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Here is the latest Revell Bristol Beaufighter TF.X. I built this kit for a review in the Dutch IPMS magazine. It was built straight out of the box, except for the Eduard seatbelts. Actually, it is a pretty good kit. Only some minor fitting issues, a very fragile landing gear and the instructions leave you with some guess work. Hope you like.

Apollo 11 Saturn V Rocket (03704) 1:96 Revell You may have heard that it is the 50th anniversary of Man walking on the moon, which was kicked off by JFK's speech and their collection of German rocket scientists that were brought back to America under Operation Paperclip at the end of WWII, most notable of whom was Werner Von Braun, who had dreamt of going to the moon since his childhood. The monstrous Saturn V rocket was the result, and at the very tip of that particular spear was the Lunar Module (LEM) under a protective cowl, and the Service Module (SM) with the Command Module (CM) at the very top under the Launch Escape System (LES) rocket pack that was destined never to be used (thankfully) if the early launch process went awry. There were earlier manned launches of the smaller Saturn 1 and 1B rockets, after which the Saturn V was the sole launch platform for the Apollo missions, totalling 13 launches by the end of Apollo 17's trip there and back again. An adapted Saturn V was also used to launch the Skylab space station into orbit, although it eventually made an uncontrolled re-entry once the mission was over and the station-keeping thrusters had exhausted their fuel. The Kit This is a re-release of Revell's 1970s vintage kit in 1:96, and it's a monster. The original boxing stated that it's almost 4 feet tall, while this new 50th edition gives us a length of 114cm. The box is substantial, and has a captive lid that folds over the side and is secured by two large tabs. Inside the box is divided into two portions, one containing the silver plastic parts and the paints that accompany the model, and the larger section with all the white styrene in there. There are also two flat sections of card, which have shapes pre-cut, and can be used to store the completed model minus the third stage once you've finished. The box contains 183 parts, and surprisingly to the uninitiated, there aren't any large diameter big long tubes for the various stages, as those are supplied as flat styrene sheet with the markings printed directly on their surface. These sheets are wrapped round to form a tube, which is then pinned in place by the umbilicals and held to shape with the styrene end-caps. Inside the box are the following: 11 x top/bottom fairings for the three stages in white styrene 4 x sprues of white styrene parts for the Saturn V Rocket 5 x sprues of silver styrene parts for the LEM/CM/SM 4 x white styrene sheets with printed markings for the Saturn V stages 1 x sheet of decals 1 x large silver styrene base 1 x bag with four thumb-pots of Revell acrylic paint, small Contacta glue, No.2 paint brush Add to that the instruction booklet, and that's everything inside the box. The kit is a product of its era, but detail is pretty good and any flash seems to be mostly adhering to the sprues rather than the parts. There are some well-documented inaccuracies in this kit, but in the marketplace of larger scale Saturn V kits (1:144 and above) that can be said of them all, so if you want to go BIG but not HUMONGOUS, this is still the kit for you. I'm reliably informed that when complete it will fit into one of those floor-standing Ikea cabinets if you remove all the glass shelves. There are probably three main ways to approach this project. Build it as is and just enjoy it, build it and improve it as you go along, or build it with the aid of aftermarket and try to improve the accuracy and detail. Most casual observers wouldn't notice the difference between each approach, so it's entirely up to you as usual how much effort, time and money you put into the task. Construction begins with the base, as the model needs some support as it grows taller, so it makes sense. Four triangular supports are glued to the base plate and painted red, which gives the model a little anti-topple protection. The five big F-1 engines are next, made up from two halves with two additional parts making up the complex tubing above the bells. These are depicted bare, but the actual launch vehicles were covered with batted insulation that gave them a different look, so here you can decide to leave them as is, scratch some insulation from foil or similar, or go all out and purchase the aftermarket engine sets that are available. The completed engines are fitted onto a flat bottom plate, which then slips into the underside of the first styrene cap, resting on a small ledge at the bottom. The narrow black and white sheet is then rolled up to form the bottom tubular section of the stage and pinned together by umbilical parts inside and out, fitting to the top of the engine assembly using a keyed mating surface. The four conical engine cowlings are added all round, and another styrene ring is added to the top of the growing structure, with the longest styrene sheet sat on top of that, then the top of stage 1 with its domed tank clearly visible inside. The connection between the top of stage 1 and 2 is a cylindrical part that you often see being incinerated as it tumbles away in footage of the launches. This covers the stage 2 engines, which consist of five Rocketdyne J-2 units, again with small parts added above the two-part engine bells. These are glued into another tapered styrene cylinder, which fits into the top of the interconnect, and has the mostly white sheet used to create the body, with umbilical parts used to hide the joins again. Another domed fuel tank top is inside the top of that stage, and a conical cowling fits into the top of that too. The narrower third stage has a conical underside with one J-2 engine at the bottom, with another styrene tube made up and inserted into the top, and joined by another domed fuel tank on top. Attention now turns to the LEM, CM & SM, which are also available as a separate kit, reviewed here recently. The sprues are the same, the decals are all amalgamated with the kit markings, and the only thing that isn't included is the gold foil for the LEM, which you can easily replace by treating yourself to a chocolate bar or similar. I won't re-tread old ground, suffice to say that all three sections are built up, although the LEM is fitted with its legs folded up so that it slots into the tapered cowling that it rides into space inside, one section of which is transparent for easy viewing of the completed model. The CM and SM are installed on the top, and the LES sits on the very top of a short tower, to lift the CM clear using emergency rockets that can be seen under the flared base. Also included is the lunar surface base and goose-neck stand for the kit, so the instructions give you some suggestions on how to use the parts if you feel like it. I think most people will probably leave the three modules at the top of the stack though, as it's all about the going up part. Please note that the gold foil pictured above is NOT included with this model Markings There's only one option for the markings, as you might expect, and much of the main body is either self-coloured or pre-printed on the flat styrene sheets that go to make up the blank tubular sections. The decals are printed for Revell by Zanetti, and are in good register with plenty of sharpness and colour density. The key part is to match up the black sections with the printed parts, and to paint the complex chequer pattern on the tapered cowling correctly. The other decals are pointed out on diagrams on the rear page, which also shows you how to store the model in the original box once you have built it. Given its sheer size, this is a very useful capability. The diagram shows an in-built handle, which doesn't seem fitted to my box, which is a shame. Conclusion The kit might also soon be celebrating its own 50th anniversary, but considering that it is still quite an impressive kit, not just for its size. It has the undiminished appeal of the raw power it used to get men to the Moon, and can be built by a child with minimal paint, an adult with care and some precision, or a detailer with the assistance of aftermarket that's available from companies such as Realspacemodels.com and New Ware Models. Beware your wallet if you go down that route though. Highly recommended. Revell model kits are available from all good toy and model retailers. For further information visit or

I hesitate to call myself a modeller - more of a two-left-hands-composed-entirely-of-thumbs plastic mangler. But it is a bit of fun! Soooo.......time to sharpen the knives and set the ovens to 160 - here comes Quaaaack! As a reminder, my first build was a Bae hawk in beautiful orange-peel black Time to look for my next build - my errr... second After a bit of a struggle with the learning curve on the last one, I decided to try harder to learn new stuff and try handling some of these new-fangled etchy resiny bits. Might as well stretch myself, though it may all end in tears (or the bin!) Starting point is a Revell 1/48 Jaguar GR1. No box shot cos the box was recycled months ago, and no sprue shots as everybody knows what sprues look like. Hopefully one day I'll persuade it to look vaguely like a Granby Kitty. Kicking off with the Neomega resin cockpit - This was my first time trying to surgically insert resin into reluctant plastic. Rear cockpit bulkhead removed and side walls stuck in after a lot of dry-fitting. The nose wheel well appears to have a short-shot issue with an absent side wall but I'm really not too bothered by this as the build is really all about trying things out. After the build is complete, I doubt I'll ever look down there anyway.... Next - tried painting the cockpit - initially seemed ok until I checked the photo -----aaaaaarrrrrgh Its 'Orrible. A bit more poking with hairy sticks and it's marginally better. No doubt I'll tinker with it later. Seat painting slightly more successful. I'm actually half pleased with this - taking into account my shaky hands and rubbish eyesight. I'll fiddle more with that later. Panel assembled and painted. Next I had a look at the rear end and the rather unconvincing fuel dump arrangement I thought it might be relatively straight-forward to ream this out to leave a recess, then replace the jettison pipe with brass rod, filling the void with a plug of mlliput....Adventurous Quack! One half done. Both sides opened and some milliput to avoid the see-through effect. Photo-etch next - trying to roll awkward bits into vaguely exhaust-like shapes - bit hamfisted but hey it's all experience! Problems arose trying to fit the fuselage halves with really don't want to align at all (Just my kit? Just my luck? Just my two left hands?) I ended up gluing several plastic card shims at strategic points along the join lines to try to persuade them to align without enormous steps... Fuselage closed up now with some primer to show me where the seams need work - no matter how much I sand they seem to show up! At this rate I'll end up oversanding the contours....... The large inlet on the spine for the primary heat exchanger has been carved away and re-floored with a bit of plastic card - another first for Quack. The openings for the smaller heat exchanger behind the cockpit have also been opened to try to make them look a bit more (ahem!) realistic. There's a plug of milliput in there too to avoid a see-through effect. I've tried replacing the intakes as the kit parts show the auxiliary doors open, which I believe would only occur when engine running on the ground. I used resin replacements and after bodging a bit, thought I might get away with a line here - unfortunately photos show that this is really a smooth blended curve without a clear panel line so more sanding and filling and sanding required. Yes I know I said sanding twice.....I've been doing a lot of flipping sanding and filling and blending....and swearing. And now I think I'll leave it alone - probably as good as I'll get it. Right - that's enough for now. If can keep this out of the bin I'll post up some more soon. Maybe Christmas. I'm a slow builder. Happy to receive any advice - keep it noob-appropriate as I'm still really just on my second build. One of the reasons for posting this as a WIP is to receive the wisdom of my fellow BM'ers. All tips gratefully received - though please don't get upset if I make an almighty @rse of it all. Happy plastic-mangling everybody! Quack

My most recent completion, totally exhausted with the effort that went into decaling on this project. First off, the build. Pretty straight forward, fit was okay (but not a patch on Japanese and, more recently, some of the newer Korean engineering). There are quite a number of sink marks in the plastic though - perhaps due to the age of the molds themselves? I didn't worry about these too much as the markings would tend to draw the eye anyway. Almost completely OOB, only aftermarket used were the Master Model pitot tube and AOA sensors. Now the decals. I've heard that these are Cartograf - if so, thank goodness! My kit had an old and yellowed decal sheet. Quite a few were brittle and shattered on application. I suspect that being Cartograf they had some inherent strength which limited the number and severity of breakages. Even so, there were many hours spent playing decal jigsaw on a minute sub-millimetre scale. I ended up using Mr Color Levelling Thinners sprayed through the airbrush as the decal setting agent (after first applying Mr Mark Softer and then Micro Sol!). I restrained myself with regards to the weathering, this is a show-bird after all, but felt some oil streaks and stains on the underside were in order. Anyhoo, enough with my rambling... on with the pics! As always, thanks for looking

Built OOB and tried to get the very worn finish of the Bounty Hunters Tomcats using multiple shades of grey. Not exactly as I had hoped as it is slightly too dark I think, but I'm calling it done. Missing a couple of small bits that I offered up as a sacrifice to the carpet monster, so need to replace the pitot tube and 2 airspeed/AAT probes. The decals were a bit thick and silvered a little despite gloss coating beforehand, although other than that quite a nice kit to build. Crew figures from PJ Productions.

Here I post sompe pictures of a Lamborghini Diablo VT by Revell. Built completely OOB as a little inbetween-Project to keep the flame burning. It went together quite easily which is why I almost forgot to take some pictures. What you see here is all done just before mating the shell to the undercarriage. Mostly brush painted, a little airbrush work on the cognac. Colours are almost exclusively Vallejo Game Color and metallics Vallejo Model Air. All kit chrome was stripped and reapplied with molotov chrome where necessary. The Bodywork was sprayed enamel white from a rattlecan. The color is RAL9010 pure white which is just a tad off white. I almost always ignore the kits color suggestions completely and so did here. My references were collected from a ad on hemmings.com, which is no longer active. The pictures where downloaded in time, if anyone needs them for reference, let me know. Window surrounds painted slowly with a brush. The clear parts did not fit very well and needed pressure and 2k glue to stay put. Inside of the shell was completely painted black to look right through the openings. Engine and suspension bits were painted in a gunmetal metallic, then washed with a dark ink, probably smokey ink or pure black in places. then heavily drybrushed gunmetal, edges picked again in a bright silver. Some bolts picked out in silver. Exhaust pipes were done with a little bronce mixed into the gunmetal. From the upside very little is seen of the engine. The covers where painted in a ceramic white which I saw in a few pictures of diablo SVTs. I liked this very much and thought it would be great looking with the red decals. Even less will be seen through the opened hood. There's really next to no room around the engine. The cast block was painted black with some edges picked out in silver according to some pictures I found online. I think there's no real car with this combination out there, but it is not too far from reality. The interieur was done in a cognac brown according to the pictures I found online. The decal for the middle console is originally one part but needed to be seperated to fit nicely. The seats were rubbed down a bit with my fingers to give them a more used look. I appologize for the poor picture quality - I used my old camera but did not realize I had set the ISO still way too high as I took pictures in the dark before. By now the car is finished to a reasonable standard for a quick project and sits in my bookshelf. Some more pictures will probably follow.

I had an unexpected day and a half off earlier in the year and managed to produce this whilst sat in my hotel room.

I have had this next build in my stash for several years, and am finally getting around to putting the thing together. Chosen out of the stash by my son is Revells 1:72 Halifax Mk.III, this is going to be a straight from the box build with the exception of using Vallejo acrylics in place of the suggested Revell (purely personal preference here). It's a big kit with many sprues, and a choice of 2 colour schemes and decals. The sprues are very clean, no flash to be seen (which is a bonus) and lots of detailing. I am planning on building the aircraft in the scheme of 'Oscar,' No.424 Squadron, Royal Canadian Air force, 1944. Let the fun commence.

Another one for the shiny corner: The lovely Revell 1/72 Jug. Finished in Alclad and Mr Hobby as usual with decals from a Skys Models sheet. A quickish build with no issues, maybe 3-4 hours total at a gentle pace. The pilot came from the excellent Revell RAF pilots set. Got a really mean angle on the stand and looky, for all those folks who keep making the same comments about drones, a pilot! And not because of your complaining either, next batch of paid for builds all requested pilots so its market forces Most pleased with how "box art" this looks- each to his own but, boy, do overweathered planes squatting forlornly on their wheels look boring to me, what is the point of making a fast, sleek (ish) airplane and turning it into a three wheeled ground vehicle? I suppose it's mostly to do with the fact I'm up in something two or three times a week these days and parked planes excite me as much as parked tricycles WIP: And onto the beauty shots... 2019 is shaping up nicely with 8 builds done. Well back to the bench, its getting an equally shiny P-51D playmate that isn't going to build itself. Cheery byes Anil

Kamov Ka-58 Stealth Helicopter (03889) 1:72 Revell There isn't much one can write by way of introduction to a fictional subject, save for the fact that this kit is supposed to represent what a modern, Russian stealth helicopter might look like. The model follows the general design ethos of the Kamov design bureau, with a contra-rotating rotor and winglets to hold an array of armament options. For some, the idea of a model of a fictional subject will hold little appeal. For others, the application of coolodynamics will prove irresistible. I certainly remember a much younger version of myself drooling over the Italeri F-19 Stealth Fighter and the MiG-37 Ferret. As you may have guessed, this particular tooling was originally designed and manufactured by Russian outfit Zveda, a great many of whose kits have found their way into Revell boxes over the years. The kit it typical of early Zvezda. It has engraved surface structures but is somewhat lacking in fine detail and has a somewhat rough finish. Assembly begins with the tandem cockpit. The seats are not brilliant compared with modern kits, but they could easily be swapped out for a pair of K-36 if you can make them fit. Remaining details include dual control columns and an instrument panel. Decals are provided for the instrument panel and side consoles. Once complete, the crew compartment can be sealed up inside the fuselage pod, which is split horizontally like most modern 'stealth' shapes. The twin cannon pod must also be added as this point (at least if you want to be able to articulate it later) because it is held in place by an internal plug. The model can be finished in wheels up or wheels down configuration, with some different parts used depending on the option chosen. The landing gear bays contain basic structural details, but curiously the designers have made no attempt to incorporate stealth features to these parts, such as saw-toothed edges. The two large bays under the central part of the fuselage are for internal weapon stowage. Eight anti-tank missiles are provided on two extendable pylons, while rockets and air-to-air missiles are provided for the hardpoints under the winglets. The canopy can be finished in open or closed configuration, but the lack of detail in the cockpit would put me off the former. The main rotor is reasonably detailed for the scale and the rotor blades themselves have a fairly convincing stealthy shape. Two different options are provides for on the decal sheet. The first is an all-over black scheme that seems to represent a demonstrator or prototype aircraft as depicted on the box artwork. The second is a two-tone grey disruptive pattern with blue undersides. The decal sheet is nicely printed and, surprisingly, a decent amount of stencils are included. Conclusion Although starting to show its age, this is a pretty decent model. The design is not as outlandish as some of the fictional stealth models of the eighties, which means it won't look out of place in a line up of real choppers. While it lacks the detail of the latest kits from Revell (and Zvezda), if the subject appeals to you then I don't think you'll be disappointed. Revell model kits are available from all good toy and model retailers. For further information visit or

