Revell Trabant 601S 'Trabbi'

[Chuck Most]

No, no... not the 'good' one from a few years back. This is the original 1990 version.

HIGH POINTS:

It's a Trabant

Not many parts, so no chance of getting bogged down trying to superdetail it.

Cool box art. (Nothing to do with the kit itself but worth mentioning).

Won't see 60 of these at the next show you attend.

Decent molding quality overall.

LOW POINTS:

It's a Trabant.

Not many parts, so no chance of having fun trying to superdetail it.

Chassis has roughly the same amount of engraved detail as a typical Hot Wheels release.

Tires have sidewall lettering, but NO TREAD. Wheels are also molded into them.

Extremely shallow panel lines, nonexistant upper door (window frame) cut lines.

Frail roof pillars almost guaranteed to be broken or warped if you order it by mail... and that's before you cut out the Y-shaped support. Same deal for the optional roof rack.

OVERALL:

If you want a Trabant model and don't want to expend a ton of effort, go with this one. It's almost laughably crude in some areas, but I've seen a couple of these nicely painted and detailed, and they're pretty good shelf models. And it has most of the basic visible elements right, and just enough detail to not look too toylike. If you want something a bit more involved, go with the newer Revell Trabant kit, the 601 'Limousine' (?). A simple Google image search will bring up all kinds of potential Trabant projects- everything from art cars to tuners, to one that's been cut in half and turned into a horse-drawn buggy.

Edited July 24, 2012 by Harry P.

[Junkman]

I remember when this thing was rushed into production as quickly as possible after the wall fell in late 1989. I think it took less than six months from desicion to retail shelf.

It was Revell AG's first kit fully engineered by computer modelling of a 3D scan of the real car. Hence the body shape is slavishly faithful to the 1:1, but appears wrong in scale. Still, it was a valiant effort, an industry first, and it should demonstrate to all what was possible with the technology of 1989. Almost a quarter century later, one would think something like this can be done within hours, which it can, btw.

Had Revell AG taken the time to 'correct' the first 3D scan and taken the effort to add tire thread and better engraving, we would have been blessed with a quite nice Trabbi model, but they wanted to rush this kit to the market as quick as they possibly could and cut quite a few corners in the process.

As you say, the roof pillars were an ill-fated concept and most of these came out of the box so warped, that they were unbuildable.

The AG recently followed up with a completely newly tooled Trabbi. If you want to build one, this new kit is certainly the better choice.

For collectibility, the old kit can hardly be beaten, since it is a symbol of one of the biggest moments in recent history and one of them is indeed on display in the Cold-War Museum in the former 'Checkpoint Charly' in Berlin.

Btw. 'Limousine' is the generic German term for saloon, or sedan. What you guys consider a limousine is called a 'Pullmann' in Germany.

Edited July 24, 2012 by Junkman

[carsntrucks4you]

The kit it that Chuck used is one is the worst new tooled kit I ever had. This one was a brought into the market due to the German re-unification. This one just for the scrap bin.

The new kit that was introduced last year is much better, well engineered. good quality, excellent deatailed engine, but there is still the bggest con: ITS A TRABANT!

[mr moto]

That would look great as a gasser!

[Harry P.]

[Chuck Most]

That would look great as a gasser!

Guess what my next Trabant project will be?

[mr moto]

Guess what my next Trabant project will be?

Great minds...etc., etc.

[Scuderia]

Thats a pretty neat lil car, and definitely has some creative opportunity lol. And thanks for the background info Chuck and Christian.

[Volvoman]

I remember when these first hit the shelves here in the UK, I bought one and was disapointed to see how basic it was, then they released a rally . version and I bought that one as well. I no longer have either of them but wish that I had still kept the rally car version as I have never seen another one. We live and learn by our mistakes.....!!