Revell 1971 Boss 351 Mustang

[Justin Porter]

On 4/20/2021 at 9:21 AM, niteowl7710 said:

Project is chugging along. You won't hear anything about it until Revell wants you to hear something about it. I highly doubt they'll ever be ones to show off CAD images and rapid prototypes like some companies do. They've long been a "Top Secret Eyes Only" organization - which makes some sense I guess considering most people can't keep from blabbing all over the place if they know something - and those habits die hard.

Revell really should reconsider that policy given that their competitors have embraced CAD imagery for promoting upcoming products. Something my Dad taught me that rings true is "In the information age the worst thing you can do is let your information age." Making an announcement then going dead quiet just fuels doubt and leaves potential customers more willing to spend elsewhere. 

[niteowl7710]

25 minutes ago, Justin Porter said:

Revell really should reconsider that policy given that their competitors have embraced CAD imagery for promoting upcoming products. Something my Dad taught me that rings true is "In the information age the worst thing you can do is let your information age." Making an announcement then going dead quiet just fuels doubt and leaves potential customers more willing to spend elsewhere. 

Sure, but that problem is twofold. First being other than maybe Salvinos being more transparent every U.S. manufacturer does the -Announce a Project (quiet) Show a test shot (quiet) Kit Magically Appears!!! - song and dance. 

Secondly I doubt Revell considers any of the Asian companies (or Belkits), or even Round2 or Moebius to be direct competition. Based on the subject matter, it's not like they're wrong. What else are you going to spend your "71-73 Mustang Dollars" on? The same janky 40yr old MPC kit in new box?

Edited April 22, 2021 by niteowl7710

[Justin Porter]

Just now, niteowl7710 said:

Sure, but that problem is twofold. First being other than maybe Salvinos being more transparent every U.S. manufacturer does the -Announce a Project (quiet) Show a test shot (quiet) Kit Magically Appears!!! - song and dance. 

Secondly I doubt Revell considers any of the Asian companies (or Belkits), or even Round2 or Moebius to be direct competition. Based on the subject matter, it's not like they're wrong. What else are you going to spend your "71-73 Mustang Dollars" on? The same janky 40yr old MPC kit in new box?

I would refer directly to Salvinos and I'd also point that Revell is also competing with other manufacturers in the military kit space. Something like their upcoming all-new 1/48th scale SR-71 Blackbird hasn't shown much more than a confirmation of subject matter. No box art. No test shots. No CAD images. When you compare that to their competitors like HKM, Special Hobby, Eduard, Tamiya, and on down the list, it's a really antiquated approach. 

Yes, I agree that they're going to absolutely dunk on Round 2 between having a much better kit and likely at a lower MSRP, but Revell (and quite frankly the bulk of the domestic kit manufacturers) should do significantly better at embracing web media for promoting upcoming product. 

[vamach1]

9 minutes ago, niteowl7710 said:

Sure, but that problem is twofold. First being other than maybe Salvinos being more transparent every U.S. manufacturer does the -Announce a Project (quiet) Show a test shot (quiet) Kit Magically Appears!!! - song and dance. 

Secondly I doubt Revell considers any of the Asian companies (or Belkits), or even Round2 or Moebius to be direct competition. Based on the subject matter, it's not like they're wrong. What else are you going to spend your "71-73 Mustang Dollars" on? The same janky 40yr old MPC kit in new box?

You’re right about the janky MPC kit.  A 1971 Mustang 429 sold for $175,000 at auction recently so perhaps some have woken up to realize that was the pinnacle of Ford off the showroom floor performance.  The new body style was too much for the purists but they cannot ignore that cars were getting larger.  Have you seen the size of some of those 70’s Chryslers.

[niteowl7710]

1 minute ago, Justin Porter said:

I would refer directly to Salvinos and I'd also point that Revell is also competing with other manufacturers in the military kit space. Something like their upcoming all-new 1/48th scale SR-71 Blackbird hasn't shown much more than a confirmation of subject matter. No box art. No test shots. No CAD images. When you compare that to their competitors like HKM, Special Hobby, Eduard, Tamiya, and on down the list, it's a really antiquated approach. 

