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Porsche 911 Carrera 3.2 Targa (G-Model) (07689) 1:24 Carrera Revell The original Porsche 911 reached the market in 1963, and if you have one of those, you’re probably quite wealthy if it’s in good condition. The Carrera name had been used in the 70s for a special edition, and was re-used for the 1983 variant that saw the engine size increased to a healthy 3.2 litres with a choice of body styles including Coupé, Targa and Cabriolet, the Targa having a removable roof panel to give the occupants a wind-in-the-hair/scalp feel without the bodyshell flexibility inherent in removal of the whole roof. The flat-six engine was mated to a new 5-speed gearbox that gave it an impressive 5.4secs 0-60 time that was the downfall of many a Yuppie in the corners and on roundabouts. The American variant was slightly lower in terms of power, and was subject to their safety constraints that resulted in some pretty chunky over-riders being added to the bumpers, and IIRC (which I seldom do), a slightly higher ride height. The overall design remained stable for the most part until it was entirely replaced, with various minor adjustments to the package such as a revised dash and an increase to the size of the disc brakes to improve stopping-power. By the end of the 80s the type had sold well, but as sales began to drop off the next generation was already in-hand, with the 964 straddling the 80s and 90s with a subtly different look and technical specification. The Kit This is an update of Revell’s 2021 911 Coupé kit, and it has new parts for the bodyshell to depict the removable roof panels amongst other things. It arrives in a thick end-opening box with a painting of a big red 911 on the front, being driven by Christian Bale, and a blonde Emma Peel from the original Avengers (pre-Marvel). What’s going on with their artists and the occupants of their cars these days? Inside are five sprues in grey styrene, two more in a muted silver, an L-shaped sprue and bodyshell in red, two clear sprues and four black flexible tyres in differently sized front and rear pairs. The instructions are printed in colour with profiles on the back page, and the decals with a protective wax paper cover hidden within, along with the box-ticking health and safety sheet that you should definitely read so you don’t spear yourself during the build. Detail is excellent throughout, with a reasonable replica of the flat-6 engine and Getrag transmission, plus left- and right-handed dash parts that will be seen through some nice clear glazing parts. Construction begins with the motor, which is well-detailed and made up from a good number of parts with a painting guide to assist you in making a good job, which continues throughout the booklet. The basic block and transmission are set inside a frame, which is slipped into the floorpan from below along with a wide U-shaped mount that is painted black. The drive-shafts and suspension are arranged around the transmission with the convoluted exhaust system attached to the underside of the engine. The front brake disks and hub assemblies are made up with an unglued cuff in the centre of each one, joined together by the steering linkage and dropped into the front underside along with the rest of the suspension parts and a protective cover over the centre. Back in the engine bay, the ancillaries, turbo inlet and airbox are painted up and installed, then the running gear is set to one side while the interior is made up. The interior is made up from front and back sections with moulded-in rear seats and slots for the front seats in the forward section. A pair of holes need to be drilled out for the pedals of the left- or right-hand drive positions, then the central console, gear-shifter and handbrake are fixed to the centre along with a pair of pre-tensioning seatbelt receivers. With the front seats, you have a choice of some elegant, slender seats with decals for the pin-striped material on the centre cushions, or more 80s squared-off Recaro-type sports seats, both of which have separate back covers. In addition, there are a pair of contoured seat-cushions for the rear seats that fit over the moulded-in bench-type backs. The front seats secure in their twin slots in the front well, then the left door card is glued in place after a comprehensive painting and decaling, with the new rear squabs attaching in front of the simpler rears. The left- or right-handed dash is painted up and decaled with some very realistic dials, knobs and controls, to be joined by the short steering column with moulded-in stalks and a separate steering wheel, which also have decals for the logos and control instructions. The dash is glued into position with the opposite door card, then you’ll need to get some paint on the bodyshell. The bodyshell is moulded in red, as are the other outer panels, which you will probably want to paint after the next step, which is drilling out some holes in the front wings. The bodyshell is filled up with the interior and floorpan whilst inverted, locating on pegs within. The front of the body is detailed with a pair of recessed headlamp reflectors that need painting with a suitable chrome paint beforehand, then have their textured lenses installed and the indicators placed in the bumper below, painting the clear part orange beforehand. The front bumper has an underside section added from below, with a choice of European or American fitments, only one of which has fog-lights and their surrounds with a number plate in the centre. At the rear, a full-width clear part fits into a groove in the back of the body, which will also need painting chrome within, and the clear part should be painted orange and red as per the diagram before insertion. The rear bumper iron shows a set of over-riders fixed either side of the number plate, but check your references to see if these are appropriately sized to the variant you plan to build. A reversing light attaches under the bumper, and this too has a clear lens that you should paint clear red. The wheels are different widths Front and Rear, so take note of the F or R on the small central sprue, although it’s fairly obvious when viewed from above. The sprue should be cut off with the sharpest blade you can find, then the hub is slipped inside to ledge on a rim at the rear after painting the outer rim chrome and aluminium, and the centres black for all four. The rims have hollow cylindrical pegs on the rear to fit onto the disk-brake hubs, and scrap diagrams show where to apply the glue sparingly. Unless you forgot to cut off the sprue from the bodyshell, you currently have a cabriolet 911, with just the windscreen frame moulded into the shell that accepts the glazing and rear-view mirror, which first have the rubbers painted black around the edges. The rear window is moulded from a single part that has a styrene insert glued within the roll-over hoop, which also has a decal on the inside. The assembly then clips into the rear of the cabin, with the hoop painted black outside, hiding the insert within. The Targa panel is a single part that clips into the rear glazing and it also latches vertically onto the screen frame at the front, which also has the sun visors moulded into it. The doors are moulded closed, but there are two window options. One depicts the windows down and involves fitting the small triangular quarter-light at the front, while the windows-up option has the quarter-light and window moulded into a single clear part. To finish off the build, there are two options for the rear wiper, depending on whether you have the boot open to show off the engine, then the door two handles, indicator repeaters and wing mirrors with separate mirror glass and a silver decal are fitted into their requisite sockets, then last of all there is a radio antenna in the down position added to the front-left wing. Markings The majority of decals will have been used before you get to the end, forming part of the interior or instrument panel, but also included are a set of number plates from various countries, their overseas boot stickers, plus a pair of Targa or Carrera branded showroom plates, and an engine data booklet for the firewall. Decals are by printed for Revell by Zanetti, which is a guarantee of good registration, sharpness and colour density, with a thin gloss carrier film cut close to the printed areas. Conclusion Once you get over the shock of the anachronistic actor-people staring at you from the box-art (and the box style too if those infuriate you), this is a well-detailed kit of a very famous and much-beloved German sports car that’s a classic in the figurative and literal sense by now. Highly recommended. Currently, Revell are unable to ship to the UK from their online shop due to recent changes in import regulations, but there are many shops stocking their products where you can pick up the kits either in the flesh or online. Revell model kits are available from all good toy and model retailers. For further information visit or

Horten Go.229A (03859) 1:48 Carrera Revell The Horten brothers were a pair of visionary siblings that designed a series of flying wing gliders in pre-WWII during the period when Germany was prohibited from having an air force. Each design improved on the last, and once the Luftwaffe broke cover in their expansionist phase before WWII, development began in earnest. The requirement for a light bomber capable of the 3x1000 by the RLM, which was for an aircraft capable of carrying a 1,000kg bomb load a distance of 1,000km at 1,000kph in 1943 set the wheels in motion that resulted in the Horten.IX, which is better known as the Ho.229, and sometimes referred to as the Go.229 due to the fact that the Gothaer factory had been chosen for production examples. The flying wing had a low drag form, and the addition of two jet engines gave it the potential to fulfil the requirement, although it suffered a little from lateral instability due to its slick shape. The first prototype flew un-powered and with fixed landing gear in 1944, with results that bore plenty of promise before crashing due to a pilot error. Gotha altered the design in practical ways to ease production and increase longevity, as well as adding a rudimentary ejector seat that was probably as much of a danger to the pilot as being shot down and having to bail out. Another prototype was lost due to an engine fire, but this did not deter the RLM from striving to reach production, despite the worsening situation in Europe for Germany. The third prototype was enlarged, and it was this that fell into the hands of the advancing US troops, and subsequently the Operation Paperclip team, who took it back to America with plenty of other advanced designs. It remains there to this day, in the restoration area of the Smithsonian's NASM. The Kit This is a reboxing of Dragon’s excellent rendition of this unusual flying wing design that inspired a number of efforts to create a flying wing design post-war, most of which weren’t unduly successful with a few notable exceptions thanks to the march of technology. The kit was first seen in a Dragon box in 1992, and the moulds are wearing well, although a little flash has crept into the moulding for some of the small parts on my example, but that’s the work of moments to remove. At the time, the kit was fêted for including a cockpit, gun bays and two engines in their compartments, with the option to show them off if you wished. Those aspects of the kits haven’t gone away, so there’s plenty of options to personalise your model from within the box. The kit arrives in an end-opening box with seven sprues of pale grey styrene, a small clear sprue, a sheet of Photo-Etch (PE), decal sheet and the instruction booklet with colour profiles on the rear pages. Construction begins with the cockpit tub, which is moulded into the top deck of what could be called the fuselage. The cockpit sides are decked out with tubular framing, and the small crowded instrument panel with decal fits into the front with the control column. The basic ejection seat has a separate headrest and foot pegs, and the last step of the instructions show the application of seatbelts that you are shown making from paper with PE furniture included on the nickel-plated fret, so they can be fitted without painting. A lot of folks will substitute some Tamiya tape for the paper, as it’s a little less absorbent of paint, and closer to the right colour. Rudder pedals and the gunsight are installed in the front of the cockpit, with a clear part for the glass. Attention shifts then to the twin Junkers Jumo 004B turbojets, the front and rear of which will be immediately familiar to anyone that has built an Me.262. The rear bullet is made up first, with a representation of the aft of the engine visible behind it, then the main casing is made from two parts with a front bullet and the aforementioned rear inserted within on a pair of ledges. Nine additional parts are attached to each engine to depict the ancillaries, and there are detailed painting instructions throughout for anyone wanting to leave the top panels open to show off their hard work. The front of both engines are inserted into the nose cone intake trunking on location pegs, then put to one side while the lower fuselage and gun bays are made up. A pair of chunky MK 108 cannon are included in the box, with ammo feeds glued to the sides before they are laid in the floor of the lower fuselage, to be surrounded by the framework structure of the aircraft, and a representation of the ammo boxes that feed these 30mm beasts that consume ammo at a rate of over 600 rounds per minute each, given the opportunity. A pair of frames are then placed at the wing roots, and the engines with their forward cowling are dropped in place, taking care to align the two parts for a good flush join. The top of the fuselage is brought in and glued into place, with either the engine cowling panels fitted over the top, or with a little more framework added over the engines, you can choose to leave the panels off to showcase your work. The laminated wooden wings had very little in the way of panel lines, which is faithfully depicted here, with the elevons and spoiler flaps moulded in the neutral position. Each wing is two parts, and they attach to the fuselage in much the same way as the real thing, mounted on twin brackets with large pegs (read: bolts) fitting through both parts to hold them in place. You wouldn’t be blamed for adding a little glue to the proceedings to ensure they stay in position however. A pitot probe slots into the leading edge of the port wing, and wingtip light lenses can be found on the clear sprue. To save development costs and time, the tricycle landing gear initially utilised some parts of existing aircraft, with He.177 wheel rims remaining in this version of the airframe’s development. The nose wheel is made from two halves with a balloon tyre, and is attached to the strut by a pair of V-shaped yoke parts on a two-part pivot that also holds a substantial mudguard. The assembly is then linked to its retraction system, with another U-shaped yoke, cross-braces, and surprisingly long links that lead well back into the fuselage. The main gear legs are more straight forward, having a stub axle and moulded-in scissor link, plus the retraction jack that pulls it sideways into the bay. Each one has a captive door on the axle, with two smaller doors attached to the edges of each bay. The nose gear has a large curved front door, and two long side-opening doors covering up the insanely long retraction mechanism. The two cannon barrels with their perforated muzzle-brakes that are well-moulded for the scale are popped in the leading edge of the wing roots, while an antenna, small intakes, clear light and D/F loop are fitted to the underside, and the lower fuselage/engine bay panels are inserted, leaving a small rectangular chute for the disposal of spent brass casings. Finally, the canopy is fitted in two parts, with the shallow windscreen glued to the front lip, while the sliding rear has a T-shaped retainer added, which allows it to be inserted into the track in the rear deck, so that you can open or close the canopy at will. Markings The 229 never saw active service thankfully for the Allies, so the two schemes are speculative at best. From the box you can build one of the following: Blaue/Blue 4, Luftwaffe, 1945 Rote/Red 13, Luftwaffe, 1945 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 There’s something impressive about the futuristic look of this 1945 era flying wing, and although it was largely untested as a fighter, it does have an appeal that attracts many modellers, myself included. Whether the laminated wood construction would have held up to extended use is anyone’s guess, but the tooling for this kit certainly has. Highly recommended. Revell model kits are available from all good toy and model retailers. For further information visit or

Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird (04967) 1:48 Carrera Revell If it were to be rolled out of Lockheed’s famous ‘Skunkworks’ factory for the first time tomorrow, the SR-71 Blackbird would still look like something from the future. It’s simply phenomenal to think that the sleek design of the aircraft, with its blended wing, colossal engines and sinister matt black paint is over 50 years old. The SR-71 flew for the first time in 1964, two years after the aircraft it was developed from, the A-12. In comparison with its predecessor, the SR-71 was a larger aircraft, with a stretched fuselage designed to hold more fuel for greater endurance and a second cockpit for a Reconnaissance Systems Operator (RSO). The SR-71 began its active service career in 1966. The aircraft was used for reconnaissance missions over North Vietnam and Laos, flying from its base on the Japanese island of Okinawa. It also flew missions over the Baltic Sea from Mildenhall in the UK. Always a hugely expensive aircraft to operate, the Blackbird was retired in 1989, with the funding for the programme redirected to the troubled B-1 Lancer and B-2 Spirit programmes. However, with no suitable replacement in the development pipeline and increasing tensions around the globe, the SR-71 programme was reactivated in the early nineties, only to be retired for the second and final time in 1998 – or was it? During its 32-year career, the Blackbird set dozens of records for absolute altitude and absolute speed, most of which still stand today, making the aircraft a true Cold War icon. The Kit This is a brand-new tool from Revell, and when it was announced there was quite a clamour from the modelling public, as we’ve been wanting one for a while, having the reboxed Testors kit from 1982 as our only recourse in this scale until now. Now we have a new kit from Revell, and right out of the box it’s a good looking piece of plastic engineering. It arrives in a large top-opening box, with thirteen sprues and two fuselage halves in pale grey/green styrene, two small clear sprues, a large decal sheet and the instruction booklet with ‘colour’ profiles for the decal options on the rear. I say colour, but most of that is black, with a ton of stencils. The surface detail on the blended fuselage/wings is excellent, and you can actually see it because the plastic isn’t that hard-to-photograph black that graced Blackbird kits of yore. In addition to the kit, you get a stand for your model, and a pair of Pratt & Whitney J58 afterburning jet engines, which have their own cradles on the base beneath the aircraft. Construction begins with the – lower fuselage. Eh? Surely not? Yes. The lower fuselage part extends from behind the nose cone to the beaver tail, and out as far as the engine nacelles, with three holes cut out for the gear bays. A couple of holes are drilled to place it on the optional stand, then three cross-braces are inserted into grooves on the inside, to be joined by a sturdy beam that stretches from the aft of the nose gear bay all the way to the rear of the model. This will make the model structurally rigid along its length, which will prevent any seams cracking after construction due to flexing parts. The nose gear bay is semi-integrated with the spar, butting up against it once complete. It is made up from individual sides for extra detail, and has an optional front bulkhead, and I can’t quite divine why you would want to leave it off the model, as the next and subsequent steps shows it installed. The bay door openers are fixed to the centre of the bay for breaking off later (hopefully kidding!), and the bay is inserted into the lower fuselage from within, then set to the side while the main bay doors are completed. The bays are tapered toward the outside, and are each made from three walls, with a retraction jack fitted into sockets in the front and back walls without glue. The main gear struts are dropped into their cups on the outer edge of the bays in the fuselage, then the bay walls are glued in, trapping them in position. After the glue is set, you can hook up the two sections or leave them loose and taped/Blutaked into the bay so they don’t get knocked off during handling. The bay rooves have a deep cylindrical retainer for the wheels moulded-in to protect the tyres from heat damage, plus ribbing representing the upper surface of the wing. The SR-71 was expanded to accommodate two crew members, and they each get an ejection seat that is based on two halves, onto which the cushions with moulded-in seatbelts and a separate pull-handle for getting them out of there in a hurry. They each have individual cockpit tubs with moulded-in side consoles and separate instrument panels, which are nicely detailed, and have decals to place over them to add more interest to the area without too much effort, just the addition of some decal setting solution. They too fit into the lower fuselage in square brackets moulded into the floor. The next step is to create the refuelling bay in the spine of the aircraft, as the Blackbird was a thirsty bird in the air, and a leaky one on the ground, thanks to seams that only fitted properly when the titanium frame had expanded to flight temperatures thanks to the friction of passing through the air at high speed. You have the option of a “wedge” bay, or a cover panel, and there are also two nav. lights - one on the bottom, the other on the spine, both of which are inserted from inside. The upper fuselage has the cockpit surrounds painted before they are joined, and an additional bulkhead is fitted within the nose as this task is carried out, with the very tip of the tail also a separate part. While the fuselage is setting up, attention shifts toward the massive P&W engines, of which there are two. The build process is the same for each one, but they are handed, so take care to use the correct parts. The exhausts are first, with a tapered trunk between a funnel-shaped afterburner and shallow exhaust petals, fitting into a compact bulkhead that will locate it within the nacelle later. At the front, the long, tapered intake bullet is made from two teardrop-shaped halves with a separate nose-cone tip, and this is also attached to a bulkhead with stator-blades moulded-in, and four sections of intake trunking are added on strakes around the bullet, forming the complex shape that slowed down the supersonic air so the engine could breathe at high speeds. At the rear of the bulkhead the initial compressor ring is added, although little will be seen of this unless you have an endoscope camera. The exhaust cans are last, made up from two interlocking crowns, a tubular fairing, and a large set of petals that have detail inside and out. There are a few small sink marks just visible on the inside of these parts, but they probably won’t notice. Each engine is then installed in the lower section of the cowling, which also incorporates the outer wing panels too, each section locating on tracks moulded inside the cowling halves. With the cowling closed up, the nose ring is added, then the aft section of the exhaust with the auxiliary intakes is clipped in place on the cowling over the inner exhaust. The completed engines are attached to the fuselage now, using a long slot and tab to make for a good join. The nose cone is separate, and there is a choice of two shapes to the chines on the top half, depending on which decal option you have chosen. There’s also space for nose weight, but that might not even be necessary, given how far back the main gear legs are, and nothing is documented. The twin tail fins were canted in to reduce the type's radar signature, and each one has a two-part base topped with a single piece rudder that is fixed in place with a tab and pin. The flying surfaces at the rear of that big delta-wing are also separate, and while the outer sections are single parts, the thicker inner sections have two layers, while all of them have the prototypical zig-zag lines etched into the surface. If you have elected to pose your model with the gear up, there are simple bay doors supplied for all three bays, a single part for the nose gear, and two parts each for the main bays. For the gear down modeller, the nose gear strut has a moulded-in scissor-link, and a clear landing light. The twin wheels are each made from two halves and fix to the bottom of the strut via a straight styrene axle that you could replace with a length of 1.2mm brass rod if you are concerned about strength. It fixes into the rear of the bay with a small bay door attached to the retraction jack and two more on the sides of the bay. The main gear legs were installed earlier, and are now decked out with three wheels each, using another thicker axle to support the wheels across the yoke. The Blackbird’s tyres were specially made with metal impregnated rubber to make them more heat-tolerant, so don’t forget to check your references to see how they should look. Two large doors fit to either side of the bay aperture, the outer one linked to the strut, the inner having two retraction jacks at the bottom edge. The airframe is completed by adding a number of small aerials and the prominent nose-mounted pitot probe, then installing the canopy. There are two external colour options here, with a separate sharp-fronted windscreen part attached to the fuselage with two canopies that can be placed in the open or closed positions, with an opener jack supplied for them both. You can stop there if you wish, but it would be a shame to waste the parts included for the two engines, even if you aren’t planning on using the base. It wouldn’t be too much effort to create a trolley for them both with some styrene rod or similar. Each engine begins with the pairing of the two front fans and the exhaust section with the funnel-shaped afterburner, which there are thankfully duplicates of on the sprues, so you don’t have to choose. The engine body is built up in quadrants to which two lengths of trunking are added to two, and a single length to the others, to augment the excellent moulded-in detail. The four quadrants are joined together around the engine front to create a cylindrical housing, with the exhaust inserted into the rear once it is complete. A detailed painting guide is shown for each quadrant, and there are stencil decals for each of the lengths of trunking that snake down the side of the body. The base is a large circular plate with a concave sloped edge, and it has a cruciform central socket for the two-part stand, plus four additional slots for the engine mounts. With the parts in place the engines are fixed to their mounts on small pins, and the SR-71 is placed atop the stand on the two pins that mate with the holes you drilled at the very start of the build. Paint it whatever colour you like! Markings The Blackbird got its name from its inky-night Radar Absorbent Material (RAM) finish, which comes out pretty black and very matt on most photos. There are four options on the sheet, and they differ only in their markings, of which there are a pretty substantial number. From the box you can build one of the following: AF61-7958 US Air Force 27/28th July 1976 World Speed Record Runs (High Visibility Scheme) AF61-7955 Air Force/Lockheed Flight Test Aircraft, Palmdale Plant 42, Edwards AFB, 1972-94 (High Visibility Scheme) AF61-7972 US Air Force 6th New York – London 1st Sept 1974, Los Angeles – Washington DC, 6th March 1990 AF61-7967 US Air Force Last Flight Det 2, Edwards AFB, 10th Oct 1997 Decals are by Cartograf, which is a guarantee of good registration, sharpness and colour density, with a thin matt carrier film cut close to the printed areas. Conclusion The SR-71 was a stunning triumph of the slide-ruler and sheer skill of its designers, Kelly Johnson and his team at Skunkworks. This kit is a thoroughly modern representation of this landmark aircraft that broke world speed and altitude records almost as often as it broke the speed of sound by a substantial margin. The detail is excellent out of the box, with the separate engines and stand adding to the attraction. Very highly recommended. Currently, Revell are unable to ship to the UK from their online shop due to recent changes in import regulations, but there are many shops stocking their products where you can pick up the kits either in the flesh or online. Revell model kits are available from all good toy and model retailers. For further information visit or

Sports Plane (03835) 1:32 Carrera Revell The Piper PA-18 Super Cub was developed after WWII as a single-engined civilian aircraft, or “sports Plane” as it is sometimes referred to, especially on the front of model boxes. It was a development of the Cub line of aircraft, but was substantially different in that it was more powerful and a more “professional” type of aircraft, having flaps, twin fuel-tanks and a 150hp Lycoming engine as standard, although over the intervening years many have been re-engined with other power-plants, some more powerful, some not. Over 10,000 have been made, and they have seen use all over the world, with a particular following amongst bush pilots, who value its slow-speed handling, incredibly short take-off run and its simple mechanical make-up that makes it relatively easy to repair due to its tubular framework with doped canvas outer skin, and readily available spares. As well as the civilian operators, a number of military users have had them on charge over the years, with various designations beginning with L-18. The Civilian variant usually stuck with PA-18 and used various numbers in relation to the engine fitted at the factory, but as already mentioned there have been many alternatives used over the years. One inventive individual even converted the type to a biplane in order to improve its high-altitude handling so that it could be better used in extremely isolated mountainous regions. The Kit This is a re-release of the 2007 tooling from Revell as a special “Builder’s Choice” boxing, and it has been tricked out in a handsome set of German decals, including the colours of the modern German flag on the tailfin. It arrives in a shallow end-opening box with a painting of the aircraft in flight on the front, and inside are nine sprues of various sizes in white styrene, two in clear that were still tenuously linked together in my box, the instruction booklet and the decal sheet in between the safety sheet, which seems to have been printed on glossy paper this time. It’s a nicely detailed kit in this scale, although it does have a few features of its era, such as the occasional sink mark and ejector-pin here and there, but it’s nothing to be overly concerned about unless you have a low panic threshold. Construction begins with the cockpit in a move that won’t surprise many modellers. The floor is quite substantially curved, as it follows the line of the fuselage underside, which it follows once completed. The two sidewalls have curved lower edges too as you’d expect, and each one has a short painting guide, which also points out some decals that are applied at the same time. The floor has a few ejector-pin marks to be hidden away before it is detailed with a number of controls, including the linked control columns, with the two seats and their moulded-in seatbelts added to raised parts of the floor. The belts are well-moulded, and are individually arranged on the seats, so should look good under some carefully-applied paint. The fuselage halves are then shown for painting of their interior, with a black lip around the edges of the windows at the rear. The cockpit is built up in a basket-like shape starting with the cockpit sides, with two rectangular frames tying the sides together along with a rear bulkhead, then the cockpit floor is placed inside and joined by the rear parcel shelf and the two-part structure that forms the head-liner over the shelf. Bracing rods are added across the roof and in a V-shape down the windscreen, locking into the two-part instrument panel, which has a decal for its dials. A brief interlude has you making the clear centre-panel of the upper wing spar by slipping two aerofoil-shapes over the fully clear part without glue, then setting it aside while you close up the fuselage around the cockpit, adding rear quarterlights from the inside as you go, and closing over the front with a firewall aft of the engine bay. With the glue cured on the fuselage, the upper centre wing is installed along with the rest of the glazing, with a curved windscreen and optional straight side windows, where your choice of glue will be important so you don’t fog the wide expanses of clear styrene. A section of the cockpit floor is added below, and the N-shaped engine mounts are glued to the firewall, with two scrap diagrams showing their orientation once installed. The Lycoming engine is a flat-four, with all cylinders depicted along with the various rods, housings and a long drive-shaft passing through it. Plenty of piping is woven around the block for air and exhaust pathways, with a final diagram showing the completed unit before it is bracketed by two L-shaped panels that have the cylinder head tops moulded into them. The engine fits neatly to the mounts, and the panelling is added around it, taking care to ensure that the circular drive-shaft opening in the front cowling is centred on the shaft itself. There’s another scrap diagram to assist you with the final arrangement here too. The wings are straight with round tips, and each one has a separate aileron and flap added as the top and bottom halves are joined, with small lollipop tip-lights also fitted into channels as you go. The port wing has a landing light cut from the leading edge that is fitted with a contoured clear part and a representation of the twin lenses within the wing. The completed wings slide onto the clear centre wing section, which has a vertical spar along its length to counter the brittle nature of thin clear styrene that we all know and loathe. There is a slot within the wing for the two to mate, and it would be an idea to consider using epoxy resin to glue the wings with, as it definitely won’t create any bloom in the clear part, which could conceivably creep into the centre section that we wish to remain clear. Each wing has a V-shaped support with another inverted trestle-shaped added at approximately half way. All the attachment points are already laid out on the wing and elsewhere, and there is just a short length of wire needed to link the ailerons to the controls within the wing. Wire, cord or stretched sprue would do the trick here. The landing gear is fixed, and is mounted on a tubular frame with aerodynamic fairings and fabric between the triangular interstices, and the latter is where you’ll find a few ejector-pin marks to fill. These and the extended X-shaped axles are fitted into sockets under the fuselage, then the wheels are made up. There are two sets of wheels of two parts each, so choose the correct type, which have circumferential tread on each half thanks to some stepping of the mould surface. They have their hubs added-in, with brake detail on the inner surface, to be slotted over the axles once complete. Oddly, a pair of small holes are filled in the rear of the fuselage, appearing to be somewhat out of sequence, but in fact it is the opening shot of the tail construction. The rudder is separate and has a pair of small clear lights fitted, one each top and rear, then it is glued to the fin along with the elevators, which need another few short lengths of control lines adding, as per the drawings. The elevators are moulded as one piece per side, and fit to the fuselage sides on three pins each, in much the same manner as the real ones. The tail wheel is a short, sprung strut with a diminutive wheel on a two-part yoke, which fits into a slot in the underside of the tail. To finish off the build, the starboard side of the cockpit has its clamshell door added in either open or closed positions, with the glazed half having sliding windows moulded-in, and a handle fixed to the long edge of the trapezoid lower door. The engine cowlings can also be fitted open or closed, but the two-bladed prop and spinner are generally required for flying. A pair of short antennae made from stretched sprue are applied to the upper wing over the cockpit, with some brief instructions showing you how to stretch your own sprue if you’re unsure. Markings There is only one set of markings in this special boxing, and it’s for an attractive silver-doped airframe with a black nose and wing leading edges and a white lightning flash down the sides, with a colourful German flag on the tail fin. The tail code is kind of appropriate too. From the box you can build this airframe: Decals are by Cartograf, which is a guarantee of good registration, sharpness and colour density, with a thin matt carrier film cut close to the printed areas. Conclusion After dealing with a few ejector-pin marks here and there, the model should build up relatively swiftly into a classic of a design that’s wearing some handsome markings. Highly recommended. Currently, Revell are unable to ship to the UK from their online shop due to recent changes in import regulations, but there are many shops stocking their products where you can pick up the kits either in the flesh or online. Revell model kits are available from all good toy and model retailers. For further information visit or

