2013 Mustang Boss 302

Published on
February 22, 2020
Review Author(s)
Scale
1/25
MSRP
$24.95
Product / Stock #
85-4187
Company: Revell, Inc. - Website: Visit Site
Provided by: Revell, Inc. - Website: Visit Site
Boxtop

PROS: All-new tooling, exciting subject matter, great engine.

CONS: Too-high ride height, inaccurate wheels.

Revell's 2013 Mustang Boss 302 kit is produced from an all-new tool - only the tires, which originated in the company's 2010 Mustang GT kit, are carried over. However, Revell clearly used the same masters it used for its other late-model Mustang glue kits to produce the tooling for this one, and, as such, this kit retains the same strengths and weaknesses as every other Revell Mustang model all the way back to the 2006 GT.

The major weakness with this kit, as with Revell's other Mustangs, is a too-high ride height. The model needs to be lowered about 1/16th of an inch at all four corners to have a realistic stance. Fortunately, this is easy to do. To lower the front end, locate the two semi-circular front suspension mounting points and file or sand them flat. Then, remove a couple of coils from the tops of the front struts (parts 45 and 46) so they will fit to the tops of the inner front fenders. Lowering the rear end is even easier _ just shorten the springs that hold the rear axle (part 289) in place. You'll lose the mounting pins that fit into the holes in the chassis, but that's not an issue. I also used my Dremel tool and a sanding drum to remove some plastic from the outer sides of the inner front fenders to create some additional tire clearance. No other parts require modification; thus the dreaded "domino effect" _ the modeling syndrome where one modification leads to a host of others _ is avoided. You can certainly skip these steps if you feel your modeling skills aren't up to them; just be forewarned that your finished model will have a ride height more suited to an SUV than a pony car. The steps I took to dial in a more correct stance were my only deviations from a box-stock build.

This kit contains the first scale rendition of Fords 5.0 liter "Coyote" modular engine. It's represented by a 23-piece assembly and it looks really sharp when complete. The crisply engraved rocker covers and ribbed intake plenum are particularly noteworthy. I used Tamiya TS-44 Brilliant Blue spray to paint the portions of the rocker covers that are Ford Blue on the 1:1 car. I then masked those areas with Bare-Metal Foil and painted the outer edges of the covers Tamiya TS-29 Semi-Gloss Black. I painted the intake plenum with that same TS-29 and used a silver Sharpie to detail the raised ribs. There's a decal for the silver "Boss 302" lettering.

I mixed two acrylic paints _ Tamiya XF-60 Dark Yellow and Testors Green Zinc Chromate _ to create a rough approximation of the greenish-brown primer Ford uses on the undersides of Mustangs and airbrushed it onto the chassis pan. It's not an exact match for the 1:1 paint, but I went with it since I had no plans to display my model on its roof. The Boss' unique performance exhaust, which utilizes "cut outs" that branch off from the main system, thereby increasing exhaust flow, is accurately reproduced.

The kit's interior builds up off a platform to which the inner front fenders, which need to be painted body color, are molded. I did so, then masked off the inner fenders and airbrushed the interior platform and other interior parts with Tamiya XF-63 German Grey acrylic. The two-piece Recaro bucket seats look very accurate, and the separate two-piece headrests for the rear seat are a nice touch.

The kit's spoked wheels look good, but, unfortunately, they miss the mark by a wide margin when it comes to being accurate reproductions of the wheels on the 1:1 Boss 302, which are modern interpretations of the Minilite racing wheels used on original Boss 302s that were raced on the Trans Am circuit. It's easy to tell this by comparing the kit wheels to those on the 1:1 car depicted on the box top. The most obvious discrepancy is that the model's wheels are missing the flat areas around their outer edges, which are raw aluminum on the 1:1 wheels. Also, the spokes on the kit wheels are too thin and aren't set deeply enough in the rims. My hope is that some aftermarket company will offer a more accurate set of wheels for this kit. Also, the kit wheels are chome-plated, even though they're not on the 1:1 car, and need to be stripped before being painted black. I accomplished this using oven cleaner. After the Testors Class Black paint I applied to the wheels had dried, I got out my trusty silver Sharpie again and used it to detail the lug nuts and to "fake" the missing flat areas around the outer edges.

I chose Tamiya TS-23 Camel Yellow, which is a fairly close match for Ford's School Bus Yellow, one of the factory paint options on the 2013 Boss 302, as the main body color for my model. There's a quite a bit of blackout trim on the 1:1 car and on the model, and this required quite a bit of tedious masking and painting, but the end result was worth it.

The decals went on without a hitch. I was particularly impressed with the fit of the red-and-black taillight overlays. When applying the stripes, I suggest applying the large one on the hood (decal No. 4) first and using it as a guide to align the others. Also, be aware that that the stripe decal that goes across the upper front fascia in front of the hood is too long; apply it before installing the upper grill (part No. 253) and you shouldn't have to trim it.

Much to my chagrin, I found out after I had mounted the body to the chassis, I found out the hood of my model didn't fit flush at the front. I knocked the front fascia loose at one point while mounting the body and had to re-glue it; apparently, I didn't check the alignment closely enough.

Overall, though, I very much enjoyed building this kit and would recommend it to anyone who's a fan of modern muscle cars. Many thanks to Revell for providing the review sample and to the IPMS Reviewer Corps for giving me the opportunity to do the review!

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