Resin Review- Why the hell do I have three '41 Chevrolet Pickup cabs?
I used to have a '46 Chevrolet 1-ton dump truck. It was rusty and rough and I'd planned to turn it into a rat rod. Why not? It was beaten to a half inch of it's life and beyond practical restoration, and I've never been a fan of GM vehicles in the first place. I just sort of inherited this one. As it turned out, I traded it for a Massey-Ferguson garden tractor, and the guy who got the truck actually did turn it into a rat rod. Maybe we'll discuss that later. I wouldn't even call the '41-'46 style my favorite Chevrolet pickup. But I like it's looks well enough all the same, and the Revell kit is a wonderful building experience. I still keep hoping for that panel truck variant that was announced 20 years ago but, so far, has never made it to produciton.
Be that as it may, I'm still surprised that I have three different cabs from two different casters, all based upon the Revell '41 Chevrolet pickup cab. Other than two different 1941 Plymouth sedan delivery bodies I don't think I have so many different aftermarket bodies for one kit. So I thought it would be fun to compare and contrast the three examples. And by no means are these the only three cabs available for this kit. There could be more I'm not aware of. But it's these three that I happen to have in the stash, and as far as I know all three are still available from their respective casters. So let's have a look at a few of these low-lid Chevy cabs.
The first one is a Jimmy Flintstone piece, and features a rather rakish chop. It carries the part number NB-145 with the hood and bed. I first saw this cab when Tim Boyd used one in an article for Scale Auto some years ago. The upper door frames have been removed, and the firewall has been cast in place. This cab is part of a set which includes a hood/grille casting and a cut-down cargo bed. I think the cab was available by itself at one time, but I only see it shown with the hood and bed on the Jimmy Flintstone website now. If you're curious here's the whole set...
My one gripe is the rough quality of the bed- the rails are rather rough, and the floor is very thin toward the rear. And I mean very thin... I broke it loose with a little pressure from my thumb. But that's nothing that can't be addressed, and if you order the cab only, you won't need to worry about it.
As for the casting quality of the cab? It's acceptable. There will be a thin layer of resin you'll need to trim from the window openings and the cab will need general cleanup around the edges. The cab is a tad rough on the inside, but once the interior and glass have been installed much of that will be well-hidden.
This is an example of that cab on a bobber pickup I built some time ago. I added a windshield divider, smoothed out the firewall, and filled in the door handles. The '35 Ford grille came from Drag City Casting, and the chassis is from the Beverly HIllbillies Oldsmobile kit. I had originally planned on installing a resin Buick Straight 8, or to scratch build an Oldsmobile flathead straight 8. Ultimately, I used a V-16 from an old JoHan Cadillac. So ironically, I didn't even use a Revell '41 Chevrolet pickup kit with this cab!
The second cab is also from Jimmy Flintstone, and bears the part number NB291. It not only features a heavy chop, but is also sectioned. A partial firewall is also molded in place. This can be ordered by itself, or as a set. In this case, the cab would include a custom fender set and bed. I just ordered the cab this time, but here's a pic I nabbed from the Jimmy Flintstone website showing the set (which is NB 290)...
Casting quality of the cab is about the same as the NB-145 version, though the inside is a bit more rough. The side windows are also a little wavy, and will need some minor reshaping. Nothing a modeler of moderate skill can't handle. That's the trade-off with Jimmy Flintstone castings... yes, they require a bit more worth than many other resin kits, but the prices he charges are more than reasonable. If you'd like something closer to a direct kit part replacement but are willing to pay just a tad more, have a look at our next cab.
While the Flintstone cabs have sledgehammer chops, part number RH-9 from Replicas and Miniatures Company of Maryland features a subtle two-and-a-half inch chop. Patterned by Rik Hoving, it has a nicely-engraved windshield surround, and has a separate windshield header panel. (There it is in the foreground.) It also includes a sheet of clear acetate for making windows, but I will probably use clear styrene instead so it's not pictured. And also not pictured, because I appear to have misplaced it in the years since I have purchased the cab, it also comes with a hood featuring smoothed side panels.
As is typical with a Norm Veber casting, this piece is nearly indistinguishable from an injection-molded plastic part. There will be only slight wisps of flash to clean. This is also the only of the three cabs which does not have the firewall cast in place.
I'm not sure what the future holds for the last two cabs, but keep an eye on the Madhouse site to see if anything develops.