World of Tanks Leichttraktor Rheinmetall 1930 (03506) 1:35 Carrera Revell After WWI the German military were forbidden from developing any serious form of weapons by the Versailles Treaty, so their initial efforts were made underground, with the assistance of their then-friends the Soviet Union providing the trials locations. The name Leichttraktor translates literally to "Light Tractor", which was part of the subterfuge, and both Rheinmetall and Krupps produced design proposals for consideration for VK31. Rheinmetall created prototypes, which were a fairly unusual (for the time) engine-first design, with the fighting compartment for the four crew and turret bearing a 37cm cannon at the rear. The tracks were suspended using leaf springs, and an order for around 300 examples were made initially, but later cancelled after testing. Only the two prototypes were made, due to the vehicle's poor performance and reliability, especially the tracks, which were prone to slipping off the poorly designed wheels, and were hard to swap due to their poor design. World of Tanks Many of you will have heard of the game World of Tanks (WoT), and some will even have played it because it is a Free-to-Play game for the PC and major consoles that allows players to take the role of a tank commander of any of the major combatants almost anywhere in huge play areas set in WWII. You have to grind to work your way up the tree to the monsters such as King Tigers, the Maus and other top-flight tanks, but you’ll get plenty of experience in light tanks like the Leichttraktor on the way unless you have deep pockets and can afford to become a ‘whale’ and pay-to-win. The Kit This is a reboxing of a 2019 tooling from ICM of this little tank, and as such it is a modern tooling. The kit arrives in a WoT themed box and inside are five sprues of grey styrene, four lengths of black flexible tracks, a tiny clear sprue, a generic decal sheet and the instruction booklet. Detail is good throughout as we've come to expect from ICM, with plenty of external detail, including the spiral exhaust mufflers. There is a small card with a special bonus code for players on the PC and three invite codes for you to give to friends to introduce them to the game and give you some squad mates to play with. These two freebies mean the following to the PC version player: Bonus Code 2 x +50% Experience for 2 hours 2 x +50% Credits for 2 hours 2 x 200% Crew experience for 2 hours Invite Code T2 Light Tank Garage Slot 7 World of Tanks Premium plus days 1000 Gold I don’t profess to know what all that means to the players, but the info is there for you to see. There are long alpha-numeric codes and a URL for the website to redeem your codes, so good luck with that! Construction begins with the upper deck for a change, which has two engine access panels with individual louvers fitted beforehand, and a smaller armoured cone-shaped hatch further back toward the turret ring. Either side are two crew hatches, the left of which stands proud of the deck, while the right-hand hatch is flush with the deck. More louvers are added to the front bulkhead before it and the top deck are attached to the right side of the hull, then it has the floor and rear bulkheads glued into place and is finally closed up by adding the left side. The rear bulkhead has a crew hatch on the right side, which is added along with a bunch of shackles and towing eyes, with none at the front. The road wheels are made up in four pairs per bogey, which are held in place by two sets of triangular parts trapping the small wheels in place. There are three of these per side, plus two double-bank return rollers, and another pair on the lower run just aft of the front-mounted idler wheel. The idler and drive sprocket are both made of two parts, with the teeth on the drive wheel central within the flat outer section. With the wheels done, the mud-shedding fenders are constructed from the outer panel and a run of box-sections, and they are then fixed to the hull sides with two pins locating them firmly. The process is repeated on the other side, and the rubber tracks, which are accurate to the initial designs that are mostly rubber with metal inserts, and these are made up from two sections each with one run each side. You will need to use super-glue for the joins, as liquid glue doesn't melt the plastic they are made of – I know because I tried. The top plates are fitted last to the rear three quarters of the track run, and then attention turns to the turret. Despite this being an exterior-only kit, there is a nicely detailed full breech included in the kit, which is made up over six steps, then set aside to wait for installation. The turret is supplied in two halves, with crew access hatches in each side, which are separate parts and could be left open if you desire. The two halves are brought together around the breech, and sealed in by the turret ring below, and the fairly featureless circular roof part. The mantlet is next, covering the interior of the breech, and is completed by adding the coaxial machine gun mount and the barrel, which is a single part with a short insert at the dangerous end to give it a hollow muzzle. The turret is then decked out with two roof-top vents, lifting eyes and other small parts before it is twisted onto the hull and held in place by a pair of bayonet lugs. The clear headlight lenses are fitted to the domed rear and attached to each side of the front, and a wrap-around railing is glued around the aft area of the hull and turret area. The unusual exhaust exits the right side of the hull and travels over the fender, with a spiral muffler and short tip - this section being made in two parts to achieve the correct shape. There is just one colour option and that’s green, which is shown in a four-view set of line-drawn profiles. The decals are generic and representative of the way the game allocates players to groups. There are eighty clan symbols in various styles and colours, plus four each of German, Soviet, US and US roundel markings if you decide to depict your model as a more realistic combatant. The decals are printed by Cartograf in Italy, which is a guarantee of good registration, sharpness and colour density, with a thin matt carrier film cut close to the printed areas. Conclusion A nicely rendered model of this failed attempt to create a light tank prior to the Panzer I, which was actually a lot more suited to the task and performed well in the early days of the German expansionist attempts. It's also dinky, so won't take up much space on the shelf once built, and if you're feeling adventurous you could always hack it up and create the drop-top early version that had a windscreen where the turret front was later to be found. There are some pictures of them online if you're up for a challenge. Highly recommended. Currently, Revell are unable to ship to the UK from their online shop due to recent changes in import regulations, but there are many shops stocking their products where you can pick up the kits either in the flesh or online. Revell model kits are available from all good toy and model retailers. For further information visit or

World of Tanks T-26 Light Tank (03505) 1:35 Carrera Revell The T-26 was a Soviet light tank that was based upon the British Vickers Light Tank, and was used in many guises in the interwar years and during the early part of WWII, although it was already outclassed by the invading German tanks during the beating they received at the beginning of Operation Barbarossa in 1941, the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union. Almost 11,000 were made of the various different types up until development ceased in 1940, which was a tacit admission that there was no future for it going forward. World of Tanks Many of you will have heard of the game World of Tanks (WoT), and some are likely to have played it because it is Free-to-Play for the PC and major consoles that allows players to take the role of a tank commander of any of the major combatants almost anywhere in huge play areas set in WWII. You have to grind to work your way up the tree to monsters such as King Tigers, the Maus and other top-flight tanks, but you’ll get plenty of experience in light tanks like the T-26 on the way unless you have deep pockets and can afford to become a ‘whale’ and pay-to-win. The Kit This is a reboxing of a 2010 tooling from Zvezda of this little tank, and it is a product of its time with a little bit of flash making an appearance here and there, plus some sink marks, which are mostly hidden. The kit arrives in a WoT themed box and inside are six sprues in grey styrene, an instruction booklet, a common decal sheet for the series, a special bonus code and three invite codes for for players on the PC that you can give to friends to introduce them to the game and give you some squad mates to play with. These two gifts mean the following to the PC version player: Bonus Code 2 x +50% Experience for 2 hours 2 x +50% Credits for 2 hours 2 x 200% Crew experience for 2 hours Invite Code T2 Light Tank Garage Slot 7 World of Tanks Premium plus days 1000 Gold I don’t profess to know what all that means, but the info is there for you players to see. There are long alpha-numeric codes and a URL for the website to redeem your codes, so good luck with that! Construction begins with the lower hull, which is made up from four parts and is joined by the upper hull, engine deck and glacis plate to make up the bodywork, then the radiator exhaust box and 16 sets of wheels are made up with twin return rollers also added. The road wheels are made up in pairs, then are paired onto a small bogey, and paired again into a larger bogey with leaf suspension, held in place by a pair of pins. The exhaust, and a bunch of tie-down lugs are added to the hull while the idler and drive sprocket pairs are made up. These have a number of individual track links wrapped around them while the glue is still setting, then the rest of the link-and-length track parts are shown in an exploded diagram around the running gear. The fenders fit onto the sides with triangular support brackets, then it’s a case of fitting stowage and pioneer tools, then on to the turret. This variant of the T-26 had just the one turret, which is made up with a multi-part mantlet fitting inside the four-part turret, which then has twin hatches on the roof plus mushroom vent and other details, and of course the under-gunned barrel with support. This turret also has a wrap-around radio antenna in armoured tube on upstands, and at the front a headlight is glued into place under the old-style horn under the turret. There aren’t any clear parts in the kit, so you can either paint the lens silver, or get some self-adhesive cabochon rhinestones of an appropriate size to give it more realism. Markings There is just one colour option and that’s Russian Green, which is shown in a five-view set of profiles of what looks like renderings from the game. The decals are generic and representative of the way the game allocates players to groups. There are eighty clan symbols in various styles and colours, plus four each of German, Soviet, US and US roundel markings if you decide to depict your model as a more realistic combatant. The decals are printed by Cartograf in Italy, which is a guarantee of good registration, sharpness and colour density, with a thin matt carrier film cut close to the printed areas. Conclusion A great way for the PC gamer to get into modelling or vice versa, although some may be a little terrified by the flash that's actually pretty easy to remove, but most probably won’t even notice in the excitement. Highly recommended. Currently, Revell are unable to ship to the UK from their online shop due to recent changes in import regulations, but there are many shops stocking their products where you can pick up the kits either in the flesh or online. Revell model kits are available from all good toy and model retailers. For further information visit or

North American P-51D-15 Mustang (03838) 1/32 Carrera Revell The P-51D was developed by the North American Aviation company as a possible fighter for Great Britain, but due to the poor performance of the original Allinson engine it wasn’t all that good, especially at high altitude. Luckily they decided to try strapping a Rolls-Royce Merlin engine to the airframe and it brought out the best of its design, which included the energy efficient laminar flow wing that gave it the potential to escort Allied bombers all the way to Berlin with the addition of drop-tanks and a lean mixture when not in combat. It was flown in this guise as the Mustang III in British service, and as the P-51B/C in US service, then as the P-51D with the bubble canopy and cut-down aft fuselage, with an additional fin-fillet added later to improve stability that had been reduced by the new shape and fuel tank location. In British service it was known as the Mustang Mk.IV, and the same variant made at the Dallas factory with hollow AeroProducts props that was designated P-51K in US service was known as the Mk.IVa in RAF service to differentiate. Sadly, the hollow prop was prone to vibration thanks to some inferior quality control at the factory, so was often swapped out in the field. The P-51D is the Mustang that most people think of when they hear the name, unless they’re more of a petrol head or a bit horsey. The Kit Here Revell have re-boxed their own new tool kit from 2017 this time with parts for the later Mustangs. The frankly lacking openend box holds a good deal of plastic. As well as the wings there are nine sprues of grey plastic and three clear sprues. There are three full canopies provided, two labelled as "Spares", which probably goes back to the problems with the canopy on earlier kits. These look to have no issues though. The rest of the tooling is upto Revell's usual high standards. Construction starts in the cockpit with the instrument panel. The lower part differs if you have an aircraft armed with rockets or not. Instruments are provided as decals. Next up the seat back with head armour goes onto the cockpit floor in front of the tanks after attaching to its frame. The rack for the radio equipment then goes on top of the tanks, followed by the equipment. The main part of the seat then goes in. Revell provide a normal seat and a more bucket type of seat. There is no mention made of which one to use for which deal option, the modeller will need to do their own research on this. The left an right interior sidewalls are then built up from various components. These go together around the floor/tank assembly with the rudder pedals and instrument panel going in at the front. To the rear top of this is added the canopy rail; and to the front the engine firewall. Next up the lower radiator assembly is made up, this part also indulges the tail wheel bay. The individual fuselage sides now attach to the relevant tail parts. They need to be added in this order as now when the two fuselage halves go together the cockpit and intake sections need to go in at this point. At the front dont forget to install the exhaust stubs as well (there is no engine in the kit). Am mounting paste for the prop with lower intake then goes on the front. Now we move to constructing the wings. The upper and lower wings are both a single part. The wheel bays and wing spar need to be assembled and placed between the wings. The appropriate holes for wing tanks, Bombs and or rockets need to be drilled out first. Once the wings are together the control column for the cockpit is fitted as the top of the wing is the floor of the cockpit. The fuselage can now be mated to the wings and the intake lip for the main intake made up and added. The control flaps for the intake are added and at the front of the wing a plate is added between the wing and fuselage sections. If you are making your model wheels up then a section of closed door can be added in. Next up the tail surfaces are added, for the rudder and control surfaces all these are separate. Following this the ailerons and flaps for the main wing are built up and added on. The flaps can be raised or lowered as needed. Moving back to the cockpit the front screen is added with the instrument coaming and gunsight being fitted in. The font scree contains a part of the fuselage to allow a good faired in fit. The main canopy gains its internal fixtures before being fitted. Moving on to the undercarriage the tail wheel and strut are built up first and added in. For the main gear doors they must be cut from the one section which provides for the closed bay doors. The main wheels are two part, these are fitted to the legs and into the model along with the gear doors. At the front the prop is made up and fitted. For the weapons 8 rockets, tow bombs; and a choice of two different types of drop tank are provided to be used as needed. The last items to be fitted are the aerial, pitot tube, and navigation lights. Decals The large sheet provides decals for two options; 44-14985 "The Mille G" Flown by Maj Giller, 343rd FS, 55th FG, Wormingford, England 1944 (This aircraft still flies today) 44-15459 "American Beauty / Lovely Lila" 308th FS, 15th FG, Italy 1944 Conclusion This is a great looking kit from Revell and its good to see the later mark now kitted. Revell model kits are available from all good toy and model retailers. For further information visit or

