Ref: 00450
Price around: £130.24 GBP
Review by Geoff Coughlin (April 2018)
Our thanks to Revell for supplying our review sample. Revell model kits are available from all good toy and model retailers. For details visit the Revell shop
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 type dating back to the 1930s
The Revell Kit
This model dates back to 1991 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! More importantly, this time new electronic parts are included to provide realistic lighting for your model making it part of Revell’s new ‘Technik’ range.
The model is about 26cm long, so not as big as I thought it was going to be, making it a much more manageable project for all who build it.
This new lighting element will certainly add some fun to your building and why not, that is after all what this great hobby of ours should be about – enjoyment and fun!
Box and contents
The Revell box artwork is usually impressive enough and that’s the case here showing that immediately recognisable VW Beetle (or Käfer in German) classic profile.
Let’s go inside
The kit is generally well moulded with the main chassis parts on white sprues, with black for many smaller parts and sub-frame. Taking the main components first, they are well tooled, fine recessed detail and adequate levels of deign across the board – a decent engine is included, made up from plenty of well-formed parts.
No distortion on the main parts – the initial impression is one of parts that will go to make up a nice representative model in 1:16 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 wheel hubs, bumpers, light casings and other parts are supplied. 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.
Electronic lighting parts
You get several bags that are clearly labelled with the different wiring sets for each part of the vehicle. So front and rear main lights, indicators plus the internal dashboard lighting is there with the main box of tricks that connects it all able to be hidden out of sight. The connections seem to all go into the under chassis space around the rear wheel arches.
Instructions
The instructions feature a colour and painting guide and all in all the instructions are definitely a step forward for Revell.
The diagrams clearly show where the lighting wires are located making this part of the build pretty straightforward as far as I can see.
Decals
Good quality on offer here. Markings in register and colour looks good. What’s included re-ally covers various number plates of 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 1:16 scale VW Beetle 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 and the addition of lighting should bring a smile to many who view your completed model whether that’s other modellers visiting your club stand at a show or convention through to friends and family at home :)
Geoff C.
SMN Quick summary Star rating out of 5
| FEATURE | STAR RATING (out of five) |
|---|---|
| Quality of moulding | **** |
| Accuracy | **** |
| Instructions | *** |
| Decals | **** |
| Level of detail | **** |
| Subject choice | ***** |
| Overall | **** |
