1/24 Revell '70 Plymouth Superbird

[gbdolfans]

Would the steelies and dog dishes that were in the Special Edition version of the '68 Charger be correect for a Superbird?

Ken, If I remember correctly,all Superbirds had the Rally wheels.I was the original owner of one and it had them.I have a book on the winged warriors and will check on it.

It is a great book for reference.

George

[Guest]

Thank you Larry!

[Casey]

Guess I was Wrong.

Here are the decals.

Not so accurate.

Concerning new tooling and modifying old tooling at Revell, Inc., 1/24 scale is pretty much dead. I think the '70 Road Runner and '70 Mustang kits were the last serious investment in re-tooling a 1/24 scale ex-Monogram musclecar kits, and that's probably for the best.

1/25 scale is the standard, and I'd rather see a new 1/25 Superbird tool than see Revell invest any more money in updating any of its 1/24 scale ex-Monogram kits-- '70 and '71 'Cudas, '70 Superbird, '70 Challenger, etc.

As Dave touched upon, the JoHan body is well done, but the rest of the kit is not very good. Yes, you can combine the AMT/Ertl '68-'70 Mopar B-body chassis and engine parts with the JoHan body for a "best possible" combination, but the '70 Coronet's interior tub is still too shallow, too outdated, and isn't a good fit for the JoHan body.

Long story short, a new tool is needed, as a sibling to the Revell 1/25 '69 Dodge Daytona.

[larrygre]

Not so accurate.

Concerning new tooling and modifying old tooling at Revell, Inc., 1/24 scale is pretty much dead. I think the '70 Road Runner and '70 Mustang kits were the last serious investment in re-tooling a 1/24 scale ex-Monogram musclecar kits, and that's probably for the best.

I wouldn't be so quick to make that statement, Casey. Many of R-M's older 1/24 car tools are rather decent, and updating them would be far more cost-effective for them than initiating an all-new tool. As much as we modelers want R-M, Round2, Moebius, et al. to produce state of the art 1/25 scale tools of all the subject matter we like/love/want, etc., we have to realize that each and every new addition to their product line, be it reissue, modified reissue, or new tool, has to have a justifiable BUSINESS CASE presented to company management before said management gives their approval to the Finance Department to release funds to develop and produce that item. If the business case isn't strong enough (multi-year sales projections, projected distributor pre-orders, anticipated cost of production, etc.) then that item won't get made. It's that simple. A few modelers chomping at the bit for an all-new tool of their favorite car is not a sufficient business case for a corporation to allocate X amount of tooling dollars.

Yes, an all-new 1/25 Superbird would be most welcome. So would an all-new '70 Road Runner and GTX. Such items could share common tooling, just as R-M's 67-70 B-body kits in both 1/24 and 1/25 demonstrate. Either company (R-M or Round2) could conceivably take the plunge, if there be a sufficient business case for it.

Now, as far as kitbashing the Jo-Han Superbird with AMT-Ertl running gear, why mention the '70 Coronet interior? Its wrong for a Plymouth, period. Outside of age and the fact that its not a state-of-the-art tooling, there's not a lot wrong with Jo-Han's interior that a good modeler couldn't attend to. And it does indeed fit pretty well with the AMT '68 Road Runner chassis and running gear with a little tweak here and there. I know. I have done it.

[Mr. Moparman]

Has anybody seen this kit at their LHS? I preordered one the other day, said it be in somethime around August.

[Joe Handley]

The one I work for got a couple kits in Brandon.

[Mr. Moparman]

The one I work for got a couple kits in Brandon.

Cool! I will write a review when I get one.....

[Drake69]

Just saw two of them in Hobbytown here in Richmond, VA.

Now I gotta wait until Wednesday to get one...

[ajulia]

Hello there fella! A good friend of mine picked it up and came into the shop today to tell me its a really simple kit hence the handfull of parts but a really good kit to put together! Not sure what the release date was but its been in the shop for a week now.

peace

ajulia

[slantasaurus]

Never say never with a Mopar, there were and are Superbirds with Magnum 500 wheels. I took this photo less than a month ago at the Belvidere, IL Mopar show. BTW, it is also a 440+6bbl car, could it have been the car that Monogram based their tooling on ???

[whale392]

One thing of note: the re-issue kits decal sheet does not contain the tailfin graphics of the 'Road Runner Superbird' as (conjecture and speculation here) R-M does not hold the License to Warner Brothers characters anymore.

Of course, the tires are no-name repops of the original kit tires (or at least close enough to the originals tires anyway). The decal sheet has the numbers 6 and 7 (according to the instructions to be used together), the '426 C.I.D' hood placards, and some contingiency decals, along with the 'Plymouth' flank decals in white or black, the 440+6 air cleaner decal, the Road Runner trunk lid 'chrome letter' decal, and some other minor decals.

