Revell’s new 1/25 scale 1932 Ford (Highboy) roadster is a modest but effective update of the kit tooling originally developed for Revell’s promotional merchandising tie-in with television personality Stacey David. That kit accurately duplicated David’s 1/1 Rat Roaster 1932 Ford Roadster. For this latest kit, Revell set out to correct what some would consider the Roaster’s design eccentricities, and the result is a desirable new hot rod modeling adventure.
While an all-new tool in 2012, the Rat Roaster kit was heavily based on the design of Revell’s series of 1932 Ford hot rod kits from 1996 and 1997. While those kits were state-of-the-art winners at the time, kit expectations have changed over the ensuing years. Accordingly, Revell used the fresh tooling for the Rat Roaster kit as an opportunity to create a “highboy” frame with a more accurate siderail sweep, a simplified yet better-detailed exhaust system, a new radiator/electric fan setup, an original equipment-style 1932 Ford firewall, and more current wheels and tires. Even minor details like the door handles were handled with much more finesse in this new tooling effort.
For this latest update, Revell has now replaced the Roaster’s sprint car-inspired headers with a set of Sanderson-style over-the-frame-rail headers. The body has been modified to accommodate a new V-shaped DuVall windshield. Revell replaced the Rat Roaster interior with a traditional bench seat and door-panel design featuring engraved tuck-and-roll upholstery. An all-new decal sheet includes bodyside flame treatments in traditional red/yellow/orange and solid black, plus a red scallop layout for the cowl and body sides. Among the 40 decals are pinstriping, aftermarket parts, logos, and effective blue dot taillight lenses. While not mentioned in the assembly instructions, the kit also retains many of the prior kit’s Rat Roaster parts should you want to add some of those back to your project or use them to top off your parts box.
While I am not personally a fan of small-block Chevy (SBC) engines in Ford hot rods, many are. For them, this kit has an excellent example of a blown SBC. It features modern-day components, like a Weiand supercharger, and the completed engine is compromised only by the visible split along the center of the two-piece oil pan. The body exhibits virtually no visible parting lines. Upon close inspection, you’ll find these lines along the bottom rear roll pan on each edge and the cowl flange facing the firewall. The remainder of the kit parts are well-detailed and nicely engraved. The plated parts wear a brilliant and flawless finish.
Now, on to building!
Make sure to remove the knockout (ejector-pin) marks from the surface of the disc brake rotors and pay particular care to remove the parting lines from all the exhaust system (parts 26, 208, and 209). I found sink marks in the driver’s side frame rail of my sample. They are shallow enough to be ignored for a shelf model, but you’ll want to address them for a contest-level project. I filed a small vertical recess at the bottom left rear roll pan to clear the gas tank cap, which was necessary for the roadster body to align with the chassis mounting pins.
Before mounting the front axle (Part 109) to the frame in Step 8, you must first finesse the fit between the outer hubs of the front axle and the mating openings of the disc brakes (parts 45 and 46, or 110 and 111, as seen in Step 28).
In Step 9, study the exact appearance and positioning of each front suspension part before you glue them together. These parts will fit together exactly as shown if done correctly.
During Step 16, when you mate the interior to the body, make sure to push the interior all the way up into the body so that the tops of the outer doors are flush with the tops of the interior door panels. You may have to spread the body slightly to get the interior fully seated.
Finally, in steps 24 and 25, the drawings can be misinterpreted: The stepped surface of parts 43 and 115 face the inside, and the flat surfaces face the outside to connect to the wheels.
The finished model has the flavor of many of today’s 1/1 hot rods. The DuVall windshield is especially desirable and well executed in scale. Purists might note that to be 100% in line with the current “traditional hot rod” design trends, the rear differential and suspension should have been converted to a Hilborn Quick Change with a transverse leaf spring, and an era-correct engine other than an SBC would have been a plus. But the extent of tear-up to the tooling to accommodate these features would have made the entire project unaffordable. Instead, Revell gave us this tasty and otherwise comprehensive redo of the Rat Roaster kit that looks sharp and is fun to build.