Aeroline over the past several months has released several different variants of the Cushman scooter. This version is the "Deluxe Auto-Glide" that was used for firefighting operations around airfields. The Fire Fighter version came with a sidecar and four CO fire extinguishers. This was one of the reasons that I wanted to the review of this model as I am a firefighter.
This is a resin kit of a 1956 vintage BMW motorcycle in 1/87 scale (HO train scale). Kit comes in 22 gray resin pieces and two photoetch pieces.
The frame pieces E & F are cast within a casting ring completely surrounded by flash. Hauler suggests an interesting method to remove the flash by placing the parts on a piece of sandpaper and sanding off the flash. It worked pretty well and left the very delicate parts fairly clean without breakage.
Some of the flashing around the parts is fairly thick considering how small the parts are.
The front and rear tires use imaginary spokes as the hubs hang in the middle of the wheel. There are two photoetch handlebar pieces supplied so I assume they needed to be glued together and that’s what I did. The kit goes together really well considering how small the pieces are and has nice detail for a small kit.
I painted the model with some gloss black, flat black, aluminum, and chrome paint.
This is one of the all time great car designs with smooth lines and the free-flowing curves of the fenders. This classic has always been popular with hot rodders. The Revell kit of the ’37 coupe has been issued and re-issued many times, and this is the latest version. This version seems to be mostly a repackaging, as most of the parts and options were available in previous releases.
The kit is showing it’s age with soft detailing, some fit issues, and a completely confusing front suspension. In spite of the shortcomings the kit still builds into a nice hot rod model. The kit would be frustrating for an inexperienced modeler and would be better suited to an avid car modeler.
Revell’s description:
When I heard we were having all the grandchildren down for Spring Break, I knew it would be a good time to build a kit with my Grandson Parker. Up on the list comes AMT/Round 2's 1/25 Munster's Monster Truck and I snagged it up. Parker was excited about having the chance to build with Grandpa almost as excited as I was and we dove into the kit the day he arrived.
The kit is molded in black with two sprues of chromed parts, instructions, a full set of decals, and the giant tires naturally. This is a full glue kit and includes a lovely decal sheet of Hermann Munster's face that is beautifully printed.
I knew the grandkids were coming for Spring break and also like building models with Grandpa so when the AMT Captain America Truck came up for review, I snagged it to build with my granddaughter, Lilli.
Since she is a younger builder, this kit is perfect as it is a SNAP fit with stickers for decals and requires no painting (although we did some anyway). The kit is only 25 parts plus stickers and instructions. The undercarriage parts are molded black and the body and accessories are blue.
Lily did almost all construction herself, cutting the parts and snapping them together. I do recommend gluing the bumpers in place and the smoky glass (there's no interior) in place as fit is not super tight and the bumpers are the connection point to the undercarriage. The frame and shocks are three simple parts and the axles are metal. The wheels are directional so watch out on installing the hubs.
This is a nice kit and a fun build. This kit is the second version of the ’62 Corvette released by Revell, following the 2012 release of the ’62 Corvette Roadster 2’n1 kit. The ’62 Gasser kit is for skill level III and ages 12+. The kit did not seem that difficult, and I think it would be fun for even advanced beginners.
The Gasser kit recreates the ’62 Corvette converted by D&M Corvette Specialists into a street gasser with a blown small block Chevy engine. The original car’s body is nearly stock, and is replicated in the kit by the same stock body used in the Revell ’62 Roadster.
The instructions and decals have a 2013 copyright. The underside of the floor pan/interior has a 2012 copyright and is likely the same as the earlier ’62 Roadster kit. Online references indicate that the frame is a new tooling for the Gasser kit, and includes the chromed Gasser suspension.
Revell graced us with the re-release of the “Can Do” and now the “Will-Do” 14 wheel Peterbuilt 359 Heavy Wrecker. This kit contains close to 700 parts of which nearly 40 are not used. The box alone is massive in size, some 20” x 14” x 5”, which sizes up well with the completed model of 18” long with everything folded up for travel. If you choose to build the kit with all the options in wrecking recovery pose it is well over 30” long and 10”wide and as much as 15” tall.
Speaking of options, both of the cab doors, the hood, and the outrigger doors can be posed in the open or closed position, the side and rear outriggers can be set as in use and the boom may be raised, extended and transversed to the left or right. I chose to build my wrecker in the travel mode but definitely played with all of the other options.
Auto Modeling is a high quality Japanese language magazine from publisher ModelArt. Each edition features models of cars, mostly racecars, from various race series and eras. Many of the previous editions focused on Formula One cars in different time periods.
The magazine has Japanese text, but some of the titles and headings are in English. The photographs are numerous and very high quality.
This issue, Volume 30, March 2014, has the following sections:
1956 was the second year of the wildly successful Chysler 300 series and aptly named after the second letter of what became known as the Chrysler “letter” series cars. The V-8 powered series eventually went as far as the 300L of 1965, however the letter series continued one more time as the V6 powered FWD 300M model in 1999. The standard engine was a 394CID (5.8L) “Hemi” V8. The available dual 4 barrel carburated “hemi” topped out as the first American V8 to produce one horsepower per cubic inch or 394HP, a fantastic accomplishment of the day. The car was available in three colors: Regimental Red (37), Cloud White (41) and Black.
Round 2 Models continues re-releasing older kits, including this re-release of a 1975 Chevy Rescue Van. The kit is advertised as a “Dual Color Kit.” This means that the kit was released molded either in white or in red; not two colors in the same box. My review model was molded in white. There is no indication on the outside of the box as to which color the model inside is molded in. I was lucky and got the white one. I prefer this over the red molding. I feel it’s more difficult to over-paint a red molded model and get a good even base coat. Red is just too difficult to over-paint, especially if going to a lighter color. This van model has been re-released many times since the initial release in 1975. I know that the kit was used to represent the A-Team’s van, released when that TV show was popular.
