Stranger things blazer

[Jordan White]

1 hour ago, Rob Hall said:

I don't even mind that they cast the rear roof w/ the body, because when was the last time you saw an '81-91 K Blazer or Jimmy with the top off? 

Agreed, plus it seems like most kits with the roof separate have poor body rigidity and warped roofs.

[Rob Hall]

22 minutes ago, Ron Hamilton said:

Now where did I put my 6 lug Rally Wheels? I wonder will the upgrade Grills from different years fit? I would like to do a 81.

Yeah, I thought I’d dig out some of my Iceman grills and see if they fit.  Think I’ll get a Canuck 3D ‘89-91 grille with the quad rectangular headlights. 

Edited February 11 by Rob Hall

[Jordan White]

7 minutes ago, Rob Hall said:

Yeah, I thought I’d dig out some of my Iceman grills and see if they fit.  Think I’ll get a Canuck 3D ‘89-91 grille with the quad rectangular headlights. 

The ‘89-‘91 composite grilles are my favorite, especially the GMC version! Funny thing is they technically continued to 1996 on the full size vans!

Edited February 11 by Jordan White

[Ron Hamilton]

3 hours ago, Rob Hall said:

Yeah, I thought I’d dig out some of my Iceman grills and see if they fit.  Think I’ll get a Canuck 3D ‘89-91 grille with the quad rectangular headlights. 

I have several different grilles in my inventory,  and a set of Fireball Modelworks 6-lug 15x8 Rally Wheels with a set of his all terrain tires.

A good friend of mine had a black/gray  87. 

I'm good for at least three. I may sell off my MPC  76.

[martinfan5]

Mine arrived today too

[av405]

8 hours ago, Rob Hall said:

Yeah, I thought I’d dig out some of my Iceman grills and see if they fit.  Think I’ll get a Canuck 3D ‘89-91 grille with the quad rectangular headlights. 

If they don't fit, I hope Wylde at Canuck can modify his designs to fit this kit. Revell already announced a 1985 Jimmy, so I wonder how many more grill variants we will get as the years go by.

[mikemodeler]

5 hours ago, av405 said:

If they don't fit, I hope Wylde at Canuck can modify his designs to fit this kit. Revell already announced a 1985 Jimmy, so I wonder how many more grill variants we will get as the years go by.

As well as trim variants as this one appears to be the base model trim. I think the 3D aftermarket will develop the grilles needed and possibly the military equipment to do a CCUV Blazer.

[Rob Hall]

On 2/11/2025 at 5:32 PM, Ron Hamilton said:

Now where did I put my 6 lug Rally Wheels? I wonder will the upgrade Grills from different years fit? I would like to do a 81.

Well, the Revell Blazer body is definitely wider than an MPC truck body. The MPC ‘81 grille from the recent Sod Buster pickup kit fits, but with big gaps on each side. 

[slusher]

I would like to build one out of the box but I have to wait a a little more until I can afford one..

[Ron Hamilton]

On 2/12/2025 at 5:52 PM, Rob Hall said:

Well, the Revell Blazer body is definitely wider than an MPC truck body. The MPC ‘81 grille from the recent Sod Buster pickup kit fits, but with big gaps on each side. 

That fit is not acceptable. I wonder how my 3D printed grilles will work. I think I will have the same problem,  as I took one and fitted it to my Deserter GMC project that I am turning into a 83 Silverado 4x4 with an Iceman Collections grille, and scratch built  features. 

Maybe I will build both as Police Vehicles from the 1980s. I have plenty of decals.

[Can-Con]

On 2/12/2025 at 6:52 PM, Rob Hall said:

Well, the Revell Blazer body is definitely wider than an MPC truck body. The MPC ‘81 grille from the recent Sod Buster pickup kit fits, but with big gaps on each side. 

Rob, do you have one of the oft reissued Monogram /Revell 1/24 square bodies to compare the overall width of the bodies to?

I have a hunch that's closer to their 1/24 kits then that AMT kit.

[Rob Hall]

18 minutes ago, Can-Con said:

Rob, do you have one of the oft reissued Monogram /Revell 1/24 square bodies to compare the overall width of the bodies to?

