Search the Community

Lamborghini Countach LP500S (07730) 1:24 Carrera Revell Designed as a successor to the Lamborghini Miura, the Countach was developed in the 1960s, the bodywork designed by Bertone using a new stylistic language that was dubbed the “Italian Wedge”, which gave the vehicle a dramatic style that made it the subject of a poster in many boys’ bedrooms. In line with many of Lamborghini’s designs from this period, the primary mechanical concern was to wring as much performance from it as possible, giving their owners the distinct feeling that their car was going to try and kill them if they took their mind off driving for even a fraction of a second. The prototype was designated LP500, and was unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show in 1971, followed by some scaling-back of the design to a more practical LP400 in time for production in 1974. The 400s ran a 3.9L engine, while the later 500 series had a substantially larger block at 4.8L or 5L, depending on the variant. Further down the line the S suffix was introduced to denote Sport, with even more performance than your average Lambo. Following the launch LP400 model, a 400S was introduced in 1978 with a revised bodykit, and an optional V-shaped wing at the rear that was incredibly popular, even though it reduced the vehicle’s top speed by around 10mph. It was the era of the flamboyant wing after all. 1982 saw the first appearance of the LP500S in production form, with a larger 4.8L engine, and some improvements to the interior fittings. The LP5000 Quattrovalvole followed with a bored-out engine, zero rear-view thanks to a hump over the engine cover, and the switch of materials on some panels to Kevlar. The 25th anniversary edition was based upon the Quattrovalvole, but with many panels restyled to update the look, while the performance was the best ever, driving it from 0-60 in 4.7 seconds, and a top speed of over 180mph. When it came time to consider replacing the Countach there were two schools of thought. The LP150 was intended to be an evolution of the design, while a totally new project that would become the Diablo was running alongside for a short while, eventually becoming the replacement, while the LP150 remained a one-off prototype. Lamborghini definitely made the right decision. The Kit This kit was originally released by Monogram in 1988, and has been reboxed several times in the intervening years in different packages and revised decals. This is the first reboxing in over a decade, and it arrives in one of Revell’s smaller end-opening boxes with a painting of a bright red Countach on the front, and some detail photos of the actual model on the back. Inside the box are five sprues and a bodyshell in white styrene, a clear sprue, a bag of four flexible black tyres, decal sheet, and the instruction booklet that is printed in colour on matt white paper, with colour profiles of the decal option on the rear. The kit is a product of its time, and comes from an era when toolings were produced manually, and included features could be considered toylike by modern standards. The mouldings have been preserved well over the years, although there are a few sink-marks evident on the wing and frunk panels, plus a few ejector-pin marks that you may wish to deal with before putting the kit together. Construction begins with the engine for a change, joining the two halves of the block and transmission, adding details to the centre between the banks of pistons, and a ribbed sump in two parts. The serpentine belts and other ancillaries are mounted on the front of the engine, inserting a pair of four-port manifold tubes into the sides of the cylinder banks, and a suspension frame at the front. The lattice framework around the rear-mounted engine is prepared by adding two rails, then inserting them in the rear of the floor pan with a partial bulkhead running across the rear of the bay. Radiator baths are inserted on either side of the bay with hoses leading back to the engine, adding a few extra parts inside the bay before installing the engine, which by now will have been detail-painted, feeding the four down-pipes through the rear of the compartment, trapping them between a three-part rear, then inserting two twin exhaust tips and a number plate holder under the rear. The drive-shafts are mated with the engine through the sides of the bay, fitting a hub to the end and bracing them with a pair of coil-over shocks, one on each side of the hub. A two-part intake assembly is fixed to each cylinder bank to complete the engine. The two-seat interior is based on a tub that is detail-painted, has the two-part dash with dial decals applied, a steering column with moulded-in stalks, and separate wheel at the front, gear shifter, hand brake and rear window, with more than twenty decals applied to the tub to increase the perception of detail. The pedal box is inserted under the dash, and two seats with moulded-in quilting are installed in the rear of the tub, setting it aside while the front of the bodyshell is detailed. A spare tyre is moulded into the frunk between the front arches, adding a cross-brace, brake master-cylinder and other small details, then inserting the side-light and indicator faces into recesses and covering them with clear lenses. The slab-like bumper has a pair of clear-lensed fog-lights pushed into recesses, fitting it under the bonnet along with an air-dam to complete the nose, save for the frunk cover that is added later. At the rear, the distinctive air intake “ears” are fixed to the body behind the side windows with separate grille parts at the front, mounting the windows in their cut-outs after painting the roof lining to match the bodywork, inserting a rear-view mirror, and painting the rubbers around the clear panes. The interior tub and engine cover are inserted from inside, adding trunks behind the NACA-style intakes on the body sides, fixing a suspension sub-frame under the frunk so that the floorpan can be mated with the bodyshell, mounting hubs with single coil-over shocks to the sub-frame, using the scrap diagrams to guide you. The frunk cover and windscreen are the last major parts of the bodyshell to be installed, although some important smaller parts are still to be fitted. The wheels of the Countach are one of the aspects of this kit that shows its age, as they aren’t as realistic as they could be. The tyres have almost solid rear faces, into which a circular dish and a pin are inserted, applying a decal to depict the gold-coloured calliper, then topping that with a rendition of the alloy wheel with five holes and studs moulded-in, inserting each one into its arch without glue. It is my understanding that the Countach had wider wheels at the rear, and the box painting backs this up, but all four tyres are the same width in this kit, which gives the finished model a slightly spindly, lifted look in pictures of the model on their website. The rear of a Countach is a distinctive shape, which is a single part that has two clear lenses pushed through from behind before it is fixed in place at the rear of the vehicle. The V-tail is mounted on a separate pair of struts, and here are some sink-marks that will benefit from filling before construction begins. A narrow strip is glued over the vestigial rear window, and a huge single windscreen wiper is inserted into a hole in the scuttle, adding just one wing mirrors with separate mirror part to the left door sill, as the kit is left-hand drive. Markings You can paint your Countach any colour you wish, or choose a production colour for accuracy. The profiles show a bright red vehicle along with the exterior decals that are dotted around the bodyshell, and a choice of British, Swiss, Italian, Austrian, German, Belgian, Netherlands, French, and an American number plate, which can be cut from the sheet to depict the approximate thickness, unless you would rather apply the decals over a piece of styrene sheet cut to size. Decals are by Cartograf, which is a guarantee of good registration, sharpness and colour density, with a thin gloss carrier film cut close to the printed areas. Conclusion This kit was tooled while the Countach was still new to the public consciousness, and was designed in a bygone era where kits were simpler, less accurate, and they are sometimes described unkindly as toy-like. It scales out in gross dimensions, but the omission of accurate wheel sizing puts it at a disadvantage when it comes to the modeller that is looking for extreme accuracy. Recommended. Carrera Revell model kits are available from all good toy and model retailers. For further information visit or