Yes, I agree that they're going to absolutely dunk on Round 2 between having a much better kit and likely at a lower MSRP, but Revell (and quite frankly the bulk of the domestic kit manufacturers) should do significantly better at embracing web media for promoting upcoming product. 

I think if you really talked to "serious" military builders they'd argue Revell isn't very competitive in that space either. I'm not sure I know anyone who'd suggest a Revell kit instead of, or over pretty much anything other than maybe Smer if there's more than just the Revell kit to choose from...they're definitely seen as the subpar "budget" kit maker.

[Justin Porter]

Just now, niteowl7710 said:

I think if you really talked to "serious" military builders they'd argue Revell isn't very competitive in that space either. I'm not sure I know anyone who'd suggest a Revell kit instead of, or over pretty much anything other than maybe Smer if there's more than just the Revell kit to choose from...they're definitely seen as the subpar "budget" kit maker.

Not entirely true. Some of their most recent tooling has actually been fairly well praised. Their all-new for '18 1/48th scale Bristol Beaufighter got a lot of accolades for being superior to Tamiya's. Their new-tool non-fillet tail P-51D in 1/32nd scale was also quite a success. This also doesn't take into account the sheer amount of ICM stuff you'll find in their boxes. There's been a lot of improvement from Revell as of late, but their unwillingness to demonstrate that to the world has been baffling. 

I will concede that they're still pretty much awful at 1/72nd scale armor. lol 

[Repstock]

1 hour ago, vamach1 said:

  The new body style was too much for the purists but they cannot ignore that cars were getting larger.  

The purists must be comparing the 1971 style Mustang to the original Mustang. For the record, a 1971 Mustang was only 1.5 inches longer, 1 inch taller, and slightly narrower than a 1971 Camaro. I have never heard of the 1971 Camaro being called too large. Sounds like Ford got the size about right - for 1971, at least.

[sfhess]

Revell needs to change their policy and get newly-developed kits out immediately so people on the web can pick at all the inaccuracies in the product.😁😆

[Daddyfink]

Revell Germany has always been a step ahead of Revell USA in quality of their kits, and now that they own the whole deal, I expect that quality to bleed into the Domestic Type car kits. This Mustang should be a good measuring stick on how that is going to turn out. 

 

 

[Merkur XR4Ti]

22 hours ago, Justin Porter said:

I would refer directly to Salvinos and I'd also point that Revell is also competing with other manufacturers in the military kit space. Something like their upcoming all-new 1/48th scale SR-71 Blackbird hasn't shown much more than a confirmation of subject matter. No box art. No test shots. No CAD images. When you compare that to their competitors like HKM, Special Hobby, Eduard, Tamiya, and on down the list, it's a really antiquated approach. 

Yes, I agree that they're going to absolutely dunk on Round 2 between having a much better kit and likely at a lower MSRP, but Revell (and quite frankly the bulk of the domestic kit manufacturers) should do significantly better at embracing web media for promoting upcoming product. 

Salvino's is a 3 man company that produces runs of 5000 kits each. I like them and am part of the Builder's Club, but it's much easier to be transparent when you're a very small company as opposed to Revell which is a large company that will produce kit runs of more than 100,000 kits.

[Justin Porter]

Just now, Merkur XR4Ti said:

Salvino's is a 3 man company that produces runs of 5000 kits each. I like them and am part of the Builder's Club, but it's much easier to be transparent when you're a very small company as opposed to Revell which is a large company that will produce kit runs of more than 100,000 kits.

Quite the contrary. Tamiya is undeniably a much larger company than Revell and they have no issues whatsoever communicating to their much wider customer base the progress on upcoming products. Dedicating resources to getting potential customers excited about your products is kind of a thing companies that sell products are supposed to do. 

[keyser]

Almost like a big car manufacturer giving small copies of their cars to kids. Nah, that’d never work. 🤦🏻‍♂️😎

[Sledsel]

On 4/22/2021 at 7:29 PM, Daddyfink said:

Revell Germany has always been a step ahead of Revell USA in quality of their kits, and now that they own the whole deal, I expect that quality to bleed into the Domestic Type car kits. This Mustang should be a good measuring stick on how that is going to turn out. 

