International ProStar truck, 1:25 from Revell

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International ProStar Truck.

1:25 Injection Moulded kit from Revell

The International ProStar truck is manufactured by International Truck Company in North America, it was launched in 2006 and remains in production today being built at two plants, one in Springfield Ohio and a second plant in Mexico. The ProStar comes with a choice of cab sizes, from a regional Day cab unit, to the big 73 sleeper cab with the high skyline roof add to that a host of engine, axle and transmission options this allows owners and operators to specify the correct truck for job. ProStar was given the title of Most Fuel efficient truck in the class 8 sector. This was due to the weight saving design and the aerodynamic cab and hood To celebrate the ProStar was given some upgrades and refinements including a quieter cab with more storage and some of the switch gear was redesigned. This new ProStar+ is the version kitted by Revell with the long 73 sleeper cab with the high roof, the kit includes an aerodynamic fairing for the roof that gives the look of a higher cab, and on the 1:1 helps the truck's aerodynamics when hooked to a reefer (refrigerator) trailer.

The kit comes in a large box and when you take the lid off it is full of plastic with all the parts bagged together in a big bag and the individual sprues and parts in their own bags inside. The chrome sprues (it wouldn't be an American rig with no chrome) are bagged and protected with some tissue paper. There are a lot of surplus parts in the kit, which is due to some sprues being carried over from the ProStar sister truck the Lonestar, but there are a lot of differences between the two kits when you look deeper.
There are 15 sprues, one being a clear sprue, 3 chromed, and the cab is a single part similar to the LoneStar kit, plus a bag of rubber tyres and an etched grill.

Construction kicks off with the truck's 13 litre, 500bhp MaxxForce engine, and the engine block comes in 2 main halves with the Fuller gearbox moulded into it. They fit together with a plate on the back of the gearbox and a locating hole for the prop shaft at the rear, with an oil sump to the base. The level of detail on the engine is very good with the shape of the engine and transmisson being well captured. Assembly of the engine covers the first 12 stages of the build, where there is some very nice detail on the engine, but as always it would benefit form some added details with some thin wire for the wiring harness, and some brass wire for the injector pipes. A look on the net will throw up some pictures of engines to assist you there. The engine is painted in a nice pale metallic blue, this is correct according to the pictures I have seen. Various other parts will need painting so do your research as it will be easier to paint some of the filters and pipes on the sprue. You can then pop the completed engine to one side and make a start on the chassis frame.

The chassis is built up from 2 main rails and cross members to give a detailed chassis, and the rails are allot shorter than the ProStar sister truck but have been tooled for this truck so no cutting or shortening of the rails is needed. When building the chassis you will need to take care to keep the chassis true and square.

The rear suspension is then added to the chassis, this truck is a 6x4 and as such has a double drive, (twin rear driven axles) and the rear rides on 2 bag air suspension. You have to make up 4 airbags and they are all in 2 parts so some sanding will be needed to lose the joint. When attaching the airbags to the chassis be careful that you glue them on the right way and this is shown in the instructions. The rear suspension mounts can then be added along with the shock absorbers.

The axles are tackled next, the rear axles are in 2 halves and need brake back plates and actuators adding, and here some wire can added from the spares box if wanted to simulate the air lines to the brakes. The front axle can then be built and this can be made with working steering if you are careful with the glue. The instructions recommend using the tip of a heated screwdriver to melt the pins slightly to allow them to swivel. Obviously take care here with flames and hot tools! Now would be the time to think about painting you chassis, I would check forward in the instructions to see if there are any other parts that will end up the same colour, so you can add them before spraying the chassis.

Now comes the expected chrome. The fuel tanks need to be built up, which comprise two big tanks that sit either side of the chassis under the cab. These come in two halves each and are chromed. Some may want to strip them and re-paint with some Alclad or similar, but when the side skirts are added later in the build they are hidden anyway. The wheels are also built up now and each of the 10 wheels comes in 2 parts. As they are chromed you will need to remove the chrome from the surfaces that need gluing, with the tyres being sandwiched between the halves. The tyres are moulded in black rubber which have nice tread detail, and some detail on the sidewall, but as this is only on one side of the tyre you will need to make sure this will be facing out on your completed truck.

The truck's hood is built up next; the main hood is a single moulding and is nicely done, capturing the shape of the truck nicely to my eye. The hood needs the hinges adding to the inside and the chromed headlight bezels gluing in from the underside also. On the ProStar when the hood tilts, the bumper also tilts via some complex hinges, and this has been recreated on the kit, looking like it should be easy to make functional. I will be building this kit shortly so I will report back in a build review at a later date.

The Chrome grill fixes to the hood and is shown above on the chrome sprue, and the kit includes an etched metal part to fit between the hood and the grill. This is pre-painted in a silky matt finish and as such is ready to use. Personally I wouldn't add this until the hood has been painted.

There are a pair of chromed exhaust stacks to fit behind the cab, but they are in two parts each and as such will have a join that will need covering. I would strip the chrome, glue and sand the parts before re-chroming with some suitable metallic paint, but some may want to use some polished metal tubes or aftermarket metal parts that are available.

The cab and sleeper interior come next and the instructions suggest you start with the driver and passenger seats. Each is nicely detailed and look like the real seats, needing a rear part gluing on before the two part base is built and added. The detail is nice with a seatbelt clip on the base, but the armrests are moulded as part of the seat. Id like to see this separate to allow them to be posed up or down, but that may be a bit nit-picking on my part though.

The dash is build next and is nicely detailed with the various switches and vents moulded onto the surface. You may want to carefully paint this or sand it off so you can use the kit decal or some aftermarket etched parts. I would have a look on the internet before painting as the ProStar is available in numerous colours and styles and of course drivers have customised their rigs!

The rest of the interior can then be built up; the kit contains a floor, cab sides and roof with the storage cupboards for the sleeper area being added. Careful painting following you references will give this some life, and to the rear of the sleeper is the large couch style sleeper bed. This is well done and the moulding has the stitched detail of the 1:1 bed.

The cab can be painted and build as a separate part before sliding into the outer shell.

The cab shell comes as a large single part moulding, needing the back wall and cab roof gluing on. I have tried these parts together dry and the fit looks good, with the joints being in line with the panel joins and mouldings on the real truck. Some supports for the rear air deflectors need gluing to the back wall of the cab, and these may be in a contrasting colour to the cab, so again check photos of the truck you are building. Mirrors, wipers and the sun visor are then added to the cab before the cab is glued onto its mounts on the chassis.

There is a small decal sheet included. This has the orange and silver stripes for the cab as seen on the box top illustration, and there are some licence plates for a Virginia registered truck or some ProStar+ dealer plates. You will need to look for an aftermarket supplier should you want different tags for your model. There are decals for the cab interior covering the dials and switches on the dash, and as I noted earlier in the review you will need to sand the detail off the dash to fit the decals, or use some setting solution to get them to settle over the raised details. There are also some wood effect for the dash and other areas in the cab as seen on various models and specifications of the ProStar. The remainder of the sheet is taken up with some ProStar+ logos for the truck and the legally required reflective markings. The sheet is nicely printed, crisp with fine small details.


Conclusion
This is a nice kit of a popular US truck. Your spares box will benefit from some of the surplus parts but it is very good to see parts like the shorter chassis rails being redone. Cutting and joining chassis rails would have caused a weak area that could break on your completed build.

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