I have a hunch that's closer to their 1/24 kits then that AMT kit.

Yeah, I have a couple of those somewhere in the stash. Have to dig one out this weekend and compare 

[OldSkool81]

I have a request for you guys in the U.S. since you seem to get new kits reaching your shores way earlier than Canada... If any of you got the Revell Germany version, I'd like to see what's different compared to the Revell USA version, that commands such a hefty price difference. A few months ago, many Canadian hobby shops offered preorders for the Stranger Things kits between 65 and 70$ CAD, leading us to beleive that Revell AG had the exclusivity on those kits.  So I bought all 3 on preorder, having only received the Pizza Boy Vanagon so far, but now, they're getting in stock the Revell USA Billy's Camaro and Hopper's Blazer, for between 40 and 46$CAD, while the ones that I paid 66$ for still haven't arrived! When I pointed this out to my online hobby shop, they said "Revell Germany promises better quality than Revell USA"... I have doubts about that because my experience so far with Revell USA is really good, and I can't see what could be made better to charge an extra 20 bucks... Feels like a ripoff on Revell's part to me!

[Luc Janssens]

11 hours ago, OldSkool81 said:

I have a request for you guys in the U.S. since you seem to get new kits reaching your shores way earlier than Canada... If any of you got the Revell Germany version, I'd like to see what's different compared to the Revell USA version, that commands such a hefty price difference. A few months ago, many Canadian hobby shops offered preorders for the Stranger Things kits between 65 and 70$ CAD, leading us to beleive that Revell AG had the exclusivity on those kits.  So I bought all 3 on preorder, having only received the Pizza Boy Vanagon so far, but now, they're getting in stock the Revell USA Billy's Camaro and Hopper's Blazer, for between 40 and 46$CAD, while the ones that I paid 66$ for still haven't arrived! When I pointed this out to my online hobby shop, they said "Revell Germany promises better quality than Revell USA"... I have doubts about that because my experience so far with Revell USA is really good, and I can't see what could be made better to charge an extra 20 bucks... Feels like a ripoff on Revell's part to me!

Here a review by Frank Richter on Modellversium

Photo courtesy of Frank Richter and Modellversium

https://www.modellversium.de/kit/artikel.php?id=14243

As you can see the only difference is the decal sheet and the box.

The instruction sheet will likely be the same except that, Revell in Germany doesn't include a partslist and also that the consumer service address will be Bunde instead of NJ. The difference in price is most likely due to the rerouting this version had to go through before ending in your neck of the woods, cuz China sends bagged shots to Poland where they are packaged in the typical Revell Euro boxes with Italian sourced decals and I asume the instruction sheet is local sourced too.

Hope that clears up this issue.

Cheers

Luc

Edited February 15 by Luc Janssens

[OldSkool81]

14 hours ago, Luc Janssens said:

Here a review by Frank Richter on Modellversium

Photo courtesy of Frank Richter and Modellversium

https://www.modellversium.de/kit/artikel.php?id=14243

As you can see the only difference is the decal sheet and the box.

The instruction sheet will likely be the same except that, Revell in Germany doesn't include a partslist and also that the consumer service address will be Bunde instead of NJ. The difference in price is most likely due to the rerouting this version had to go through before ending in your neck of the woods, cuz China sends bagged shots to Poland where they are packaged in the typical Revell Euro boxes with Italian sourced decals and I asume the instruction sheet is local sourced too.

Hope that clears up this issue.

Cheers

Luc

Thank you Luc; that does clear thinks up. I personnally don't care much about the bigger decal sheet, especially those big body decals for the 2-tone paint job; I prefer to go with paint for both colors. I just cancelled my pre-order for the Revell Germany kits, and found another shop that had both the Revell USA Blazer and Camaro in stock, as well as the new Atlantis '57 Nomad that they just received and that I also wanted. So it all turned out for the best! Cheers!

Edited February 15 by OldSkool81

[Rob Hall]

On 2/14/2025 at 5:00 PM, Can-Con said:

Rob, do you have one of the oft reissued Monogram /Revell 1/24 square bodies to compare the overall width of the bodies to?

I have a hunch that's closer to their 1/24 kits then that AMT kit.