 

 

I sure hope you are right. I have a bunch of Revell "parts kits" that I couldn't or didn't want to correct the flaws.

[ChrisBcritter]

On 4/22/2021 at 8:40 AM, Oldcarfan27 said:

Sounds like the title of a Bond movie!

Very appropriate for this thread.

And Revell has Plenty O'Tooleing to do on this kit. 

I'll see myself out.

Edited May 4, 2021 by ChrisBcritter

[Daddyfink]

18 hours ago, Sledsel said:

I sure hope you are right. I have a bunch of Revell "parts kits" that I couldn't or didn't want to correct the flaws.

It is just and assumption, but I sure do hope they do better with their style of engineering vs. the USA version.

And if you are talking about their 69 Mustangs, don't forget that kit is over 30 years old! 

 

[Daddyfink]

On 4/23/2021 at 5:40 AM, Justin Porter said:

Quite the contrary. Tamiya is undeniably a much larger company than Revell and they have no issues whatsoever communicating to their much wider customer base the progress on upcoming products. Dedicating resources to getting potential customers excited about your products is kind of a thing companies that sell products are supposed to do. 

Revell of Germany is more like Tamiya than Revell USA ever was, or will be, due to the fact that like Tamiya, they market to a Global Market, unlike Revell USA that mainly catered to American taste. 

Hopefully this will translate to better product from Revell in USA

[charlie8575]

I wonder how tough it'll be to covert this to a 240 or 302-powered mainstreamer? I might still build it as a Boss 351, too. It's a nice-looking package. I'll probably build it in some sort of blue besides Grabber Blue. I assume the standard range of interior colors were available?

If this succeeds, I would be very happy to see Revell (or R2) do a completely-correct Challenger (talk about overdue!) and a new Javelin or AMX (or both). I'm actually surprised the Javelin hasn't been done, it seems to be one of the most-requested kits, especially any time a Mustang/F-Body is mentioned as upcoming.

Charlie Larkin

[Sledsel]

On 5/4/2021 at 7:50 PM, Daddyfink said:

It is just and assumption, but I sure do hope they do better with their style of engineering vs. the USA version.

And if you are talking about their 69 Mustangs, don't forget that kit is over 30 years old! 

 

No, not the Mustang... Chopped 48 Ford, 49 Merc and 57 Fords come straight to my mind

[Daddyfink]

4 minutes ago, Sledsel said:

No, not the Mustang... Chopped 48 Ford, 49 Merc and 57 Fords come straight to my mind

Made to Revell USA standards

[Sledsel]

12 minutes ago, Daddyfink said:

Made to Revell USA standards

Yup.... so I am holding a little hope for the 71 Mustang

 

[Bob Ellis]

I am surprised that Revell hasn't leaked and teaser photos or info of their upcoming 1971 Mustang. It might keep interest going.

['70 Grande]

I'm anxiously waiting for this new kit, but my guess is that it is still in the early-development stage meaning there is nothing to show yet. Seems to me those pics of a 1:1 '71 Mustang, (Mach-1)?, that had reference points taped all over it for scanning and digital file preparation were from late-2020 or early-2021... I'd bet it'll be awhile before we hear or see anything about this new kit.

[Casey]

 

Edited September 1, 2021 by Casey

[tim boyd]

Revell typically keeps future projects close to their vest.  As many of us have observed, they typically do not show glimpses of upcoming tools; that's in part why a number of us were so surprised that they showed the in-progress 1971 442 hardtop at the IPMS event.   And the brief appearance of the 1971 Mustang project may have been someone at Revell Germany enthusiastically "jumping the gun" as it were.  Given the typical product development timeline there, my guess is that this might be a mid-2022 kit debut at the earliest.  As we always say around here, "time will tell".    TB 

[vamach1]

On 5/6/2021 at 1:20 AM, Sledsel said:

Yup.... so I am holding a little hope for the 71 Mustang

 

Meanwhile Round2 keeps updating the 50 year old MPC kit (this time with new Mach1 decals) but does not fix the hood or include a correct 351C engine.  It will not be long before it is reboxed again as a Boss 351 but with only new decals and nothing else changed like adding a correct engine or chrome front bumper.