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

Review Author
Grace Deck
Jim Deck
Published on
Company
Polar Lights
Scale
1/25
MSRP
$35.99

Wow! If packaging was what it was all about this would be the premier. Not only are all 6 sides emblazoned with super cool pictures, even the inside leaves of the bottom are covered in Crash, Boink, Biffs, and Pows!

Inside the box you'll find 3 black sprues, 2 clear sprues, a sprue of chrome plated parts, decals, instructions, and a pamphlet. The total parts count is 112 pieces for the vehicle and 6 parts for the dynamic duo. All are flash free and well molded. The tri-fold instruction sheet consists of a color guide, 9 assembly drawings, a decal guide, and a separate step at the end for the figures.

Review Author
Doug Cole
Published on
Company
Round 2 Models
Scale
1/25
MSRP
$23.95

The Kit

This automotive model review covers the 1940 Ford Fire Chief Car 1:25 scale MPC kit #815/12. The copyright date on the inside of the body is 2014 although kit has been released before. This is a Skill Level 1 “Snap-It” kit for modelers eight years and older. It includes parts molded in red, tan, and black with chrome, clear and transparent red parts and waterslide decals.

Review Author
Chris Smith
Published on
Company
Fujimi
Scale
1/24
MSRP
$78.84

Introduction

2013 marked the 50th anniversary of the Lamborghini automotive company. An anniversary as significant as this could not pass without Lamborghini celebrating it with what else but a new version of the magnificent cars they have produced for 50 years. The Veneno (named after a famous fighting bull as all Lambos are) is that car. Based on the Aventador LP700-4, this car has a redesigned body and increased horsepower from its L535 6.5 liter V-12 engine. This engine makes 740 hp and can propel this car to 220 mph. The body is constructed largely of carbon fiber with aluminum sub-frames in the front and back. Suspension is provided by pushrods with horizontal springs like a formula car that is essentially what the Veneno is. Only three production models were built, each in the colors of the Italian flag: White, Red and Green. Of the three constructed, two were granted to buyers in the US.

Review Author
Joe Staudt
Published on
Company
3D Model Parts
Scale
1/24, 1/25
MSRP
$22.95

The future of modeling has arrived! 3D Model Parts is a company specializing in 3-D printed resin accessories for car and ship models. Their only offering for cars at the moment is these wire wheels. They will work as 15” wheels for 1:25 scale cars, and14” wheels for 1:24 scale cars.

Available with 3 different styles of knock-offs, the wheels come in a pack of 5, with an instruction sheet that explains how to work with them. The wheels and knock-offs each come attached to a thin wafer of resin, not unlike traditional resin parts, which must be sanded away to release the part. I found it easier to cut the wafer away from the knock-offs, as they were too small to hold against any kind of sanding surface without also sanding the skin off my fingertips.

Book Author(s)
Scotty Gosson
Review Author
Bill O'Malley
Published on
Company
CarTech
MSRP
$29.95

This excellent book is a showcase of show rod model kits from the perspective of a collector rather than a model builder. The book is an excellent read and includes hundreds of photos of classic show rod kits.

The first chapter is An illustrated History of Show Rod Modeling. The section describes how in the 1960s scale hot rod models begin to replace factory cars and older classic cars in popularity. Several examples of early show cars included the Lincoln Futura, Leva Car, and Outlaw as examples of early show rods. The chapter has 50 pages listing some of the most popular and most collectible show rod kids.

Chapter 2, The Corporate Sprue, describes the formation of the early model car companies and again includes some early kits as examples.

Book Author(s)
Bartlomiej Belcarz; Illus-Thierry Vallet
Review Author
Frank Landrus
Published on
Company
Mushroom Model Publications - MMP Books
MSRP
$30.00

Bartlomiej Belcarz authors the latest in the series of aircraft used in the Polish Air Force. This volume’s primary focus is the Breguet 19 (p3-53), but also provides 13 pages on the Farman F.68 Goliath and 6 pages on the Amiot 123. The Breguet section features 28 full page length color profiles along with 8 top and bottom color profiles where appropriate. The color profiles are accompanied by photos of the actual aircraft in the profiles. The Farman F.68 Goliath section features 6 full page length color profiles along with a top and bottom color profile and a scrap color detail of typical rudder markings. The Amiot 123 section on the only two aircraft procured, features 2 full page length color profiles along with a top and bottom color profile.

The Table of Contents focuses on three major chapters:

Book Author(s)
David Temple
Review Author
John Noack
Published on
Company
Specialty Press
MSRP
$39.95

GM's Motorama was a 12-year (1949-1961) marketing extravaganza designed to showcase the current line of GM products while dazzling the target audience with some amazing prototype and dream car exercises. Ultimately curtailed due to rising costs, Motorama was nonetheless a major “hit” for The General,

29 domestic and 23 GM-Canada Motoramas took place, at venues ranging from NY, Los Angeles. San Francisco, Boston and Miami domestically and Montreal, Winnipeg, Vancouver, Edmonton, Saskatoon, Calgary and London, Ontario in the North. GM used the Motorama show not only to woo customers for the latest model year in each participating division, but also to gauge consumer reaction to a wide range of concept cars incorporating mild to wild styling and design features (rain-sensing automatic convertible tops, hydraulically operated doors, jet-fighter styling cues, and an odd little fiberglass car called a Corvette, which you may have heard of).

Review Author
Gordon Miller
Published on
Company
Round 2 Models
Scale
1/25
MSRP
$23.95

The newest offering of the 1969 Mercury Cougar Eliminator was well worth the effort for the folks at Round 2 to re-release this wonderful kit again. It was a kit that's parts went together very smoothly and without much flash on them.

The real car, when I did my research to build this model came in only four colors. And they were orange, yellow, white, and blue which their actual factory code to get the exact color is listed for you on the instuctions sheet ! The artwork on the box depicts the orange one on the front and sides as well as a yellow one on another flap of the box. Because of that I decided to embark on building it blue.

Review Author
Steve Jahnke
Published on
Company
Revell
Scale
1/25
MSRP
$19.99

Brief History of the Marque

The first generation Challenger bowed its head in 1969 and was a stable mate to the Plymouth Barracuda, the original Chrysler “pony car” to play in that segment as started by Ford’s Mustang. The second generation “Challenger” from 1978 to 1983 was a badge engineered Mitsubishi Galant Lambda. The current generation of Challengers was introduced in early 2008 again to do battle with the fifth generation Mustang and Camaro segments that were exploding in popularity.

Review Author
Matthew Cottrell
Published on
Company
Tamiya
Scale
1/12
MSRP
$225.00

Nissan’s Z-Car

Nissan’s Fairlady Z, more familiarly known as the Datsun 240Z in the United States, debuted in late 1969 (as a 1970 model) to wide acclaim. The US market 240Z was equipped with a 151 hp 2.4-liter straight-six motor fed by twin SU-style carburetors. The Z’s four-wheel independent suspension, manual transmission, and light weight made it a very capable sports car package, while its reliability and ease of ownership ensured it was a sports car that could be counted on to start every time and complete every trip.