Hi All, I must be a sucker for punishment. Yet another model that I have decided to finish along with all the others. This one has for no reason that I can work out, been sitting on the back-shelf for an enormously long time. I had built the engine, transmission & exhaust and had sprayed all the body parts in their final colour, then I put it away and forgot about it. This is the Revell 'Premium' range of 1/24th kits. There weren't many models in this series, This, a BMW 850 a Mercedes 560 C, coupe and cabriolet. I has many more parts than your usual Revell kit, and has a reputation for being difficult to build, almost to the point of being un-buildable! That currently, has not been my experience. The engine and transmission (No piccies unfortunately. I had assembled the engine and transmission into the floor-pan before I realised I had no pictures) went together well, as did the exhaust system. A bit over-the-top in the parts count department, but engineered well enough. I decided that mine would be black, so I sprayed it with Halfords' grey primer followed by a Halfords' Black (Not sure which one - there is more than one shade!) So, this is where we are now: The somewhat crumpled box. Looks impressive. The body: There are some minor imperfections that will polish out. I use Halfords' polishing compound. It's a old can, and appears to be quite different from the newer Halfords polishing compound. Sorry about the blurry rear-end, but I was using shutter priority on the camera in order to use flash, and it must have selected a very wide aperture, hence the shallow depth of field. The wheels: Now, this is one area where Revell could improve upon. The tyres are that Vinyl stuff. It has a few failings: It appears to be 'oily' to the touch It doesn't look very much like rubber (too shiny) It can melt polystyrene, so you have to ensure the wheel is painted where the tyre touches it. It seems to age badly and become brittle. All but one of the tyres has split right across the tyre. I resolved it by using CA glue in the gap to hold the tyre together. I then filled the remains of the gap with High-tack PVA glue. That has the advantage that it dries clear, so appears to part of the tyre, and it also dries quite flexible, similar to the original vinyl (event when brittle). It is quite difficult to see the splits now, so the repair appears to have worked. This is where the new stuff starts: The rear suspension went in first. There are over twenty parts to make up the rear suspension, even more when you add the brakes and springs! Seems a bit like overkill. Still for all that, it assembled well and it all fitted. I highlighted all the pipe-work by dry-brushing aluminium on to the raised pipes. It needed a bit of clean-up later but nothing serious. The exhaust system is also another example of a complicated break-down of parts. There are nine parts here. Fortunately it all went together well, like this: It all fitted well. No major gaps, just a smear of filler before the back-box on one of he pipes. The headers event connected to the manifolds. I was impressed. Another view of the rear suspension with the axles attached: Again, quite complex, but it all fitted well. This is one of the from suspension parts. Again the fit was well engineered, and it fitted well. This biggest difficulty was ensuring no glue got onto the revolving axle part. That's the bit in the bottom right corner. So, this is where we are at present: All suspension parts added, including anti-roll bars etc. The exhaust looked a bit too shiny, so I used a mix of Humbrol matt black and gloss brown, highly diluted in white spirit to "grubby" it up a bit. The white spirit doesn't attack the acrylic already there. It has stalled here due to a major cock-up on my part. The right suspension part at the front didn't want to stay in place. I thought perhaps that the strut needed to be pressed harder into the wish-bone, so I pushed a bit harder. Not a good idea. I managed to snap off the wish-bone and nearly lost it to the laminate monster (The carpet monster's close cousin). I was not impressed (understatement of the decade). After locating the broken part, I used epoxy glue to fix it back in place. The end result is a bit more flexible than I would like, but it doesn't appear to be going anywhere. The problem still remains that the strut keeps falling out. No better (or worse) than before. I think that the only solution will be to glue the strut in place and lose the ability to have functional steering. Having said that, apart from posing it off centre, I never do anything else with it, so it's not a huge loss. I'll just set it slightly off centre anyway. More soon, I hope. Thanks for looking, Alan.

