Revell 1968 Firebird Build Sequence Question

[Chillyb1]

To those of you who have built Revell's 1968 Pontiac Firebird: The instructions call for the rear brake-light panel to be installed in Step 6 but is there any reason NOT to install the part immediately so as to facilitate painting the whole body at the same time? Does the body not fit over the chassis if that panel is in place before the body is seated on the chassis?

I'd prefer to install that piece at the beginning of the build process so I don't have to glue it in place after painting it and the body, thereby running the risk messing it up while applying glue (something I can foresee happening to me).

Thanks.

[MonoPed]

I built mine this way, no problems fitting the interior and chassis later.

[Art Anderson]

Car bodies having severe undercuts at the ends often get tooled with front and/or rear panels as separate parts, purely for tooling (read that cost) considerations. Keep in mind that styrene model kits are molded in steel dies, and neither steel nor styrene will stretch, steel tooling isn't flexible;styrene can flex, but not enough to over come a deep undercut say as with a rear or front pan.

I've had pretty good luck over the years attaching front and rear panels with deeply undercut pans into the body shell before painting, as I've found that most chassis will flex enough to allow slipping them into fully assembled body shells.

Art

[Chuck Most]

SOMETIMES it can be an issue, but on this particular kit, it isn't. In fact, adding a front or rear panel rarely prevents chassis installation, though as always, test first, as there's an exception to every such rule!