Parts Count

• 71 White styrene plastic parts on ten spure with two individually wrapped
• 69 Chrome styrene plastic parts on five spure
• 10 Clear styrene plastic parts on one spure
• 4 Vinyl rubber tires
• 1 5 ¾” x 5 1/8” decal sheet
• 1 16 pages, 24 step instruction booklet

All parts are in separate sealed plastic bags and appear to be free of any flash. The chrome is bright and free of scratches. Clear parts are individually wrapped and appear free of scratches. The molds for the rubber vinyl tires appear to be fresh and without flash or mutation. Of note, the white styrene plastic this kit is molded in is extremely easy to work with; carves easily, sands well and reacts nicely with liquid solvent style glues like Tamiya Extra Thin Cement or Tenex 7. Decals have many options, are crisp printed and covered with protective wax paper.

Options

Lots of parts in this kit, as it is a 2-in-1 edition of the 1930 Ford Model A.

Of note, there are no options available to do a stock Ford Model A. This is a hot rod version like last year's Revell 1929 Model A release.

One Chassis set up for High Boy version to include "stock-ish" frame, deep interior tub, deep firewall, correct length front radius rods, correct length steering shaft, appropriate radiator hoses and exhaust.

Alternative Chassis set up for Channeled version to include channeled frame, shallow interior tub, shallow firewall, correct length front radius rods, correct length steering shaft, appropriate radiator hoses and exhaust.

The Chevrolet small block engine that is included with this kit includes two induction options. A common looking 6-71 blower set up with two four barrel carburetors sporting a very nice single piece scoop or a 3 two barrel carburetors with small Holly style air cleaners.

There are two sets of wheels including common stock looking stealies with optional chrome rings and chrome hub cabs or chrome Halibrand wheels with appropriate knock off caps. Just a note here, early Halibrand wheels where not available in chrome, only cast and polished Magnesium. Take this into consideration of the era a vehicle you are attempting to replicate. Early Halibrand cast wheels are all the rage with Rat Rodders these days and demand a hefty price on Evil-Bay. I’ve seen upwards of $520.00 per wheel on line for vintage Halibrand racing wheels.

Other options include frame/open style interior panels and padded panels, sport and classic steering wheels, and round and tear drop tail lamps. There are three options for front headlamps.

There is some newly molded aircraft style bomber seats included with this kit. I chose to drill out the holes molded in the seats to add some more realism to the seats and paint them with Alclad Aircraft Aluminum.

A finely molded two piece Ford 9 inch rear end adds to the well laid out chassis and easily constructed frame. This is the same rear axle as included with the Revell ’29 Ford. I have played with my ride height using this rear end and have been able to both raise and lower the rear stance of the Revell ‘29 and ’30 model A with only minor tweaks in the location of the upper and lower shock mounting points.

Building the Kit

I chose to do a variation of the Channeled or Low Boy Model A using the kit small block Chevrolet engine and the 3 carburetor intake. For this version I kept the ride height to the kit instructions and my only variances from kit were the addition of MAD distributor, MAD Accel ignition coil, changes to the exhaust and movement of the door hinge and handle (both covered later).

Pre-construction started with the removing of the plating off the chrome Halibrand wheels, Ford 9-inch pumpkin, exhaust headers, and radiator grill with Easy Off oven cleaner.

Prior to drilling out the wheels for valve stems I applied a coat of Alclad Magnesium Lacquer finish and then lightly dusted the wheels with Pledge Mutli-Surface Floor (Future). This seals the Alclad to allow for handling. #72 bits were used to drill out the valve stem holes and wire of the appropriate length added using medium super glue to help it set up. I use the wire found in twist tie wraps from the grocery store to be of the correct size for simulating valve stems.

Later I moved on to the chassis constructions which are just a few parts but there is some filling and sanding needed to give the rails of the chassis that smooth look. Chassis components consist of the main rails, cross member and steering shaft. While I was prepping the chassis I also did some work to the headers, cutting off where they connect to the exhaust system and filling and sanding that area flush. Now all these parts along with the rear axle and radiator grill could be sprayed Tamiya Semi-Gloss Black and set aside to dry.

Many additional parts were removed from the spure trees and cleaned up to later be used in small sub assemblies. Competition orange was used to color the 9-inch rear pumpkin and a metallic red fingernail polish to airbrush the engine block/transmission. The bomber seats, dash board, floor board, firewall and interior panels were painted a light olive drab. The intake manifold, oil pan, radiator, drive shaft, brakes and head lights were sprayed various shades of Alclad Metallic.

