Since 2005, South Bend-Indiana’s Round 2 has been delighting modelers by restoring and repairing vintage model tooling and bringing back to life kits that have long been out of production. One of its most anticipated releases of 2021, for car and truck builders alike, is the long unavailable ’72 Chevy Racer’s Wedge hauler combo last issued in 1972.
We last saw the pickup portion of this kit released in the early 2000s under AMT’s Rides series with newly tooled oversized wheels and rubber-band tires, and the Racer’s Wedge portion of the kit reissued sans-truck around the same time, so online auction site prices were starting to escalate and building your own take on a racecar hauler was a potentially expensive proposition. Enter Round 2, with both the truck and the hauler bed reunited again and a plethora of option parts and goodies to boot!
Included in the larger-than-usual box, complete with the same gorgeous box art from the original issue of this kit, are enough parts to build not only the six-wheeled hauler on the box art, but also a four wheeled version of the same — or ditch the flatbed altogether and use the included pickup bed to build an factory-stock truck instead. Three wheel options are included (although, if you’re going for the six-wheeler version, you’re limited to steelies unless you’re happy to mix and match styles) along with beautifully-done pad-printed whitewall tires, a bright crisp decal sheet, and a bunch of extra tools and accessories.
Your build begins with a decent representation of a 350 Chevy engine (Testors Chevy engine orange is a good match for the factory color), and it is well molded and nicely detailed despite the tooling’s age. Less so the chassis. Like many kits of this era, the exhausts, suspension, and axles are molded in place and require some tricky masking and detail painting. The instructions point out some modifications that will be needed if you’re building the wedge version of the truck: A couple of small rectangles of material need to be removed so everything fits as it should. However, it’s a quick and simple process with a razor saw.
Should you choose the option, the second rear axle is a lumpy-looking addition to the baseplate, and it further resigns the kit to ‘don’t turn me over’ status if you’re particular about mechanical accuracy. The other route is simply running a single rear axle, which was by far the more common design if you research similar 1:1 builds. Be aware, you’ll have some mighty empty rear wheel arches if you do.
The body is nicely detailed, and while some decals for the tricky-to-paint side emblems and badges would have been nice, you won’t need more than a couple of minutes of sanding to get ready for primer and paint. Ditto on the wedge itself, mostly. Some decent sink marks run along the side panels, but if you use the kit decals, they will mostly disappear. Regardless, the wedge goes together beautifully with minimum effort.
Speaking of decals, the longer stripes are fragile and need careful handling. But they’re all nicely printed and opaque enough to cover up even darker paint colors, and there’s a truckload (see what I did there?) of real-life sponsor and equipment manufacturer logos to choose from.
The interior tub includes molded-in seats and door panels, so some tricky masking will be required if you intend to replicate one of the more colorful three-tone Chevy interior options from this era. The separate dash and steering wheel are well done and look good with detail painting.
All in all, if you consider this kit an opportunity to build a great looking shelf model that practically falls together in a few evenings, you won’t be disappointed. Sticklers for accuracy will want to scratchbuild or heavily modify the chassis to bring this 50-year-old tooling up to date. Given its age, this kit was a joy to build, and the finished model is an impressive addition to my display shelf. Plus, it’s a great excuse to pickup one of Round 2’s oval or drag car kits to build something for it to haul to the track!