Timeless and unmistakable in form, the VW Beetle became a symbol of the 1960s and early ‘70s in the United States. After roughly two decades of absence in new car showrooms, the “New Beetle” re-emerged as a concept car in 1994, followed shortly by production versions.

Although originally released in 1999, Revell’s rendition of the modern “Bug” is a beauty – both in form and engineering – and serves as a great subject for young or novice modelers.

Molded in yellow and black, with chrome-plated trim parts, clear windows, and a sheet of peel-and-stick markings, the model can be readily built into a reasonable and convincing facsimile of the real thing in under an hour. Body, chassis, and interior detail is crisply and accurately defined and well-molded. Part fit is virtually flawless, with only a minor amount of parental support being required to help Camden (age 8) squeeze and press some of the parts together.

Although the box contents are sufficient to craft a good-looking model, Camden opted to paint his sample. After some brainstorming and time in front of an Ohio State football game on TV one night, he decided to paint his as a Buckeye helmet. A little bit of Googling soon resulted in some photos of actual “Buckeye Bugs” to serve as a more definitive reference. We promptly sketched out the design in Powerpoint, overlaying a scanned image of the instructions’ markings page with stripes and scaling accordingly. After printing our guide and applying a base coat of silver, Camden got his first lesson in transferring points using a set of drafting dividers. With points established on the model, and with some careful coaching, he laid down his Tamiya tape and other masking media. We used the Testors Custom Lacquer System due to the availability of close matching colors and fast drying, working a stripe color per day, sequencing through white, metallic red, and black. After minor touch-ups, the Ultra Gloss Clear was applied.

With final assembly complete and stickers applied, Camden was rewarded with a sharp-looking little Beetle sporting the colors of his favorite college football team.

Revell has certainly produced a long line of excellent SnapTite kits for young modelers over the years, and the VW New Beetle is among the best of the best. Camden got a kick out of building and customizing it. As a parent, I was thrilled to see my son really take ownership of his build and its overall theme. Clearly, we HIGHLY RECOMMEND this kit to modelers of any age or skill level looking for a fun and accurate build of “The Bug.”

Many thanks to Revell for the sample kit and to IPMS/USA for the opportunity to share our experience with you all.