I wanted a small pickup to haul around some of my resin parts and got a real winner with Revell’s Datsun Off-Road Pickup. Very little flash and the parts fit very well together. The instructions are a 12 page document that provides the part number with a description and a chart showing what part should be painted what color.
A familiar sight to all who have traveled the highways and byways of the United States is the “semi” tractor-trailer truck hauling goods from coast-to-coast. One of the leading manufacturers of the “tractor” portion is Freightliner, a subsidiary of Daimler AG established in 1942.
Big truck, big box, big model – lots of “wow factor” for the young builder! Molded in light blue, white, black, and clear, the kit comprises of 102 parts. A sheet of peel-and-stick decals and instructions are also included. Copyright data on tractor and trailer parts indicate 1979 and 1980 vintage of the original tooling, respectively. As expected with tooling over 3 decades in service, there was quite a bit of flash along mold parting lines which required some extra effort to clean up prior to assembly.
What a wonderful and fun kit to work with. There was very little, if any, flash on the parts.
The little 4 cylinder engine comes with some speed parts and goes together extremely well. I decided to install a small block Ford V8. Surprisingly enough, it fit right in.
The chassis features nice detail and crisp engraving. Exhaust is a separate piece as are the front & rear suspension systems. The front suspension has several tiny parts to be glued together and are very fragile. Once installed on the chassis, the front suspension is strong.
From 1973-2002, the Yamaha YZR500 led four 500 cc Grand Prix riders to ten separate world championships. One of the most famous riders to take the helm of the YZR500 was France's Christian Sarron. For the 1988 season, Sarron rode for the Sonauto-Yamaha team, scoring 149 points to earn a fourth-place finish overall.
Hasegawa’s offering of the YZR500 is a re-box of an earlier release, as a limited edition with new decals and new brake parts. There are 139 parts included in the kit, including a clear windshield, two rubber tires, four metal screws, a metal spring, and two colors (black and clear) of rubber tubing. The body panels and wheels are molded in white, while the other sprues are in a medium gray. Ten of the parts are not used, and there are two options for brakes (steel or carbon). The kit comes in a typical top-opening box, and the sprues are bagged in groups by color. There is also a very nicely printed decal sheet
Revell has re-issued their Shelby GT500 as a convertible with a new body shell, roll bar, a convertible top which can be modeled up or down with an included boot, and also features two options for the engine. The mill can be built stock, or with a set of dual quads and a high-rise manifold. The hood has a scribed, outlined section to cut out in order to accommodate the custom engine option if that’s the builder’s choice. A set of stock wheels and a set of custom ones are included as well.
The interior is a one-piece tub, with separate seats and instrument panel/dashboard. Decals are provided for the instrument cluster, plus the wood panels on the doors and the dash.
Construction on the chassis was pretty straightforward with only a couple of minor fit issues with the exhaust pipes. I noted the molded-on lettering on the frame said the kit was originally issued in 1988 - I don’t know how many of the original fastback kit parts are common with this new issue.
Part 1 of the Tamiya Fat Boy review describes the background of the Fat Boy motorcycle and the Tamiya kit contents. This Part 2 Review describes the assembly of the Tamiya Fat Boy kit.
This is a fantastic kit! Not only is the Harley Davidson Fat Boy an iconic motorcycle, assembling this kit is one of the best modeling experiences I've ever had! The engineering and detail is phenomenal, the fit and finish of the parts are excellent, and the assembly, while complicated, goes together very well. The kit is a joy to build!
The Harley Davidson Fat Boy is the latest in Tamiya’s series of 1/6 scale motorcycle kits. This is a large, multimedia kit with plastic, metal, rubber, diecast, and photoetch parts. This review also includes Tamiya’s Harley-Davidson Fat Boy Lo Detail Up Parts Set, item 12655 (MSRP $96.00).
This was really a fun kit. There’s not many parts but you do get 4 surfboards, 3 figures, 2 garbage cans (fuel tanks), and SCUBA tanks.
Bottom half of the engine is molded to the chassis.
Front ans rear ladder bars hold the suspension. There’s really not much to it.
Seats, shifter, steering wheel and column, resemblance of a dashboard is all you get.
It’s a real simple body without much detail. I decided my version would resemble a pickup truck turned into a landscaping vehicle. After priming the body with Duplicolor grey sandable primer, I shot a few coats of Dupli-Color dark cherry followed by a coat of Nason 2 part urethane clear. Only a little bit of wet sanding and polishing with Novus #2 was necessary before applying a coat of The Treatment Model Car Wax.
I usually write about various aircraft-related items, but when I saw this Revell 2015 SnapTite Mustang I thought my son could pitch in and help with a review. He is almost nine, is an IPMS Junior member, and has several models under his belt. William primarily builds aircraft—like his dad—but the Mustang is one of his favorite cars. While most of his builds have been glued together and painted, he is still right in the target audience for this SnapTite kit.
Revell’s ‘65 Chevy Impala hardtop kit first hit the market in the late 1990s as a factory-stock-only offering. It was later released a lowrider, and its tooling was later used as the basis for a ‘65 convertible kit (which was recently reissued as part of Revell’s “California Wheels” series) and a ‘66 hardtop. It’s a good kit and always has been and it does an excellent job of capturing the character of the 1:1 vehicle.
This newest issue of the ‘65 hardtop is the latest addition to Revell’s Chip Foose Series, a kit line based on cars designed by the popular automotive artist and designer and built on the popular cable TV series “Overhaulin’.” All of the kits in the Foose Series have been created by adding new decals, box art and smatterings of newly tooled parts to existing kits, and this one is no exception.
The Harley Davidson Fat Boy is the latest in Tamiya’s series of 1/6 scale motorcycle kits. This is a large, multimedia kit with plastic, metal, rubber, diecast, and photoetch parts.
From Tamiya’s website:
The Harley Davidson FLFSTB Fat Boy Lo belongs to the Softail series. It uses a 1548cc Twin Cam 96B V-Twin engine, and power is transferred via a drive belt. The Fat Boy Lo's classic form features numerous parts, which lend the bike a heavy feel, and it runs extremely low to the ground. Its fusion of classic looks and state-of-the art design has won the heart of the public around the globe. Tamiya's model replica comes in 1/6 scale! Every detail has been faithfully captured due to extensive research from Tamiya's designers and the cooperation of Harley Davidson.
Kit features:
