Revell 1:72 Warthog.....VERY Disappointed. The pieces all need lotsa trimming.

Revell has been around for a long time so quality is not always at the same level throughout their kits. If you have the time and opportunity ask here for an opinion on an individual kit.

Bill Banaszak, MFE Sr.

In my experience, Revell is unpredictable, with a considerable probability of crap. I buy Revell only if they're the only line with the subject, the kit in question is a re-issue of some other, better quality, company's molds, or if I've seen good reviews of that specific kit.

Rob

in article snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com, sam at snipped-for-privacy@sam.com wrote on 2/12/07 9:35 PM:

I've bought two recently produced kits from Revell-Germany -- their 1/72 Tornado GR.1 and 1/72 F-16C Block 50/52. There hasn't been a whole lot written about them, but they are very well done IMHO. I'm at the painting stage with the Tornado, which has upwards of 170 parts including ordnance. My only beef is that the cockpit is shallower than scale, which means you pretty much have to use the kit seats (which aren't bad, but aren't as detailed as resin replacements). I have read at least one review of the F-16 that rated it better than the Hasegawa kit.

The biggest problem with Revell is that a lot of the offerings are reboxings of other companies' kits. Some are fine (for example Hasegawa 1/48 Bf 109E and Hurricane), and some are dogs; and there's no easy way to tell which you're buying. As another example, the recently boxed 1/72 Tornado IDS in Saudi colors is actually the old Monogram model.

Pip Moss

If the kit you're referring to is the Revell-Germany release, don't blame Revell. This kit is a rebox of the Italeri kit. Otherwise, it's probably the Monogram kit that was released in 1977. As I recall, this was the first injection molded A-10 kit available.

Revell-Germany kits are generally very good but you have to figure out what the origins of the mold are. You can tell if it is an Italeri or Hasegawa rebox by looking at the panel on the side of the box that contains the company information. If it says "Made in Italy", then it's Italeri. If it says "Made in Japan", then it's Hasegawa. Revell- Germany also reboxes kits from other manufacturers so you need to do some research before buying if you're concerned. For example, the old R-G Gannet is the horrible FROG mold from the '60s but it is rumored that a new molding will be released this year. I also hear that the currently available 1/72 T-6G is the ex-Heller kit and not too bad. R- G also acquired the rights to many Matchbox kits and some of these in current release are the Fairey Swordfish, BK-117 helo, and the HH-65 Dauphin USCG Helo.

If you have a question about the origin of a kit you're interested in buying, you can check the model review sites

or post the question here on r.m.s.

Martin

Thank You that is a lot of very good information. I will do more studying before another purchase. This kit was Made in China

I would agree with that assessment. The 1/72 Revell F-16 (all versions) is so much better than the competition that it is now effectively the only game in town.

The one thing we need to remember...Revell builds kits to sell at a specific price point. As a general rule, the lower the price point the lower the quality. Chevorlet -v- Cadillac. Age of the mold does have a direct impact on the quality of the sprues, flash generally is the sign of either poorly engineered molds or worn out. I think if you look at the quantities that say Revell sells versus Tamiya, you'll see Revell wins hands down. I bet you can find Revell kits at more sales venues (locations) worldwide than you can find Tamiya. As a kid I remember my allowance was enough to by a couple of Revell kits at the local five and dime, others like Hasegawa and Tamiya were only available at hobby shops or through catalogs and were way out of my budget. My two cents.

I had the Italeri release of that kit about, let's see.... ten years ago. No problems back then - in fact I seem to recall it went together very nicely. Like others have said, the age of the mould, or more to the point the number of times it's been through the moulding cycle, has a major influence on moulding quality. Revell are frequent offenders for this, partly this is due to their policy of releasing other manufacturers' old kits (which can be a good thing), and partly because of the sheer volume of kits they sell (meaning of course that the mould gets cycled a hell of a lot). Take a look at a Revell 1/32 Tornado kit for an example. Not an old kit by any stretch, but already showing signs of excessive flash. Moulding deficiencies, not to mention all sorts of fit and accuracy problems, can all be overcome, so if the kit in question is what you want, in the scale you want and the price is right, don't be too badly put off.

-- Posted via NewsDemon.com - Premium Uncensored Newsgroup Service ------->>>>>>

Revell's new mold C-160 is probably the best 1/72 kit I've ever seen. The detail is amazing, including a FULL interior. Their new mold Fw200 is pretty spectacular also. The new mold Revell G ermany models are really as good if not better than Tamiya at least in terms of detail.

Well, What I'm reading from your post is...Revell is junk and always has been. I agree. When I was a kid I almost always had Revell. I could get the Revell the drugstore....Now there is a forgotten concept.

Never saw a Tamiya or any other high end models.

Yes you're right about the price point. Now that I don't have to buy Revell I won't.

