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

Book Author(s)
Richard Marmo
Review Author
Chris Vandegrift
Published on
September 30, 2023
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
September 10, 2023
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.

Review Author
Bob LaBouy
Published on
August 14, 2023
Company
ICM
Scale
1/35
MSRP
$61.00

A Very Brief History the Typ 320 (W142) Cabriolet

WWII German Staff Car (from Manufacturer’s kit notes)

“The Mercedes-Benz 320 (W142), developed by Daimler-Benz AG, was launched in 1937. It was equipped with a six-cylinder engine with a volume of 3.2 liters (3.4 liters in later versions), which had 78 horsepower. It was available with a short (2880 mm) or long (3300 mm) wheelbase. The Mercedes-Benz 320 (W142) was the most prestigious of the three 6-cylinder middle-class models. One of the body variants for long-wheelbase cars was the Cabriolet. In turn, there were also several versions of this version of the Mercedes-Benz 320, which differ with number of seats, doors, and side windows. The four-seat Cabriolet B version had two doors and four side windows. This car was used by the Wehrmacht as a staff car and was also used as a vehicle for the transportation of senior commanders.

Review Author
Doug Cole
Published on
August 10, 2023
Company
Italeri
Scale
1:24
MSRP
$52.99

For the 1974 racing season, four Porsche 911 Turbo Carrera RSR cars were produced for the Martini Racing Team introducing a turbo boost to the 911 platform. Powered by a 2.1 L turbo-charged engine providing nearly 500 HP, the #22 car driven by Muller & van Lennep took second place at the 24 Hours of Le Mans race.

This 2023 model kit re-release has been issued numerous times by various manufacturers. Italeri gives it a skill level 2 rating. It’s a simple kit to build in out-of-the-box (OOB) form (minus the decals). The kit contains 42 pieces. The body is molded in a silver color. The rest of parts are on one tree molded in black, and there’s a clear window piece with headlight lenses. The model features soft rubber tires and colorful Cartograph waterslide decals. There are instructions for 2 versions with full-color decal placement images and paint callouts.

Review Author
Jim Stepanek
Published on
July 15, 2023
Company
Italeri
Scale
1/24
MSRP
$61.89

This is a review of the Iltaleri 3666 VW Golf Polizel model kit

Engine

Very basic engine. While engraved beautifully, this is very little additional details so the engine was put together and installed with no further detailing done.

Interior

Interior is wonderfully engraved. I had some issue fitting the separate side panels onto the chassis. Decals in the kit supplied the dashboard decals.

Body

Body was crisp and clean with no flash. I used Tru-Color metallic burgundy over black primer base and coated with 2 part urethane clear. Not being a fan of stock or box builds, I omitted the bumpers and rolled the front & rear pans and filled the stock taillight panels. Aftermarket taillights were installed.

Review Author
Doug Cole
Published on
July 9, 2023
Company
Carrera Revell
Scale
1/24
MSRP
$29.99

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.

Review Author
Pat Villarreal
Published on
June 10, 2023
Company
Brengun
Scale
1/72
MSRP
$69.70

A new multimedia kit from Bregrun. It a 1/72nd scale kit of the Texaco Doodlebug fuel tank truck from the 1930s era.

In the Box

This kit has six (6) resin poured part stubs, 1 photo-etched (PE) sheet, 1 vacuum-formed (VF) clear plastic windscreen with & without frame moldings, and 1 decal sheet. Instructions are printed in black and white on a single piece of paper. Print is on both sides and well-illustrated but not much written commentary.

The resin parts are well molded with a few air bubbles that need filling. I used Superglue/Cyanoacrylate (CA) as the filler. The recessed panel lines are well defined and somewhat wide for this scale but acceptable.

Review Author
Chris Vandegrift
Published on
May 13, 2023
Company
Hauler
Scale
1/120
MSRP
$25.54

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.

Review Author
Jim Stepanek
Published on
February 22, 2023
Company
Italeri
Scale
1/24
MSRP
$61.99

This is a review of the Ford Escort Zakspeed Gr.2.

Engine

The little 4 cylinder engine is well engraved. I was a little disappointed that there was no distributor.

Interior

Interior is wonderfully engraved and everything fits perfectly. There’s seat belt decals for the driver seat. The kit also had seat belt latches but they weren’t supposed to be used.

Body

Body was crisp and clean with no flash. I used a wonderful Tru-Color Grabber Blue because the kit is a Ford. A 2-part urethane clear was used to finish the paint.

Chassis

The suspension parts are separate from the chassis pan as is the exhaust system. There’s really not much detail to the chassis or suspension.

Instructions

The instructions are several pages long with suggested paint color for specific parts.

Review Author
Walt Fink
Published on
February 11, 2023
Company
Starfighter Decals
Scale
1/24
MSRP
$12.00

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.