Apollo 11 Columbia & Eagle (03700) 1:96 Revell It’s the 50th anniversary of Man landing on the Moon, and Revell have re-released all their staples of the Space Age and the race between the US and Soviet Union to put a man on the moon, following John F Kennedy's rousing speech less than a decade earlier. For Apollo 11 Colombia was the name for the Command Module (CM) and Service Module (SM), and Eagle was the given name to the Lunar Module (LM), which made the descent on the 20th July 1969 and landed with a thimble-full of fuel in reserve on the surface of the Sea of Tranquillity, a large expanse of reasonably flat ground in the upper right quadrant of the face of the Moon that is always turned toward us due to its speed of rotation and orbit. They stomped around a bit in their stiff space suits, leaving footprints and some scientific instruments, then boarded the Ascent Stage of the LM and blasted off, linked up with the CM/SM combination and headed back to earth, with just the CM ending up back on earth, albeit a little hot during re-entry, then damp after splashdown. The Kit Modelled in the unusual scale of 1:96, which happens to match their gigantic Saturn V kit that is also available again (watch out for my review of that in due course), this kit hails from the same era as the others, although it first saw light in 1969, the same year as the events it depicts. It arrives in a medium-sized end-opening box, and inside are five sprues in a muted silver styrene, a sheet of clear acetate, a square of thin gold foil to simulate the insulation, a small decal sheet, and the instruction booklet. Again, it's a product of its age, and although it has some good detail in places, there are likely to be some areas that would require work if you're a purist that's aiming for accuracy. As it's a special edition, you also get four thumb-pots of acrylic paint, a small bottle of Contacta Professional semi-liquid cement. Construction begins with making up the small windows in the CM using the 1:1 templates provided, which are then shown being inserted into the conical body from the inside. A pair of lifting eyes and the top cone where the re-entry parachute packs were stowed are added, then the cramped cockpit is built up on the bottom heat-shield, with rudimentary seats moulded into the bulkhead for one of the astronauts, Michael Collins for Apollo 11 to sit, all dressed up in his suit, although it's unlikely he wore his helmet for much of the time he was alone. The two halves are brought together and glued, then set aside until later on. Jumping around, the boxy descent stage of the LM is then made up and painted gold, and later given its insect-like legs, then dressed up in the supplied foil, which should first be scrunched up to give it the typical wrinkled look seen on the real thing. The Service Module carried all the fuel and supplies needed to get there and back again, and was basically a very tightly packed cylinder with a large rocket engine bell at the rear. This is made of the two halves of the cylinder, which is stopped up with fore and aft bulkheads and the engine bell fitting into a socket on the latter. The communications array (the four dishes) and manoeuvring thruster packs are all added, then it too is set to one side. Before the Ascent Stage of the LM is made, you need to cut a couple of triangular windows from the clear sheet, again using more 1:1 templates, then inserting them from inside. A single crew figure is glued inside the front half of the crew compartment just so he can be seen by anyone looking inside. There's no other detail, and the suit style isn't correct for Apollo 11, but as it won't be seen, we'll not worry about it. As this is likely to be Buzz Aldrin, we close him in by adding the rear half of the module, a couple of angular bases for the aft thruster packs, which are glued to their tops. The front thruster packs are also fitted to the module by a pair of triangular mounts, and the steerable S-band antenna is added to the side on three legs. The rendezvous radar assembly is attached to the front "forehead" of the module's "face" on a bracket in front of the docking tunnel door. Then it's a matter of deciding how you plan on displaying your model. The lunar surface is represented by a large flat(ish) chunk of moulded styrene, with a sweeping goose-neck stand rising out of one end. Another figure is supplied for the moon walk, to represent the late Neil Armstrong, complete with his life support backpack, and some slightly off-mission space suit details. The four stages of the mission are shown in the last few steps, beginning with the flight from orbit to the Moon, where the full stack is joined together, with the LM travelling backwards. The landing shows the LM on the surface, with the CM/SM orbiting overhead on the stand, which is not to scale altitude in case anyone wondered! On departure the moon the Ascent Stage leaves the Descent stage behind and joins up with the CM/SM for the journey home, pausing briefly to cast the Ascent Stage off into space. The last step shows the CM leaving the SM in orbit and descending for the splashdown, which isn't a particularly practical option, as it wastes the whole LM and would need a new stand, so was probably included just for completeness. Markings There are no explicit painting instructions in the booklet, as all of the markings and colour callouts are made during construction, citing Revell paints and using a few more colours than are provided in the little pots, but as they're primarily aimed at the younger modeller who brush-paints, we're all likely to have some equivalents even if we don't use Revell colours. Decals are printed by Zanetti, with good registration, sharpness and colour density, and a thin matt carrier film cut close to the printed areas. There are two curved logos for the CM, two more for the SM, and another larger one for the Descent Stage of the LM, plus four stencils for the SM's thruster packs. Conclusion This re-release of an early Apollo kit will doubtless stir some nostalgia with those that remember it from days gone by, and with a little extra work it can be brought up to modern standards. It is nice to see that Revell have included gold foil in this issue, as it shows that they are aware that painting the LM gold won't cut it in today's modelling world. Highly recommended. Revell model kits are available from all good toy and model retailers. For further information visit or

