Revell '49 Merc

[Nick Winter]

Just a Heads up, the Revell Merc and AMT Merc body's are interchangeable

Nick

[zenrat]

How easy is it to swap bodies? I fancy a stock roof but channelled & lowered club coupe...

[Nick Winter]

How easy is it to swap bodies? I fancy a stock roof but channelled & lowered club coupe...

Revell body drops on the AMT frame almost perfectly, I experimented with using the chopped revell Merc body on the AMT everything else and vise versa.

Nick

[Dr. Cranky]

I know I will be using those bumpers.

[BIGTRUCK]

I just had to go way back and comment on this Merc. I bought a few when they came out like everyone else except mine got tossed on a shelf and sat for years...until now. Ive been building customs this time around on the older re issue annuals and fighting flash, sink holes and whatever , then upon opening and starting to put this Mercury together , holy smokes its awesome. I may be a little behind on some newer kits I never opened , OK maybe 8 or so years behind....but I may not need putty or have to primer it 5 times to get it done.... Im just sayin'

[Sledsel]

The kit and options are good, but the body has a whole lot to be desired. I did not even consider fixing it. The 2 kits I had, the bodies went right in the parts bin.....  This was one kit I was severely disappointed in

[Casey]

On 8/17/2007 at 10:20 AM, Matt T. said:

I compared the Merc's engine to the engine in the Monogram '59 Cadillac the other day and they are the same mold. The Merc's valve covers are chromed versions of the Deville's with the "Cadillac" block lettering removed (licensing issues?).

I was just comparing the engine parts from the Revell '49 Mercury Custom Coupe kit with those found in the Monogram '59 Cadillac Eldorado Seville kit (I'm 99% sure all three of the Monogram '59s share the same engine parts) and the valve covers are definitely not the same parts with the "CADILLAC" block lettering removed-- see attached image, please. The '59's valve covers have half-round recesses for bolt access and bolt head detail while the '49s valve covers are very generic and lack both the recesses and any bolt detail. In fact, I'd say the '49's engine is a bit more generic overall, and the details not as crisp nor as accurate as those found on the comparable parts in the '59 kits.

If you're looking for the most accurate 1/25 scale '49+ Cadillac V8, seek out one of the Monogram '59 Cadillac kits. The Revell Parts Pack Cadillac 354 V8 appear to has ribbed, chrome plated no-name valve covers and additional 4- and 6-carb intake manifold options, but I still think the Monogram '59 engine is the best starting point.

[fumi]

For Cadillac valve covers, RMCM also casts the earlier style with the Cadillac script.

[Phildaupho]

I currently have a Revell '49 Merc on The Workbench Sam Barris 1949 Mercury - WIP: Model Cars - Model Cars Magazine Forum and during construction short comings of the kit have been pointed out to me that I had over looked or was not aware however I always thought there was something about the kit that did not look quite right. Don't get me wrong the Revell '49 Merc kit is a great source for building a very attractive custom right out of the box which contains lots of great parts for use on other projects.

Some of the short comings of the Revell '49 Merc are as follows

1. The body is very slab sided
2. The grill opening is peaked and squared off
3. The hood is very angular
4. Some say the roof has a forward slope and is chopped too much
5. The inner door panels although having a tuck and roll appearance do not have arm rests or door and window cranks
6. The windshield and rear window do not have divider
7. The extended front fenders for the headlights are a matter of taste
8. Some modelers do not like the big round holes for mounting custom taillights

It is interesting to compare the Revell '49 to the AMT stock '49 Merc that was released in the early 1960's

 

 

[Casey]

2 hours ago, Phildaupho said:

Some of the short comings of the Revell '49 Merc are as follows

1. The body is very slab sided
2. The grill opening is peaked and squared off
3. The hood is very angular
4. Some say the roof has a forward slope and is chopped too much
5. The inner door panels although having a tuck and roll appearance do not have arm rests or door and window cranks
6. The windshield and rear window do not have divider
7. The extended front fenders for the headlights are a matter of taste
8. Some modelers do not like the big round holes for mounting custom taillights

Short comings compared to what?

All of those bullet points, on their own, are simply design choices. As you said, Revell created the kit to allow people to build a radical custom right out of the box. The optional bumper, grilles, tail light treatments, etc. are pretty much step-for-step what AMT included in their '60 Customizing/Trophy Series kits, but Revell decided to skip the '60s kitsch and keep it classy-- not surprising considering the target builder has largely outgrown the gimmcky stuffed animals, garish wheel covers, and tacky customizing suggestions.

