# Revell Orange Crate and Tweedy Pie reissues



## djnick66

I picked up the Orange Crate a couple weeks ago, and the Tweedy Pie yesterday. Both kits are well done and worth snagging if you are interested in 60s customs.

Revell's box for the Orange Crate is based on the original issue artwork, but has been changed substantially. I think even when this kit was last reissued in the 90s it still had Bob Tindle's name and picture on the front. Now, all reference to Tindle is gone and a new "Car Show" logo has been added to the picture. The Crate comes molded in white and chrome and everything is bagged up well inside. The chrome parts are a bit rough and I think stripping the chrome, cleaning up the parts, and then spraying with Alclad would give you better results. Unlike the 90s issue which had to include a resin hood, the missing plastic parts have been restored to this kit. Revell includes a new small sprue with the hood. The tires look like the same ones used in previous issues. Like the 90s reissue, you get the original and incorrect kit decals and new, correct markings. Revell, however, does not explain the two sets on the modern instruction sheet. A nice touch on the instructions is that every part is listed by number and name. So if you wonder what part 87 is, you can look on the list and see.

The Tweedy Pie reissue is similar to the Orange Crate. Again the box art is based on the old artwork, but the Roth name and image have been retained. The kit still has the same customizing parts as before, and they are still shown on the box side panel. Like the Crate the parts come in white and chrome and again you get a sheet of thin acetate to cut the windshield from. New decals are included for the Tweedy Pie and they include all the pin striping and instrument faces. Revell includes two large, new, sprues; one in chrome and one in white with all of the missing parts that had been removed from the tooling back in the 70s. You get the fuel tank, wheels, carbs, etc. Also, this kit uses the nice, new, white wall tires from their 29 Ford Rat Rod, etc. These are very well done and will greatly improve the look of the kit. Again, as with most of these old kits, the chrome parts are a bit rough, and the sprues are in very prominent places. It might be best to remove the chrome, clean up the parts, and spray with Alclad.


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## CorvairJim

Wow! GREAT kit reviews! You should work for one of the magazines. Keep us apprised as to how they build up.


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## djnick66

Hey thanks. I have built the Crate before - its not the easiest thing to build. The chrome really makes it a bear unless you strip it and refinish it. Like all of the old Revell cars from the early 60s, both of these have a lot of small, fiddly, working parts. The crate has a lift up body and opening doors. I am not sure if Revell fully restored the door hinge pieces on the Tweedy Pie kit. You can make really good models from the kits but they are by no means snap together.


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## Rondo

It's great to see so many old kits coming back. I don't know if the pent up demand has just been discovered or the manufacturers are under financial pressure to go this route. Sure there have always been re-issues but it seems like every usable tool is being run lately.

These two kits (and many other Revell oldies) have some pretty ambitious engineering, especially when you consider their age. A lot of delicate moldings. I only got one Tweedy as I still have some of the last (non-Tweedy) issue. I agree about the Rat Rod tires. There has been some carping but they are really nice wheel/tires. I believe the box says the door is functional.

Got 2 Orange Crates since this seems a little better than the last issue which is hard enough to get. I've had one of the Chopped Deuce versions forever, not quite finished but still impressively detailed. I never understood the rear axle on this kit. It is a quick change center section but there are no axle housings, just bare metal rod. Hard to believe Revell included as much detail as they did and then flubbed this. I haven't found good pics of the axle on the 1/1 so maybe the kit approximates something real. 

The car would have been light so perhaps a tubular solid axle could have been rigid enough. Unconventional to say the least. Or maybe just inaccurate. I'll have to research this issue before I try the kit.


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## djnick66

The door on the Tweedy is separate and has a hinge but at one point Revell had done something to it. Not sure if they "fixed" it or not. It seems to be more positionable than hinged.


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## Rondo

Found one decent pic of the rear in the Crate. Those are some slim housings. Still, I believe the kit part should be bulked up a bit. 2 inch dia. would be @ .080" but that is just a guess.










Check out the fur trim!


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## djnick66

God that fur trim is nasty ! I'd just use some Evergreen tubing for the axles


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## 71 Charger 500

djnick66 said:


> God that fur trim is nasty ! I'd just use some Evergreen tubing for the axles


Fur was the "in thing" back at that time though at car shows.


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## djnick66

It wasn't "in" back in the day. I have seen no period photos of the Crate (a real drag car and not just a show car) with the nappy fur.

Anyone notice the OC has flames on the side of the body? Would be hard to replicate on a model without decals.


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## Rondo

Yeah, you'll see a lot of weird stuff done with fur for car shows. Some cars had the wheelwells stuffed with it, possibly to hide a shabby looking area. Other owners must have thought it looked right at home on a 10 second drag car. :freak: I'd like to think that in most cases it was strictly temporary.


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## scooke123

Yeah - I think I would pass on the fur!!!! Nasty! Hope there wasnt any shag carpeting on the interior floor!!!!!
Steve


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## djnick66

Fortunately there is not much of a floor inside just a chassis bottom pan under the frame.

For what its worth, I started working on my Revell kit. The white plastic is real nice to work with and I got the body cleaned up easily. There are some mold seams around the front windshield posts, rear window and rear fenders. 

The chrome sprue is very roughly molded with a lot of flash and while the chrome itslef is good, most of the parts should be rechromed. I will use the kit chrome on the wheels and a few other parts, but stripped it off of everything else. The molding on the one-piece chassis is very rough and even heavily sanding it does not help too much. I suppose you could make a new one from thick plastic tube or aluminum tube.


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## 71 Charger 500

I didn't mean that the Orange Krate had fur on it, I just meant that at car shows, and the Krate was shown at cars shows too, was "in" back then. And it WAS "in" back then, check out car show pics from back around the time that the Krate was running and being shown.


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