no biggie for more skilled modelers. Revell did correct the fender arches to be flatter on the top unlike the Firebird arches in the 1981 Z28, so Kudos to them!  Love the extra hood parts too. My only issue with a lot of older Monogram kits is the cast-on parts in the engine bay. If it takes too much work to correct the firewall and inner fender details, I just glue the hood shut and have a great curbside. I will definitely add Billy's Camaro to my collection, built as on screen appearance (using 1979 GM code 29 Dark Blue Iridite paint).

[mikos]

14 hours ago, 53_Sedandelivery said:

Well said! I think that the fender vent can be sanded down a little for correct appearance, and the window can be sanded a little more round, no biggie for more skilled modelers. Revell did correct the fender arches to be flatter on the top unlike the Firebird arches in the 1981 Z28, so Kudos to them!  Love the extra hood parts too. My only issue with a lot of older Monogram kits is the cast-on parts in the engine bay. If it takes too much work to correct the firewall and inner fender details, I just glue the hood shut and have a great curbside. I will definitely add Billy's Camaro to my collection, built as on screen appearance (using 1979 GM code 29 Dark Blue Iridite paint).

I don’t think it’s as fine and dandy as you’re suggesting.  They made the wheel wells flatter like the real car which is great, even better than the old MPC kit.  However, in doing that, they screwed up the upper drip rail curve of the side windows when they filled in the T-tops.  

Why couldn’t they have given us both?  An accurate wheel well shape and correct side windows with a roof that doesn’t sag?  If they did that, that would be “kudos” to them.  

Also, getting the shape of that upper side window drip rail correct can be very challenging.  It’s not as simple of a fix as it may look.

Edited April 30 by mikos

[53_Sedandelivery]

On 4/29/2025 at 11:00 PM, mikos said:

I don’t think it’s as fine and dandy as you’re suggesting.  They made the wheel wells flatter like the real car which is great, even better than the old MPC kit.  However, in doing that, they screwed up the upper drip rail curve of the side windows when they filled in the T-tops.  

Why couldn’t they have given us both?  An accurate wheel well shape and correct side windows with a roof that doesn’t sag?  If they did that, that would be “kudos” to them.  

Also, getting the shape of that upper side window drip rail correct can be very challenging.  It’s not as simple of a fix as it may look.

Understand your point Mikos clearly IRT getting both accuracies, but with my time slipping by, I'm happy to take what I can get at this point. I know no replica or kit is ever perfect, but these forum reviews and comments help me decide what kits I want to take on or skip.  And thus I've had to learn to either modify the heck out of a kit (which I love doing), make it curbside, live with it, or pass it by. These little changes/improvements to the kit for me are positive, and I'll determine how far I go once I see it in person. As long as I like the firewall, engine and inner fender details, I don't mind the challenge of correcting these roof errors. Otherwise I'll curbside it and happily live with it as is. Either way I'm happy to have a version in my display case until something better comes along, should I live long enough.