Monogram '57 Ford Del Rio Ranch Wagon
Revell's '57 Ford Custom kit has been a pretty decent hit for them, in it's original stock/drag form, the Fireball Roberts stock car, and the Model King police car. Now, Revell has tooled up a new body and some wagon-specific parts to create this new people-hauler variant... which, for some reason, has been released as a Monogram kit. Hey, Revell? Pick a brand name and stick with it, would ya please? I don't really have a problem with the use of both names, but I've seen such practice lead to more confusion than it's really worth.
Now, enough of that nonsense! Let's check out the kit.
The new body appears to capture the 1:1 well, with decent proportions and nicely-done side trim.
The chassis and floor unit carry over from the previous sedan versions.
The hood, chassis, and engine parts shown here are common to all four of the '57 Ford kits, but not all are to be used on the wagon.
That lovely Y-Block also makes a return trip for the Del Rio version. This has to be the best rendition of the second-generation Ford V8 available to date in a commercial 1:25 plastic kit.
Obviously, the interior side panels are new, and unique to the wagon, though the steering wheel, column, brake cylinder, lamp bezels and firewall are similar to the units from the sedan kit. The police radio is also included on this sprue. These and all parts exhibit a nice degree of engraved surface detail.
Much of the interior is also new, though the front seat is similar in appearance to the sedan's piece.
As usual for a recent Revell tool, the chrome plated parts are nicely done, and Revell has been doing a better and better job of hiding the attachment points, which means less cleanup for you. There are some slight mold lines on the edges of the bumpers that will be noticable on the finished model, though.
The clear parts are mostly unique to the wagon,, while the clear red parts are carryover- the taillights are included in every version (Baker NASCAR stocker aside), and the police lenses are from the earlier Model King release.
The skinny, solid no-name tires are the same units used in previous version. Metal rivets attach the wheel/tire assemblies to the suspension.
Instruction sheet. Typical Revell... er... Monogram fare. I don't even know anymore...
The decal sheet includes all the stock detailing graphics, plus some medium green inserts for the seats. The police markings are mostly carried over from the Model King version, but now include a few "Radio Dispatched" (are police cars dispatched any other way?) markings, and logo plates for the flasher. And the best part is, you get spares for those, so you can add the name plate to the flasher and siren if you choose to build this as a cop car, and still have two more, in case you'd like to add them to one of the Model King kits you already have in the stash. Nice touch.
I can't vouch for how well this one goes together. But having built a couple of the Custom sedans, I can say it's a very pleasant kit which fits together well, and represents the subject equally well. One of the '57's I built incorporated a resin body and even then, the kit didn't put up much of a fight. This is one of Reve... Monogram... whatever. This is one of the best kits to come out of Morton Grove in a long time.
Now, if you'll pardon me, I think I'm going to try to convert one into a Courier sedan delivery...
