Revell 1/25 '69 Camaro Yenko/SC 427 Coupe Kit Build Review

By Stephen Sutton

Background

Information and in-box review on the 427 '69 Yanko Camero can be found here.

The Kit

Front suspension assembly I carefully removed the chassis, front suspension, sway bar, cross member and upper A-arms from the sprues, I cleaned up any mold lines and painted these components with Model Master flat black and then I sprayed them with semi-gloss clear spray paint. The flat black and clear goes on very thin so no details are lost. In step A install the sway bar before you install the front suspension, next the cross member and upper a-arms are installed. Next I removed the steering box and painted it aluminum and gloss black, and then I installed it on the suspension.

The Engine Assembly

The engine halves were glued together and the seams where painted with Mr. Surfacer 1000 and sanded smooth. The engine block and oil pan and cylinder heads were painted with Model Master Enamel Chevrolet Engine Red 2731 and the transmission and intake manifold were painted Model Master Aluminum, and shift linkages painted gloss black. The starter was painted semi-gloss black and it was installed on the engine block. The valve covers were removed from the chrome trees carefully and installed on the cylinder heads. The carburetor, fuel pump and distributor are chromed but I wanted these to be aluminum so I soaked these overnight in Johnson's Fantastik all purpose cleaner to remove the chrome platting and then I washed these parts in warm soapy water, then I painted them aluminum. Next in drilled and wired the distributor with .010" blue insulated wire. The rest of the engine accessories were installed and put aside.

The Exhaust Assembly

I carefully removed the four exhaust halves and I cleaned-up all mold lines and then I glued all the halves together and then I puttied and sanded the header ends. I painted the header exhausts glass black, then I sanded the header flanges on a level surface to ensure the headers would have a solid mount on the cylinder heads. I applied the glue on the flanges and I waited a few seconds for the glue to tack-up then I attached them to the heads. While the headers are still drying and the glue is not completely dry I installed the engine assembly on the chassis, the exhaust headers needed room to move with the wet glue to allow them to mount under the transmission cross-member.

The Radiator assembly was assembled next, the washer bottle was molded in clear plastic, this is a nice touch, all I had to do was paint the cap semi-gloss black, I mounted the washer bottle with Model master canopy glue, next the radiator hoses where painted and glued in place.

Exhaust and Rear Suspension

The dual exhaust mold seams were cleaned up and they were painted aluminum, then I glued them to the chassis, carefully aligning the exhaust pipes to the header flanges. Then the rear suspension was glued in-place along with the rear shocks and drive shaft. Next I hand painted all the brake lines aluminum.

Wheel Assembly

The mold seam on the center of each tire was lightly sanded and buffed with a piece of denim cloth, to give the tires a worn appearance. The chrome mag-wheels and tires were assembled as per the instructions.

Windows and Tail Light Assemblies

The windows were carefully removed from the trees and cleaned up. The windows had some smudging so I dipped the windows in Johnson's Future Floor wax. The Floor wax really shinned up the windows even more. I attached the windows from the inside of the body with Model Master canopy glue, after the exterior and interior body was painted. The kit instructions have you install the clear red tail light assemblies from the inside, I found this to look very inaccurate, so I installed mine from the outside with canopy glue and this looked much better, then I cleaned off the chrome gluing surface on the taillight reflectors and I glued these from the inside.

Interior Assembly

I painted the interior tub with flat black, I then painted the door panels, rear seat and dash assembly semi-gloss black, the door panels had chrome trip, so I cut thin strips of Bare Metal chrome foil. The dash instruments and dials were painted gloss white, silver and red, and then the instrument faces were given a thick application of Future Floor wax. All interior assemblies were installed according to the instructions.

Firewall and Grill Assembly

The firewall was painted semi-gloss black the brake master cylinder was installed and painted aluminum and brass. The grill assembly was painted aluminum and the headlight lenses and chrome reflectors were glued with canopy glue.

Painting the Body

I choose to paint my Yanko Camero General Motors Huggar Orange, Model Master just released a new line of Lacquer spray can finishes. This custom lacquer system consists of the two-part system, with the base coat and an Ultra Gloss Clearcoat. I was worried that the lacquer was too hot for the plastic, so I primer coated the Camero body first and I left the hood un-primered. I lightly sprayed the base coat three times to get a consistent finish, I allowed this to dry for 2 hours then I sprayed the ultra glass clearcoat on both the body and the hood, the hood looked much better, I had a lot of orange peel and some of the script detail was lost in the process of all the coats of paint. I allowed the finish to dry overnight. It is save to say this new lacquer system is as safe as the enamel paints and it has the same orange peel effect as the enamel paint cans.

I applied the body decals in between coats of clear lacquer and then I use Detail Masters DTM9040 Complete Micro-Mesh Polishing system to level out the orange peel and give body a smooth finish. I then applied Bare Metal chrome foil to all the window frames and sills.

Detail Assembly

After the windows were thoroughly dry I install the interior tub, firewall and chassis to the body, patience is a virtue here as all this is a tight squeeze and no glue was required here. The bumpers, license plate and front air dam were installed and the upper radiator braces in the engine compartment were installed.

Conclusion

This was an enjoyable build, but it wasn't a simple build especially when assembling the interior and chassis to the body, you will need patience and ingenuity to get everything to line up without breaking something loose. I enjoyed this kit and it will look great in my display cabinet. This is a well-engineered kit and very little modifications were required to build this kit. I highly recommend this kit.

My sincere thanks to Revell for this review sample!