Paul H

I'm not supposed to be buying any new kits as I already have too many, but these three are so tempting, especially the '57 wagon! Btw, does anyone know much about that 240Z kit? I'd be wanting to build a standard, road version & wondered how easy it would be to do from the BRE one?

I have most of their older stuff waiting to be built, and reckon that they all look pretty good - if anyone would like further details, I can take some pics. In addition to the mostly French classic / vintage European cars (most of which have not been kitted by other companies) it is worth noting that they also produced full detail kits of the Jaguar E Type / XKE. These roadster and coupe versions are vastly superior to either of the Revell / Monogram kits of the Jag, in detail and accuracy - would be fantastic if those were to be re-released too!!

That Bentley is indeed the old Heller kit. The decal sheet from the Revell version looks to be more comprehensive than how I remember the Heller one to be though. If anyone would like confirmation, I can dig out my Heller release to double check. Oh, and in case anyone is put off by it being from Heller, don't be! Whilst they are quite old tooling now, the series that this Bentley kit is from were pretty good. The two that I have built (Merc 500K and Bugatti T50) were the third and fourth models that I built when I first took up this hobby, and they turned out very nicely. As a result, I'm looking forward to building the Bentley when I have the time!

It's a reboxed Heller kit. Heller did roadster, coupe and race coupe (the one shown here) versions, all of which are full detail. AFAIK, only the race version was reboxed by Airfix, but the regular coupe has been reboxed by Gunze - not to be confused with Gunze's own roadster kits. The Gunze & Heller Jags are by far the best plastic kits of these cars in this scale.

Yup, it does have an engine. I don't have my one to hand, but from memory, it is full detail, but things like the differential, which are completely hidden, are not included. I agree that the Heller kits of this series are excellent, with loads of detail. Some very unique subject matter too. Worth noting also that Heller (or reboxes of) did the only decent Jaguar E Type / X-KE coupe kit in 1:24.

Here's the Revell AG automotive future releases that were announced earlier today in their email newsletter: BMW M1 PROCAR Product number: 07242 Scale 1:24 Bentley Blower Product number: 07007 Scale 1:24 Porsche 911 Carrera Cabrio Product number: 07063 Scale 1:24 I'm guessing that the Porsche and the BMW are reissues as I've seen both before in Revell AG boxing (isn't the Porsche originally an Italeri tool?), but does anyone know anything about the Bentley? Wondering if this will be a new tool, or simply a rebox / reissue of the excellent older Heller kit?

Great idea - can't wait to see more. Which '34 kit are you using for those parts?

Many thanks for the info - I will do some research into those!

I've read mention of a resin '57 Nomad, but what other aftermarket resin bodies are available for the modern tooling Revell Tri-Fives? A wagon, or a four door hardtop are top of my wanted list!

Ah - thought it might be Solidworks. I haven't used Rhino for years. Perhaps you should sell the CAD model to Revell AG, so they can do a 1:24 version!!

I really like the sound of this, and those hinges look superb! Can't wait to see more However with the addition of the opening doors, it may be worth having a look at how the Tamiya Mini Cooper kit deals with the interior part of the doors, as it is much more prototypically correct in this area than the Revell. The latter makes the doors much thicker than they should be - on the 1:1 the central upholstered part, inside the large door pocket, is stuck onto the back of the door skin, as the sliding windows mean that the entire door shell can be used for storage / elbow space. The Tamiya has the upholstered section moulded into the interior of the bodyshell, and the door frame is then added directly onto the shell, creating a much more accurate representation. I guess that this method could easily be copied and incorporated into the Revell kit. Instructions for the Tamiya Mini variants, for reference: http://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10016369 http://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10002172 http://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10002174

Fantastic!!! I will be following this with great interest, especially since my uncle has a '59 MGA, that I drive regularly. If it is of any help, all the factory workshop manuals, parts books etc can be downloaded from here: http://mgaguru.com/mgtech/literature/lt3.htm Also, out of interest, what programme did you use to create the initial CAD model?

Beautiful!!! Always nice to see one of these, especially when built to such a high standard No, he drove a Blower Bentley closer to this with a fixed canvas top (though described as having a dull gray skin like an elephant, which I take to mean primer). Wouldn't have been primer. Possibly a reference to faded paint (the car would have been more than 20 years old at its first outing in Casino Royale), but much more likely to have been a fabric body, which is also how the Le Mans VdP body on this model is constructed. More info on Weymann fabric bodywork here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weymann_Fabric_Bodies

The front suspension looks like a Dubonnet system. Can't wait to see more on this project - looks like it will be stunning when completed!

That looks absolutely stunning! Can't wait to see it completed A few years ago some photo etched sets were created for these 356 kits - the first was purely for the cylinder barrels but the second was a general detailing set for the rest of the car with badging scripts, air filter meshes, grille panels and steering wheel centres for different versions. However it also includes the chrome side trims, if that is of any help for your project?

Is the Handman version wagon the two door or four door? I've always had a soft spot for the four door wagons of this era. A similar variant of the 57 Ford would also be fantastic! Also, regarding other variants that haven't been made yet, what about a four door hardtop? Or has someone already done that as a resin conversion for the Revell kit? Regarding all the talk about a 57 Nomad, if one isn't released, how easy would it be to transplant the roof and rear panel from the 56 Nomad onto a 57 sedan kit? Wondering if anyone has tried this yet, and how well everything on the body all lined up, given the shared origins of the tooling?

The Jag has opening doors, windows that wind up and down, working front suspension, and pretty good engine / ancillary detail. However an oversized 1:24 / 25 model is a good description for much of the rest of this kit, although some items are moulded much more in scale due to the larger size (e.g. the wire wheels). It is a good basis for detailing though.

If only the Jag kit was as detailed as that Citroen though! Most of the inaccuracies and omissions can be dealt with (e.g. missing structure ahead of the rear suspension, and total absence of the underbonnet closing panels), but the incorrect shaping of the headlamp bezels would be trickier to sort out.

A previous issue in 2003 was £50 (I bought one then from Hamleys in London), so I guess that 90 euros isn't too bad. The second hand values seemed to have gone a bit silly recently, so I reckon that this new release will sell pretty well.

Air Trax do a Cortina Mk1 (saloon & estate), as well as a Morris Minor, both in resin, if that's of interest.

Agreed - I don't see Heller making something like a Yugo. However, if the R4 is a success, then perhaps we can hope that the next old car that they do in 1:24 will be that other French automotive icon, the Citroen DS. A Facel Vega would be fantastic, but sadly probably not mainstream enough...

That looks pretty good! If a kit version is a must-have, then Air Trax do / did a resin BMW of this shape, but I'm not sure exactly which version. However IIRC, it was a transkit to be used with the old Revell BMW 3 series (first gen - E21??) kit.

That Golf GTi Mk2 was a re-release of an '80s / '90s kit, rather than a new one, so based on the quality of the recent new tooling car kits from Revell AG, it is very likely that the Golf Mk1 kits will be well detailed and engineered.

Cheers for the heads-up! It's about time that there was a kit of this. The description says that there are only 88 pieces though, but I hope it is full detail like Heller's earlier old / classic car kits. Btw, some definite good news is that several more of their old ones are being re-released - the Hispano Suiza K6, Bugatti T50 and Delahaye 135

Thanks for posting - much appreciated! Very wierd though that Revell decided to make the front and rear inner arches so much more complicated than those on the actual car... It's as though they have fitted wheel arch liners.