Gluebomb Revell 50 Austin gasser restoration

[DON]

Even though I know these old Revell kits are a bit of a pain to build with their tiny front end pieces and plastic as brittle as egg shells , I really wanted this one to complete my set of Revell Gassers . A fellow builder (Count Dragula ) hooked me up with a built one, which was cool because I'd rather restore one now than build a fresh kit. Its going to take a while to get this done, but I'm enjoying building again ! First step was the separate the chassis from the body. A little cutting, and it came apart , so I went about sanding off glued fingerprints and imperfections in the Revell plastic



The hinges were both broken and missing, but I found another Austin and tried to remove those hinges as the doors on that one were glued shut. Of course they broke into pieces, but I put them back together and grafted them on the bits on my doors. I had to cut off the hinge retainers but I'll cap them when its time for the doors to be installed.




Just to show everything isnt going smoothly, I broke a chunk out of the floor trying to remove the seat....but that story is for another time

[41CHEVY]

It's going to be a cool rebuild. I'm one of few who likes the early Revell kits. Paul

[DAVE "THE DUKE" ARMSTRONG]

Revell kits ARE a pain in the ass, and restoring a kit rather than working on a clean start, is another pain in the ass; you must be a glutton for punishment! Good luck, hope it comes out the way you want it!

[BADSEED]

These revell really can be a pain, but so worth the effort, building one right from the box is a lot easier but there’s a certain kinda satisfaction restoring an old one, the ones I’ve built started as glue bombs, and I wouldn’t have had it any other way!

[DON]

Lots of filling sink holes and mold lines in the body , but it actually came out better than I expected . just waiting on the paint to arrive, so I started on the chassis - I thought some parts would be nearly impossible to come off, but NOTHING would budge ! Even the chrome bits that usually pop off were forever attached. Whatever glue the kid that built this back in 1970 used is some tough stuff, so I have to paint the parts on the chassis. I had to cut off the transmission and engine mounts out so I could paint the engine. Its going to take a while to get the chassis finished, but starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel !

[BRITBOY]

Ah yes, the glue bomb restorer's dilemma - do I risk wrecking parts by separating them or paint them as one big unit?

Looking good though!

[Sammy the ace]

l love you are restoring a revell kit and like the progess

but l love the revell kits sure the are a pain in the arse to build

but man they absolutely crap all over other kits the detail and finsh is second to none

[BERT "THE CRUSHER"]

It's looking good Don. I admire your patience. That brittle plastic in those kits drive me bananas. I agree Joe, they look great when done.

[DON]

A little progress -the chassis is done as much as its going to be , I fixed the hole in the floor where the seat broke off and the interior is straightened out and back together .I added some seatbelts from an old decal sheet. The tedious part now is reinstalling the windows ; they were cut 50+ years ago very close to the openings so I'm doing my best to keep the glue from seeping over them. Basically one small area at a time, one area a day. So far, so good !

[BADSEED]

Looks like it is coming along nicely Don !

[BRITBOY]

Yummy! Looking good!

[BERNARD "HOT ROD" KRON]

I'm not sure I'd have the courage to restore one of these max-detail, max-complexity Golden Age Revell kits. From the virgin plastic, yes, but to disassemble, repair and refinish is another matter entirely. It should look mighty fine when you're done. Build on!

[DON]

And its finally done ! I posted pics in the plastic surgery column if anyone wants to check it out- I hope you like the finished result !