I'm not sure it's even a good idea to compare this kit to any other, as it's a custom pure and simple, one company's idea of what this particular car should be. Are the bodysides to flat compared to an original '49 Mercury? If so, okay, but again, its a custom, so it can be one of a kind. The grille opening is peaked, as is the hood, and the grilles which match. The lack of interior door latch releases is a bot odd, that I will agree, but they could be solenoid activated, hidden latches, with hidden release buttons/switches. too. Not unheard of for a custom builder to hide all of that stuff out of sight. As for the one-piece windshield and rear window, I think most would consider that an upgrade over the two-piece parts, and in the looks department.

As Harry used to say, it's art. It's neither good nor bad. You can love it, hate it, or anything in between, but it's someone's vision of what they wanted something to look like, and it doesn't need to be compared to anything else.

Somewhat ironically, I just acquired this kit and tooks tons of pics of the contents, and I came away impressed. It's still a bit surprising Revell created an all-new radical custom, but considering how popular the 1:1 car is in the kustom world, maybe not so much. If you're building a chopped '49 Merc with this specific roof height, it's almost impossible not to start with this kit. How many radical top chop projects were abandoned when the builder couldn't see all the splicing, cutting, trimming and sanding through to the end? How many AMT '49 Mercs were poorly built and hastily finished because the builder didn't have the necessary customizing skills to do it properly?

I guess I just see this kit as providing an out-of-the-box subject of a very popular custom with the most difficult customizing step already completed, thus, greatly increasing the chance for the model to be completed.

[Dave Darby]

2 hours ago, Casey said:

Short comings compared to what?

All of those bullet points, on their own, are simply design choices. As you said, Revell created the kit to allow people to build a radical custom right out of the box. The optional bumper, grilles, tail light treatments, etc. are pretty much step-for-step what AMT included in their '60 Customizing/Trophy Series kits, but Revell decided to skip the '60s kitsch and keep it classy-- not surprising considering the target builder has largely outgrown the gimmcky stuffed animals, garish wheel covers, and tacky customizing suggestions.

I'm not sure it's even a good idea to compare this kit to any other, as it's a custom pure and simple, one company's idea of what this particular car should be. Are the bodysides to flat compared to an original '49 Mercury? If so, okay, but again, its a custom, so it can be one of a kind. The grille opening is peaked, as is the hood, and the grilles which match. The lack of interior door latch releases is a bot odd, that I will agree, but they could be solenoid activated, hidden latches, with hidden release buttons/switches. too. Not unheard of for a custom builder to hide all of that stuff out of sight. As for the one-piece windshield and rear window, I think most would consider that an upgrade over the two-piece parts, and in the looks department.

As Harry used to say, it's art. It's neither good nor bad. You can love it, hate it, or anything in between, but it's someone's vision of what they wanted something to look like, and it doesn't need to be compared to anything else.

Somewhat ironically, I just acquired this kit and tooks tons of pics of the contents, and I came away impressed. It's still a bit surprising Revell created an all-new radical custom, but considering how popular the 1:1 car is in the kustom world, maybe not so much. If you're building a chopped '49 Merc with this specific roof height, it's almost impossible not to start with this kit. How many radical top chop projects were abandoned when the builder couldn't see all the splicing, cutting, trimming and sanding through to the end? How many AMT '49 Mercs were poorly built and hastily finished because the builder didn't have the necessary customizing skills to do it properly?

I guess I just see this kit as providing an out-of-the-box subject of a very popular custom with the most difficult customizing step already completed, thus, greatly increasing the chance for the model to be completed.

I did a review on this kit when it first came out. It's probably earlier in this thread in fact. The shortcomings that I pointed out have to do with inaccuracies that cannot be explained away by it being a custom. Both hoods are way too squarish, and the Caddy sombereros aren't real well shaped either. The AMT body has it in spades over the Revell offering, as evident in the above side by side photos. Were i building a custom Merc, I'd chop my own AMT body, and use the shaved Merc bumpers and possibly the Pontiac grille from the Revell kit. Just my two cents. 

[Dave Darby]

Here is my original review. One thing I didn't catch is that the top (subjectively) should have been chopped a wee bit more in the back.