Apollo 11 Astronaut on the Moon (03702) 1:8 Revell On the 20th July 1969, a man by the name of Neil Armstrong stepped off the ladder of his flimsy spacecraft and onto the Moon's dusty surface, uttering the words that would become famous "That's one small step for [a] man, one giant leap for mankind". His name and this quote, plus the likeness of the Saturn V rocket that got them there, and the Apollo 11 spacecraft that consisted of the Command Module (CM), Service Module (SM) and Lunar Module (LM or LEM if you add "excursion" into the mix) also became amongst the most recognised images of their time. Leaving many footprints in the dusty regolith of the Sea of Tranquility where they landed, they soon clambered back onboard and blasted off for home, paving the way for another six missions, only one of which didn't quite make it but became almost equally famous because of their accident and subsequent return to earth that was fraught with danger. Maybe they should have skipped the name Apollo 13? The Kit Following the 50th year since we walked on the Moon theme, we have more from Revell on the subject, which again is a new edition of a previously released kit from the same era as the Apollo 11 CM & SM that we reviewed recently here. The kit arrives in an end-opening box, with four sprues in white styrene inside, some of which have been cut to fit the new box. There is also a yellow tinted clear part for the visor, a small sheet of decals and the instruction booklet, which is printed in Revell's new colour style. As it's a special edition, there is also a pack of four thumb-pots of Revell paint, a small tube of Contacta semi-liquid glue, and a paintbrush, which as always with these sets has had its hair parted by the bag. The kit is clearly a product of its day, but has good detail throughout and a simple method of construction. The completed model stands at 258mm tall, a little over 2m in scale, out of which you must take the bulk of the suit, helmet and base to account for the difference between Neil's 1.8m height and that of the model. I'd say that scales out pretty well. The astronaut's face is moulded into the helmet area, with the yellow tinted visor added after paint, but here there is a slight deviation that stands out to the average Joe. The bottom edge of the visor is a little flattened when compared with those famous photos of Neil after touch down, so if it bothers you, you'll need a little putty to make that more to your liking. The suit is a pretty detailed rendition of the one that Neil wore, with some slight differences from the real thing such as the central panel on his chest and the lack of umbilical ports on the left of the chest plate. There are also some straps hanging around that are missing for obvious reasons, and the umbilicals that attach to the backpack should have insulating sleeves on them that give them a crinkled, faceted look. All of this can be fixed if you're minded, or you can just enjoy the model for what it is and build it to the best of your ability. Construction begins with the head and torso, which are split vertically front to back, with the astronaut's head moulded into the helmet, as mentioned. It's a generic face that's a very nice sculpt, but clearly not Neil Armstrong, and bears more of a resemblance to a face from a Captain Scarlet puppet. Whether that was for copyright reasons, I guess we'll never know. The legs and arms are next, with the former split the same way, and the latter split to give maximum detail to the gauntlets. The backpack is similarly split front and back, attaching to the torso with a central pin and two realistic-looking strap-ends, with a good amount of surface detail. On the front is another much smaller pack that resembles a claymore mine in shape, but has more to do with environment regulation. The fixed video camera glues into a slot on the front of the pack, and at this stage you are also instructed to install the visor into the helmet. If you've been brave and adjusted the shape of the lower edge, you'll need to reduce the glazed part to match. These things are gold-plated to protect the wearer from excessive sunlight exposure, as there is no atmosphere to speak of on the moon, so the light is undiminished by atmospheric backscatter. This has been mimicked by the clear yellow tint, but you could experiment with gold leaf of gold chrome paint if you feel the need. To complete the figure, the two umbilicals (umbilicii?) are routed from the backpack to the chest and chest pack, with the aforementioned caveat of them requiring insulating sleeves. The base consists of a chunk of the moon's surface with a depression for the lander's leg, and another flat-spot for the figure's left foot, then a raised flat area with that famous phrase engraved on it for posterity. You get a portion of the lander's leg, which has a section of the ladder added to the front, and the big dished foot at the bottom. This portion of the lander was covered in a golden mylar layer for insulation too, so treat yourself to some Cadbury's Bournville or other confection with a golden inner wrapper, and have a go at making it look suitably wrinkly if you feel up to the challenge. The completed figure is attached with one foot on the base, the other in the dished top of the landing pad, with two flat tabs ensuring a good join. Markings The majority of Neil's suit is white, with grey used mainly on his gloves and overshoes that protect his boots from damage, which incidentally debunks another of the deniers' arguments about the tread pattern on their boots being different. I digress. The moon is very dusty, so after even a few steps the suits got covered in an incredibly fine grey dust that was hard to shift. Check your references, and enjoy replicating some of it. There was a #2 Revell paintbrush included in the pack, but as the bristles were bent over, I decided not to photograph it. Ok, I forgot! The decal sheet is small and consists of a couple of American flags, two NASA meatball logos for the backpack and his chest, and a stencil for the water reservoir at the bottom of the backpack. There's no name tag for the suit, but that's hidden away under the chest pack, so hardly an issue. Decals are printed for Revell by Zanetti, in good registration, sharpness and colour density, with a thin matt carrier film cut close to the printed areas. Conclusion This is a fun model that will give a lot of pleasure to a lot of folks if they approach it with the right attitude. If you treat it as a blast from the past, or a desktop model you'll have fun building it, but if you want something accurate, there are some alterations you can make and still have fun. Considering the age of the moulds there are some really nice cloth effects, with creases, seams and so forth giving a realistic landscape for you to paint over and weather. A fitting tribute to the late, great Mr Armstrong, may he rest in peace. Highly recommended. Revell model kits are available from all good toy and model retailers. For further information visit or

RoG's McLaren 570S all done, finished in Tamiya TS21 Gold, with Semi Gloss Black and Alclad Dark Aluminium details. Interior is my own 'cream' and 'light black' acrylic mixes. The CF decals are from Ka Models of Korea (highly recommended). Not a great kit and fought me all the way to the very end - the final assembly is a proper PitA. I knew to attach the dash onto the lip BEFORE adding the interior because I'd read and seen so many build reviews. Even so, the final fit is truly dreadful... All that said, like the Ferrari 458, the finished car is truly a thing of beauty to my eye. Please feel free to make any comments or ask any questions (yes I know the exhausts aren't on yet). Best from NZ. Ian.

This is my entry. I thought about Burma Banshee P40 but decided to safe it for a P-40 STGB. So it will be stang. ~Hope it could be as good as Warhawk 8-) And some work I've done yesterday evening....

I didn't realise until late last night that the build threads were getting going. So if I may just 'lay down a marker' for these bad boys... They have been sat in the cupboard stash for a few months - waiting for this GB to 'kick off'. I'll get some sprue shots before the weekend, but the vague idea is to do them as a 'matching' set. They will be strictly OOB and a 'just for fun' project - as my mojo has been a little lacking of late. Hopefully the 'team spirit' of a GB will give me the KUTA I need at the moment. See you at the weekend and good luck everyone, Steve