Star Wars The Mandalorian – Razor Crest (06781) 1:72 Carrera Revell Firstly, some minor spoiler alerts. If you’ve not seen the series and plan on doing so, skip this section and go straight to text below 'The Kit' heading, where I’ll try to keep the spoilers to the minimum. We’ve all heard of Star Wars, the three trilogies, the spin-off films and now under the auspices of the massive Disney corporation, we are being treated to some television series on their streaming service Disney+ that are bringing back some of the magic that perhaps had been lost, or at least dulled over the years under the helmsmanship of J J Abrams. The Mandalorian reached our screens in 2019, right around the time the Covid-19 pandemic first hit, and it has helped keep us Star Wars fans entertained for two seasons now, with a third in the offing for 2022. It has brought us new characters into the much-loved Star Wars universe such as the Mandalorian, Din Djarin himself, Grogu the baby Yoda, and it has reintroduced the previously reviled but strangely popular Boba Fett, who seems to have mellowed during his time in the Sarlacc Pit, and has now got his own series on the strength of his performance in season 2. Even Luke Skywalker has made a brief appearance at the end of season 2, heavily de-aged to fit in with the show’s timeline of post Return of the Jedi Star Wars. The Razor Crest is an ST-70 Assault Ship that has seen better days since its service with the Republic, having survived the rise and fall of the Empire, to become The Mandalorian’s transport around the Outer Rim of the Star Wars galaxy catching bad guys for bounty. It was originally a scout ship, but is armed with a pair of laser cannon in the nose, and is capable of faster than light travel thanks to hyperspace engines that are presumably hidden inside the same twin nacelles that house the sub-light engines. Inside the ship is an extensively glazed cockpit and a large hold with a well-stocked weapons locker and a carbonite freezer chamber to store recalcitrant criminals that he’s taking back for bounty. Yes, it’s a Mandalorian thing, apparently. She survived several space battles, being stripped down to a bare chassis by Jawas, and a drowning on Trask, only to be thoroughly atomised by a blast from Moff Gideon’s cruiser at the end of season 2, much to my disappointment. I really liked that ship. The Kit Revell have the license for Star Wars model kits in Europe, and have released a mixed bag in unusual scales, some toy-like kits for the younger audience and reboxes of a few of the Bandai kits. This kit is none of the above, as it is firstly a kit in a recognised scale of 1:72 so will sit perfectly next to your more “serious” Star Wars kits, it is well-detailed, and most definitely not snap-together. Fabulous! We’ve been treated to some of the pre-production photos in the run-up to release and they have been appealing to say the very least, so I’m pleased and more than a little relieved to say all that promised detail has reached the moulds, as well as giving us a true sense of the real scale of this medium-sized ship, which will tower over an X-Wing in the same scale. The kit arrives in a deep end-opening box with an appropriately dramatic painting of the Razor Crest banking to one side with an X-Wing following behind. A Beskar masked Mando is looking on from the top right, and there is the usual Skill Level slider on the left that puts this firmly in the middle at 3, with 101 parts that make up a model that will be just over 33cm (13”) in length once complete. Opening the box reveals five large sprues and a lower hull part in their usual light grey styrene, a clear sprue with some really nice thin parts, a decal sheet and the instruction booklet with colour profiles to the rear. As already mentioned, detail is good, and a small stand is included in case you want to pose your ship in flight, but there is also a full set of landing gear; detailed cockpit and Mando figure; rear interior; pivoting laser cannons, plus opening side and rear hatches with ramps. I guarantee there will be some people creating figures of Jawas, Grogu, Kuiil on his funny-looking ball-lizard, and maybe even a Cara Dune if that’s still permissible. Interior construction begins with the cockpit on the top level, and there are copious colour call-outs all the way through to help you get it right without freeze-framing too much of the show. The floor is full length and slightly wider than the cockpit space, which is marked off by the side walls after they have been detail painted, with the interior separated into two compartments by a pair of bulkheads with closed doorways moulded into each one. Three seats are glued onto boxes moulded into the floor, then Mando is made up into a full seated figure by adding arms and a small insert in the middle of his back that has a peg moulded into it to fix him to the more comfortable looking pilot seat. The front of the cockpit is blocked off by the addition of a single part making up the instrument panel and side consoles, which might sound disappointing, but the detail there is excellent and there are decals to spruce it up even further. There is another compartment under the cockpit, which is built up on the lower floor around what looks a bit like a toilet, would you believe? A front bulkhead with moulded-in netting and a rear bulkhead with doorway and central wall are added along with some paint, then the side walls are also painted up and decaled before they are mated to the lower floor, which is also painted in blue/black/metallic panels, which makes for a pretty drab interior. The upper floor/ceiling is detailed with shackles (for frozen criminals?) and paint, and a ladder is fixed to the wall between the levels. Inside the hull tub, the rear access door and frame are fitted, with the ability to leave it mobile if you wish, a task that is repeated with the side hatches, which have C-shaped hinges that are trapped in place by the interior in the next step. Oddly, Revell have chosen to emboss the product name, code and manufacturer on the rear door as you can see above, which seems a bit of a step back, but is easily remedied with a sharp blade and some light but careful sanding. With the interior ostensibly complete, the two laser cannons are made up from two halves each for the breech and barrel, and an angled outer cover for each one. They can be fixed in place with a plastic washer to remain movable, or glued in place, which would appear to be the most sensible option to prevent them dangling straight down once complete. With that, the top of the hull can be glued in place, securing on a series of five turrets moulded into both sides of the lower hull. Speaking of the lower hull, the detail here is excellent, but there are two small sink-marks on my example on the nose detail panel due to the thickness of the plastic there. Happily, these can be rendered invisible by careful application of putty and equally cautious sanding once dry. The next step is to make up the twin engines, which also have a short internal section of the stubby “wings” incorporated. The three detail inserts per engine that represent the internals are painted up first, after which they are trapped between the two nacelle halves. The wing lower is covered with a detail panel that fits on a pair of turrets, and a short sponson fairing for the main gear is added to the bottom of the lower hull in a shallow recess on each side, then the two engines are affixed to the top of the wing on another two turrets that slot into holes in the top of the wing for a strong join. The engines are both top-and-tailed with intake lip and exhaust petals, and the connection with the wings is hidden by the detail moulded into the topside. The canopy is multi-part with thick frames between curved panes, each fitted separately with a suitable adhesive that won’t fog the clear parts. There is another detail insert in the belly of the hull between the main gear, and you then have the choice of closing the bays with their doors and placing it on the stand for an in-flight pose, or continuing with the landing gear. A stand is included on the sprues, which is made from three parts, and attaches via two pegs to holes under the hull. The front landing gear reuses the bay door as the foot of the leg, with a two-part set of struts and tiny front door attached to the edge of the bay. The main gear each have a three-part strut with a foot that has an additional “ankle” part and the bay door captive over the leg. These both fix into substantial slots in the bay, and should hold the legs at the correct angle once the glue is set, but it might be as well to tape them both to a light straight-edge while the glue sets up. The two side hatches can be opened up and have additional lengths of walkway added, plus two retraction jacks on the sides, which is a job best done with the model flat to the ground to ensure they sit true once dry. The aft hatch has a short end lip added, and just one retraction jack on the left side as you look into the ship from behind. There are small recesses moulded in, so it should be obvious where to put the jack, but scrap diagrams walk you through the process. That’s it. Time to take it for a fly round the room with some suitable Star Wars noises! Markings The Razor Crest belongs to the same visual school of design as the Millennium Falcon, the “What a Piece of Junk!” School of ship design, but rather than starting as off-white, it began life as a beautiful shiny natural metal finish, which can still be seen in places, along with some yellow markings on the sides of the hull around the doors. The heat discolouration of the engine exhausts and the general wear and tear of the ship will be key to creating a realistic (a silly word for an imaginary vehicle) finish, so check your references for streaks, grime, scuffs and general grime to smear on the surface. Whether you start the process from a base of shiny silver or not is up to you, but it will certainly need several layers of dirtying down to look the part. There was only one Razor Crest (may she rest in atoms), so from the box you can build her, unless you wanted to go all whiffy and give vent to your creative process. Decals are by Zanetti, which is a guarantee of good registration, sharpness and colour density, with a thin matt carrier film cut close to the printed areas. Conclusion Revell have made me very happy twice in a week. Firstly, their new 1:48 SR-71 Blackbird, and now the Razor Crest in a decentr scale! It’s a great-looking model, and should build up into an impressive replica of this soon-to-be iconic Star Wars ship. Buy one. It is the way. Great detail, some fun movable parts for customisation, and clear instructions. Extremely highly recommended. Currently, Revell are unable to ship to the UK from their online shop due to recent changes in import regulations, but there are many shops stocking their products where you can pick up the kits either in the flesh or online. Revell model kits are available from all good toy and model retailers. For further information visit or

T-34 World Of Tanks (03510) 1/72 Carrera Revell The T-34 was Stalin's mainstay medium tank that was produced in incredible volume by sometimes crude and expedient methods, to be thrown into the fray against the numerically inferior German tanks on the Eastern Front. The designers combined a number of important advances in design such as sloped frontal armour, wide tracks to spread the load, and the ability to cope with the harsh Russian winters without freezing to a halt, which was a problem that affected the Germans badly after the initial successes in the summer of Operation Barbarossa. The part count and cost of the tank was continuously reduced during production, with plants turning out up to 1,300 per month at the height of WWII. The initial welded turret was replaced by a cast turret with more room, and later the 76mm gun was replaced by a more powerful 85mm main gun in the T-34/85 with an enlarged turret, giving even the Tiger pause for thought. World Of Tanks is a popular online Game developed by Belarusian company Wargaming, featuring 20th century era combat vehicles. It is built upon a freemium business model where the game is free-to-play, but participants also have the option of paying a fee for use of "premium" features. The focus is on player vs. player gameplay with each player controlling an armored vehicle, from the time of Pre-World War 2, to the Cold War-era. This is mainly online with PCs, but is now available on other platforms as well. The Kit Here Revell have re-boxed the Zvesda kit from 2010. This is a "war gaming" kit and as such there is not a massive parts count, but there is a fair amount of parts and detail for the scale. It is advertised as "Click together" There is one main sprue of parts (which Revell has cut in half to fit in the box), a main lower hull; and two track sprues. The tracks are not rubber, but seem to be a more flexible plastic, in link & length format. Revell have obviously released this kit in conjunction with World Of Tanks. Inside each kit there is also a set of Special Bonus & Starter Pack codes for the game. To start construction small external parts, tool boxes and the bow machine gun are added to the upper hull. We then move to the turret with the gun and mantlet being joined then added to the upper part of the turret. The turret ring is attached to the upper hull then the rest of the turret clicked in place. Two top hatches are then added. Ten pairs of road wheels are then made up and added to the lower hull. At the front and rear the inner halves of the driver sprockets and idler wheels are added. The tracks can then be attached followed by the outer parts of the drive sprockets and idler wheels. The upper and lower hulls can now be joined with additional track links and tow cables being added Decals/Stickers Unlike some of the other kits there is both a sheet of decals and one of stickers. As well as national markings for the tank there are a wide range of markings which I suspect are available in the Game to mark your tank. Conclusion This seems to be a good looking small kit, and although a "snap together" kit it should build up into a good looking model. Revell model kits are available from all good toy and model retailers. For further information visit or

Panther - World Of Tanks (03509) 1/72 Carrera Revell The Panther was Germany's answer to the surprise appearance of the Russian T-34 after they finally reacted to the invasion that was Operation Barbarosa. Although the project had been in gestation some time before, they took some design cues from the T-34 in the shape of the sloped armour, resulting in the Panther that was intended to fill the gap between the Panzer.IV and the (then) new Panzer VI Tiger. It was eventually supposed to replace both the Pz.IV and the earlier Pz.III that was really showing its age, but in reality it often fought alongside the Panzer IV. It was planned as a lighter, more manoeuvrable tank than the Tiger, and was fitted with a high velocity gun from the outset, which gave it enormous penetrating power that was only equalled by the British 17-pounder fitted to the Sherman to make the Firefly. The sloped frontal armour gave it an increased effective armour thickness, but this was not so true of the side armour, which was weaker, and this area became the preferred target area of allied tanks, especially in urban combat where this was a telling issue. Like most German WWII tanks it was complex to produce, so suffered in terms of volume produced, this led to it being rushed into service with quite a list of problems still to sort out. Later production solved most of these initial gremlins, but loses in the interim were high with many being abandoned after failing during combat. Curiously, the Ausf.D was the first to enter production, with the Ausf.A following later in 1943, replacing attrition of the less reliable Ausf.Ds until they themselves were superseded by the Ausf.G, which became the final major variant with increased ammo storage, simplified design to ease production, and further improvements to reliability, although this was never fully cured with a high rate of attrition due to mechanical issues, some of which resulted in catastrophic fires. World Of Tanks is a popular online Game developed by Belarusian company Wargaming, featuring 20th century era combat vehicles. It is built upon a freemium business model where the game is free-to-play, but participants also have the option of paying a fee for use of "premium" features. The focus is on player vs. player gameplay with each player controlling an armored vehicle, from the time of Pre-World War 2, to the Cold War-era. This is mainly online with PCs, but is now available on other platforms as well. The Kit Here Revell have re-boxed the Zvesda kit from 2012. The tank is a panther D but this is not mentioned in the instructions, or on the box. This is a "war gaming" kit and as such there is not a massive parts count, but there is a fair amount of parts and detail for the scale. There is a lower hull part, two sprues of parts and a set of tracks. The tracks are not rubber, but seem to be a more flexible plastic. Revell have obviously released this kit in conjunction with World Of Tanks. Inside each kit there is also a set of Special Bonus & Starter Pack codes for the game. Starting off the end of the suspension arms are attached to the lower hull along with the front gearbox parts. The driver sprockets and idler wheels are then built up. The inner and middle layer of road wheels are provided as single parts fitting to each side, the outer layer of wheels are single wheels which then go on. Adding the tracks the completes the lower hull. To the upper hull next are added pioneer tools, additional track links, tow cables, and a starting handle. A mid level plate which fits between the two hull parts is now made up, this mounts the track guards. Exhausts are added to the rear bulkhead and this can then be fitted. The turret is then built up with the gun and mantlet being added. The turret fits to the upper hull and this then to the rest of the tank. Decals/Stickers There is both a sheet of decals and one of stickers. As well as national markings for the tank there are a wide range of markings which I suspect are available in the Game to mark your tank. Conclusion This seems to be a good looking small kit, and although a "snap together" kit it should build up into a good looking model. Revell model kits are available from all good toy and model retailers. For further information visit or