 

Seldom is there as much anticipation as when a new model kit comes out, especially an icon, such as the chopped 49 Mercury. The 49 Mercury is as much a pantheon of the custom circle as the fabled Deuce is to hot rodding. This said, when you come out with something like this, you had best get it right. If you don't, you lose more ground than you gain. A good example of this is the new tool AMT Ala Kart of 2002. Conceptually, it was a winner, but coming at a change of guard for design and tooling, it could not have been a greater disaster. Grossly misshapen, out of proportion, with an under scale motor, the best thing this kit was good for was to drop the collector prices down on the original issue kits.

 

So where does the Revell 49 Merc stand in all of this? Let's open the unique 2 sided box, and have a look see.

 

Conceptually, it'€s off to a great start. You have a nicely proportioned chopped 49 Merc body, devoid of any chrome trim. The only bone I have to pick is the rather large holes in the rear quarter panels for the tail lights. This sits on a platform style floor pan and interior, with tuck n roll inserts on the seats, on a separate frame. So far, so good.

 

For power, we have a 50's era Cadillac engine, with three carbs, and chrome no name valve covers, likely to save on royalties. This is a great choice of power plants, and famed Barris Kustom collector Kurt McKormick, who owns a pretty famous chopped Merc of his own, will be happy to tell you so! Not to mention that the Hirohata Merc is Caddy powered, so maybe another version may be down the road?

 

This kit comes with a multitude of options, including two hoods, one louvered, one plain, and here is one of the few disappointments. For some reason, the front of the hood has a couple of large flat spots flanking the peaked nose area as if they didn'€™t fully round it off as they were grinding the tool, resulting an almost angular shape. One hood is worse then the other, but both exhibit this flaw. This is only minor though, as you can prime, and then sand this to shape.

 

The same cannot be said for the Cadillac "€œSombrero"€ wheel covers. They lack the graceful curves of the real ones, and for sticklers, would best be supplanted by after market resin. This is a shame, because a kit with this many cool extra custom parts would be worth its price for these alone. Speaking of extra custom parts, lets go down the list.

 

For starters, you get the aforementioned pair of hoods, the Caddy Sombreros that go with a set of no name wide white wall tires with inserts, plus a set of larger chrome reversed rims that fit some generic black wall radials. (I would be happier if they interchanged with the Sombreros, but I digress…)

 

You also get a beautiful set of stock bumpers that have been relieved of the bumper guards, and a set if ribbed Brizio "Desoto" style bumpers.

 

In back, you get a choice of 49 Lincoln Tail lights with blue dot decals, or a pair of frenched 59 Cadillac bullets.

 

In front is where things really get cool, as you get a choice of not one, not two, but THREE grilles! You get a smoothed stock Mercury grille, a 54 Pontiac Grille, and a really nice 53 Desoto grille that will allow you to duplicate the Wally Welch Merc, or any number of others. The guys at Revell really scored a home run with these grill selections, as they cover just about every classic style. This kit is worth it for these alone.

 

To finish this kit off, there is a large decal sheet, with flames, and several different colors of "Von Dutch"€ style pinstriping for the hood and deck, plus the aforementioned blue dots (two sets!), and decals for the trophy stand (complete with miniature Mercury on top).

 

When you consider that Revell has recently gone through it’s own changing of the guard, This kit has not fared nearly as badly as the if fated Ala Kart kit. Still you must wonder how things would have been, if the guys who cut the tool were as big of car guys as the guys who conceptuallized this kit.

It isn'€™t perfect (few kits are), but it sure will make a lot of people happy, including me. If they would fix those wheel covers, and hood shape, and flash over those large tail light holes, they would have the perfect kit, but even as is, this is a "€Must Have" kit for any old school model builder, as you can not only build a really nice chopped Merc, but just like in the old days, you get a TON of the coolest extra parts you could ask for. I bought two!

[Phildaupho]

 

18 hours ago, Casey said:

 

 

15 hours ago, Dave Darby said:

 

Thank you both for your replies. There is definitely a lot that is good about this kit in its own right. But one of the best things is that it led to the tooling of the '49 Mercury Wagon kit with its completely stock front end. Although I am not inclined to do it myself, grafting the front end of the Wagon onto the Custom would solve some of the short comings previously mentioned. One could even shave the arm rests and door hardware off the interior panels and add to the custom. Personally I am looking forward to eventually using the lowered suspension from the Custom under a Woody build.