[Harry P.]

no Superbird logo's this time around?

Hmmm..... building a Superbird without the Superbird logo is like building a General Lee without the flag...

[Drake69]

Hmmm..... building a Superbird without the Superbird logo is like building a General Lee without the flag...

Now THAT had to be said... :lol:

[Chuck Most]

Forgive me for bringing up yet another DOH piece, but isn't the MPC '74 Road Runner missing its 'plumage' as well?

[sjordan2]

As shown in the image above, it appears that the Roadrunner/Superbird decals with a choice of black or white lettering would only be available from the original issue of the Revell Petty Superbird. Is that kit expensive or hard to find? It would be hard to imagine a Superbird build without the roadrunner decals.

Edited August 7, 2011 by sjordan2

[Chuck Most]

Skip- I see the Petty versions fairly regularly up for sale, the ones I've seen have fallen into roughly the 10 to 20 dollar range, depending on condiion, sealed or open box, etc. .

[deathskull59]

ok if i hade to buy the revelle super bird i would build it as a drag car.

[Mr. Moparman]

I got mine on my trip to Pensacola, FL. Review going up in a few

[Mr. Moparman]

I bought this during my trip to Pensacola, FL and I thought I would do a review on it. The build thread can be found here: http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=47034 It's simple, although it has some nice detail and can be built into a good looking model with some parts swapping which will be done in the build thread. So follow along as I build the newest muscle car in the lineup from Revell. (These pictures were took at 8:30 PM at the hotel)

Here is the main componets:

The instructions are simple and easy to follow:

The decal sheet is good except for THE COMPLETE LACK OF THE ROADRUNNER GRAPHICS! It includes some basic graphics to make a simple race car but no racing parts. Looks like Keith Marks decals will be needed.

Ahhh, at least we have choice of side graphics:

The tires are generic, no-name tires:

Stay tuned for the next post!

Edited August 14, 2011 by Mississippi Resins

[Mr. Moparman]

The glass tree:

The body is cleanly molded with a few mold lines which will be covered in the build thread:

The chassis is good:

Stay tuned for more!

[Mr. Moparman]

The vinyl top is present:

The parts trees:

Stay tuned!

Enjoy the build!

[Rob Hall]

Nice to see it molded in white. I built the original issue molded in bright blue back in the day...may have to build another and swap for Rally wheels w/ a Cuda or Challenger kit.

[Chuck Most]

It also appears from the photo that the slotted steelies and dog-dish caps that were in the Petty issue (the originated in the '70 Roadrunner kit that was also based on this tooling) have been deleted this time around.

To me that's an even bigger bummer than the lack of Roadrunner markings.

[slantasaurus]

The lack of the Roadrunner emblems for the wing uprights and the lack of correct factory-stock wheels are deal-breakers for me where this kit is concerned. $20+ for the kit ... another $10 or so for the Keith Marks decal sheet ... plus the necessity of raiding a Challenger or GTX kit for the proper wheels ... no, thanks.

Who says that Rallyes are the only option for Superbirds, Magnum 500's were available just not common. Never say never with a Mopar.

[whale392]

Brandon, did you get this at Bobe's Hobby House, Walts Trains, or somewhere else in Pensacola? When I was stationed there (1997-98), I lived 2 blocks from Bobe's; Steve and Smiley were always cool with/to me, as I spent what seemed like half my Navy paychecks there!

On a kit related note (and not to take away from your review), but this isn't a new kit. It is a reissue. Yes, it is a direct re-issue of the Light Blue issue first seen back in the early-mid 90s (which I believe was still a re-issue/modified re-issue of an earlier casting). With that said, the mold lines are there, but faint (look on the C-pillars where the window glass trim from the quarter windows) meets the body. You will see the mold lines extend down to the quarter panel edge line and follow it back to the trunklid lip, following the lip all along the top edge. The front fender edges have a slight mold line running along their tops, and the wheel openings will need some slight addressing to clean up minimal flash. The hood edges (particularly where the 'hinge' meets the hood has some casting flash/irregularities that will need to be addressed. Once the hood is cleaned up properly, .005" styrene will need to be added to each side of the hood to restore proper gap. The nose cap has locating pins that do a fair job of getting your alignment close, but fitting, filing, and test-fitting will be required. The wing uprights have casting lines on both the front and rear edges (rear being somewhat jagged) that need to be removed. The wing spreader has some slight casting flash, as well as some areas that will need attention with sandpaper/file (the mating surfaces at the upright ends). Overall chassis detail is typical 90s Revell, and the front suspension is one piece and in terrible need of de-flashing/casting line removal. The rear end assembly/exhaust/driveshaft is all one piece....also in need of a good de-flashing. I would suggest finding a spares-box driveshaft and using it instead of the kits poorly done unit.

These are just my quick observations; and I now return you to your review, already in progress.

Edited August 15, 2011 by whale392