Tiger I - World Of Tanks (03508) 1/72 Carrera Revell Everyone that’s even a little bit interested in tanks will know the name of the dreaded Tiger tank from WWII, which was at the forefront of German armoured might, and if it wasn’t for the limited numbers on the battlefield coupled with their unreliability, plus Hitler’s meddling with his General’s decisions, the invasion in 1944 might have been much harder fought than it already was. Designed to replace the Panzer IV but often fighting alongside it, the Tiger added extra armour and a larger 88mm gun similar to that of the successful Flak 37 artillery piece, and became one of the most dangerous tanks on the field in the later stages of WWII. The drive-train was stressed to the max due to the huge weight of the gun and armour, which caused many vehicles to be lost due to breakdowns and subsequent abandonment and scuttling of the hull. World Of Tanks is a popular online Game developed by Belarusian company Wargaming, featuring 20th century era combat vehicles. It is built upon a freemium business model where the game is free-to-play, but participants also have the option of paying a fee for use of "premium" features. The focus is on player vs. player gameplay with each player controlling an armored vehicle, from the time of Pre-World War 2, to the Cold War-era. This is mainly online with PCs, but is now available on other platforms as well. The Kit Here Revell have re-boxed the Zvesda kit from 2010. This is a "war gaming" kit and as such there is not a massive parts count, but there is a fair amount of parts and detail for the scale. There is a lower hull part, two sprues of parts and a set of tracks. The tracks are not rubber, but seem to be a more flexible plastic. Revell have obviously released this kit in conjunction with World Of Tanks. Inside each kit there is also a set of Special Bonus & Starter Pack codes for the game. Starting off the end bulkhead of the tank is built up with the exhausts and their shrouds being added. This then fits to the lower hull, with the front plate going on as well. The multi levered road wheels are then assembled and added to the tracks. There are lugs on the top of the tracks to attach them to the wheels. The drive sprockets and idler wheels are built up and then all the wheels are attached to the lower hull, the tracks are then bent around the rear of the wheels, with the outer layer of individual wheels being fitted to complete the lower hull. To the upper hull are tools and tow cables are added this can then fit to the lower hull. The turret can now be built up and added to the tank. The gun fits into the turret then the mantle over this, the commanders hatch finishes things off. The front part of the tank with the drivers vision slot can be added and at the rear the intake filters Decals/Stickers There is both a sheet of decals and one of stickers. As well as national markings for the tank there are a wide range of markings which I suspect are available in the Game to mark your tank. Conclusion This seems to be a good looking small kit, and although a "snap together" kit it should build up into a good looking model. Revell model kits are available from all good toy and model retailers. For further information visit or

Su-100 World Of Tanks (03507) 1/72 Carrera Revell Following the success of the Su-85 developed from the T-34 chassis the Soviets looked for a new tank destroyer with a larger gun. After testing they settled on the 100mm DS-10S Anti Tank gun. The hull of the new Su-100 would have greater armour than the Su-85, as well as improvements to the commanders position to make it a more effective fighting vehicle. Better ventilation was also added for the crew. The new units entered production in late 1944, with deliveries being made quickly to the front line. With its ability to outmatch all tanks until the arrival of the Tiger II it was popular with crews. As well as the anti tank role the Su-100 was used to attack hardened defensive structures. Over 2000 were built and stayed in Soviet service until the 1960s. In fact some are still held in reserve to this day. Czechoslovak produced examples were exported to many Soviet Bloc states around the world. Some saw fighting in the Yugoslavian civil war, and some have been seen still being used in the Yemen conflict of today World Of Tanks is a popular online Game developed by Belarusian company Wargaming, featuring 20th century era combat vehicles. It is built upon a freemium business model where the game is free-to-play, but participants also have the option of paying a fee for use of "premium" features. The focus is on player vs. player gameplay with each player controlling an armored vehicle, from the time of Pre-World War 2, to the Cold War-era. This is mainly online with PCs, but is now available on other platforms as well. The Kit Here Revell have re-boxed the Zvesda kit from 2016. This is a "war gaming" kit and as such there is not a massive parts count, but there is a fair amount of parts and detail for the scale. It is advertised as "Click together" There is one main sprue of parts (which Revell has cut in half to fit in the box), a main lower hull; and track sprue. The tracks are not rubber, but seem to be a more flexible plastic. Revell have obviously released this kit in conjunction with World Of Tanks. Inside each kit there is also a set of Special Bonus & Starter Pack codes for the game. To start construction some internal parts and the gun are added into the upper casemate. Lights are added to the outside of this along with the commanders hatch. Tools and boxes fit to the outside along with additional track links to the front. Now we move to the lower hull, a few smaller parts are attached then the inner road wheels, drive sprockets and idler wheels are added. Once the tracks are added the outer parts of all the wheels then go on, There is a mounting peg on centre road wheel which links the track up. The upper and lower hulls can then be joined. Additional track links, fuel tanks and tow cables then finish the kit off. Decals/Stickers Unlike some of the other kits there is both a sheet of decals and one of stickers. As well as national markings for the tank there are a wide range of markings which I suspect are available in the Game to mark your tank. Conclusion This seems to be a good looking small kit, and although a "snap together" kit it should build up into a good looking model. Revell model kits are available from all good toy and model retailers. For further information visit or

Cromwell Mk.IV "World of Tanks" (03504) 1/72 Carrera Revell The Cromwell was a cruiser tank that was subject to a troubled and mildly confusing gestation that began in 1940 with three designs that bore a familial resemblance to each other, although they were being developed by different manufacturers for different purposes at the time. As usual there were problems, and different parties pulling in different directions led to consternation and some in-fighting that weirdly involved the first British jet engine! Rolls Royce had been developing a ground-based variant of the Merlin engine minus super-charger that could power AFVs, which was to be called the Meteor, and some bright spark at Rolls Royce mediated swapping the ongoing development of the Meteor for that of the ground-breaking Power Jets engine, freeing Rover to bring the Meteor project to fruition, albeit a little late. Of the prototypes, the A27M was given the name Cromwell, and development began on bringing that basic design to fruition, which finally began in 1943 when enough Meteor engines were available. As always seems to be the case, the final design was found wanting, and the technology race also required improvements until the final initial production specification was settled upon, referred to as the “Battle Cromwell”. Initially armed with a 57mm gun, by the time the Mk.IV was considered, the designers fitted a 75 mm ROQF Mk V main gun, and over 3,000 of those that version were made. They saw service in Normandy and were generally considered to be an even match for German armour up to and including the Panzer IV, but struggled against the Tigers for much the same reason that the more ubiquitous Shermans did. The Mk.VI was fitted with a 95 mm howitzer and was intended as a close support tank, firing High Explosive (HE) and smoke rounds on D-Day and beyond. Toward the end of the war, some Cromwells were being replaced by a development of the Cromwell by the name of Comet, with a 77mm high velocity gun that was based on the 17 pounder used in the Sherman Firefly, but not enough were available in time to assist greatly in speeding the German capitulation. After the war the Cromwell remained in service with the British Army, with some redundant examples finding their way into foreign service, and the Charioteer became the last derivative, fitted with a larger turret and an Ordnance QF 20 pounder gun, to be used as an anti-tank asset. World Of Tanks is a popular online Game developed by Belarusian company Wargaming, featuring 20th century era combat vehicles. It is built upon a freemium business model where the game is free-to-play, but participants also have the option of paying a fee for use of "premium" features. The focus is on player vs. player gameplay with each player controlling an armored vehicle, from the time of Pre-World War 2, to the Cold War-era. This is mainly online with PCs, but is now available on other platforms as well. The Kit Here Revell have re-boxed their own kit from 2001. Inside the compact end-opening box are three sprues of grey plastic and decals. The sprues are well laid out and the mouldings are free from flash. Surface detail is clean and crisp, and first impressions are very favourable.. Revell have obviously released this kit in conjunction with World Of Tanks. Inside each kit there is also a set of Special Bonus & Starter Pack codes for the game. Construction starts with making up the rear bulkhead of the tank. Next up its the running gear with 10 pairs of road wheels, two drive sprockets, and two idler wheels. The two inner sides of the main body are fixed to the base, followed by the outer armoured sides, the rear bulkhead and the front armour. The running gear can now be added followed by the main top part. The front part which contains the driver hatch and bow machine gun then goes on with the machine gun fitting from the rear. Engine grills. tool boxes and hatches are fitted then to the main body. Once this is complete we move to the turret. The main part fits to the base followed by the front and rear sides. The armour fits over this. Next up the hatches, gun barrel and side mounted light are fixed on. The completed turret can then be placed to one side to finish the main body. To the main body a rear cover is then fitted, and to the front a hedgerow cutter. The tracks are link & length and can now be fitted, once on the front and rear track covers can be fitted. Its now time to finish off the tank and fit the turret. Decals There is both a sheet of decals.. As well as national markings for the tank there are a wide range of markings which I suspect are available in the Game to mark your tank. Conclusion This seems to be a good looking small kit and should build up into a good looking model. Revell model kits are available from all good toy and model retailers. For further information visit or

Tiger II / Kingtiger"World of Tanks" (03503) 1/72 Carrera Revell The King Tiger, Königstiger, Sd.Kfz.182 or Tiger II was the natural successor to the widely feared Tiger that preceded it, although it was dogged by mechanical problems due to the re-use of the Tiger's transmission on an overloaded engine that was tasked with pulling around a significantly increased weight. It incorporated many advances in technology, drawing together the best features of the Tiger and Panther, and carrying a long-barrelled 88mm gun that was without peer at the time. Weighing in at 70 tonnes, it was well protected from incoming fire with the sloped armour increasing the effective thickness even further, as well as encouraging shells to ricochet off. Initial production used a prototype turret design with a curve in the side to accommodate the commander's cupola, which was difficult and expensive to produce, but as they had made a number, they were used anyway. The later turret that stayed until the end of production was simplified, and had more flat surfaces, making it easier to produce, and removing the shot-trap that was present on the early curved mantlet. The B variant was the command tank, and sported a pair of aerials on the turret and engine deck, of which there were two sub-variants. As well as being dogged by mechanical problems, production was also severely hampered by the actions of Bomber Command by night, and the US Day Bombing efforts, which destroyed large swathes of the production plants, severely restricting the number of contracted units that were actually delivered. It is estimated that some 500± were built before the end of the war, but as is often the case, figures are sketchy because of the chaos that reigned toward the end of the Nazi regime. World Of Tanks is a popular online Game developed by Belarusian company Wargaming, featuring 20th century era combat vehicles. It is built upon a freemium business model where the game is free-to-play, but participants also have the option of paying a fee for use of "premium" features. The focus is on player vs. player gameplay with each player controlling an armored vehicle, from the time of Pre-World War 2, to the Cold War-era. This is mainly online with PCs, but is now available on other platforms as well. The Kit Here Revell have re-boxed their own kit from 2002. Inside the compact end-opening box are five sprues of grey plastic and decals. The sprues are well laid out and the mouldings are free from flash. Surface detail is clean and crisp, and first impressions are very favourable.. Revell have obviously released this kit in conjunction with World Of Tanks. Inside each kit there is also a set of Special Bonus & Starter Pack codes for the game. Construction starts with the running gear on each side. 18 sets of wheels, 2 sets of drive sprockets, and two idler wheels are built up. These are attached to the side plates and then the link and length tracks are added. The track/wheel assemblies are then attached to the lower hull, the upper hull is added along with the rear bulkhead. The track side guards then go on. At the rear the exhausts are fitted along with filters on the engine deck, and rear towing shackles. At the front the bow machine gun is added along with the headlight. To the hull sides pioneer tools and tow cables go on along with the starting handle. Now the hull is complete we move to the turret. The main part of the turret adds to the base with the inside part of the main gun being trapped between the two. The mantlet, cover and single part main barrel are then added. Turret hatches are added along with additional track links. The last items are the commanders hatch and machine gun, and the turrets rear hatch. The turret can then be added to the hull. Decals There is both a sheet of decals.. As well as national markings for the tank there are a wide range of markings which I suspect are available in the Game to mark your tank. Conclusion This seems to be a good looking small kit and should build up into a good looking model. Revell model kits are available from all good toy and model retailers. For further information visit or

Sturmgeschütz IV "World of Tanks" (03502) 1/72 Carrera Revell Based on the Panzer IV, the StuG IV had its turret removed, was refitted with a casemate and a high velocity gun that had limited traverse within the hull. This meant that the vehicle had to roughly align itself with the target, fine-tuning it with the gun’s roughly 15 traverse. This marked it out as being ideal as a tank destroyer that lay in wait for its targets, although it was originally intended to provide support for infantry, aided by the comparatively low silhouette of the turretless design. It was effective in its job and fought all the way to the end of WWII World Of Tanks is a popular online Game developed by Belarusian company Wargaming, featuring 20th century era combat vehicles. It is built upon a freemium business model where the game is free-to-play, but participants also have the option of paying a fee for use of "premium" features. The focus is on player vs. player gameplay with each player controlling an armored vehicle, from the time of Pre-World War 2, to the Cold War-era. This is mainly online with PCs, but is now available on other platforms as well. The Kit Here Revell have re-boxed one of the last Matchbox branded kits from 1995 (though in reality a Revell kit). Inside the compact end-opening box are three sprues of grey plastic and decals. The sprues are well laid out and the mouldings are free from flash. Surface detail is clean and crisp, and first impressions are very favourable.. Revell have obviously released this kit in conjunction with World Of Tanks. Inside each kit there is also a set of Special Bonus & Starter Pack codes for the game. T start off the two hull sides and rear plate are attached to the base plate. The suspension units are moulded on, then to these are added the individual main wheels and return rollers. The drive sprockets and idler wheels are then built and added on as well. The tracks are link and length, these can go on once the wheels are all on. Now we add the large top casemate, before adding this the two side rear parts must be added. Once the top casemate is added the mani gun, roof hatches, aux machine gun and additional spare track lengths are also added. Lastly the side plates and their mounts are added. Decals There is both a sheet of decals.. As well as national markings for the tank there are a wide range of markings which I suspect are available in the Game to mark your tank. Conclusion This seems to be a good looking small kit and should build up into a good looking model. Revell model kits are available from all good toy and model retailers. For further information visit or

