Fabrux Posted March 27, 2014 Share Posted March 27, 2014 Another kit history article that has been waiting to see the light of day! This time we're taking a romp back to 1980 or so when Revell came out with their seventh generation F-Series pickups. Please note that these kits are 1:25 scale and completely unrelated to the Monogram pickups and Broncos covered in a separate article. The first kit on the shelves was the Ford Off-Road Bronco, released in 1980 as kit #7307. This kit depicts a custom four wheel drive Bronco with one-piece body (rear roof not removable), grille guard and off-road lights, off-road light bar on roof, sunroof, CB antennae, spare tire carrier with cover, gas cans and carrier, entry steps, and molded-in fender flares. The engine is a crude, simplified small-block Ford. The front suspension on the Bronco kits is a new-for-1980 twin-traction beam setup, however incorrectly depicted as leaf sprung (Bronco and half-ton pickup front suspensions were coil sprung). Wheels are generic wagon wheels shared with other Revell glue kits of the era with rubber Goodyear Wrangler R/Ts. Molded in yellow and black with no chrome and tinted "glass." Also in 1980, another version of the Bronco was released as the LA Sheriff's Bronco with kit #7308. The custom options in this issue were modified for a police vehicle and include all the same options in the original issue save for the roof light bar being replaced with a police light bar. The light bar itself was a single piece on a new chrome tree with blue and red decals. The wheels and tires are the same as found in the original issue, with the exception of the rims being chromed. Molded in black and chrome with tinted "glass." For 1981, the Bronco's basic tooling design was copied and modified for a line of snap kit pickups. The first kit on the shelves was the Ford Styleside 4x4 Pickup, released as kit #6411. Issued as part of the Snap Kit line, this regular cab, short styleside box truck depicts a custom pickup with bull bar and driving lights, roll bar and off-road lights. The engine is a crude small-block Ford simplified for snap kits. The wheels are a generic wagon wheel shared with other Revell snap kits of the era and the tires are two-piece hard plastic Goodyear Tracker A-Ts. The front suspension was modified from the leaf-sprung TTB to a correct-for-pickups coil-sprung TTB. The kit is molded in red and black with no chrome and tinted "glass." To date this is the only scale release of a styleside 80-86 pickup bed, albeit a bit slab-sided. The next kit out was also released in 1981 and was the Night Rider Ford Flareside 4x4. This issue switched the styleside bed for a flareside bed, and also switched the wheels to five-slot wheels similar to those offered in the Free Wheeling package on sixth generation F-series trucks. The custom options available are the same as the original issue with the roll bar being modified for the narrower flareside bed. Molded all in black with no chrome and tinted "glass." The original 1981 issue carried stock number 6414 with a 1990 re-issue carrying stock number 6439. The last pickup released in this line was once again also released in 1981 with the stock number 6415 as the Ford 6-Wheeler Pickup. This version depicts a regular cab, short box, four wheel drive dually pickup, a rather rare combination. Custom options for this version are limited to the bull bar and driving lights. The wheels are Alcoa aluminium dually rims with the same two-piece plastic Goodyear Tracker A-Ts as the previous issues.. This kit was molded in orange and black for the domestic market with international market releases molded in white. No chrome and tinted "glass." The Bronco tooling was re-issued in 1982 as the Custom Bronco. This version is an almost straight reissue of the original, replacing the chromed police light bar for the original off-road light bar. Molded in black and chrome with tinted "glass" and released with the stock number 7334. The final kit released in this tooling family was issued in 1990 as part of the combo kit Yamaha Formula One Team with a trailer and racing boat. This issue marks the biggest departure from the original tooling as the mounting holes for the roof light bar and the CB antennae are covered over, the gas can carrier is omitted (the extra hinges on the body remain), and the wheels and tire are new for this issue (five-hole swirl mags and Goodyear GT Radials shared with the Monogram eighth generation F-series kits). Molded in white and chrome with clear "glass" and kit number 7241. As with other Revell kits of the era, this line of kits is somewhat crude and simplified and frought with errors. The Bronco front suspension is all wrong and should be under the 6-Wheeler instead. The bodies on the pickups are pretty slab-sided with no curvature on the bottom of the body. However, when compared side-by-side with the comparable Monogram Bronco and pickup kits, the body proportions are much better and with some effort and parts-swapping can be built into nice kits! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tim boyd Posted March 27, 2014 Share Posted March 27, 2014 (edited) Chris...thanks for this latest kit history and for all your prior threads on truck kits... I never realized that the Formula One Team Bronco had its roots in these early 1980's Revell kits...I always assumed it was based on the old Monogram Bronco tool.... On this one, I wanted to point out that the "Six Wheeler" version pictured above is really one of the "Phantom" (Imaginary) kits, as the "Ram" era (internal Ford development name for the 1980-96 F-Series) Effies that were Dual Rear Wheels were only on the LWB (133") Chassis, not the 117" SWB chassis reflected in the Revell kit. Still, until Monogram's kits in the 1990's, this kit was the only choice for someone who wanted to kitbash the DRW pickup bed, albeit with splicing in sections of another bed both in front and behind the Revell bed to get the correct length. Will be looking forward to seeing this thread develop further. Thanks again...TIM Edited March 27, 2014 by tim boyd Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fabrux Posted March 28, 2014 Author Share Posted March 28, 2014 Tim, it wasn't until I picked up a six wheeler kit that I noticed the similarities with the Formula One Bronco and I started digging deeper and discovered the family tree of these kits. I actually started building the six wheeler with the chrome bits from a spare Bronco. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edsel-Dan Posted April 8, 2014 Share Posted April 8, 2014 I had that LA County Sherriff's Bronco The Lightbar was 2 identical pieces not 1. I would love to find another, or at least the parts from it as I have an AMT "Wild Hoss 79 I want to do as an LA County Sherriff Departments ESD (Emergency Sevices Division) {Paramedic Rescue!!!} piece. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mk11 Posted July 4, 2015 Share Posted July 4, 2015 (edited) Here's a breakdown of the Night Rider kit... thought I'd better get these pics before I start using the parts on other projects... mike Edited September 20, 2017 by mk11 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fabrux Posted August 22, 2020 Author Share Posted August 22, 2020 I have posted this article on my website and have tweaked the article some. I can't edit the original post anymore, so here's a link: https://www.sprue.xyz/articles/revell_ford_trucks ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jordan White Posted August 21, 2023 Share Posted August 21, 2023 Looks like the 1980 Dually kit may be returning soon! Wonder what changes, if any, will be made to it? 4 hours ago, Justin Porter said: Apparently, at least according to Stevens International, the return of the '70 Torino Cobra is just one piece in a slate of good news for in-bound Revell reissues. REVELL-MONOGRAM RMX-4546 1/25 1980 Ford Dually Truck $0.00 $0.00 TBA 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
niteowl7710 Posted August 22, 2023 Share Posted August 22, 2023 6 hours ago, Jordan White said: Looks like the 1980 Dually kit may be returning soon! Wonder what changes, if any, will be made to it? I'm guessing it will magicly not be a SnapTite kit anymore the way the '81 Camaro was marketed. Toss some decals at it and Bob's your Uncle. I'm kinda surprised they kept the tooling for it to be honest. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fat Brian Posted August 22, 2023 Share Posted August 22, 2023 4 hours ago, niteowl7710 said: I'm kinda surprised they kept the tooling for it to be honest. Yeah, these were on the list of things I was wondering if Atlantis had gotten if they were even still around. These kits do have the best grille of all the early 80s Ford truck kits though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tabbysdaddy Posted August 22, 2023 Share Posted August 22, 2023 It looks to me that Atlantis got the weird stuff. I guess Revell thought if it resembled a "normal" vehicle then it would be easier to sell. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fabrux Posted August 25, 2023 Author Share Posted August 25, 2023 So happy to see this one coming back! 😁 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt T. Posted August 25, 2023 Share Posted August 25, 2023 I would buy multiples of the Night Rider. Wish they were releasing that one. I’ll probably get a Dually though. 😊 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stavanzer Posted September 4, 2023 Share Posted September 4, 2023 On 8/25/2023 at 8:13 AM, Matt T. said: I would buy multiples of the Night Rider. Wish they were releasing that one. I’ll probably get a Dually though. 😊 I agree with you , Matt. I hope they throw in some of the extra parts from other versions of the kit, but the new Revell is not run like Round2. So, I don't think we will see any effort at including extra's or options..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fairlane1320 Posted November 28, 2023 Share Posted November 28, 2023 I picked this up recently, I'd never seen one before! 😄 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
av405 Posted November 28, 2023 Share Posted November 28, 2023 As mentioned above, that kit is getting a re-release next year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.