After cleaning up some fairly prominent knockout-pins in the 1930 body and removing and sanding flush some mold separation lines I glued the major body halves together. Along the back side of the roof where it meets the lower body I used a little Tamiya liquid putty to fill the slight gap. Two applications and a light sanding allowed this seam to nearly disappear.

At this point I chose to do a little custom work by removing the front door hinges and filling the hole were the door handle would have gone. I then fabricated simulated door hinges for each side with thin round styrene and drilled a new door handle hole towards the front of the door. Once finished these would offer the simulation of “Suicide Doors” or doors whose exit is towards the front of rather than the rear of the cab.

Next the body and radiator shell were rattle canned with Tamiya White Primer, allowed to dry in the dehydrator and then airbrushed Tamiya Dark Olive. Once they were completely dry (overnight) a liberal application of Pledge Mutli-Surface Floor (Future) was dusted on and again allowed to dry overnight.

Once dry, assortments of the kit decals representing a US Army Air Force bomber were applied. The decals went down without a hitch on the clear Pledge surface. My only issue came with the strings of rivet decals which I could not control and seemed to want to find their own path. I forgo placing those decals on the kit. No decal solution was needed and all decals went down with just plain warm water.

Somewhere in the middle there I assembled the engine with all its parts less the kit distributor. In its place I drilled a hole for the MAD Distributor base in the back of the intake manifold and drilled holes along the sides of the engine heads to allow for the addition of the ignition wires. Now at this point in the construction I also added the radiator hoses and exhaust headers. If wishing to add ignition wires to the engine it is necessary to modify the headers slightly by cutting or filing the flange between the cylinders out of the way of the spark plugs.

Ready for final construction the front and rear axle were assembled to the frame and all their accompanying track arms and shock absorbers added. Brakes, tires and wheels were added next with the shinny chrome Halibrand knock-offs contrasting nicely against the magnesium wheels.

Subsequently I placed the rear end pumpkin, drive line and engine between the frame rails. This is where I came upon a huge issue with this kit that did not occur with the Revell ’29 Ford. The slots in the engine for mounting to the frame rails are poorly engineered and if you incorrectly use the wrong slot your engine will not fit to the frame rails. If you do use the right slot there is a massive wedge shape hole left within your engine. I chose to fix this by adding additional engine mounts at the front of the short existing mount to place my engine at the proper angle and location to both the firewall and radiator. This also eliminates the wedge shape hole in the engine block. When building the blown version of a low boy this causes the lower blower belt pulley to come in contact with the front frame rail. Issues abound.

The interior fit together around the floor board including the dash, seats, fuel cell and battery. The firewall was added to the front of the body and windows cemented in using Aleene’s. The body shell was ready to mount to the frame rails after the completed interior easily slid into it, but be careful at this step as the steering shaft can be readily bent or broken at this stage.

Carefully I placed the final trim pieces, the rearview mirror, steering wheel, tail lights, license plate, completed radiator shroud, front head lamps, door handles and Accel ignition box. My first Revell 30 Ford Model A was done.

Other than the issues related to the engine mounts location this kit is a pleasure to build and a fantastic addition to my hot rod collection. I was able to finish this kit prior to the Columbia IPMS Nationals and it placed second in category 506 Automotive, Hot Rods, Street Rods, and Street Machines, 1948 and older body. Currently I am in the process of building a second Revell 30 Ford Model A, which is highly detailed, chopped and sectioned.

This kit took a little over 25 hours to complete, most of which was dedicated to cleaning up parts to prepare for painting. I highly recommend this model.

Tamiya Extra Fine Cement, Extreme Power Medium Glue, Tamiya Acrylic Paint, Tamiya Liquid Putty, Tamiya White Primer , Alclad Metallic Paint, Pledge Mutli-Surface Floor (Future), and Model Master Lacquer Clear and Flat were used for my models construction. Aleene’s Original Tacky Glue was used to set the clear parts.

Thanks to Revell, Dick Montgomery, Dave Morressette, and the rest of the IPMS Reviewer Corp assistants and IPMS/USA for the chance to build and review this subject.

Lastly, Larry and MJ, please rest in peace.