When it came to the 1961/62 Corvette for almost 50 years all modelers had to choose from was the very flawed AMT/MPC offering. The original suffered greatly due to the tooling technology of the day with an undersized body, chrome headlights, a front end that was far too vertical, metal axles that slid through the oil pan, and an overall poor parts breakdown. As the years went on and the molds aged further problems cropped up such as an overabundance of flash, heavy mold lines, poor quality plating, scratches in the clear parts, the list goes on and on.
In the late 90's another 1962 popped up this time from Revell, however in the scheme of a true full glue kit it was anything but. This offering was a pre-painted die cast body packaged for the TV show "Route 66" and had a small number of plastic parts that cemented together with metal axles. Aside from these two specific options a builder could spend a small fortune by utilizing the Revell Pro Modeler 1958 or 1959 Corvette with a resin trans-kit body, an endeavor which could easily run over $100. In October Revell changed the game with this all new tool full plastic kit finally filling a much needed gap for Corvette and sports car enthusiasts at a reasonable price.
Box Contents
The kit comprises 148 parts individually separated in the poly bags by type (85 white styrene, 54 chrome, 5 clear, 4 clear red, and 8 vinyl tires), a very nice instruction sheet, and a comprehensive decal sheet. The kit is listed as a 2 'n 1 with an option for stock or custom, the custom option being nothing more than a set of 5 spoke wheels with disc brakes and some flames on the decal sheet.
The body shell is very well engraved with almost no visible mold lines or other defects. All of the emblems are engraved extremely well but are also represented on the decal sheet giving you the option to carefully detail them with paint or foil or sand them away and use the decals. Most of the chrome trim on the body is found on the chrome sprues saving you alot of time and hassle applying foil or paint. Disappointingly unlike it's Pro Modeler brethren the trunk does not open and no hard top or convertible soft top is provided.
Decals
The decal sheet is very extensive. All emblems interior and exterior are represented along with three sets of license plates (Illinois vanity, vintage New York, and a black emblem plate). Several decals are provided to detail the engine compartment such as wiper fluid and engine oil labels. Seat belts are present for the interior, however more discerning modelers will want to replace these with tape and photo etch buckles. Of note there is also an assembly manual, brochure, owners manual, and window sticker. These are the kinds of details that really stand out to me in a kit and would fit perfectly in the trunk if it opened just like you see at car shows. Rounding out the sheet two styles of flames are given for the side coves on the custom version along with two different colors of pin stripes.
Instructions
The instruction sheet is very comprehensive and well laid out. Pages 1-4 comprise general instructions, paint color list, and a full parts list with the name and number which is very handy to have in case anything is broken or lost during assembly.
Page 5 details engine assembly. The only option is the 327ci fuel injected motor which appears to go together much like the previous 283's in the Pro Modeler kits of the 90's and early 2000's. There are no hop up options unfortunately for the custom version. The kit engine looks very good as built per the instructions, however the addition of spark plug wires and the like will take it from just good to awesome.
Pages 6 and 7 detail the chassis and suspension assemblies. Again the parts quality and breakdown harken back to the Pro Modeler 58/59/60 kits. The disc brakes for the custom version are just flat chrome discs that resemble more of a washer with faces represented by decals. The white walls on the stock tires are represented by decals, however you may want to carefully paint these with acrylic paint as sometimes decals have trouble adhering to vinyl. If you do chose to apply the decals be sure and apply a water based flat clear over them to tone down the shine.
Pages 8 and 9 detail the interior, engine compartment, and body assembly. Of note the center waterfall unlike most other solid axle Corvettes is molded as a separate part rather than a part of the seats which makes painting far easier. The steering wheel is molded as a chrome part, however the plating should be scraped from the wheel itself to ease paint adhesion.
Pages 10 & 11 tidy up the final assembly steps and details. Take care when installing the clear windshield glass in to the chrome frame as the gluing surface is very narrow which could cause easy marring. Page 11 details the exterior decals and emblems for the stock version.
The final page of the 12 page sheet details decal application and options for the custom version.
Verdict
This excellent kit will thoroughly satisfy any car builders vintage sport car craving. Hopefully Revell will release a companion 1961 kit with the necessary body and grille modifications so annual builders will be able to fill yet another gap without having to resort to resin or scratch building.The lack of custom parts for the "street" version is a disappointment and in this one aspect the older AMT actually does beat out it's modern cousin but this can be easily overcome with kit bashing and spare parts.
No comments:
Post a Comment