U Boat Type VII C/41 Platinum Edition 1:72 Revell The Type VII submarine was based on earlier German designs. This type would go onto become the most used German submarines of WWII with over 700 being built. As with anything there would be many modifications along the way. The type started as the V11A with an initial 10 being built. The type VIIC would become the main boat of the German Navy with 568 being built between 1940 and 1945. With a range of 8500 nautical miles. The boats had 4 forward, and one stern tube in general (there were a few exceptions) with 14 torpedoes being carried. For surface running and battery charging a pair of supercharged 6 cylinder 4 stroke diesel engines were used which gave a top speed of 17.7 knots. A maximum submerged speed of 7.6 knots was possible with a new fully charged battery. The submarines generally carried a crew of 44 to 52 men in what can best be described as "cramped" conditions. For anyone familiar with the original "Das Boot" mini series U-96 was a Type VIIC. The Kit This boxing is a re-release of Revell's new tooling from 2003 which was released again in 2006. This new boxing is a Platinum edition, It contains all of the original plastic, two large sheets of photo etch, self adhesive wooden decks; and metal parts for the Periscopes (extended & retracted), snorkel mast, radar mast, nav lights, ensign staff, boom support, & gun barrels. such is the large number of these additional parts that a complete separate instruction book is provided for them. Construction begins with the torpedo tube, the modeller must decide whether to have them open or shut and then fit the respective parts into the hull sections. Once this is don't two internal bulkheads for strength are added in and the left/right hull sections can be joined. The stand can then be made up and the hull placed on it. Construction now moves to the stern and the details for the propeller shafts, propellers and supporting structure are added. Once these are on the stern planes and twin rudders can be added. Switching back to the bow, the bow planes are added along with the anchor and protective guides for the bow planes. Next the snorkel is made up, This part is moveable so care must be taken to follow the instructions if you want it to work. The snorkel is fitted into the appropriate deck section, and all the main deck sections can be added to the hull. Work now switches to the conning tower of the sub. The search and attack periscopes are made up installed into the decking along with the tower hatch, The upper tower deck and the lower one are then added into the tower superstructure. Radio masts and other item are then added in also. The deck extension for the anti aircraft gun is then added as well. The single 3.7cm flack gun can then be built up and added. Two additional twin barrelled 20mm Zwilling Anti aircraft guns are then made up and fitted to the tower decking as well. Once these are on various deck fittings, ladders and the railings are added. Finally the ensign staff can be added. The coning tower can then be added to the main hull. Thread is provided for the one forward and to aft wires from the conning tower along with the blocks for securing it. The hull is then finished of with a variety of smaller fittings. Platinum Edition As mentioned this is Revell's Platinum Edition which features two large sheets of photo etch, self adhesive wooden decks; and metal parts for the Periscopes (extended & retracted), snorkel mast, radar mast, nav lights, ensign staff, boom support, & gun barrels. such is the large number of these additional parts that a complete separate instruction book is provided for them and this must be read in conjunction with the main booklet. As expected there are many parts here and I suspect not for the beginner. The many fittings which will replace moulded on detail will look good on the model. The guns also benefit from many detail parts and metal barrels. All the railing will look much better in etch rather than plastic. Markings There are decals for U 997, U 995, U 295, U 324, U 307, U 1023, U 1002, U 1105 included on the sheet with diagrams to show the different paint schemes on individual boats as well as small histories of them. Conclusion It's good to see this kit re-issued as it makes up into an impressive model. The addition of the platinum parts should make a big difference over the kit plastic. Very highly recommended. Revell model kits are available from all good toy and model retailers. For further information visit or

This is not my usual fayre so please don't expect anything too fancy from this build, which will be made as it comes in the box. All tips for simple improvements I can make along the way will be welcome, and so folks, I give you the box and its contents. by John L, on Flickr by John L, on Flickr by John L, on Flickr by John L, on Flickr

"Wittgenstein here, clear off!" Second nightfighter in my collection, and probably the last one I make in 1:72, installing those antennas was a nightmare. Some pieces also didn´t fit, others were too long, the instructions tell you to install the exhausts without mentioning you won´t be able to fit the flame dampers if you do so, the rudder pedals supporters won't let you fit the nose unless you trim them, etc... Pay close attention, if you build this kit, when making the antenna array: the support struts are of different lengths, something Revell misses to point out. Brushpainted with Revell acrylics.

Revell is to release 1/144th new tool Airbus kits - ref. 03942 - Airbus A320 neo Lufthansa New Livery - ref. 04952 - Airbus A321 neo Sprues on display at Shizuoka 2019 Sources: https://www.facebook.com/tetramodel/photos/a.2474802349220072/2475722535794720/?type=3&theater https://www.facebook.com/hobbyland.osaka/photos/a.2253464838073537/2253472751406079/?type=3&theater V.P.