[Plowboy]

I've never built this Mercury. But, I have one. To me, the only legitimate complaint is the slab sides. I think that would be a fairly easy fix. The rest? Well, it is a custom after all. Who's to say it's wrong? The biggest complaint I've read about it is the chop. I see what people are talking about with the leaned chop towards the front. But, that doesn't make it "wrong" IMO. Personally, I kinda like the peaked hood. But, others don't. The rear glass was another complaint. It's not laid down enough. Once again, I prefer the look it has over the laid down rear glass. That's a look that I really don't like. To me, it ruins it. But, others like it. My point is it wouldn't matter how Revell had done this kit. There will those that like it and those that don't. It's an impossibility to create a custom that everyone will like. Just like every custom model before and after it. Like the '32, '29 and '30 Fords.

I'm currently building a custom '49 Mercury with the AMT kit. All I'm using is the body. The rest is from the Foose Caddy. I chopped and sectioned it the way I wanted it to be. I'm sure there's those that believe I did it "wrong". But, I'm building it to suit me. Not them. I don't think a custom can be wrong as long as the person building likes it. It's all just a matter of opinion and the only one that really counts is the builder's. 

[Phildaupho]

5 hours ago, Plowboy said:

 

Well said Roger and I am really digging your Merc Custom.

[Dan Hay]

Proportions are really important to me. I grew up around Hot Rods and and Customs so I know what a Mercury, even a custom one should look like. Revell really missed the boat on this offering. The AMT kit is much more correct. So I built the AMT kit using a lot of cool parts from the Revell kit. The only mod I did was flush mount the skirts.

[Phildaupho]

14 hours ago, Dan Hay said:

 

Dan - You built a fabulous looking Merc Custom by combining the AMT and Revell kits - well built

[Casey]

On 1/10/2021 at 7:01 PM, Dave Darby said:

The AMT body has it in spades over the Revell offering, as evident in the above side by side photos.

Not sure what specifically you men by "has it" (the "look"?), but I see tunneled and frenched headlights, a peaked and louvered hood, a recessed grill opening, rolled front pan, etc-- all traditional kustom modifications. Not surprising the bodysides would look flatter due to the sectioning. Short of recontouring the entire body side to create an all-new curve in profile and section, I don't see why that's viewed as a "fault", but again, it's all in the beholder's eye.

Personally, while I think the stock '49 Mercury body has some wonderful, beautiful details, the side-by-side images above and Dan's stock bodied version show just how plump and bulbous the stock body appears. While it has good proportions, elongating the body, thinning the mid-section, and lowering the roof all create a sleeker, more flowing look, which is pretty much the goal for most people building a kustom, regardless of scale. Anything which can help that bulging trunk edge is an improvement, too, in my eye, so while we can agree to disagree about why Revell chose to create a body shell with pre-tunneled and extended headlight housings, etc., it can never be wrong. No one person decides what's correct for a one-off kustom, someone else's vision of what something should be.

As for the Caddy sombrero wheel covers, I will agree, they don't quite look correct, but again, are they supposed to be 100% factory replicas of the Cadillac wheel covers? I would think so, as that was a very popular kustom mod back in the day.

I realize tastes are varied and specific, but I feel this kit is very underrated considering how many heavy modifications it has right out of the box. It's like the designer decided to make step 13 of a '60s era AMT Customizing Series kit the starting point for this kit, getting all of the difficult, build-killing work out of the way and thus increasing the chances of a successful build exponentially. Maybe not everyone's cup of tea as it comes, but there's always the AMT kit if you want to start from scratch. I see so many pre-existing mods on this body which people here are always asking how to preform (How do I make accurate scale louvers?, etc.), and while I'm all for people taking the initiative to learn how to do things themselves, I also see the value in something which offers the vast majority of kustom builders a greater chance for reaching the completed model phase, which ultimately means success. While that could be fodder for another topic entirely (and probably has been here), I think we tend to have a bit of a 'sink or swim' mentality at times, and I get the feeling Revell took a leap of faith to appeal to some of those builders who may have tried to build a radical kustom previously, failed, and gave up building. Perhaps they knew more than we do, and had the market research to back it up, hence why this kit was designed the way it was.