Sam

That's not what anybody was saying at all. The point was that Revell offer models at all different price points and levels of quality. They provide kits that range from ancient, basic, or state of the art high quality. Do a little research before buying Revell and you won't be disappointed.

Sam,

Too bad you didn't "read" what everyone wrote about Revell.

Revell GmbH (Germany) is now turning out probably the best kits for the price in the world, in the newly molded ones. That is the problem, you must identify the newly molded kits to get the best (Transall, Fw 200 C-8, He 177 A-6, etc.)-great and low price; otherwise, you will get a re-box from Hasegawa (German Navy P-3C) - okay; a re-box from Revell USA (B-52) - okay but can be expensive; or a re-box of Matchbox (old Gannet, etc.) - poor.

You need to read up on what is what, starting with the Revell GmbH website, and the modelling magazines on-line. If you don't then, like all other purchases you make on just about everything, you are just a sucker, waiting to be taken in.

Fan of the new Revell GmbH. (and wait>> The one thing we need to remember...Revell builds kits to sell at a

I'm not saying Revell is junk. At the time most of their (older) kits were originally manufactured they were not of the same level of quality that we are seeing today. Yes, Revell is turning out some really good kits at a good price, probably because they made a ton of money re-releasing all of those other kits over and over again. It also could be that their thinking is that if they sell these newer kits for less they will sell more of them giving them a higher return on their investment.

Something of interest is that Lindberg and Hawk kits are being reintroduced into the market this year. Their intentions from what I was told, is to capture market share of newer modelers and older fudds like us who have a sense of nostalgia of our earlier days as kids building those kits. They are entering the market at a very low price point to compete with Revell and other mfr who are also releasing their older kits. The molds are paid for, so why not. The expenses of bringing these kits back into the market is the cost of the raw materials, packaging & distribution and labor. Therefore the initial investment to bring a kit to market was recouped decades ago.

Many of these companies who never delved into the diecast or pre-made arena are doing more so to stay competitive in the model/miniatures market. Armour kits are getting smaller (1:35 to 1:48) where aircraft seem to be going larger (1:48/32 to 1:18) I believe this latter trend is mostly directed to us in the western hemisphere, it seems we have more room in our dwellings to accommodate them.

I've never considered any model as junk, just not worthy of my efforts to correct its' deficiencies enough to build it. Those models end up in my spares box to be used for other creative endeavors or used as barter for something I really want.

Many of you who participate in this forum, I respect. Your thoughts and insights are worthy of reading and debating. Keep the conversations going! I'm listening.

you mean the A6E? thats Italeri, Revells boxed version was a lot more cash, just like most of em.

-great and low price; otherwise, you will get a re-box from

starfix fits the unbuilable/not worth anything point. their spitfire is a joke. i love seeing the old kits come back, even if they are

20x-50x the old prices. money is almost worthless now anyway. if lindberg releases the 1/72 german stuff again, i'll buy it and build it. despite the rivets and lack of cockpit detail, you can bash up some nice kits. the ju88 motors in a opened up d0 335 is still one of my fave hacks as are the many v model ar 234's you can hack. once you change the motors tto the correct one, you're set. the trolleys are easy to buils, i have 10 spares i whipped up in a few hours. i know few here share my enjoyment of those simple kits, but i have yet to run out of varietys to bash. so i have 50+ different versions of the 335-234-88 ac for very short money. and it's damn fun.

I hate to be the devil's advocate here but I know of two Starfix kits that seem worth building. I have their Alpha Jet and an F-5. The F-5 looks like a model of the prototype with no nose guns. There was an old Microscale sheet just for that aircraft. For the majority of their output I tend to agree with 'e'.

Bill Banaszak, MFE Sr.

The Starfix Sikorsky HH-3E is, IIRC, a copy of the old Aurora kit and, while simple, isn't too bad.

One thing about Starfix kits that gives them some value: their plastic is pretty good quality. I have three Starfix kits n the tool box:one for testing paint, one for testing glues and putties and one for testing tools. At some point they are going to like Ken Keesey's Magic Bus. :-)

Tom

The build is coming along. It's taking time because I always want the next to be better than the last.

OK So Revell Germany is good. Ok so Revell Monogram is bad esp if made in Communist China. Cause Communism and China art bad so they make bad stuff.

On the plus size I got to use some filler material. That stuff is a trip and where are the tutorials for that stuff?

Anyhow. Thanks for all the input to my rant. I will take the good advice to heart and there was a lot and ignore the off topic nonsense.

Sam

Sam you need to get out more... Comunisim and model building do go together in this day and age..... Trumpeter are a Chineese company.... China has an economy that is growing faster than the US economy is and what you said is old fationed and way out of date.... you are so off My Xmass card list

Gondor