Panzer III World Of Tanks (03501) 1/72 Carrera Revell Designed in the mid 1930s to be part of a pairing with the larger Panzer IV, the lighter Panzer III was originally intended to be sent up against other tanks, as well as to push through gaps in enemy lines to cause havoc with supply lines and generally disrupt the enemy's day. Production began in 1937, with few of the early marks reaching series production, using up A through D as prototypes, of which the Ausf.B was used in the Polish campaign briefly before being put out to pasture as a training vehicle along with the remaining Cs and Ds. The suspension was a work-in-progress, using leaf springs until the Ausf.E, which moved to torsion bars that were then seen on most new German designs during WWII and beyond. During the early period of WWII the Pz.II continued to do its prescribed task until the T-34 rained on the Nazis parade, tearing up the lighter armoured Pz.IIIs and necessitating an up-gunning of the Pz.IV with a new high velocity gun to combat its sloped armour. By 1942 it was relegated to tasks where its light armour and 3.7mm pop-gun wasn't an impediment, such as close support of troop advances. By this time it was clear that it was past its sell-by-date, and that the Pz.IV had much more development potential. The chassis went on to be used for many other developments, some of which were quite successful, like the StuG III, and our review of the O-series can be seen here, which incidentally shares some parts with this kit. World Of Tanks is a popular online Game developed by Belarusian company Wargaming, featuring 20th century era combat vehicles. It is built upon a freemium business model where the game is free-to-play, but participants also have the option of paying a fee for use of "premium" features. The focus is on player vs. player gameplay with each player controlling an armored vehicle, from the time of Pre-World War 2, to the Cold War-era. This is mainly online with PCs, but is now available on other platforms as well. The Kit Here Revell have re-boxed their own kit from 2001. Inside the compact end-opening box are three sprues of grey plastic and decals. The sprues are well laid out and the mouldings are free from flash. Surface detail is clean and crisp, and first impressions are very favourable.. Revell have obviously released this kit in conjunction with World Of Tanks. Inside each kit there is also a set of Special Bonus & Starter Pack codes for the game. As with most Revell kits, no shortcuts have been taken with the detail and the thing builds just like a miniature 1:35 scale model. While the axles and suspension units are moulded onto the side of the hull, the road wheels, drive sprockets and idlers are proper two-part jobbies. Take it from me, however, that painting the tyres on twenty-four individual wheels will drive you bonkers. The tracks are of the link and length variety and have been very nicely moulded. Once the running gear is in place, construction moves on to the upper hull. In keeping with the rest of the model, this is nicely detailed and extra parts such as spare wheels, tracks and pioneer tools are all present and correct. Once this is complete the turret can be built up. A three part glacis and gun mounts to the front with the commanders copula going on top. The side hatches are added along with the gun and rear storage locker. To finish of spare track links are added to the front of the tank. Decals There is both a sheet of decals.. As well as national markings for the tank there are a wide range of markings which I suspect are available in the Game to mark your tank. Conclusion This seems to be a good looking small kit and should build up into a good looking model. Revell model kits are available from all good toy and model retailers. For further information visit or

Precision Cutters (39086) Carrera Revell The other day I was reviewing the new 1:48 SR-71 Blackbird and had to chop up the sprue from between the fuselage halves, which I’d had to remove to get them in my photobooth. The last cut felt odd, and I looked down to see that the thin cutting blade on my DSPIAE single-edge nippers had simply sheared off, possibly down to a design defect, an inclusion within the metal or just the thinness of the blade that is required of those type of cutters. It occurred to me then that in the box from Revell with the Blackbird was a set of Precision Cutters to review. Are Revell psychic? Whether they are or not is moot, but it has been a pleasant coincidence that they were in the box, because I’ve been in need of a pair, as I’ve been doing a very small quantity of modelling this last couple of days, which has involved much cutting of parts from sprues. The cutters arrive in a vacformed conformal blister pack with a card backing that slides out once you’ve removed the retaining staple, and inside are a pair of blue and black cutters with firm but flexible rubberised handles moulded onto the metal handles, which I can confirm are indeed ergonomically shaped. They’re spring loaded and revert to the open position when relaxed. They are of the twin-blade type, that cuts from both sides, leaving a shallow double-V cut in the plastic, which will be cleaner the thinner the material you are cutting. Each blade is 11mm long, and the very tips are blunted to avoid damaging yourself or the floor if you drop them, but also to reduce the likelihood of a bent, or shattered tip. When fully open the tips of the blades are 11mm apart, while they are 6mm apart at the rear, so can accommodate sizeable sprues and gates. The pivot is a large rivet with concentric circles on the face of the flat end, and while the two blades are firmly pressed together, there isn’t too much friction between them, so little pressure is needed to close them. The pivot has been lubricated with grease at the factory, and the excess can be wiped off to avoid soiling your hands, models and clothes, but remember to occasionally apply a little more if you notice the action stiffening up. Conclusion A nice set of double-edged cutters that should be capable of cutting everything but the largest sprues. If you remember not to cut other materials or strain the pivot, they should give you excellent service over a long period of time, and as they are relatively inexpensive, they can be replaced inexpensively when they eventually become blunt. Highly recommended. Currently, Revell are unable to ship to the UK from their online shop due to recent changes in import regulations, but there are many shops stocking their products where you can pick up the kits either in the flesh or online. Revell model kits are available from all good toy and model retailers. For further information visit or

Eurofighter "Luftwaffe 2020 Quadriga" (03843) 1/72 Revell The Eurofighter EF2000 Typhoon started out as the EAP programme in the 1970s engineered entirely by BAe, but was later joined by a number of international partners due to an allegedly common requirement, with the partnership changing over time to end up with Britain, Germany, Spain and Italy remaining, while France went their own way with the Aerodynamics data to create the Rafale, which has a similar general arrangement. Delays and cost overruns seem to be a common factor in modern military procurement, and the Typhoon suffered many, resulting in the Germans taking delivery of the first airframe in 2003, Italy in 2005 and the UK in 2007. Operational airframes have since taken part in operations in Libya and under Italy's control in Albania. After the British Typhoons were initially ordered without guns, then with guns but without ammo, which was again overturned in due course, they were grounded in 2011 due to a lack of spares, which required the RAF to cannibalise grounded airframes to keep flying. The two-seat variant is used for training and conversion, although it is capable of going to war if needs required it, having all the systems in place to make it viable. The aircraft is a great air show crowd pleaser due to its agility at all speeds, and the impressive tearing roar of its twin EF2000 jet engines that propel it forwards with an impressive 20,000lbf of power per engine with reheat engaged. The Luftwaffe doe s not use the term Typhoon for some reason The Kit Here Revell have re-released their own tool kit which traces it's history back to 2016. The kit arrives on 3 large sprues, a smaller sprue; and 2 clear sprues. Construction starts in the cockpit with the 4 part seat going together then being placed in the tub along with the instrument panel and control column. Instruments are provided as decals. The tub is then placed in the fuselage and this is closed up. The lower intake parts are put into the lower wing section, if any underwing stores are to be used the holes for these need opening up at this stage as well. Moving back to the fuselage the exhaust inners go in at the rear, and the top part of the intake at the front. The lower wing can then be joined to the fuselage with the upper wings, vertical tail, nose cone; and front canards then being added. The exhaust nozzles are hen fitted with either open or closed ones being supplied. Wing tip pods go on followed by the top central spine, and at the front the cockpit coaming. The landing gear and doors can then be assembled and added to the model, or just the closed doors if you wish. If you like to open things up there is the option of an extended refuelling probe, and an extended airbrake. The canopy can be fitted either open or closed. It is good to see Revell provide a selection of missile and tanks to hang under the aircraft which some other manufacturers could take note of. Decals Decals are supplied for one specially marked aircraft. 31+49 of the TaktLwG 31 "Boelcke" The markings have "the green binary code stands for the digitization of the Air Force, the blue polygons for the corporate design of the Bundeswehr". The Quadriga points to the Eurofighters of the fourth tranche. Conclusion This is a good little kit from Revell and will appeal to those who like the special schemes, or just ant another Eurofighter in their collection. Recommended. Revell model kits are available from all good toy and model retailers. For further information visit or

NATO Tigermeet 60th Anniversary Gift Set (05671) 1/72 Revell NATO Tigers has historically been active since RAF 74 Sqn reformed in the early 1960s and they were in touch with the then USAF 79TFS at RAF Woodbridge. This initial meeting of Squadrons would lead to the first Tiger Meet in 1962 with eight Squadrons being invited. These meets have continued every year all over Europe involving many different Units and Aircraft. They all in some way employ tiger markings, some subtle, and some not so! A full history of Tigermeets can be found here. This boxing from Revell celebrates Tigermeets 60th Anniversary with both an F-16 and Tornado in a double boxing supplied with paints and glue. F-16 Here Revell have re-released their own tool kit which traces it's history back to 2000. Up first the cockpit is built up. The 3 part seat is made up and the pilot added of you want to. The cockpit is added into the top fuselage insert. At the front of the fuselage the main engine intake is assembled and joined on, and the main gear bays go in. The fuselage sections can then be assembled,and at the rear the exhaust nozzle is also added. The tailplanes and ventral fins can also go on at this stage. as well as the arrestor hook. Flipping back the nose the nose cone and front bird slicer IFF antennas go on. Following this we flip straight back to the tail and attach the tail assembly. Work now moves to the undercarriage. The main gear legs and their retraction struts go in, these are followed by the main gear doors and the wheels. At the front the nose gear leg and its retraction strut are added along with the nose well bay door. To finish off the model a variety of small airframe fittings such as pitot tubes, nav lights blade antennas are added. If the canopy is to be posed open then the strut to open it needs to be fixed in to the frame in the middle of the canopy. Pylons can be added. A wide array of stores are provided with this kit, however most of them wont be used. Having seen pictures of this aircraft from the Tigermeet they dont carry much to them The Tornado This is Revell's own kit again, this is a nice kit with recessed panel lines and rivet details that are are beautifully restrained. The undercarriage legs feature hydraulic lines and the landing gear bays are just as nice. Construction begins with the four-part ejector seats. As is the case with the rest of the cockpit, these are excellent and make resin replacements a luxury. Revell provide decals for the instrument panels, but to be honest the raised detail on these parts is so nice that I would imagine many modellers will choose not to use them. The nose cone is one of the two (very) minor issues with this kit, as it doesn’t quite capture the shape of the real thing. It is slightly too pointed, although it looks convincing enough from most angles. As is the case with most kits of variable geometry aircraft, Revell have engineered the kit in such a way as to make the wings and horizontal stabilisers moveable once the kit is complete. Having built my Revell Tornado in this way, I can vouch that the system works well, although the moveable pylons are quite fiddly. Painting the model will certainly be easier with the wings fixed in place. Once the wings and tail planes are in place, the rear fuselage sub-assembly is complete and can be added to the forward fuselage. The rest of the build is fairly straightforward. The multi-part intakes are very nice, but will benefit from some blanking off otherwise it will be possible to see through to the back of the fuselage. Airbrakes can also be posed open or closed and, in keeping with the rest of the kit, are beautifully detailed. The undercarriage is also very nice, although the nose gear leg is a little too long (the second of the two minor issues with the kit) giving the aircraft a slight nose-up attitude. This can be fixed fairly easily though. Decals A new sheet of decals from Cartograf (so no issues there!) provides a single option for each aircraft. For the F-16 it is 31 Sqn Belgian Air Force, seen at the 2009 Tigermeet designed by Daco. For the Tornado it is for or a Tornado IDS painted in a commemorative scheme designed by Jörg Wingens for the 50th anniversary of AG51 and Tigermeet 2009, these decals designed by Syhart Decal. Conclusion These are both goo tool kits from Revell and despite thier age and many re-releases over the years the moulds seem to be holding up very well, the addition of a Tigermeet boxing is a good one. Again modellers will need to look at picture of the real thing to get it 100% accurate. Overall recommended. Revell model kits are available from all good toy and model retailers. For further information visit or

