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1/24 Monogram Black Widow


Pete L.

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My Hobbytown didnt have it, the T-Bird, the T'rantula, or the midget. Just what I expected. But they DID have a Dukes kit that has been lanquishing there for what seems like years! I got one on ebay this morning. I bought it at 10 ( there were 3 available ) and by noon they were all gone! I wish Revellogram had not made this an SSP. B)

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Aside from nostalgia, what is the draw on this kit? It is awfully crude and little or no use as a parts donor.:)

Well, as a kid I never had the kit for the same reasons you mention and it's about time I over look that and get one...same thing with the "Green Hornet" kit. Pure nostalgia, nothing more. Now, if they could only reissue the "Yellow Jacket" and the"Red Chariot" !

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Well, as a kid I never had the kit for the same reasons you mention and it's about time I over look that and get one...same thing with the "Green Hornet" kit. Pure nostalgia, nothing more. Now, if they could only reissue the "Yellow Jacket" and the"Red Chariot" !

Yea I'll second that, and add backdating the 29 roadster pickup to the Blue Beetle!

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Way back when, I bought that kit at the discount store on sale for .79 cents. The cool thing was, it was motorized. I put it together, put the batteries in, flicked the switch and sent it across the floor and into the dining room wall where the car broke in half. Maybe I'll try to motorize the new version and keep it out of the wall this time.

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It's a great kit to have back on the shelves again!!! I restored an original kit a few years ago that I picked up at a swap meet....

P4090003.jpg

I can't wait to build the new one to go with it. Monogram did a pretty neat thing by tooling up new Firestone dirt track tires, along with the ribbed fronts (sans the Firestone lettering.... :) ) By doing so, and adding a few new decals to the sheet, they made it closer to the 1:1 that Hollywood Hotrods built last year....

http://www.hollywoodhotrods.com/BlackWidow.htm

At any rate, what an awesome comeback of a kit from many of "our" childhoods, and for the younger group of modelers, here's a peek at what some of us grew up with. A simple, but effective piece of modeling history. I love the repops.... :)

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i understand the nostalgic appeal this kit has for many but i have no interest in it or any of the other Monogram hot rod kits of the time like the Green Hornet. the new tires do look pretty sweet though i must say!

the other one i don't really get the appeal of is the Blue Beetle. it's a cool kit, not saying it's not but to me the Boss "A" Bone kit is just as cool if not cooler and it's largely forgotten. people do seem to be mad for the BB though for whatever reason, i guess i'm missing something :unsure:

It helps the understanding of the appeal if, like me, you're a geezer of a certain age. The Monogram 1/24 hot rod kits were great when we were kids 'cause with multi-colored plastic, clean moldings and simple engineering it was relatively easy to build a better looking model (particularly without painting) than one could get with a comparable AMT or (god forbid) Revell kit.

Granted the B. Widow kit is relatively crude detail-wise (no transmission!) but with a little work it could be made into a nice detailed 24th scale hot rod and it's still the only '27 RPU in scale.

...and it looks like this reissue has some GREAT tires!

I've said it before but it bears repeating; it doesn't have to be BLACK!

canary1.jpg

Edited by John Goschke
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both excellent examples of what the kit could be with some effort :lol: i really like the yellow and red one and that's because of the color change. i do understand the appeal these kits have for nostalgic purposes and for all you old geezers out there :lol: i just don't have any interest in building them. the good part is that when re-iisues like this sell well it opens the door to more and hopefully at some point maybe one of those old kits that i would really like to have. i'm not into the Tom Daniel(sp?) show rods but maybe if those do well enough Revell will re-tool and re-issue the California Street 'vette kit.

i don't hate the Blue Beetle either but i've seen enough of them over the past year or so restored or built OOB to last me a life time and then some. it's cool but at this point i don't care to see another one unless someone decides to do something different with that kit and make it something unique.

There you go; some wants chocolate, some wants vanilla! I'll buy two Black Widows if it means you get your California Street 'Vette (Wow, those are some big black louvers all over that thing!) Then you buy two Street 'Vettes so I get my Sizzler Dragster!

I hear you on the box art builds! Enough already on those; chop 'em, customize 'em, or super detail them! What I like about the original Blue Beetle kit are the nice wheels and tires and the Cadillac script valve covers. As many of those old kits were re-issued many of those great parts were modified beyond redemption; those are the things I miss.

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 2 weeks later...

Here is a review of the recent re-release of the Monogram Black Widow. Here is the disclaimer: this is a kit that is pushing 50 years since it’s first release. So view it in that light. It is rather toy like but for some good clean fun you can’t beat it. It is NOT a scale rendering…..even if it was very few folks on this board would build it box stock anyway…..so here we go. (Yeah yeah.....I know....we NEED all kinds of new tools of interesting subjects...... geeesh....you telling me you have built everything in your stash already!!!?????....oops...got a little off point there.....) Anyway here we go......................

The box is pretty much what it was originally. At around $20 it is way more expensive than it was in the first release but…time moves on.

Box-vi.jpg

The tires are the really big upgrade here . They are a nice no-name set of big & little tires (or is that big & bigger!!!). They are vinyl and not the hard plastic halves of the original. Maybe they could be used on a different build. Truck perhaps???? They really are that good….. See the comparison to the AMT Firestone skinny at the far left of the picture for an idea of the relative size. Remember that the BW is 1/24 and the Firestone skinny here is 1/25. The rear tire is really nice....note the tread!!!!

Tires-vi.jpg

The seats, top, bed cover and several other items are done up in an ivory colored plastic. Should look nice if you paint them carefully per the directions.

White-vi.jpg

The chrome is very well done and has fewer issues with attachment lugs being poorly placed than you will find a full scale glue kit. (Seems like the snap kit guys and some of the SSP re-releases have figured that out!!!!) There are a few tricky spots but overall this tree is quite nice.

Chrome-vi.jpg

The main tree is black plastic and offers the body, frame, engine halves, fenders, wheel backs and other detail items. Keep in mind this is 1/24 th scale but is not really “SCALEâ€. The frame is actually pretty nice..the body and pick-up bed are well done but rudimentary and proper for this type of kit. (Looking at them in the box you "Just know" some-one will use them in some outrageous custom build!!!).


Main-vi.jpg

The decal sheet is very nice. It has the pinstripes, numbers and even some very small but very well done gauge faces.

Decals-vi.jpg




Once again if this genre is not your cup of tea i.e. old fashioned, toy like, out of scale, nostalgic re-release then pass it by. But if you had one of these as a kid, like I did, and either botched it, lost it, broke it or otherwise fouled it beyond recognition then this is your chance to build it again. Put the photo-etch, the BMF and the airbrush away and use some of the new techniques and the high-tech paints and glue on this and take your time…..it builds up nicely and is a welcome change from the gut wrenching detail adventures to which we sometimes subject ourselves. (Oh yeah....follow the directions on this too...it's part of the FUN!!!). Besides, visitors to my garage flash a classic dumbfounded look when they see this sitting next to a contest quality build. Enjoy it for what it is.



Regards Bill (Duntov)

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