Tamiya Volvo 850 questions?

[426 pack]

Just wondering how good the kit is, if there is a review and the motor that's in it? Any help would be great thanks.  

[Daddyfink]

No engines in them and from what I have seen and heard, they build up really nice. 

[mike 51]

Niether kit has an engine/opening hood.

Both kits are very nicely done....race version is especially nice.

They makefor an interesting side by side comparo... 

Edited November 18, 2017 by mike 51

[martinfan5]

They are very Tamiya like quality kits, you wont be disappointed 

[Don Sikora II]

Built the BTCC racer when the kit was new....very old picture of it attached. From what I remember, it built up easily with no problems. 

[426 pack]

Thanks for the help guys. I have another question now would it be easy to open the hood and converted to have an engine or would it be a lot of work? 

[niteowl7710]

Thanks for the help guys. I have another question now would it be easy to open the hood and converted to have an engine or would it be a lot of work? 

It would be an Oydessy. There's no engine available that even comes close to replicating the Volvo engine, so you'd have to scratch build that whole ball of wax. Beyond that as a curbside there's no engine bay, or even strut towers to work with so you'd be completely scratch building all of that as well.

[Jaguar man 21]

as a Volvo fan and a former 850 owner I have two of the turbo wagon kits and it's dead on detail wise. As for the motor situation I wouldn't bother the chassis has nice detail but to replicate a t5 motor would be a impressive task. And honestly the kits almost nicer than most real 850s no rear main seal leaks!!!! Hahaha 

[Jaguar man 21]

Here's most of the parts, one of the cool details is tamiya gives you a sticky sided felt material to do the carpets which is neat 

[Jonathan]

Good luck finding either kit!  I've had my eye out for both for a looong time.  The do occasionally pop up on eBay, but usually for big bucks.  I wish Tamiya would bring either (or both!) back.  Maybe Santa is listening...

[espo]

I built the racer kit for a friend a few years ago. He owned a Volvo wagon at the time. I used seats from the old AMT '57 Ford for the four buckets and created smooth floor boards and a dash, left hand drive and used the race car instruments. He wanted a black car with tinted windows and it turned out real nice. I wish I had taken pictures of it back then. This is a really great kit that I would do again given the chance.  

[89AKurt]

I built the BTCC version last century.  The only detail I added was hood pins.  I drilled the holes in the brake disks, painted flat black, then rubbed soft graphite pencil to simulate the carbon.  When I posted in a Fakebook group, the administrator liked is enough to use in the banned picture.
Good luck finding one at a reasonable price!

[Mike999]

On ‎2‎/‎19‎/‎2018 at 10:17 PM, 89AKurt said:

Good luck finding one at a reasonable price!

And not just on eBay.  I saw the racing version for sale on Saturday 2/17/2018, at the big kit swap meet in Salisbury, NC.  It was still shrink-wrapped and the price tag on it was $100.

[niteowl7710]

Don't forget replacement decals for both BTCC Volvos exist from Shunko Models & S.K. Decal, so finding a mint one with "good" decals (if any of them have good decals 25 yrs later regardless as to how they were stored) isn't a necessity. I haunted Yahoo! Japan Auctions for my kits and I might have $60 including all the fees and shipping in both Volvo kits plus another $30 in S.K. replacement sheets.

[Atmobil]

This is not really about the kit but here is some videos on the real BTCC cars and you can see why it was all so spectacular. The BTCC in the 90s was real racing

This one is not so much Volvo but you can see how many different cars where in the championship back then. And all of them based on everyday cars.

Lots of cool action to watch and take away our precious building time

Edited February 23, 2018 by Atmobil

[Pete J.]

I've used this kit three times.  This was the last one.  I grafted the rear of the Volve estate to the front of an Alfa 155.  Kind of an odd cross of two BTCC cars.  The other two, I can't find photos of but I chopped the roof by a scale 6" and took another 6 inches out of the belt line.  I tucked the fenders in front and rear as well. The hood looks misaligned but isn't.  It is just loose as this car has a full engine and the hood comes off for display.   Probably not what you were looking for but great fun with what are now somewhat rare kits. 

Edited February 24, 2018 by Pete J.

[Aaronw]

Wow that Alfavo? Volfa? is neat, much better looking than I would have guessed.

 

I know it was just timing but I find it ironic that the only Volvo ever kitted* was probably the shortest lived 1-1 Volvo ever made. Most Volvo designs have gone 10, sometimes 20 years with minor changes. The 850 was only built for 4 or 5. It wasn't a bad looking car though clearly a transition between the older bricks and the later more aerodynamic designs.

 

*not counting the new 240 kit because it just came out. 

Edited February 24, 2018 by Aaronw

[Erik Smith]

3 hours ago, Aaronw said:

*not counting the new 240 kit because it just came out. 

Or this

[stavanzer]

That kit has a (lousy) engine doesn't it?

[Aaronw]

6 hours ago, Erik Smith said:

Or this

 

I've not seen that before, Esci, Italeri? Makes more sense than the 850.

[niteowl7710]

32 minutes ago, Aaronw said:

 

I've not seen that before, Esci, Italeri? Makes more sense than the 850.

I believe it's an Italeri kit, at least I can't find an older boxing of it from their original offering in the 1980s.  It was reboxed as the easier to find Testors kits, and RevellAG did a boxing of it during the 80s as well.

Here's a build of the Revell boxing - in what Google Translate tells me is Finnish

http://www.pienoismallit.net/galleria/malli_7246/

Edited February 24, 2018 by niteowl7710

[Atmobil]

The 760 is a Italeri kit with itemnumber 651 and dated 1983, atleast that is what is on my kit. It can be built up quite nicely with some work. A fellow Norwegian built this a few years ago. Modified front end, different wheels and adjusted the stance of it.

[Erik Smith]

Yeah, Italeri did the original release. Revell and Testors also released the kit. It has half an engine and off road tires. 

[martinfan5]

32 minutes ago, Erik Smith said:

Yeah, Italeri did the original release. Revell and Testors also released the kit. It has half an engine and off road tires. 

Ahh engine insert type ?

[Erik Smith]

45 minutes ago, martinfan5 said:

Ahh engine insert type ?

Kind of...It’s like inbetween a full engine and an insert. Has a plate with molded in detail but also a separate lower part with half a transmission...kind of weird