Panther Ausf. D Gift Set (03273) 1/35 Revell The Panther was Germany's answer to the surprise appearance of the Russian T-34 after they finally reacted to the invasion that was Operation Barbarosa. Although the project had been in gestation some time before, they took some design cues from the T-34 in the shape of the sloped armour, resulting in the Panther that was intended to fill the gap between the Panzer.IV and the (then) new Panzer VI Tiger. It was eventually supposed to replace both the Pz.IV and the earlier Pz.III that was really showing its age, but in reality it often fought alongside the Panzer IV. It was planned as a lighter, more manoeuvrable tank than the Tiger, and was fitted with a high velocity gun from the outset, which gave it enormous penetrating power that was only equalled by the British 17-pounder fitted to the Sherman to make the Firefly. The sloped frontal armour gave it an increased effective armour thickness, but this was not so true of the side armour, which was weaker, and this area became the preferred target area of allied tanks, especially in urban combat where this was a telling issue. Like most German WWII tanks it was complex to produce, so suffered in terms of volume produced, this led to it being rushed into service with quite a list of problems still to sort out. Later production solved most of these initial gremlins, but loses in the interim were high with many being abandoned after failing during combat. Curiously, the Ausf.D was the first to enter production, with the Ausf.A following later in 1943, replacing attrition of the less reliable Ausf.Ds until they themselves were superseded by the Ausf.G, which became the final major variant with increased ammo storage, simplified design to ease production, and further improvements to reliability, although this was never fully cured with a high rate of attrition due to mechanical issues, some of which resulted in catastrophic fires. The Kit Here Revell have re-boxed the ICM kit from 2005. Here this is boxed with Paints, glue and a poster which is the same as the box top? This is said to be a nice rendition of an Early/Mid Ausf D with a good level of detail. Its worth noting that full link & Length tracks are provided in the box for this kit. Surface detail of the kit is good with areas such as weld seems visible. As well as the 4 sprues for the track there are two sprues for the running gear, two for the tank parts as well as the upper and lower hull mouldings. First up all the suspension and drive train parts are fitted to the lower hull. Eight pairs of road wheels are fitted to each side along with drive sprockets, and idler wheels. The rear hull plate then goes on with the exhausts and rear tanks. Next up the tracks are built up. The instructions say 27 links per track but this is clearly wrong. Periscopes are added to the inside of the upper hull then it can be joined to the lower hull. On the engine deck grills and fans are added along with the engine hatch. At the front of the tank the front hatches are also added and the gun travel lock placed between the hatches. Tools and spare track links are placed on the hull sides. With the hull finished the turret is constructed and a basic gun mantle added to the front. Smoke dischargers can be added to the turret though I have read these were only fitted to early tanks? The two part gun barrel can then be added to the turret and it then attached to the tank. The last items to be added are the side skirts, tow cable and aerials. Decals A small sheet provides markings for two tanks. Div Grossdeutschland "501" Pz.Bat 51, Kursk 1943 (Overall Dark Yellow) Div Grossdeutschland "824" Pz.Bat 51, Kursk 1943 (Dark Yellow, Brown, Green Camo) Conclusion This seems to be a good looking Panther kit and should build up into a good looking model. Revell model kits are available from all good toy and model retailers. For further information visit or

Tornado ASSTA 3.1 (03842) 1/72 Revell The Tornado came to be through the cooperation of a number of European nations, the make-up of which changed throughout the project, but finally settled on Great Britain, Germany and Italy, although early on France took their usual fleeting interest, then went their separate way seemingly unconvinced by variable geometry technology. Panavia was established specifically for the venture that became known as MRCA – Multi-Role Combat Aircraft, initially with the Netherlands involved until it pulled out to seek a simpler and less expensive solution of its own. Although the Germans preferred a single-seat arrangement, it was eventually agreed that a two-seat cockpit would be advantageous, and what became the Tornado finally began to take shape. The first production aircraft reached RAF hands on the cusp of the 1980s, with the Italians receiving theirs in 1981. Because of its "jack of all trades" requirement, it could be argued that it is a master of none, however to a great extent it silenced its critics by becoming a very capable aircraft, although it was never intended to be a dog-fighter. The IDS is operated by the RAF, Italy and the Luftwaffe, and in RAF service it goes by the GR.1 or GR.4 moniker with the GR.1A taking on the reconnaissance role, while the GR.1B was the anti-shipping variant. The GR.4 was a Mid Life Upgrade using lessons learned from the Gulf War, with the GR.4A being an upgraded reconnaissance bird. The ECR is used by Germany and Italy, and is stuffed with electronic countermeasures and AGM-88 HARM missiles to suppress enemy defences. The ADV is the interceptor, with an extended fuselage and nose, with plenty of weapons for taking down aggressors but wouldn't fare well in a dog-fight, sadly. The Tornado is slowing being replaced by Typhoons, thought they are still in use in Germany. The ASSTA or Avionics System Software Tornado Ada was an upgrade for the German Tornados involving mainly electronics and displays to enable modern combat and control systems to be used as well ad modern smart weapons. The Kit This is Revell's own kit again, it has been around since the late 1990s. Since then, it has earned itself a reputation as a first-class kit. Numerous versions have been released, including several boxings of the aircraft in special paint schemes, of which this is the latest. This kit has six sprues including a sprue for the HARM missiles, and a new sprue for the new fin and upgraded cockpit parts, plus a new targeting pod . A small clear sprue, decals and instructions complete the package. Although this kit has been around a while, the sprues are holding up well. There is a little flash in places, but most of this is on the sprue frames themselves rather than the kit parts. This is a nice kit with recessed panel lines and rivet details that are are beautifully restrained. The undercarriage legs feature hydraulic lines and the landing gear bays are just as nice. Construction begins with the four-part ejector seats. As is the case with the rest of the cockpit, these are excellent and make resin replacements a luxury. Revell provide decals for the instrument panels, but to be honest the raised detail on these parts is so nice that I would imagine many modellers will choose not to use them. The nose cone is one of the two (very) minor issues with this kit, as it doesn’t quite capture the shape of the real thing. It is slightly too pointed, although it looks convincing enough from most angles. As is the case with most kits of variable geometry aircraft, Revell have engineered the kit in such a way as to make the wings and horizontal stabilisers moveable once the kit is complete. Having built my Revell Tornado in this way, I can vouch that the system works well, although the moveable pylons are quite fiddly. Painting the model will certainly be easier with the wings fixed in place. Once the wings and tail planes are in place, the rear fuselage sub-assembly is complete and can be added to the forward fuselage. The rest of the build is fairly straightforward. The multi-part intakes are very nice, but will benefit from some blanking off otherwise it will be possible to see through to the back of the fuselage. Airbrakes can also be posed open or closed and, in keeping with the rest of the kit, are beautifully detailed. The undercarriage is also very nice, although the nose gear leg is a little too long (the second of the two minor issues with the kit) giving the aircraft a slight nose-up attitude. This can be fixed fairly easily though. Decals Decals are printed in Italy for Revell and should pose no problems. There is the option for the ASSTRA 3.1 Demonstration aircraft, and one aircraft 45+85from JaboG 31 with no additional marking over the national ones. Conclusion This is a great kit from Revell in an unusual scheme. Recommended. Revell model kits are available from all good toy and model retailers. For further information visit or

Ford GT40 Le Mans 1968 & 1969 (07696) 1:24 Carrera Revell Ford began taking an interest in endurance racing in the 60s after a falling-out with Enzo Ferrari during a potential take-over by Ford, and to improve their brand name awareness, which started in the UK in Slough with a Lola chassis, lacking in success initially. It was taken back in-house so to speak and carried on in the USA, using the genius behind the Lola GT6 that had shown promise, despite it failing to finish the race. They created the GT40, with the 40 stemming from the minimum height in inches at the time, using some of the Lola’s chassis and a Mustang engine in the Mk.I, which was far too rough and not at all ready for racing at that point. This led to another change in personnel, putting the famous and rebellious Carrol Shelby in charge, who with input from driver/mechanic Ken Miles undertook a series of significant modifications that gave it a great deal of power and success. The Mk.II was fitted with a larger 7.0L V8 engine that turned it into a beast that was mated with a four-speed gearbox, to be used by three racing teams to stunning effect. Those teams took 1,2,3 at Le Mans in 1966, leaving the previously successful Ferraris in their dust, which they continued to do for the next two years. As is usual with racing, improvements were made to the bodyshell, the carbs and other parts, although they were not without their problems. A technical failure took out every GT40 at Daytona in 1967, causing a brief return to prominence of the Ferraris, but they were back to their winning ways again for a total of three years, taking them through to 1969 which is a long time in racing. Its successor began life as the J-Car, but after killing driver Ken Miles in a testing accident due to materials deficiencies and aerodynamic issues, it was redeveloped as the Mk.IV, but was often left in the garage at race-time while the Mk.II was still winning, as the older car was a more reliable platform. By 1968 the Mk.II wasn't as competitive, and the Mk.IV was fielded, but success was elusive. An attempt was made to continue the name with the Mk.V but this was more of a sports car than a racing car. A few kit cars carried on the look over the years, but in 2002 a new model was released by Ford as a sports car using just the GT name in deference to the original, but its release was negatively affected by Jeremy Clarkson’s unfortunate experience of persistent unreliability of his example that he bought with his own money. 2015 saw a second generation launched as a street car, with an endurance racing team beginning in 2016 and carrying on until 2019 with a healthy number of victories. The Kit This is a reboxing of Revell’s original tooling from the end of the 80s, and time has been very kind to the moulds, which look pretty modern in terms of detail as well as quality of the pressing if I’m honest. It’s a good-looking car, and a good-looking model should result, with adequate detail to please most modellers. The kit arrives in one of Revell’s much-loved end-opening boxes with a fetching digital painting of the real thing on the front wearing its Gulf livery and moving fast. Inside are four sprues in cream styrene, two bodyshell parts in pure white, a large clear sprue, a linked pair of sprues containing chromed wheels, knock-off wheel nuts, eight translucent poly-caps, a single metal axle, and four flexible black tyres in two sizes. The decal sheet is relatively large, and the instruction booklet is printed in colour, with colour profiles covering the back pages to assist you with decaling. Construction begins with the floor pan, which has two rectangular parts removed from the rear, an intake added to the front, and the beginning of the front axle laid in the floor, to be partly covered by the interior later. The two front seats are moulded as one part, with a pair of decals supplied to create the distinctive brass eyelets that are present in each one to help cool the driver’s butt down a little. More decals are supplied for the seatbelts, although they may benefit from being applied first to a thin sheet of styrene or plastic to give them additional depth. The interior shell is painted before you progress further, with a detailed diagram showing the correct colours, then the seats, a red fire extinguisher in the front footwell and the rear bulkhead with rear-view window are added to the rear in front of the back wheel arches. The driver’s weird four-pedal box is inserted into the right footwell, and more of the front axle ironwork is glued into the front within a box-section cover moulded over it. The dashboard has a detailed painting and decaling guide, with plenty of decals included to give it the detail it deserves, then the steering wheel and column are installed to finish off the assembly, with another decal for the centre boss. The floor pan, interior and dash are all then joined and have the front dampers fitted between the two suspension arms, with another detailed painting guide to assist you. Door pockets are clipped into place on the sides of the assembly, then the chassis is put to one side. The four hubs are pre-chromed for your ease, although some folks prefer to strip it and do it again themselves, but these look pretty good, and the centres are painted in Gulf Orange before they have their knock-offs added, and the flexible black tyre is slipped over from the outside without glue. This is done four times, making up two pairs, two narrow for the front, and two wide for the rear. The brake discs are again painted with correct detail, and with the addition of two poly-caps and a short axle-pin within that secures the wheels to the brake assembly. This is done for both the front wheels, while the rear axle is handled differently. The two front wheels are offered up to their axle location points and secured in place by the steering arm, which is again shown with detail painting instructions. The full engine is not included in the kit, but a representation is provided that will be seen inside the car later, which is again detail-painted to give it the correct look. The first part represents the rear of the engine, and some small holes are to be filled here, with additional suspension and casting parts added, then braced with suspension arms and the rear brake discs, which are again detail painted. The metal axle is slipped through the assembly, and the rear wheels are mated to it using more of the poly-caps, after which it is installed in the rear of the vehicle with two bracing parts and a new rear floor pan section. Two radiator baths of differing sizes are fixed into the new section, and the forward section of the bay is overlaid with a shaped cover with upstands that hint at the engine beneath, with a frame laid over the detailed section. Preparation of the bodyshell begins with the forward section, which has the bonnet glued in, the light and indicator recesses painted up for later, and the filler cap added to the left wing, which is then promptly filled over for this variant. Turning the shell over, three holes in the roof can be opened up for the 1969 vehicle only, then the light clusters are populated with lenses and the clear covers, with repeaters on the sides of the wings, and another filler cap on the right wing that escapes the filler this time because it should be there. The windscreen with rear-view mirror and the side windows with their little cut-outs are all installed at this stage, along with a small bump on the left door, low down near the rear. The back of the bodyshell is completed by the addition of the rear bulkhead and lights, repeaters on the wing, another bump on the rear wing, plus the back windscreen with optional black surround decal that has silver rivets on it. The front bodyshell is mated to the chassis first, then the rear section is put on, taking care to thread the exhausts through the holes, and make a choice of a fine grille or a larger 9-hole “egg-box” grille over the engine. Markings There are two options from the decal sheet, 1968 or 1969 as you’d expect. On the surface they both look very similar apart from their racing number, but there are subtle differences between the two, so take care when applying them. From the box you can build one of the following: Ford GT40 Winner 24-Hours of Le Mans, 1968 (Pedro Rodriguiez, Lucien Bianchi) Ford GT40 Winner 24-Hours of Le Mans, 1969 (Jacklie Ickx, Jackie Oliver) 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. The inclusion of gold-coloured eyelets for the seats also permits them to print decals of the gold Firestone logos and pin-stripes around the tyre rims. There are also silver decals for some interior panels, the drivers’ pedals, and the furniture on the seatbelts. The addition of the black ‘mascara’ around the light clusters and the orange centre-line stripe in pre-cut sections also simplifies painting substantially Conclusion While this isn’t a new tooling of the GT40, it’s a good one that offers detail where it will be seen, and finesse in the bodyshell, interior, all finished off with excellent clear parts. Highly recommended. Revell model kits are available from all good toy and model retailers. For further information visit or

MAN 7t. milgl 6x6(03291) 1:35 Carrera Revell In the 1960s the Bundeswehr was looking to replace its fleet of vehicles which stemmed from the birth of the modern German Army. They wanted a fleet of 2, 3 & 4 axle vehicles in the 4 to 10 tonne payload range which had to be amphibious. As it was a large task it was suggested that bidding companies form a common development company for a unified project. This was set up under the leadership of MAN and included Klockner-Humboldt-Deutz, Bussins, Krup, and Henschel. The specification agreed was for a cross country capable, amphibious, all wheel drive, run flat tyres, steel cab, NBC protection, and a multifuel engine. In 1975 the German Army & MAN signed the contract to produce 4x4, 6x6 and 8x8 vehicles. The distinctive cab with the cut away corners stems from the need for the vehicles to be rail transported on standard flat cars. Earlier trucks had fixed cabs but later ones tilting ones which made engine maintenance much easier. All vehicles feature a mount for a MG3 machine gun (basically an MG42!). The Kit This is re-boxing of Revell's kit from 2001. The kit arrives on 5 sprues of green plastic, a clear sprue and 7 rubber tyres. Construction starts by building up the truck chassis. The two rails are assembled with 6 cross members and a rear link member. To these are added the rear axles after they are assembled with their suspension units. A central transmission unit is added with drive shafts linking the two rear axles. The front axle is then assembled and added in along with its suspension units, this is also linked via a drive shaft to the transmission. Air tanks and wheel chocks are then added to the chassis, followed by the exhaust. The cab unit can then be made up To the base is added the left side panel and the front panel. The steering column and wheel go in along with the seats, and the rear cabin bulkhead. The roof complete with MG hatch is added, then at the right side the more complicated bulkheads and side panels go on, along with the rear bulkhead. The cab can then be added to the chassis and the exhaust parts included which join up the box installed on the chassis. At the front of the cab the bumper and mirrors go on, along with the front lights. Now the rear load compartment is built up, Here the tilt sides are moulded on so there is no option to have an open cargo bed. The tow sides add to the load bed with the headboard and tailgate being added. The roof can then be attached, and underneath the frames are added. Equipment boxes and tools are added under the main body at this time along with mudflaps and a tow bar, before it is mounted to the chassis. Lastly the wheels are added. Markings A small decal sheet provides marking for 5 different Army units all with small differences to the standard camo scheme Conclusion This is still a good model of the standard Germany Army truck and can be recommend to modeler of all skill types. Currently, Revell are unable to ship to the UK from their online shop due to recent changes in import regulations, but there are many shops stocking their products where you can pick up the kits either in the flesh or online. Revell model kits are available from all good toy and model retailers. For further information visit or

