IPMS/USA Reviews

Engine

Beautiful Ford 289 is well detailed and fits together just perfectly. I added ignition wiring, throttle linkage, and fuel line.

Interior

Interior is wonderfully engraved just screaming for some detail painting. Rustoleum texture paint was used to simulate a sprayed on durable coating.

Body

The body went together very well. The open grille is an impressive piece. Didn't have to grind away the back to open it up. Every piece fits very well. I filled the holes for the outrigger spare tire and put it inside. The fender flares were made with strip styrene and Bondo. I needed wider flares to cover the tires. HOK sunrise pearl was used on the body.

Chassis

The frame rails are separate from the chassis pan making for detail painting easier. Front, rear suspension, and exhaust are all separate pieces. Some serious lowering was done to the suspension. Wheels/tires are from the parts box.

Instructions

The instructions are several pages long with suggested paint colors for specific parts and a numbered list to tell you what part is what.

This is a review of the Revell '80 Jeep Honcho "Ice Patrol" kit.

Engine

There was little flash on the engine parts but there is also very little detail. You get just a very basic engine with a way oversize fanbelt.

Interior

Only faint engraving can be seen on the door panels making it very difficult to detail paint. The kit does have 2 different decals for the gauge cluster.

Body

The body went together pretty well. The rear portion of the box is a separate piece that I didn't care for, but it fit very well. You get a choice with decals in either blue tone or orange. My choice was the blue to go along with the Tru-Color metallic bright Atlantic Blue paint. The inside of the box was painted with Rustoleum texture paint for a spray in bedliner look.

The kit comes with a toolbox, 2 gas cans and a snowmobile. Once assembled, the sled won't fit in the box of the truck with the tailgate up.

From Hasegawa's website: Designed specifically for taking the racing world by storm, the XJR-9 was the eighties Jaguar that finally cracked the iron grip Porsche had on the 24 Hours of Le Mans and brought Jaguar its first Le Mans win since 1957. In America, the type also brought home the win at the 24 Hours of Daytona and took third in the overall Constructor's Championship. This limited edition kit features markings for three IMSA-GTP class Daytona Sunbank 24 hours racers: Car No. 60 (the winner), Car No. 61, and Car No. 66 (third place).

Hasegawa originally released this kit in 1989, shortly after Jaguar had won at Daytona the previous year. This limited edition version is the same kit with new box art. (Limited Edition usually means that this will be the last release of these molds.) What is under that new box art are sixty seven parts molded in white plastic, clear parts for the windscreen and headlamp covers, four rubber tires as well as decals for all three cars (#60, #61, #66) that entered the 24 Hours of Daytona in 1988.

A very nice new kit from Revell, this is the stock version, issued after the "Starsky and Hutch" version. The kit is a very simple build that almost harkens back to the old screw bottom kits. It was a pleasure to build, as there was basically no flash, and fit and finish were fantastic. Chrome is excellent quality, and the glass are all seperate pieces that fit very nicely. A welcome attribute.

I built my kit mostly box stock, except for the following: I added a distributor and wires and I also added the factory optional quarter "opera" windows and vinyl top, simply to break up the large expanse of roof and quarter panel on these cars. I also used vintage Uniroyal white walls, as the kit supplied white wall tires seem to have too low of a profile. A wonderful kit that I would recommend to anyone, advanced or not. The only problem I found with the entire kit, are the relatively low profile tires, that if used, would look too small on the car.

Thanks to Revell for a great new kit, and thanks to IPMS for allowing me to review it. (The colors I used are Ford Light Green, and Ford Dark Yellow Green)

The Sauber Mercedes C9 made quite a splash in 1989, winning the World Sports Car Prototype Championship with both the #61 and #62 racers. In this curbside kit you have the option of building either vehicle with the decals provided.

Although this is a simple model it is rated a skill level three kit for modelers aged 14 and over by the manufacturer due to the large decals involved in finishing. It has 79 pieces molded in gray, clear and black styrene. The decals are very nice with a great register and minimal carrier film. There are no drivetrain parts and the underside is a plain floorpan with a few molded in details. When finished the dimensions are approximately: Length: 8", Width: 3", Height: 2."

Construction

The best way to describe the kit is to say; "wait for it!" By that I mean even though you don't fell like your putting as much together as traditional car kits with drivetrain parts, it turns out to be quite a great looking shelf display when you're finished.