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Review
by George Crombie
Body:
The way the hood flips forward is incorrect for any Anglia I
have ever
seen. To model either of these two cars, you need to separate
the hood from the nose by cutting along the straight line across
the top of the
hood, then following the curved line that runs down the side
between
the nose & the hood. A piece of thin sheet styrene needs
to be added to the curved area of the nose in such a way that
it fits behind the corresponding curved part of the hood when
the hood is in place.
The two holes in the front of the nose need to be filled with
sheet styrene as well. This is correct for both the Skippers
Critter & King Kong. If
you are building Skippers Critter, you also need a hood scoop
per the attached photos. Drag City Resins has the perfect scoop
in their Gasser Scoop assortment. Both cars had polished aluminum
inner fender panels front & rear, chrome door hinges &
chrome headlight buckets.. The rest
of the body is pretty decent, and this is one of the few kits
where the opening doors fit reasonably well. As is the case
with all of these early Revell kits, the windows are a sheet
of clear acetate. IIRC, it was tinted
red in the early issues. On the real cars, the Skippers Critter
had orange tinted windows, they were smoke on the King Kong.
King Kong has a chute mounted to the trunk.
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Engine:
Skippers Critter: The engine is a nicely done injected early
Olds, but it is incorrect for either the Skippers Critter, or King Kong.
For the version of Skippers Critter depicted by the decals, it needs
to be changed to an injected small-block chevy. I used the engine-stand
motor from the AMT '66 Chevy II with an AMT Rat Packer Nova timing cover,
AMT '55 Nomad intake, and the aftermarket
finned valve covers from the Revell '58 Corvette, as these seemed to
be the best match for the photos in the Hot Rod magazine article. You
need to carefully trim a small square section out of the fins &
add a pair of breathers. The headers are kind of unusual
in that the primaries were painted VHT white, but the collectors were
chrome. The Hydro trans in the kit is correct for the Skippers Critter,
and should be retained, as it is the best scale hydro out there.
King Kong: If you are building the Kohler bros. King Kong, you
need a BB Chevy & a short-tailshaft Torqueflite. I used a TF
from a Polar Lights funny car kit. The car usually ran a Hilborn 4-port,
I used one from the MPC Winged Express. The fins on
the injector scoop should be sanded off & it should be painted body
color. I used the block/heads from a Revell '65 Chevelle,
with the bellhousing sawed off with a razor saw. I used an AMT Rat Packer
Nova timing cover, but it needs an idler pulley
bracket attached. A 6:71 and manifold can be sourced from many different
kits. The valve covers are a problem, as they are
finned Edelbrocks for a BB Chevy, I don't know of a kit source for these.
The headers were painted with no collectors
(remember, this car ran AHRA sanction) and pointed straight back under
the car.
Chassis:
Skippers Critter: Moving on to the chassis, as you can see
by the attached Hot Rod article, the rear suspension is actually pretty
close to what was on the real car, except that a driveshaft loop was
attached between the ladder bars, & they were chrome.
The rear-end in the kit is incorrect, it should be a '55-'63 Chevy
rear. This can be sourced from any of the Revell '55-57 Chevy
kits, the AMT '55 or '57 chevy or '62 Bel-Air, or the Linbergh '61
Impala. The front axle is incorrect, it should be a Don Long style
tube axle per the attached photos, and you will need to scratchbuild
some hairpin-style radius rods.. There is no kit source for
a Don Long gasser axle, you will have to make it. The key-shaped push-bar
is incorrect, it should be a tube push bar with a single wheelie caster
attached to the center, per the attached photos. There is a push bar
in the new tool Revell Mazmanian/SWC Willys
kit, but its too wide, so I would just make this piece. You will have
to make the wheelie bar, as there is no kit piece I am aware of
that is correct.
King Kong: Again, you will need an early Olds/Pontiac rear.
