This kit was originally released by Monogram as Tom McEwen's Hot Wheels Plymouth Duster around 1970. Attesting to its popularity, the kit’s been re-released over a dozen times in various versions including Tom Daniel’s “Cop Out” kit, as well as, this fresh new 2023 offering as the “Flashpoint” funny car. I have to hand it to Revell for giving this kit a new lease on life with some excellent and attractive decals.

Molded in 100 pieces of white and clear styrene with chrome plated parts and vinyl tires. The rear slicks are massive wrinkled and weighted tires that really set the model off. Also included is a beautiful new waterslide decal sheet featuring the Flashpoint side script and requisite flames.

Another big help is the expanded 12-page instruction sheet making the assembly a bit easier.

History

Back in 1935 Texaco was thinking of the future. Commissioned to help market the company it is believed there were 6 Doodlebugs produced. Coincidentally it was the smooth streamlined look of it that drew me in and motivated me to build this for my 1st IPMS review. It was only 6’ tall, carried 1500 gallons of fuel, and featured a unique compound curved glass windshield. I think you would be hard pressed to find a car in the 30’s with this kind of silhouette, let alone a heavy tanker truck.

The Kit

Hauler packages the Texaco Bug in a stiff little box, perfect to protect the delicate parts inside. The resin is crisply detailed, especially for the size of the Texaco Bug in 1/120th scale. There were a few small pinholes that required a very fine application of filler prior to painting. A real bonus is the stick-shift and steering wheel on the PE fret that give the interior some interest as there is plenty of glass to see through into the cab.

Starfighter’s latest release is their sixth Ford GT decal sheet and features the four Ford GT-40 Mk. II factory entries from the 1966 12 Hours of Sebring. The sheet’s instructions state that the decals will fit on any 1/24 or 1/25 scale plastic or resin Ford GT Mk. II kit, and include PPG catalog number color callouts, plus some individual information to model each of the four cars.

I opted to use the Revell (ex-Fujimi) kit of the #98 GT-40 whose features included the “Gurney bubble” in the right door upper panel which allowed the 6’4” Gurney headroom in the car. Without a little plastic surgery to remove the bubble, that limited my choice of decals to the #2 Shelby American car or the #4 Holman-Moody one. I opted for #4.

All four Ford GT entries were painted in standard Ford factory colors….red, blue, white, and this one, painted Sauterne Gold (PPG43433), and all had black anti-glare noses. I used Tamiya X-31 Titanium Gold to approximate the Sauterne Gold.

This set provides upgrades to the Porsche 935 K2 78 LM kit # BX24025 from Beemax. It includes a steel fret of metal parts including screens, wing and air deflectors, window straps and clips, seat belt hardware, brake rotor faces, fuel and oil flaps, windshield wiper and panel hold down pins. A strip of fabric for seat harnesses and turned metal ferules for jack connector and antenna, complete with antenna wire, round out the package.

About the Subject (from Wikipedia)

“The Mercedes-Benz W31 type G4 was a German three-axle off-road vehicle first produced by Mercedes-Benz as a staff/command car for the Wehrmacht in 1934. The cars were designed as a seven-seat touring car or closed saloon, and were mainly used by upper echelons of the Nazi regime in parades and inspections, as they were deemed too expensive for general Army use.

The G4 was a development of the G1, launched in 1926. All had an 8-cylinder inline engine, in the first three years of 5018 cc (306.2 cu in) displacement delivering 100 PS (74 kW). It was a 6×4 configuration with four-speed transmission (synchronised upper gears) that transferred drive to all four rear wheels.