Revell 1955 Chevy Belair Hardtop - Test Shot Pics & Review

[MrObsessive]

Here are some pics of Revell's long awaited '55 Chevy Belair hardtop test shot. The hardtop shape looks excellent to my eyes and IIRC will have the stock parts like their convertible kits.






The rear wheels appear to have bigger offsets than the fronts...........while I won't build my model with those wheels I do have some models in mind that would look great with those wheels and tires!

I thought I took a pic of a side profile shot but I guess I forgot........:oops:

I want to give thanks while I'm at it to Ed Sexton for letting me pick up the models and letting me take these pics other than the far away angle that don't show much.

These should be good sellers as the original convertible kits that these are based on were great kits on their own..............Having a companion hardtop now to go along with it is icing on the cake!

[PatRedmond]

Quite nice as well.

[Marc @ MPC Motorsports]

Now, this one is a slam dunk, grand slam, kick return for a touchdown, you name it!!! I'll definitely purchase multiples of this one. Kudos to Revell for finally pulling off this "no brainer". To Ed Sexton @ Revell, I'll buy enough of these to offset the AAR Cudas that I won't be purchasing.

[James W]

Hey Revell, put me on the waiting list. How long is the wait by the way?

[Darin Bastedo]

The way i see it, Revell has given us kit bashers the ability to do just about any tri-five body style by providing these...

1. 56 Chevy Nomad

2. 56 Chevy 2 door post

3. 55 Chevy Convertible

4. 55 Chevy 2 Door hardtop

Combine this with AMT's 57 Chevy kit and you can (admittedly with some work) do just about any body style tri-five chevy. Their are even resin bodies to use to convert these (with some cutting) to foor doors and sedan deliveries.

[MrObsessive]

How long is the wait by the way?

I heard an August release date.......but with Revell who knows? :?

[Luc Janssens]

Was it a long wait after the introduction of the convert?

seems not, the years flew by and very happy I will be able to buy this puppy in the not too distant future, and since the sales of a ragtop are 1/3rd of that of a steelroofed body, the future looks bright for this release. I'm guessin everyone at R-M will be getting Ray-Bans as mandatory eye protection :wink:

Thx

Luc Janssens

Belgium

[Marc @ MPC Motorsports]

I heard an August release date.......but with Revell who knows? :?

Hobby Heaven lists the release date for the '55 Chevy as May and the '58 in August. Can't wait!!!

[Mr. Metallic]

Was it a long wait after the introduction of the convert?

seems not, the years flew by and very happy I will be able to buy this puppy in the not too distant future, and since the sales of a ragtop are 1/3rd of that of a steelroofed body, the future looks bright for this release. I'm guessin everyone at R-M will be getting Ray-Bans as mandatory eye protection :wink:

Thx

Luc Janssens

Belgium

It's been at least 10 years, probably longer. I'm just glad we are finally getting it. I just read an article by Laryy Greenberg in the March '99 issue of SAE where he talked about modified tool the manufacturers should do, and this one was one of his top picks. 8 years later...

[Mike]

That looks like a keeper for sure. I'll be putting that on my waiting list!

[Dave McFly]

I just picked up this kit from my local hobby store today and i have only had one version of the 55 and that was the original issue (before the pace car one came out).

First of all I LOVE this kit, lots of parts

The hard top body looks good from what I can tell, with the separate chrome trim, door handles, hood ornament, wipers, and mirror.

Interior is pretty much like the original drop top release except for it has a rear tray behind the rear seat.

The chassis is pretty sweet, it gives you the option of stock ride height or lowered with two sets of rear axles and front cross member both with disc brakes and calipers that will be visible through the custom wheels.

The engine is also like the previous release but it gives you the option of different custom chrome 2 piece air cleaner and chrome valve covers.

Wheels and tires, you have a choice of the stock wheels with whitewall inserts and stock wheel covers and the optional custom rims on low profile tires.

Decals are very nice, you get all the decals you need for a stock Bel Air, from the scripts on the body, to 3 styles of gauges (stock, custom, and white face custom) and stock black or white 'bel air' decal for the other end of the dash. Also you get all the under hood decals as well. you also get 2 sets of plates 2 50s style plates, 2 'heartbeat of america' plates, and 2 current plates that say FIFTY 5 from Illinois. on top of those decals you also get the decals for the stock wheel covers that have have a ring of the 'bowtie' logos that surround the center of the wheel cover and 'firestone' markings for the whitewall to make up for the lack of lettering on the sidewalls. for the custom option you get the flames, scripts in gold, skinny 'goldwall' stripes for the tires.

And there are nice little options in this kit, like optional fender skirts for the body, and the drive in restaurant tray with individual (separate by the way ) items for the tray.

