Reviews of products for scale automotive models, including motorcycles and motorized vehicles.

Review Author
Phillip Cavender
Published on
Company
ICM
Scale
1/35
MSRP
$55.00

History

The Model T was produced by the Ford Motor Company from 1908 to 1927 and regarded as the first mass-affordable automobile having sold over 15 million. The iconic name for the Model T, “Tin Lizzy,” originates from a 1922 race where the driver had affectionately named his Model T, “Old Liz”, and the spectators renamed it to Tin Lizzy due to its tin can appearance. It came equipped with a 2.9L 4-cylinder in-line 20 hp engine having a top speed of 42 mph. Henry Ford often said “Any customer can have a car painted any color that he wants so long as it is black”.

ICM’s Doctor’s Coupe 1918 Model T, kit # 35830, represents an all-new tooling release for 2026, featuring newly designed parts specific to this civilian variant of the famous Ford Model T with the exception of Sprue B which is carried over from ICM’s earlier 2016 release, kit No. 35661 Model T 1917 Ambulance.

Review Author
Ben Morton
Published on
Company
Tamiya
Scale
1/12
MSRP
$48.00

I Don't Want A Pickle...”

by Ben Morton

I should explain the title so as not to throw you off from the get go. The more refined and worldly among us may recall the name Arlo Guthrie. A singer-songwriter that had some notoriety for being Woody Guthrie's son and a few FM radio hits like the “Alice's Restaurant Massacre” and of course, “The Motorcycle Song”. The opening line of which is: “I don't wanna pickle, I just wanna ride my motorsickle.” Now, on with the show.

From Tamiya's website -

Review Author
Scott Hollingshead
Published on
Company
Gaahleri
Scale
N/A
MSRP
$83.99

The IPMS-USA recently began receiving items for review from Gaahleri. The company is relatively new and first introduced airbrushes and has since expanded into the production of their own line of paints. Kaleido ColorWorks is their premium sub-brand of water-based paints, which are developed with RapidAir Technology. In addition to all the individual colors, Gaahleri also has sets of paint available for consumers.

Review Author
Marc K. Blackburn
Published on
Company
ICM
Scale
1/35
MSRP
$89.99

Manufactured by ICM, who are based in Ukraine, this is a bonus boxing of two previously released kits: the AC-40-137, which is based on the Zil 131 truck chassis, and the AR-2 that is based on the KAMAZ-43105 chassis. As ICM does from time to time, they will box kits together to create a new boxed set that is thematically similar. The AC-40-137 has seven sprues for a total of 295 parts and an additional one for clear parts. The AR-2 also has seven sprues, but with a total of 330 parts, including three sprues for clear parts. Each vehicle has a couple of color profiles to choose from that are very similar to one another, basically red and white stripes. The molding is nearly flawless. There is a very small amount of flash on some parts, but nothing that cannot be solved with the quick pass of a hobby knife.

Review Author
Phil Peterson
Published on
Company
Atlantis Model Company
Scale
1/24
MSRP
$32.99

Back in the late 60s through the mid 70s Monogram released a bunch of kits designed by Tom Daniels. I built a dozen of them in my youth, but lost all of them during one of our moves when the box didn’t show up at our new base housing. Since then I have managed to collect all but a couple of the ones I had and several I didn’t have but always wanted. Now, thanks to Atlantis Models, some of these kits have been re-released, and I took the opportunity to grab the Pie Wagon.

The kit comes packaged looking like the old Monogram kit, including the classic instructions. The parts are molded in red and clear plastic with chrome and brass-plated parts and rubber tires.

Review Author
Frank Landrus
Published on
Company
Atlantis Model Company
Scale
1/25
MSRP
$36.99

Background

Atlantis Model Company was founded in 2009 by the former owners of Megahobby.com, Peter Vetri and Rick DelFavero. Atlantis manufactures injection-molded plastic model kits and hobby-related products. When they started Megahobby.com back in 2000, they had dreams of becoming more than just another retail hobby shop. They wanted to become an actual model production company like the Aurora Model Co. and Revell-Monogram. As Megahobby grew, it gave them the opportunity to create Atlantis and finally come out with our own branded model kits. On August 29th, 2018, Atlantis purchased the tooling for many plastic model kits from the new owners of Revell, Revell Inc. USA-Blitz Partners. These molds were from the tooling banks of Monogram, Revell, Aurora and Renwal, some dating back to the early 1950's. They were stored in Revell’s Elk Grove facility in Illinois and represent Automotive, Aircraft, Ships, Military, Figures, Space, and many other interesting subjects.

Review Author
Joe Staudt
Published on
Company
Revell
Scale
1/24
MSRP
$24.99

The Netflix show “Stranger Things” has taken the country by storm. In the early seasons, one of the major characters, Billy Hargrove, drove a Camaro that figured prominently as part of his image and of his downfall. Revell has recently released a kit to recreate this car. Let’s take a look.

Review Author
Bill O'Malley
Published on
Company
ICM
Scale
1/24
MSRP
$127.00

The Ford Model T, nicknamed the Tin Lizzie, was produced from 1908 to 1927. Over 15,000,000 vehicles were produced in many configurations, including a sedan, roadster, light delivery vehicle, pick-ups, fire trucks, etc. The Tin Lizzie's were known for their affordability, reliability, and durability.

Ukrainian-based ICM has produced several variations of the model T, including a 1913 speedster, a 1913 roadster, a 1917 ambulance, a 1914 firetruck, a 1912 light delivery car, a 1911 touring car, a 1912 commercial roadster, a 1917 LCP WW1 Australian army car and a 1917 utility Australian armor army car, a 1917 model T, a 1917 LCP with Vickers MG, and a RNAS armored car. Many of these kits were subsequently issued with passengers or crew.

Review Author
Will Kuhrt
Published on
Company
Revell
Scale
1/24
MSRP
$75.00

The Revell Porsche 911 Carrera 3.2 Cabriolet is a beautiful model kit issued in 2024 by Revell Germany.

Contained in the box is a bag containing a small sample of Revell model glue and the following Revell colors: 02, 04, 99, 302, 331 and 378. Also sealed in bags are one clear sprue, white sprues B, MD, Q, F, and P, along with silver sprues A and J. The parts are mostly free from flash. There is one set of very nicely molded rubber tiresand a full-mold upper body (N).

I am not a car model builder, so this project was a personal challenge. I learned and grew through this build and had some great conversation with car builder friends. The build begins with the engine. The assembly process was very straightforward and easy. I had no issues. There are several steps of applying decals (to belts), and this was a little tricky only because of the very small surface. The finished engine looks really nice and is an impressive feature of the model!

Review Author
Pat Villarreal
Published on
Company
Atlantis Model Company
Scale
1/24
MSRP
$32.00

Atlantis Models has provided the IPMS/USA reviewer corps with Tom “The Mongoose” McEwen’s “AA” Fuel Dragster (front engine mount) in 1/24th scale. Per Scalemates.com, original mold for this kit is from 1971 by Monogram/Mattel. This review is for the 2024 boxing.

In the Box

The kit is enclosed in a top open box with a painted illustration. The main color is blue with white accent in the middle of the body. There is one white sprue of parts, right and left side body halves, one chrome plated sprue, and one vinyl sprue with tires. Decals are on a single sheet.

Instructions are well illustrated and have ten assembly steps along with a decal placement guide in Step 6.