The rear springs in the kit are fine, but the ladder bars are different,
they are square tubing like the kit pieces and about the same length,
but the bracing in the middle of the bars is sheet metal
instead of square tubing. Oddly enough, this car ALSO has the driveshaft
loop attached to the ladder bars. Like the Skippers
Critter, these parts are chrome. The front axle is a simple straight
tube, the kit supplied cross-leaf can be used, but you will
need to scratchbuild the radius rods. The push bar should be a round
tube piece with caps on the end, The wheelie bars are
just two short, straight chrome tubes attached to the rear of the
chassis with casters on the end.
Interior:
Skippers Critter: The interior in the kit is completely incorrect
for the Skippers Critter. There is virtually nothing that is usable
for
an accurate replica. Take a look at the hot rod article, the seats
have square pleats, the door panels with have to be scratchbuilt
from a mixture of sheet styrene & Evergreen .030 half-round. I
would just scratchbuild a new firewall & dash from styrene &
add gauge decals with photo-etched bezels from a Replicas & Miniatures
Wizard of O's sheet. The seats for this car are a tough one,
I will probably use the seats from a Johan Pro-Stock kit, remove the
headrests, & scribe the pleats in the bolsters with a small
round file. The steering wheel is also completely different, I found
one in the parts box that it pretty close, but I don't know where
it came from. The steering wheel in the AMT '37 Chevy kit is the right
style, but a little larger than what is in the real car. I would
also make a new roll bar from Evergreen round stock.
King Kong:
Oddly enough, the kit parts are MUCH closer to what's in the King
Kong. The door panels are reasonably close
as-is. I would make a new firewall from flat styrene, & add gauge
decals with photo-etched bezels from a Replicas & Miniatures Wizard
of O's sheet. The closest kit seat I could find was in the AMT Piranha
kit. The steering wheel in the AMT Rat Packer
Nova is close, but this style of wheel was in a LOT of kits, shouldn't
be a problem. I would also make a new roll bar from
Evergreen round stock. You will also need to make an Art Carr style
floor mounted push-button TF shifter.
Tires/Wheels:
Skippers Critter: I would use the 2-piece 10.5" Goodyear
Blue Streaks that came in the early seventies issue of the kit, but
they
are QUITE difficult to find now. You could use the Tires in the AMT
Rat Packer Nova , although they are a little large. The car may have
run pie-crusts with the kit lettering earlier on, but I can't confirm
this. For wheels, I would use the rear wheels form the
Revell Tommy Ivo Showboat with the center-caps drilled out. They are
a good match for whats on the car in the Hot Rod
magazine article. You could also use a set of wheels from the rear
of the first generation Revell SWC Willys, and convert them
to 5-lug. The front wheels are a little trickier. I would use the
peanut-hole Halibrands from the front of the AMT OGM '33 Willys,
but convert them to a 5-lug bolt pattern. For front tires, I would
use the ones in the recent Model-King re-issue, or the tires from
an AMT Winged Express or Bantam Blast. The front tires from a Revell
Miss-Deal would work too.
King Kong: As far as tires are concerned, the comments in the
Skippers Critter section apply. Wheels are much easier to deal
with as the car ran Cragar SS's. I am using the rears from the AMT
'37 Chevy, fronts are from the Johan AMX. The fronts from
the AMT Rat Packer Nova are an acceptable substitute.
Decals:
Skippers Critter: The kit decals match well with the photos
in the article, but the lettering on the hood is different. I have
other
photos with the Mondello lettering that is included in the kit, so
I believe it is correct. Personally, I can live with this minor discrepancy.
King Kong: I have the Fremont decals, like most of the sheets
I got from Joe, I am not very happy with them. They are missing
the following: Cal Automotive on the rear fenders, Cragar Equipped
under the rear windows, & the Custom Polishing logos
under the King Kong on the doors. While I realize that race cars change
lettering frequently, I looked at A LOT of photos of this
car, I couldn't find any versions that these decals would have been
complete for. Hopefully, the upcoming Slixx sheet will be complete.
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