Morning everyone made a start on this kit yesterday so I though I'd make a thread to document my build. Now I'm far from s great modeller so please don't expect Roy or Shaun levels of modelling here lol but I do enjoy it and does help me relax So on to the build, well it's the Aoshima lambo. First time I have picked up a kit from this maker and so far I have to say it's well up there with Tamiya in terms of fit and quality, so much so I have the F1 gtr ready to be ordered on payday lol. (Or maybe two 🙈) I won't bore you all with the sprue shots but you certainly get alot in the box, and I'm going for something slighty different with the paint scheme, yup that is Roothmans blue you can see there...... more on this in a later post. Starting with the body, here you can see I've installed the side vents and the side skirts, although left the grill off the back of the vent, this should allow for easier painting and less masking (I hate masking!) From here the front bumper was cleaned up, no glued in place yet, simply placed From here the rear portion has received some work, the rear wing was built up and the first piece of photo etch applied to the rear And finally So after a little bit of work I have the start of an SV starting to take shape. Next up is adding the final details to the body and then into the paint shop. Note the bumpers and wing haven't been glued yet, these can come together after painting. But I'm certainly enjoying this one so far, hopefully have some more progress this week on the model, but I think it's safe to say my mojo is well and truly back up and firing All the best Matt

so this will be my first 1/24 car kit, done a few 1/12 bikes and of course lots of gundam and scifi stuff. the theme will be gundam, neo zeon, sazabi with the decals. so opened the kit today and really surprised how small it is, i think its due to not openning up a 1/24 car kit since i was a child. oh well it is what it is, ive also got the hobby design liberty walk upgrade kit and extra wheels and extra tyres. the decals are hologram and il just use a few of them. ive seen some photos of the finished kit and isnt as slammed as id like so may try and mock up and see if i can get it really low. heres the pics.

I discovered that there aren't many Diablo builds here, especially the Italeri version, so I though that even though the damn thing is nearly finished after 10 or more years on the shelf of doom. I recently got my mojo back after another hiatus of nearly a whole year. So here it is: First the box: A bit tatty, but it's been in the loft for a long while, so can be excused perhaps. This is I think, the original boxing. I think that Italeri have re-released this this year. It's gone together reasonably well, so far. But Italeri kits have a bit of a reputation as being a bit of a bugger in the fit department... The current state: The engine bay is really just the top and not complete. But after a bit of careful painting, I think that it looks quite good. I think that the plenum chambers (if that's what they are) need a bit of prettifying. The Lamborghini raised parts need to be another colour. I doubt that the real engine has this, but frankly I don't care! It's my Lambo, and that's what I would want! Body: Wheels and tyres: This is to be honest, is the weakest part of the kit. The tyres are that crappy vinyl stuff, that leaks an oily goo that eventually melts polystyrene. Fortunately all the wheels are fully painted, especially where the tyres touch the plastic, so this should protect it. Hope you like it. All the best, Alan.