1/25 Revell – 1957 Chevy 150 Utility Sedan & BlackWidow Race Car

This kit is labeled “Special Edition Series”. And in comparison with the average scale kit, this one is surely special. I wanted to buy since I first saw it! This kit features a 150 Chevy Utlity Sedan (which you can also build as the Black Widow Stock Car).

The 150 Chevy Utility Sedan – also called Handyman Sedan – was a very popular vehicle in the US of the 50’s. The car was used for fleets, such as police fleets, state governments or companies (salesmen used to dirve across the country with these beauties). What made the car “utility”, besides the lack of chromed fins as in the 57 Bel Air, was the lack of a back seat. Instead, you will find a package plattform. These cars made a great stock race car too! For instance, the b-post makes the car more stable for the race tracks. All in all, I’m happy to see some variation on the scale kit universe – where “every day” cars are rare and you only find “bel airs”.

The body is pretty well moulded – as well in general the entire kit. The proportions seem just great, unlike the historic Revell HotRod kits. Although the tunk lid doesn’t open, it shouldn’t be a problem to modify that. But if you are thinking of making the doors open, I would give that a second thought. Unless you know what you do with the cutting knife, the b-post and the vent windows will make the job quite hard – just think about, before doing it. One very cool thing: this model includes realistic looking hood hinges, and even though they don’t really work, you can still glue them and close the hood (some models either allow you to glue the real looking hinges and leave the hood open or be able to close the good while leaving the hinges out).

The engine bay is just fine. The side walls are almos as good as the real thing. Although it is much better than just nothing (such as the misserable engine bay in AMT’s 68 Ford Mustang Cobra), it would have been great to see the wheel wells properly moulded – maybe as separate parts or so (the engine compartment should look like this).  Anyhow, all in all, the engine bay makes a good impression. I will also comment on the engine below… The kit also comes with steel rims and the appropriate dog dish hubcaps – the latter as chromed parts, of course.

The chromed parts are awesome! I love to see things such as door handles, wipers, the “V”-shaped ornaments for the hood and the trunk lid and the side mirror. Specially, when all these parts are so well finished. You will also find some engine parts there too – such as the optional fuel injection plenum. The chromed bar that goes attached to the hood is separated from the grille – to be glued properly to the hood (some 57 kits have this chromed bar and the front grille chromed all together as one part).

The engine can be build in two ways: with a carburator or fuel injection. This is one of the best detailed engines in a scale model kit (another great example would be Monogram’s 59 Cadillac). While usually many kit makers make several engine parts integrated on the engine block or leave them out all together, Revell put some special attention not to do that with this kit. You will find the starter and oil filter as single parts – as wel as the fuel pump, water pump, coil and the oil filler tube. I like that last one. I could imagine cutting off the cap from the oil tube and making a small hole in it – that would make a junker engine look special! And what about this: even the generator bracket that holds the generator to the block is moulded – I love these kind of details!

The fuel injection itself is made of three parts: the fuel meter, the air meter and the plenum (as a chromed part). All parts are very well detailed! This goes along the entire car. For instance, the chasis features a separate steering gear box (many kits omit this part) as well as the exhaust pipes. The rear axle is made of several parts too! What’s so cool about it? Well, just think abou of the endless possibilites for a junker build! You can build the car with just some parts on it – like only one exhaust line – and use the rest for a spare part pile in your junkyard diorama. Besides, separate parts make the model look much better at then end – it is all about the details!

The clear parts are cool too! You will find seprate vent windows – usually, many kits have the vent windows and the windshield as a single part. This never looks good while looking into the interior of the finished model. Another great details are the clear parts for the rear lights (in clear read and plain clear respectively).

The decals include some unusual details too. Besides all the racing decals (all of them really cool!), you will find decals for the seats. These imitate the clothing used in these kind of Chevies – really cool detail! You will also find the Chevrolet letters and the emblem for the front – a decal is definitely better than some chunky moulding on the plastic part. The decals also feature dashboard instruments!

To sum up:

Pros

• Many Parts (142, according to the box) – btw. I forgot to mention the dome light for the interior!
• Cool decals, with unusual details – such as the seat clothing or the emblems.
• Many chromed parts – and very well moulded
• Not just the usual 57 Bel Air – finally something different!
• Clear parts for the lights and separate vent windows

Cons

• Some “hot rod” or drag racer parts would have been great (ok, you can do some kit bashing, I know)
• I would’ve loved to see more detail in the engine bay. This is great kit – but it could’ve been fabulous!
• The two-door sedan also came with a rear seat. I guess it could have been possible to include that option with just a little more effort. Like this, builders would have had one more car to build (Handyman Sedan, family sedan and Black Widow racer)
• I cannot think of something more – after all, this a great kit!!

This kit surely is something “Special”

Tagged as: 1/24, 1/25, 1957 Chevy, 57 Chevy, black widow, Chevrolet 150, revell, Utility Sedan