Apollo 11 Spacecraft with Interior (03703) 1:32 Revell There can't be many people that don't know about the Moon landings in the late 60s and early 70s, and the Saturn V rocket and its cargo the Apollo spacecraft are instantly recognised by most with even a shallow grasp of history. It was an incredible feat of engineering, providing you don't believe that millions of people have all kept quiet about a conspiracy to fake it all for 50 years, achieved with such a tiny amount of computing power that you probably carry around many times more in your hip pocket these days. Driven in part by Werner Von Braun, who had dreamt about flying to the moon since his childhood, NASA was given the go ahead by JFK in a rousing speech "to go to the moon and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard". Incredibly, they were ready to fly men around the moon seven years after the start of the programme in 1968, after a false start due to the loss of the crew of Apollo 1 on the Launchpad in a horrific fire during training. Apollo 7 to 10 were manned, and pushed the envelope incrementally each time, until Apollo 11, which was the first to attempt a moon landing, with Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin scheduled to make the descent, and the lesser known Michael Collins waiting for their return in the Command Module (CM), fully aware that he may have to make the return on his own if things went wrong. They didn't, and on 20th July 1969 they touched down on the moon with many millions watching on TV, when Neil uttered those immortal words "That's one small step for [a] man, one giant leap for mankind". When they lifted off from the moon after a walk on the surface and a brief rest period, they had to rendezvous with the CM, dock and transfer back to the cramped module, discard the Lunar Lander, and then make the journey back to Earth. Upon reaching home, the cylindrical Service Module (SM) section was also discarded, leaving the Command Module the only part to return back to earth, safely splashing down in the Pacific Ocean after re-entry and a thorough roasting. Following this mission were six more successful moon landings in various areas, until funding and public interest dried up, leaving Apollo 17 the last time man went to the moon. There are currently plans to go back in the next several years, but we've been absent now for a lot longer than we were there. The Kit This is a special re-release of Revell's 1970s kit to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the first moon landing, and includes a set of four acrylic paints in little plastic pots, a small bottle of Revell Contacta Professional glue, and a #2 paintbrush, which had become a little dishevelled during transport due to the bag it was in. Inside the top-opening box are five sprues of silver(ish) styrene, four in white styrene, and one in crystal clear plastic. The paints and instructions are accompanied by a set of decals on a medium sized sheet. First impressions are that this is a product of the times, but time has been good to the moulds, and because it is a full interior kit, the various internal parts of the model are all there, obviously in a somewhat simplified way, but certainly a good starting point if you're a detailer that is looking to build an accurate model. New Ware have a number of sets that you would probably find very useful, but of course that increases the overall price, and that's entirely up to you and your wallet. For the younger modeller that isn't so much bothered with painting, the colour of the parts is roughly broken down into their final colours, so it could be built that way, and for the folks in the middle that want to build what's in the box, there's enough to do a decent job, as can be seen by the picture on the front of the instruction booklet. Construction begins with the aft bulkhead of the crew compartment, which has a number of parts added around its perimeter, and some detail painting done before a rear panel is fitted to its underside and surrounded by a number of strengthening webs. Then the cockpit panels are made up, with decals supplied for many of the faces, although there is no raised detail moulded in, so the decals are all the detail you have. The three crew seats are mounted into a framework that suspends them out in front of the main instrument panels, and there are three crew figures, each a single part with different hand positioning to add a little variety. Their heads are moulded as the glass domes they wore during the ascent stage, but as this is white plastic, the simple option is to paint them a light blue unless you want to go crazy and find some resin heads and vacform some clear domes for each one (New Ware also have a set for this). The instructions would have you painting a black aperture as if they were wearing helmets, but that's not the case if you watch the videos of the real thing. The crew seats and main IP are then fixed to the aft bulkhead in three places, and the docking ring assembly is built up from a partial ring (only part will be seen), plus the pointed docking mechanism, which is made up from seven parts plus an external ring. This sits on top of the opaque section of the Command Module's conical skin, with the clear part added in, exposing the docking ring, and the rest of the crew compartment once it is added over the internals. Moving onto the tubular body of the Service Module (SM), the segment that will be seen through the clear part is built up, comprising various tanks, bottles and equipment, with more detail painting to give it some life. The top bulkhead where the conical CM attaches is a single part, as is the aft bulkhead, which has a small tapering tube attached inside before it is glued in place. Now the external details can be added, starting with the communications array, which has four dishes on a mast, with receivers in the centre of each one. Other small details are added around the exterior, including the four manoeuvring thruster packs, which have four individual bells and are mounted at 90o around the circumference. The crew compartment also has some grab handles added, and the big engine bell is a single part that keys into the aft bulkhead at the rear of the SM, with the comms gear fitted nearby. The CM fits to the SM with three conical pins and can be left unglued if you want to separate them later. The final parts are a stand, which has a small silver-grey part that fits onto join between the CM and SM, and two large curved white parts to hold the model off the ground. There is also a decal provided on the sheet that you fix to the large flat front. Markings Each Apollo mission had subtle differences, so Apollo 11 was unique from the others, with the decals called out on a five-view diagram on the back of the instruction booklet. The decals were printed for Revell by Zannetti, with good registration, sharpness and colour density, with a thin gloss carrier film cut close to the printed areas. While the interior decals add a little detail to the blank instrument panel areas, they're no substitute for raised or engraved detail, and are fairly simply printed, which may put off a few potential purchasers. The exterior decals have the correct weirdly spaced A in the United States, plus a few of the stencils that are found around the spaceframe (?), with some large and small flags, and even a few tiny NASA meatballs for the crew's suits. Conclusion It's a welcome re-release, and although time has moved along, there's definitely still a market for it amongst those that want a nice desktop model, as well as anyone that will use it as a jumping-off point for a highly accurate model. When you see what can be done with it, and its finished size, it becomes quite tempting. Highly recommended. Revell model kits are available from all good toy and model retailers. For further information visit or

Hot off the bench and finished just yesterday! This is a commission build for a friend, OOB except for the aftermarket seat belts from Eduard. Revell's 1/32 P-51D kit, whilst affordable, was not quite what I expect of a modern, new-tool kit in this day and age. Some notable issues around fit include: Just about EVERYWHERE! All major joins required filling and sanding, reminiscent (to me) of the very old Hobbycraft kits I'd built in the past. Details were soft and sprue gates were massive! Honestly, I switched to my more heavy duty cutters rather than risk my good nippers to get parts off before cleaning up the flash and burr lines. In short, I would not look to build another of this kit. I am so looking forward to going back to 1/72 after this! But... she's finished nonetheless, and I'm hoping her new owner will be satisfied with the results. Once again, thanks for looking

Hi everybody; here's my new project, the 1/72 Revell Eurofighter Typhoon This type entered into Italian Air Force service (AMI, Aeronautica Militare Italiana) in 2004, and it's currently deployed in three different bases: Grosseto (4° Stormo), Gioia del Colle (36° Stormo) and Trapani Birgi (37° Stormo). The kit supplied decals allow to build six different versions: two Germans, one Austrian, one British, one Spanish and one Italian, which is the one I'm doing. Typical Revell instruction sheet, with basically useless color table - it only refers to Revell paints The airframe I'm going to reproduce and the sprues (there's many of them ) The clear parts: the windshield shows some bubbles While the canopy has an annoying moulding seam going all along mid-line I'm planning to use the AM cockpit set from PAVLA More later, now I need to take care of my lawn. Ciao

Hi guys and gals, Can you believe this is my first Messerschmitt 109? I've been modelling for years and never got round to making one of these seminal aircraft! Well, I've now broken my duck so here's the very nice Revell G-6 Late kit in a dramatic nightfighter scheme (Red 2, 1. NJG) from an AIMS decal sheet. There are seven more versions on the sheet so it was great value. The aircraft was painted in Colourcoats enamels (still the best model paint I've ever used, and shall continue to do so!) I used RLM 74/75/76 and RLM 02 with an overspray of Night Black. I thought this was a really cool looking scheme and makes the clean lines of the aircraft look even more menacing! I don't know much about these aircraft or modelling them, so there are probably a few howlers - I just enjoyed it for the easy-to-build kit and cool paintjob! All the best, Alan

Sometimes older kits showes up as old friends. And some times as not so good friends. When it comes to 1/72 scale P-51D Mustang's the Revell kit must have an record in availability. Albeit not as an good kit. We also have older kits from Airfix, Matchbox, Heller and Hasegawa. But one of the oldest P-51's must be the Lindberg "Bomber Escort". Anyone seen it? Built it? https://www.oldmodelkits.com/index.php?detail=23976&page=1&manu=lindberg Cheers / André