I cannot wait to build this kit in the near future, I cannot decide if i will build it stock or custom

I HIGHLY recommend this kit for anybody who is a fan of the 55-57 chevy coupes.

[Marc @ MPC Motorsports]

PICTURES!!! WE NEED PICTURES!!!

[Dave McFly]

PICTURES!!! WE NEED PICTURES!!!

sorry, i did this review at my friends house, i got home and took some pics. if you want any special type of picture or pictures, let me know.

the box art

kit contents

the most excellent decal sheet

the instruction booklet

there ya go guys

[Ken]

Sorry man, it looks that way. The lowered suspension parts are on the right side middle bag and you can just make out the brakes on the spindles. Dave, if you could post some pictures of the lowered suspension to clear this up that would be great... yeah... also, I am gonna need you to come in sunday... Sorry, channeling 'Office Space'. I have been doing that a lot lately

[Dave McFly]

Dave, a question ... on the lowered suspension parts, are the brake rotors and calipers molded to the rear axle and front crossmember, like they were on the Cali Wheels versions of the '56 Nomad and Delray?

If so, I'm not real excited about that ...

Sorry man, it looks that way. The lowered suspension parts are on the right side middle bag and you can just make out the brakes on the spindles. Dave, if you could post some pictures of the lowered suspension to clear this up that would be great... yeah... also, I am gonna need you to come in sunday... Sorry, channeling 'Office Space'. I have been doing that a lot lately

i did not do the 56 nomad or del ray but i am pretty sure those kits are based on the 55's tooling. so i am pretty sure they are the same parts from those kits transplanted into the 55. which is not a bad thing, as i like the idea of having 4 wheel disc brakes a cool thing .

[gasman]

looks like another winner from Revell. I'll get one of these this weekend. already have plans for it.

[Dave McFly]

Actually, I THINK that the Nomad and the Del Ray are both from a different tool than the '55. I'm not 100 percent certain of that by any means, but I believe it to be the case.

Those suspension parts actually look slightly different than the ones in the Nomad/Del Ray. They're done in the same fashion, but I don't think they're identical.

I also like four-wheel disc brakes, but I'm not crazy about Revell doing the lowered suspension parts in this manner because it makes it difficult if you want to use them with wheels other than those come in the the kit. I also think the rotors are pretty cheesy-looking ... when viewed from any angle other than straight on, they look like dinner plates.

Mind you, this is not something that is gonna keep me from buying this kit!

well from what i can see you can use the custom suspension with discs and keep the same ride height as stock. for the rear just use the stock suspension the stock and custom rear axle are almost identical except for the disc brakes. as for the front end use the stock upper A arms instead of the lowered ones. the only downside is you cannot use the stock wheels/tires on the custom suspension. the custom set up uses metal pins like in the current kits like the C6 vette and the SSR truck/roadster.

[Joe Handley]

Looks like I'm going to have to drag mine in from the Jeep and get started!

[camaroman]

Finally got my hands on one these yesterday! The kits body looks pretty good as well as the rest of the kit. My major gripe is the quality of the wheels and tires for the custom version. They look to be stolen
from the diecast line again.

Does anyone know if we will see great "Rims" like the ones from the '59 Vette every again???

[Gregg1LE]

Picked up this kit yesterday from the LHS and look forward to building it. The new wheels don't interest me, I'll probably use aftermarket, but the kit looks first rate.

[Maliburacr]

I'm about 80% done with mine. Only flaw I've found is in the belt molding ( thats the side molding that runs along the side windows ) they forget to put the parting line between the door and 1/4. No big deal, and I didn't notice it till after I BMF'd it. And you may need to grind a tad off the bottom of the interior floor at the rear foot area to get the chassis up into the body further, this may have been needed on mine because I put full side windows on mine.

[Greg Myers]

Somewhere someone said it was from the new mold i.e. '55 convertible . . .

[ChrisPflug]

Believe that one is the "new" hardtop (based on the "older" convertible)- the nice modern tool anyways

[larrygre]

It is indeed the new tooling - in fact, it is simply new box art and decals for what was released in 2008 in the "Goodguys" series. The tooling is based on the 1995-vintage '55 Convertible kit (recently reissued) and is simply spectacular. Worth the $$$.

[Rob Hall]

Not sure why they released it and the convertible in Monogram box art..seems very strange to see 1:25th scale Revell kits boxed as Monogram. It always seems odd to me to see 1:25th scale kits labeled as Monogram, which I always associate w/ 1:24th.

To add further potential confusion, the old-tool 1:24th Monogram '55 Chevy ht (no stock parts, I think) is also out currently, also shown in black w/ flames on the box art.

Edited March 13, 2011 by Rob Hall