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

Review Author
Bradley Moreland
Published on
Company
Italeri
Scale
1/24
MSRP
$65.99

Editor's Note: Let's welcome new Reviewer Brdley Moreland with his first published review! JN

Unboxing

Everything in this kit is nicely detailed. The sprues themselves are very clean, with minimal flash to clean. Sprues are molded in black, white and metallic, but thankfully not plated chrome. I am especially impressed with the instruction manual. No more guessing what is in the diagram. These pictures are crystal clear, and just as detailed as the pieces themselves. I am also very pleasantly surprised to see something I have never seen in other kits. On the back cover of the instructions, there are some templates to cut maskings for difficult areas, like the fenders.

Review Author
Doug Cole
Published on
Company
Atlantis Model Company
Scale
1:24
MSRP
$29.99

I was simply elated when Atlantis Models not only rescued the tooling for the Sidewinder Custom Show Rod from the boneyard, but released it with special burnt copper brightwork and a spectacular new set of decals, designed by Tom’s son Kelly Daniel. It’s kit number M2210 and has around 40 pieces in 1/24 scale kit.

Fig 1) I’ve always loved Tom Daniel kits and this one hasn’t been seen since the 90’s. It’s nearly a clone of Tom’s “Rattler” model kit released in 1975 with some notable improvements. This kit would look great right out of the box and could be built in an evening.

Review Author
Chris Martin
Published on
Company
Italeri
Scale
1/24
MSRP
$109.99

Summary

This kit represents a vehicle from the 1970’s-1980’s era as the dump body doesn’t have a rear door and lacks a debris/dust tarp. Today vehicles like this are only seen in use in quarries and not on the road. If one were to include a rear door could easily be scratch-built from styrene sheet and strip and debris/dust tarp made from styrene rod and Kleenex for a tarp.

Background

The following is excerpted from the instruction sheet.

Review Author
Doug Cole
Published on
Company
Revell
Scale
1:25
MSRP
$29.99

The Boss 351 was a perfect blend of the previous “Boss” 302 & 429 Mustangs, and nearly as rare with only 1,806 of the 351’s produced. But the golden age of muscle cars was quickly dying out, and the Boss 351 was only built for one year.

With twin Ram Air hood scoops feeding a specially modified 330-horsepower 351-cubic-inch “Cleveland” V-8, the Boss 351 had plenty of power.

This newly tooled Revell kit has 120 parts molded in white, clear, and chrome pieces with soft vinyl tires and waterslide decals. It’s rated a skill level 4 due to a high parts count and a comprehensive decal sheet.

Construction

The engine is a beauty and a model in its own right, weighing in at 26 parts. It’s highly detailed and includes all the decals to make it standout. The parts are mostly separate making for easy finishing. It’s the best representation of this engine that I’ve seen!

Review Author
Chris Smith
Published on
Company
Italeri
Scale
1:24
MSRP
$61.99

Italeri offers us a reissue of a kit first released in 1977 by ESCI. The B.M.W. 320 ran in a new group 5 class introduced in 1976. Regarded by driving enthusiasts as one of the best cars ever made, the three series was a natural for conversion to racing. Group five rules allowed wider body width which in turn allowed wider tires. This car ran a two-liter turbo charged engine making 300 horsepower. In this boxing you get the number 57 car driven by Markus Hottinger at the Deutsche Rennsport Meisterschaft (DRM) Norisring circuit, Nuremberg in 1978.

Book Author(s)
Andrew Woodmansey
Review Author
Chris Smith
Published on
Company
Pen & Sword
MSRP
$52.95

A good book takes you to places you’ve never been and opens your perspective in ways you might never have considered. This book does just that with an object so ubiquitous that we don’t really notice them, the recreational vehicle or RV. Andrew Woodmansey has written a book that takes us on a worldwide historical journey tracing the origin and development of these vehicles.

Review Author
Chris Martin
Published on
Company
ICM
Scale
NA
MSRP
$11.99

About ICM Paints

Water-based acrylic paints by ICM. Paints are prepared for brush, for airbrush dilute it with water or ICM Thinner. The range includes 77 base colors, but colors can be mixed with each other to easily achieve a desired shade. The paint is stable after drying. A wide assortment of paint sets are also available.

The Set

ICM acrylic paint set “Item 3031: Fire Trucks” contains six basic colors for use on most any type of fire truck. The front of the box has artwork of the AR-2 (43105) Special Fire Hose Truck. A small square of the six colors provided in the set appears in the lower right. The top has a photo of the six bottles. The rear of the box shows color callouts for an AR-2 (43105) Special Fire Hose Truck. Instructions for use are printed on the bottom of the box.

Review Author
Chris Martin
Published on
Company
ICM
Scale
1/35
MSRP
$87.99

Summary

The kit is an extremely well detailed version of the civilian AR-2 (43105) 6x6 in service as a special fire hose truck. The model has a complete chassis with a full engine, a well detailed cab, and a fire hose box with outstanding exterior detail. The fire hose box itself is empty. So if one wanted to display the doors open an interior would need to be fabricated.

Background

The following is excerpted from the instruction sheet.

Book Author(s)
Richard Marmo
Review Author
Chris Vandegrift
Published on
Company
Richard Marmo
MSRP
$3.99

Right off the bat, I was drawn into the book through Richard’s writing style. I felt like we were having a conversation over the modeling bench, discussing the history of big rigs on the road and what was available to build. The discussion on available kits is quite extensive, covering the origins as a snap-tite kit through the different re-pops as a glue kit, even covering box tops which are an interest to many in the modeling world.

The contents of the book include:

Review Author
Floyd S. Werner Jr.
Published on
Company
Red Fox Studio
Scale
1/35
MSRP
$12.00

The MRC/Academy AH-1W and AH-1T+ are the only kits available of these versions of the Cobra in this scale. Like all Cobras, the interior is very visible through the big canopy. The kit cockpit cries out for detail and Red Fox answers.

Red Fox Studios has designed an instrument panel set for these kits. It comes in a small baggie with a hard paper backing. The actual parts are protected in a separate Ziplock. The parts are slightly different than some other 3D Acrylic parts. Red Fox 3D acrylic renderings are on a metal backing with the raised acrylic over that. The parts come off the protective backing quite easily. All you’ll have to do is remove the molded-on detail and add the Red Fox parts with superglue or PVA. No further modifications are necessary.