RMS Titanic – Technik (00458) 1:400 Carrera Revell There can’t be many people that haven’t heard of the appalling and unnecessary loss of life that happened when the Titanic’s maiden voyage route intersected with an iceberg, causing huge rips down the ship’s side and overwhelming the safety measures that led many to believe that she was unsinkable. At the end of the day on 14th April 1912 she hit the iceberg and began taking on water. Less than three hours later she broke up and slipped beneath the surface with many of the passengers still aboard, and many more forced to jump into the almost freezing water. Over 1,500 souls were lost that day thanks to the hubris of the designers, but many lessons were learned from this tragedy that are still applicable today, and many lives have subsequently been saved as a result. The 1997 blockbuster release of the film The Titanic brought the story to the public consciousness again in the 1980s after the wreck had been found over 13 miles from her expected location. She was found lying upright and in two major parts, both of which had hit the sea bed at a considerable speed, buckling the underside. She has since been thoroughly inspected, and some of the knowledge gleaned from those expeditions was incorporated into the fictionalised plot of the James Cameron helmed film. Which itself has become part of modern vernacular, with phrases such as “paint me like one of your French girls” raising the occasional titter. The Kit This kit is a rebox of a 1998 tooling that has been inside a few boxes over the years, and is bundled with a collection of electronics and LEDs to turn it into the Technik boxing that we see today. The electronics include runs of LED strip, some individual lights for the masts and navigation lights, plus a custom board, speakers and battery box that produces the sound of the vessel leaving port, including the noises of the crowds wishing them well, and the ship itself. It arrives in a large box that is substantially longer than the hull, with space for the additional electronics at one end. The tooling has seen some action and is over 20 years old now, but time has been relatively kind to it, and there is plenty of detail included, which should make for a fine model of what is probably the most well-known seagoing vessel the world has ever known. Inside the box are two long black hull halves, two small black sprues of braces for the hull, and six sprues in white styrene. The electronics consist of three lengths of LED strip plus three individual lights, a speaker and circuit board, all of which have a length of wire to link them together. The battery box connects to the board with a locking connector, and takes four AA batteries with a switch on the opposite side to the door. A roll of cotton for rigging, a large decal sheet and the instruction booklet complete the package. Construction begins with the stand, which has four sides and two decals with the name in gold on a black background. This is probably in order to rest the hull safely during the build, rather than having it rolling around on your workbench. The two hull halves are next, and have a small 5mm x 2mm hole cut straddling the keel line to permit the wiring to the battery box to exit below. One length of LED strip is installed in the bottom of the starboard hull using tape, so it would be wise to paint the interior with black (especially the white parts) to avoid light leaks down the line. Another run of LEDs is run along the port side, and the speaker is glued to the bottom using “Special Glue” or CA as we’ll call it. The cables and the circuit board are secured with tape, and an example wiring diagram shows where the wiring should go, although I should imagine tape will perish over time, so give consideration to using other methods to secure the electronics more permanently. The hull is then joined together using three H-shaped braces that slot into sockets on the insides of the hull, taking care to ensure that the wiring leading to the battery box is pushed through the hole in the keel first. Strakes are added to the sides of the hull during the process, and another strip of LEDs are added to the circuit board ready for use inside the superstructure. After a allowing the glue to cure, the port and starboard screw fairings are glued onto their raised position, the three screws are fitted along with the rudder, which could only deflect the flow meaningfully from the centreline screw. Incidentally, insufficient rudder authority is considered one of the factors that led to her hitting the iceberg in the first place, thanks to her enormous turning circle. There’s a lot of masking and painting of the hull to do next, as well as adding the two anchors at the bow. The majority of the main deck is moulded as a single part, and it is first laced up with a number of pieces of rigging from underneath, which is later tied up at the other end as the build progresses. The deck is covered with moulded-in planking, which will look good under a sympathetic coat of paint and a wash, preferably before you add the rigging wires. At the rear (I know, aft) a bulkhead is fixed to the deck and an insert is placed on top after being painted and rigged accordingly, then the deck is fixed in place after feeding the wiring for the lights through and taping it down. More superstructure and deck fixtures are added to both ends of the ship, with painting call-outs along the way, with another length of pre-rigged and painted deck filling the bow section, which also has all the usual equipment such as davits and vents either moulded-in or added along the way. No, there’s no Rose and Jack – you’ll have to source those folks yourself. More superstructure is fitted around the stern with an auxiliary bridge and flag pole plus the obligatory rigging work. A pair of cranes and railings are next, and the railing part is bent to shape by dipping it in boiling water then holding it to shape while it cools, unless you have extra arms and can run it under cold water to freeze it in shape. Walkways, cranes, railings and the individual lights are threaded through the assemblies as we go, taking care to hide them well as you go along. The next deck has a number of interior parts that need removing to allow the light to dissipate, and the deck should be painted before the deck walls are added around the ledges that hold them in the correct places. More railings are glued in, then the deck is applied to the model, remembering to thread the navigation lights through and cut off a couple of un-needed location turrets from the underside before you get out the glue. More cranes are added, and another deck is prepped by removing parts marked out in red before detailing them with walls, vents and rigging, and some life boats. Lookouts and smaller sections of superstructure are added atop the larger sections, with some more rigging added here and there, all of which give you a length to cut the thread to, in order to help you conserve your supplies. More railings are fitted, and some adjustments will be needed by removing some tabs on the undersides. There are four funnels, each one made from two halves plus an inspection ladder up the front, and each one has rigging line woven through holes and secures to the deck before the tops are fixed in place. Take care to put the correct funnel in the right position, as they were subtly different from each other. With the upper deck in position, the bridge front can be fixed in place and the two navigation lights can be located in each side with super glue. More lifeboats are fitted down the sides of the upper decks, each boat having a length of rigging thread between the boats and their launching arms. The forward mast has a pair of ladder supports to its sides, and the remaining LED navigation light is attached in position on the bracket up the mast, with care taken to minimise the visibility of the wiring. The rigging thread bobbin isn’t pictured here, but it is used to great effect throughout the build, and at the end a large number of lines are woven to and between the main masts, as shown on the accompanying diagrams, with stabilising lengths attached between the first and second funnels. There are three forward to aft lines, and there are spacers on the sprues to be added front and rear, with a single attachment point to each mast. Markings There was only one voyage before she went to a watery grave, so there was only one set of markings. By the time you have the rigging in place, the majority of the painting will have been completed too, so adding the gold pinstripe and name plates plus flags are the only decal jobs to do, but you’ll need to take care to get them straight and level. Decals are by Zanetti, which is a guarantee of good registration, sharpness and colour density, with a thin matt carrier film cut close to the printed areas. Conclusion The Titanic will stay in the mind of people all over the world for the foreseeable future, and it’s good to see the Revell kit back with a new hi-tech twist. There are a lot of modelling hours to be had inside this monstrous box. Highly recommended. Currently, Revell are unable to ship to the UK from their online shop due to recent changes in import regulations, but there are many shops stocking their products where you can pick up the kits either in the flesh or online. Revell model kits are available from all good toy and model retailers. For further information visit or

SBD-5 Dauntless (03869) 1:48 Carrera Revell The Douglas SBD Dauntless was a Dive Bomber and Scout aircraft developed for the US Navy. The SBD standing for “Scout Bomber Douglas”. Design work on the aircraft was started as early as 1935 by the Northrop Corporation under the designation BT-1. Northrop was taken over by Douglas in 1937, and the design was modified to become the BT-2. This was eventually ordered by both the US Navy and Marine Corps and entered into service in time for America’s entry into WWII. The original SBD-1, and later SBD-2 (with increased range and different armament) were the first two types deployed. The USMC getting the -1 in late 1940, and the USN receiving the -2 in early 1941. One of the main features of the aircraft were the split flaps, more commonly referred to as Dive Brakes which were designed to stop tail buffeting in dives. The SBD-3 was to follow in 1941 which had increased armour, self-sealing fuel tanks, and four machine guns. The SDB-5 followed and was to become the most produced variant with almost 3000 built. This aircraft had a 1,200hp engine, and flew with increased ammunition capacity. The Royal Navy and FAA evaluated the SBD-5 but were not overly impressed, so decided not to take it on. The -5 was superseded by the -6 with another more powerful engine, and a further 450 were built before production of the type ended. As well as use by the USMC & USN the SBD-5 would be used by the Royal New Zealand Navy, and the French who used them against the Germans in Western France in early 1945, then later in Indochina in 1947. The US Army would use the same basic airframe as the A-24 Banshee, and the later A-24B was equivalent to the SBD-5, but with the arrestor gear removed. The A-24s survived to be incorporated into the new USAF inventory where they would become F-24s under the new nomenclature, with the last of them scrapped at the beginning of the 50s. The Kit This is a reboxing of the Accurate Miniatures kit that has been seen in many boxes over the years, including Italeri and Revell. This latest boxing is available now, and reminds us just how well the toolings of Accurate Miniatures have stood up to the tests of time since its initial release in 1997. It is a well-detailed kit with recessed panel lines, subtle details throughout and very little in the way of flash, indicating that the moulds haven’t suffered from their frequent use over the years. The kit arrives in Revell’s usual end-opening box, and inside are six sprues in a pale blueish grey styrene, a clear sprue, decal sheet and instruction booklet in colour with colour profiles on the rear pages. Construction begins with the interior, detailing the sidewalls of the fuselage with separate parts, adding the rear cockpit bulkhead, then creating the rear gun mount. The cockpit floor has a short spar moulded into the underside, which is joined by the clear main instrument panel with three decals supplied, the pilot’s bulkhead and seat that has decal belts, a single radio gear assembly, and an insert that fits between the crew positions. These are all painted up and fitted into the relevant slots in the starboard fuselage, and then locked in position by the port side without fitting the floor yet, as it has some additional work still required. Braces, control lines and floor mounted controls are added along with a pair of rudder pedals, then the floor assembly is inserted into the fuselage from below with the spars projecting through the slots in the wing roots. The lower wings are full width, and have a clear landing light inserted into the hole in the starboard side, and two holes need drilling on either wing to accept the bomb pylons later. The lower wings are offered up under the fuselage and once glued they are joined by the upper wings and the elevators at the rear, which are two parts each and have the flying surfaces moulded-in. The dive brakes on the main planes are fitted later on. Preparation of the front of the fuselage involves building up the gun trough insert with a pair of machine guns inside, and the 9-cylinder Wright R-1820-60 Cyclone engine, which is moulded as a single part to which the bell housing and wiring loom are added, and the magneto is glued to the top of the housing. The gun troughs and the tapered fuselage cowlings are glued to the main fuselage with another part underneath, then the painted engine is mounted on the keyed circular recess, with the cowling and the forward section of the gun insert assembled round it. The main gear is built next, with a choice or weighted or un-weighted tyres, which have separate hubs on each side, and attach to the axles on the struts that have a captive bay door added at an angle, which is shown in a scrap diagram to assist you, with the wheels outermost. An aerodynamic cowling around the centreline bomb is slotted into the underside, and you have a choice to depict the three-section dive brakes in deployed or stowed position, using either just the single central perforated section or adding the hinges, plus the upper and lower section of the two outboard brakes fitted flush with the wing surfaces, or installing them open by the use of delicate hinge parts that allow them to be posed partially deployed or fully open during a hard dive. The cockpit is completed by the addition of a number of small parts around the pilot’s station and the twin machine guns aft of the gunner’s seat, which are a single part on a separate mount and a small armour shield. The canopy is then installed, with more choice of parts and locations. The windscreen is the constant, while separate sections are sleeved inside the fixed section between the seats for a fully open configuration. If you’re closing the canopy over, there is a full-length part that butts up to the windscreen, which seems to require the gun mount to be removed, but it’s not made entirely clear. The three-bladed prop is a single part that slots into the bell-housing of the engine, and an exhaust stub slots into a gap in the cowling, with another on the other side. It’s bits and bobs time now, with pitot probe under the port wing and a TV-style radar antenna under both wings, plus another aerial pole just forward of the cockpit. The Dauntless is a bomber, and these are last to be made up, with the three-part centre bomb first with a pair of stencils, then the two-part ancillary bombs on their own pylons for attachment to the wings. The main bomb is fitted with an A-frame “trapeze” launcher that throws it away from the aircraft’s underside, and the final act is to add the arrestor hook that comes in handy, keeping the crew dry on their return to the carrier. Markings There are three decal options included on the sheet, and they are all painted in a variation of the three-tone US Navy scheme of WWII. From the box you can build one of the following: VB-16, USS Lexington (CV-16), August 1943 VB-16, USS Lexington, New Guinea, April 1944 VB-5 USS Yorktown (CV-10), Truk, February 1944 Decals are by Cartograf, which is a guarantee of good registration, sharpness and colour density, with a thin matt carrier film cut close to the printed areas. Conclusion It’s nice to see the Dauntless in 1:48 back again, which brings back fond memories of building the old Matchbox kit as a kid. This one’s a bit smaller and more detailed, and should build into a handsome model with some really nice decals. Highly recommended. Revell model kits are available from all good toy and model retailers. For further information visit or