Revell ’58 Corvette Roadster 1:25

Ref: 07037
Review by Geoff Coughlin (March 2018)
Price around: £29.99 GBP

Our thanks to Revell for supplying our review sample. Revell model kits are available from all good toy and model retailers. For details visit www.revell.de/en

Manufacturer’s completed model

Take a look at these photos of Revell’s completed model – nice, isn’t it? We are planning a full build of our own and you’ll find that in SMN over the coming weeks. In the meantime, you can feast your eyes on this classic roadster from the 1950s

The Revell Kit

This model dates back to 1997 when first released by Revell and it’s nice to see it back in production once more, sporting a new paint scheme and decals for several countries. This is a great feature as you can personalise your model for whatever country you like, within reason!

Box and contents

The Revell box artwork is usually impressive enough and that’s the case here showing that immediately recognisable Corvette classic profile with roof down – sooo 1950s!

Let’s go inside

The kit is generally well moulded with the main chassis parts on white sprues. Taking the main components first, they are well tooled, fine recessed detail and adequate levels of design across the board – a decent engine is included, made up from plenty of well-formed parts. I’m not sure that I would go to the trouble of painting it as supplied given its location but you can make your own mind up about that. For me, I would like to preserve the shape of that Corvette styling.

No distortion on the main parts – the initial impression is one of parts that will go to make up a nice representative model in 1:25 scale. Some excess flash on the parts is evident and not surprising for a kit of this age.

Interior

The interior is pretty well detailed, floor pan, seats, dash and other internals look pretty good.

Decals are supplied for the instruments and this will add a lot to the interior look of the vehicle.

Rubber included

The tyres are supplied as rubber items and I for one am fine with that. These are easily prepared and can be made to look very realistic – I’ll show you what I do when I get to the build that’s on the way. Or, you can look in your SMN Techniques Bank for a demo on how to tackle these items that modellers seem to love or hate!

Chrome parts

Chrome plated wheels are supplied, as are the light casings. These parts rarely look realistic and many car modellers remove the chrome plating from the parts and spray their preferred paint mixes to get the effect they’re after.

Clear parts

The clear parts look very clear and defect-free.

Instructions

The Revell instructions book is pretty clear. Location of parts is clear but colour paint coding is for Revell paints only. You’ll have to match your own choice of paints if you go elsewhere for your choice of colour. The build sequence is pretty standard and logical but many modellers will part company with the stated order to suit their experience.

The instructions feature colour and painting guidance and all in all the instructions are definitely a step forward for Revell.

Decals

Good quality of offer here. Markings in register and colour looks good. What’s included really covers various number plates from different countries plus seat belts and logos as well as those instruments.

Conclusion

This is a great subject and it’s very good to have this 1:25 scale ’58 Corvette Roadster available once again. This model will provide all model car fans, especially those with an interest in classic types with a great new addition to their collection.

The model itself looks to be well engineered. Moulding is good and detail overall fine for the scale.
Geoff C.

SMN Quick summary Star rating out of 5