1/25 Revell Surfite

[Casey]

Here are the contents of the 1/25 Revell Surfite kit, one of Ed "Big Daddy" Roth's vehicles: https://modelkitreviews.proboards.com/thread/1623/1-25-revell-surfite

A transversely mounted Auston engine, 10 and 12" tires and wheels, and a funky asymmetrical body designed to carry a surfboard...what's not to like?

 

[OldNYJim]

Is this one getting a reissue?  I like the Roth figure!

[Tom Geiger]

Here’s two pix of mine, built when this kit came back from the dead. It is typical wonky Revell of it’s era. Ambitiously complicated with full detail with fiddly fragile parts. Loads of seams and ejector pins to fix. Assembly reveals gaps to fill between body, bumpers and interior fit. It was work but nothing we can’t handle.

The Tiki Hut was fun and I enjoyed the detail painting here.

Edited November 28, 2021 by Tom Geiger

[unclescott58]

Here’s mine from a few years ago. 

 

[unclescott58]

By the way, note the green hand and feet poking out of the hut. Rat Fink is in there.

 

Edited November 30, 2021 by unclescott58

[Mark]

The kit was originally announced as "twice the size of 1/25 scale", apparently meaning 1/12.  It was changed to 1/25 to match all the other Roth car kits, the hut was probably added to put more plastic in the box to justify pricing this kit the same as the other cars.

[RancheroSteve]

It's a fun little kit.

[Vince Nemanic]

Steve, do you have any pics of the Tiki Hut and any hints on painting it? Thanks.

[RancheroSteve]

3 hours ago, Vince Nemanic said:

Steve, do you have any pics of the Tiki Hut and any hints on painting it? Thanks.

Vince, here's another shot that shows a bit more of the hut. I built this quite a few years back, so kinda hard to remember exactly what I did, but I think I generally just tried to copy what the box art looked like. I mixed an appropriate shade of brown for the thatched parts, then went over it with a dark wash that settled into the cracks. Then painted the stuff on top of that, like the curtain, guitar, etc. Finally you want the whole thing to look dull & flat, because nothing will kill the realism of something like this than shininess.

  

[Vince Nemanic]

Thanks for the reply.  Good advice. The dark wash really made a difference. Hope to see you at GSL!

[Tom Geiger]

8 hours ago, Mark said:

the hut was probably added to put more plastic in the box to justify pricing this kit the same as the other cars.

Exactly!  As Bob Paeth explained it to me at GSL one year!  The hut was an afterthought when they saw how little plastic was sitting in that standard size box!

[Pete J.]

Ok, and then there are times that you have to take the weird and build on it!  I had just finished a 4 year project Tamiya 935 with the SMS super detail set and needed to decompress a bit.  This was just for fun!

[stavanzer]

Great Build, Pete. Has a 2 cylinder Porsche engine in it, right?

[Mr mopar]

This One of Roth's weirdest little show rods ,I remember seeing this kit going for $600.00 on Ebay many years ago The original kit , I still have not got one but will soon .   

[Pete J.]

1 hour ago, alexis said:

Great Build, Pete. Has a 2 cylinder Porsche engine in it, right?

? Flat 3 twin turbo.  Offset to give the driver room!

Edited November 30, 2021 by Pete J.

[stavanzer]

Of Course, I should have known!

[espo]

Never thought of building this when it was first released, but with the reissue coming soon I'll have to try this.  . 

[Casey]

5 minutes ago, espo said:

Never thought of building this when it was first released, but with the reissue coming soon I'll have to try this. 

I don't think it's being reissued? 

[espo]

Just now, Casey said:

I don't think it's being reissued? 

I guess looking at this and seeing what everyone had done with it I thought it was being reissued. My problem now is after looking at what others have done with it I now want one. Not enough to pay stupid money for it though. 

[RancheroSteve]

Looks like the last re-issue was 2015 (the one with the Roth figure). They're widely available for relatively cheap. I built mine from the 1993 re-issue, but apart from the figure everything is the same.

[Don Sikora II]

The 1993 reissue in particular is still very affordable. You can probably get a sealed one for less than a new reissue would cost.

[Tom Geiger]

11 hours ago, Mr mopar said:

This One of Roth's weirdest little show rods ,I remember seeing this kit going for $600.00 on Ebay many years ago The original kit , 

I remember that too! And R&R did a limited edition resin, signed by Roth for more than I wanted to spend.

So in 1993 I jumped in the reissue. It was the first time I could get a previously rare kit for $15.  It felt strange digging in and building it!

[Rick Wolfe]

This was also in the movie Valley of the Giants.