What It Takes To Be A Good Model Kit

[CAL]

The new Revell AG kit is the Protar kit. Now molded in white. So many people hate it, but it's packed w/detail and is fairly accurate for the particular car it was patterned after.

I was under the impression the Revell boxing had forgone with the engine assy. I do know about the study car and kit. Apparently the study was severely wrecked in the back and was rebuilt to a slightly different shape than Ferrari did. That doesn't bother me so much. I was just trying to get confirmation on the existance of the engine in the Revell AG offering.

[CAL]

An old Protar box had a photo of his real car on it.

I think you might be correct; however, the Protar kit I have has a picture of the model on the box.

[Zoom Zoom]

I've seen photos of the new Revell/Protar kit, everything is there, including engine.

[The Creative Explorer]

I've downloaded the manual of the 250GTO couple of days ago, and when I return back in the Netherlands, I am going to buy several 250's.

The kit got really nice detail. I was impressed for Revell ( even it is a Protar ) Talk about value for money

[Randy Kern]

I would have to agree with Jeff about Tamiya, and also recent Hasegawa and Fujimi kits. I've just recently completed one of each, mostly out-of-box, and the parts fitment, seals, decals and moldings are all top notch. I especially like the way the chassis attaches to the body usually without glue. Most have workable steering. The vehicles usually sit right, OOB without any tweaking. It doesn't matter too much if there isn't an engine, as the sometimes rare and varied subject matter makes up for that. All the recent builds I've done have engines, and well-detailed ones. Very few glitches. There is a price premium, but sometimes you can find discounts. I don't mind the extra cost for a well-engineered, good parts-fit kit. I am now finishing up the '49 Mercury, and there wasn't, and doesn't seem to be one problem at all building it! A great kit Revell, now keep it up!

[Raul_Perez]

Here's another kit I would nominate for "great kit" status ... Revell's '41 Willys.

Let's take a look at a few of the things it has going for that makes it (or them, actually, since I think these comments can apply equally to the drag and street rod versions) a candidate (or candidates) for that lofty designation ...

* Subject matter that appeals to a broad cross-section of automotive enthusiasts _ the '41 Willys is an icon in both drag racing and street rodding circles.

* A clear improvement over previous kits of the same subject.

* Lends itself to multiple building versions.

* Ease of assembly.

* Lends itself well to added detail, but also looks great built OOB.

* Perhaps the best 1/25 scale representation ever of the iconic Chrysler 392 Hemi in race or street rod trim.

* Significant amounts of tooling unique to the drag and street rod versions.

Are these kits perfect? Not by a long stretch. The front wheels and tires on both the drag and street rod versions are awful, the front suspension on the street rod version places the nose of the car way too high, the clips on the hood and the notches in the front fenders that accept them need to be done away with and there are some obvious compromises in both kits stemming from the shared tooling.

Agreed!! I bought two more of the Stone, Woods & Cook Willys yesterday at a swap meet just for the parts!! At $10 each, I couldn't pass them up...

If all kits were at least as good as the new Revell Willys or Merc we could probably get rid of the "Rants and Raves" board...