Yeah, it's wider in the front than the AMT/MPC 1/25th, narrower than the Revell/Monogram 1/24th cab.  

[Can-Con]

17 minutes ago, Rob Hall said:

Yeah, it's wider in the front than the AMT/MPC 1/25th, narrower than the Revell/Monogram 1/24th cab.  

Thanks for checking Rob. 

This limits the kitbashing ability between it and the other kits already on the market. 

Knocks it much lower on my want list.

[stavanzer]

8 hours ago, Can-Con said:

This limits the kitbashing ability between it and the other kits already on the market. 

Knocks it much lower on my want list.

I think the 3D printers will fill this Void. I suspect that Some of the big 3D folks will jump on this kit in a big way. It will be a money maker for them, as I suspect in one form or another it will be in the Revell Catalogue for some time. Thus many 3D parts to sell for it. By June/July you'll probably have your choice of Grilles and Wheels, and other parts.

Edited February 17 by stavanzer

[Daddyfink]

On 2/15/2025 at 12:16 AM, Luc Janssens said:

Here a review by Frank Richter on Modellversium

Photo courtesy of Frank Richter and Modellversium

https://www.modellversium.de/kit/artikel.php?id=14243

As you can see the only difference is the decal sheet and the box.

The instruction sheet will likely be the same except that, Revell in Germany doesn't include a partslist and also that the consumer service address will be Bunde instead of NJ. The difference in price is most likely due to the rerouting this version had to go through before ending in your neck of the woods, cuz China sends bagged shots to Poland where they are packaged in the typical Revell Euro boxes with Italian sourced decals and I asume the instruction sheet is local sourced too.

Hope that clears up this issue.

Cheers

Luc

I just recently asked my LHS why the price difference, the kit was the new Mustang with the 007 branding, between the Euro issue, at an eye watering $60 dollars, and the same kit in the U.S. box at $29 dollars. She claimed it was because the Euro version came with paint and glue! I laughed, she laughed, the owner frowned! 

Someone had just bought the ST Pizza Van in the Euro box for about $70! 

[Chuck Most]

I didn't think the grille would be as much of a turn off for me as it was once I actually got one in my hands. 

We're a quarter of the way into the 21st century and they can't mold it open? I want to find out who made that decision and (redacted)... 🤣

I mean, some of my favorite kits have far more questionable things going on, but that closed off grille is bothering me. Maybe I'm just not that into the subject matter, and the rest of the kit looks more or less up to snuff. Not sure why they pooped in the punchbowl with the solid grille.

[slusher]

maybe it comes down to them getting broke and Revell not wanting to have to replace them..

[Chuck Most]

14 hours ago, slusher said:

maybe it comes down to them getting broke and Revell not wanting to have to replace them..

I suppose. But if that dainty little first generation Bronco grille can be molded open I'm not sure why this couldn't have been.

[Rob Hall]

9 minutes ago, Chuck Most said:

I suppose. But if that dainty little first generation Bronco grille can be molded open I'm not sure why this couldn't have been.

Probably a cost issue.  Would have complicated the manufacturing process. 

[TheBEAUMONTGURU]

I see my canadian hobby shop has the US version for 45 and the Euro version for 66.    Can anyone tell me what the difference really is?

i see one is listed as 1/24th and the other as 1/25th,   is there really that much difference in the 2 versions?  or is it just decals and instruction changes?

[OldSkool81]

9 hours ago, TheBEAUMONTGURU said:

I see my canadian hobby shop has the US version for 45 and the Euro version for 66.    Can anyone tell me what the difference really is?

i see one is listed as 1/24th and the other as 1/25th,   is there really that much difference in the 2 versions?  or is it just decals and instruction changes?

Check a few posts up for Luc Janssens' reply to my post asking the same thing. The Revell Germany version has more decals, namely decals for the off-white sections of the two-tone body if you don't want to deal with masking and painting two colors. I'm also from Canada and one of my online hobby shops also pulled similar shenanigans, advertising preorders for the Revell Germany versions, but the joke's on them because the cheaper Revell USA versions came in stock first, while the Germany versions have yet to arrive. I cancelled my preoder and bought the USA version instead, and I'm very satisfied.