Edited January 12, 2021 by Casey

[Can-Con]

It's a great kit for kit builders who want a custom car on their shelf without putting in the actual work. At least it looks a lot better than that monstrosity of a custom Merc from "American Graffiti" or that hoge podge of mixed styles of the car from "Cobra"

As for the windshield. 2-peice windshields V-butted together in the middle without a divider is traditional but starting in the late '89s you could buy one-piece, V-ed windshields cut to fit for custom Mercs and Fords. Maybe this is what it's supposed to represent.

The only real problems I see with it are the slab sided body , which is NOT sectioned [Casey] and the front of the hood which looks oddly flat for some reason. 

When I do a custom Merc, I'll use this for parts but I'll use an AMT body and do my own custom work. But, as I said, it's great for someone who can't do that but wants a custom.

[Plowboy]

Comparing the AMT and Revell '49 Mercury's is like comparing apples to oranges. The AMT kit has a bone stock body. The Revell has a custom body. From the box, the AMT will build at most a very mild custom. From the box, the Revell will build a true custom.

To build a custom from the AMT kit takes a lot of work. You want a chopped top? You gotta do it. You want a custom interior? You gotta do it. You want a lowered stance? You gotta do it. All of that is already done with the Revell kit. Not everyone knows how to do those modifications. For them, it's perfect. For those that disagree and can do those modifications, it's not. But, neither kit will build what the other will out of the box.

[Dave Darby]

5 hours ago, Casey said:

Not surprising the bodysides would look flatter due to the sectioning.

I've had two of those Revell Mercs sitting on my shelves for the past 13 years and I'm pretty sure the Revell body is not sectioned. At least not intentionally. The "it" I'm speaking of is the look of a real 49 Mercury. It's not terribly bad (other than the blocky shape of the hoods), but I'm still not real sure I'll be using one as the basis for the next Merc I build. If I did, I'd at minimum correct the hood shape. As far as the custom touches go, I don't really comment (unless about a clear-cut accuracy issue) because those are subjective to individual taste. I'm not here to beat up on the kit, because it is very buildable, and at worst,  it's an excellent source of 50s custom parts.

[Casey]

9 minutes ago, Dave Darby said:

I've had two of those Revell Mercs sitting on my shelves for the past 13 years and I'm pretty sure the Revell body is not sectioned. 

I may have to backtrack on the sectioned comment, but it's hard to tell. The wheel arches seem higher than stock to my eyes, but perhaps not. Just took this pic, so we can each decide for ourselves:

 

Hmmm, does look a bit too tall below the character line...

[Richard Bartrop]

5 hours ago, Plowboy said:

Comparing the AMT and Revell '49 Mercury's is like comparing apples to oranges. The AMT kit has a bone stock body. The Revell has a custom body. From the box, the AMT will build at most a very mild custom. From the box, the Revell will build a true custom.

To build a custom from the AMT kit takes a lot of work. You want a chopped top? You gotta do it. You want a custom interior? You gotta do it. You want a lowered stance? You gotta do it. All of that is already done with the Revell kit. Not everyone knows how to do those modifications. For them, it's perfect. For those that disagree and can do those modifications, it's not. But, neither kit will build what the other will out of the box.

Oh yes, the Revell Merc is great for people who don't have to skills or inclination to try and chop their own top, or do any of the other mods, and there's absolutely nothing wrong with that.   But if you have a specific idea of how you want a custom Merc to look, and you have the desire to tackle it,  the AMT Merc is certainly an attractive option.   Not to mention, for those people who like to build stock, it's the only game in town.

[Plowboy]

23 minutes ago, Richard Bartrop said:

 But if you have a specific idea of how you want a custom Merc to look, and you have the desire to tackle it,  the AMT Merc is certainly an attractive option.   

Exactly. That's why I used the AMT body on my current project. But, the body is all I'm using. It's been chopped two and sectioned three scale inches. It's barely noticeable which is how I wanted it to be.

 

 

Edited January 13, 2021 by Plowboy

[Phildaupho]

13 hours ago, Dave Darby said:

 

 

13 hours ago, Casey said:

 

 

9 hours ago, Richard Bartrop said:

 

 

9 hours ago, Plowboy said:

 

I think this photo shows that except for the chop, the dimensions are pretty close between the two kits and that the Revell is not sectioned.