Mike Posted July 24, 2018 Share Posted July 24, 2018 2017 Ford GT 1:24 Revell The original Ford GT was an iconic racing car from the 60s that ended the company's lack of success at Le Mans that had lasted for many years. As a concept car the thoroughly modern GT, which we'll call the first generation was developed into a road car in the mid 2000s, with Jeremy Clarkson famously regretting his purchase due to some pretty serious reliability issues with his, which ended with the return of the car and his money. It was always planned to be a low production run, with some cars changing hands well above sticker-price until production ceased in 2007. A new generation was announced in 2015, with a sleeker more modern bodyshell that owes less to its heritage than the first generation, and production beginning the following year in Ontario, outputting one vehicle per day. It can rocket to 60mph in a breath-taking 2.8 seconds, with 100 coming up less than 4 seconds later, but if you have to ask about the fuel economy, this isn't the car for you. Ford have also returned to Le Mans with this car (although not too successfully in 2018), with carbon fibre helping to reduce weight, and ultra-thin gorilla glass used to reduce the weight of the glazing, allowing the 3.5L engine to put its 650hp to good use. You'll need a pretty fat wallet to afford one, at around $400,000 before you start adding your customisations, so a model kit is about as close as most of us will ever get to owning one. The Kit Revell's Easy Click system is employed on this kit, opening up the market to kids, non-modellers and modellers alike who just want to own a replica of this road-going monster, without spending months painting and detailing it. As you would expect, the part count is a friendly 27 pieces, and everything is supplied either pre-painted or moulded in the correct shade for its purpose, requiring minimal removal from sprues. The box is standard Revell end-opening, with a stylised picture of the model zooming down the track it has been PhotoShopped onto. Inside are two outer bags that have been taped tightly to prevent chaffing, and inside are more bags for the components by colour or theme. Inside the instruction booklet is a set of decals and also a cut-down set of stickers for those builders that really don't want to get involved in the modelling aspect of the kit. It is a chassis and interior only kit, with a flat floorpan, an impression of the V6 EcoBoost engine in the rear of the interior, and enough detail to give the impression of the rest. The bodyshell is moulded in a metallic blue that has tiny silver flakes suspended in the styrene, and has a reasonable lustre for an unpainted model. The interior is in a dark grey, the wheels a nice aluminium shade, and the tyres are a soft rubbery-feeling plastic that mimics the look of the real thing. Construction shouldn't take long, but if you are wanting a little more realism, there are colours called out as you progress for spot-painting the engine and interior parts that weren't economical to paint at the factory. Decals or stickers are also called out as you go through the build too. It begins with the interior tub, which has the headlight cluster moulded-in, as well as the engine compartment, both of which are to be spot-painted with metallic, and a few decals or stickers to improve realism. The seats should be two-tone, and fit into the rear of the passenger compartment, after removing four extra sprue-traps that are there to prevent short-shots in the parts. The dash is a single part, with the steering wheel inserted into the left, and a bunch of decals/stickers used for the instruments, after which it is installed across the front of the cab. Moving onto the bodyshell, the front light glazing is carrier on a single part that has a slightly cloudy look that should disappear when it is fitted, and should show off any detail painting you have done in the light body. This fits onto a lug in the underside of the bonnet/hood. The main glazing is very flexible, and it too fits into the shell from the inside, reusing the front lug, and another at the rear to keep it in place. The side windows remain unglazed to allow a good view into the cab. The interior fits into the bodyshell, and the four wheels are shod with their rubber parts, then steel rods are threaded through the running gear, which have the basics of the brake discs at each end to give a view through the spokes after you have pushed the wheels into place. These two fit into slots in the floor pan, and the body is held in place by a pair of black pins that push through from the underside of the floor pan. The addition of the wing mirrors and rear light clusters finish off the build, and the last two pages of the booklet show where the remaining decals/stickers go on the wheels, arches, bonnet and rear of the car. Markings The car can be left unpainted due to its self-coloured nature, with paint optional for parts of the interior, lights and the exhausts if you feel up to it. The decal options are more varied than the stickers, which only have one number plate from Michigan US or a generic GT show-plate instead. The decal sheet also provides plates for Germany, the UK, Netherlands, Switzerland, Italy, France, Belgium, Austria and Russia, which should keep their main markets happy. The plates are applied by cutting out the decals and sticking them directly to the model, without getting them wet, which might upset some of the modeller-y people, but a quick dip into the styrene sheet will result in a proper backing for the decal if you so wish it and aren't worried about them getting knocked off during play. Decals will of course give the best finish, but it is good that those with less patience and modelling skill also get the stickers for speed and ease. Conclusion It's not a highly detailed museum quality replica, but it was never intended to be. What it does is allows non-modellers or young people to build their own model of this amazing-looking Ford, putting as much or as little effort into it as they please. It's a great introduction to modelling that could tempt people into doing more, or it can be seen for what it is, a nice rendition of a lovely car in one of the dominant scales for car models. I put this together in the spirit that it was intended (i.e. fairly quickly & with a paint brush) as a break from a boring task I was doing, and it hit the spot Pics below in the next post 🖼️ Very highly recommended. Revell model kits are available from all good toy and model retailers. For further information visit or 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Posted July 24, 2018 Author Share Posted July 24, 2018 Here are a few pics of the completed model. It took me about half an hour on & off, and I used some Molotow Chrome 1mm pen from @little-cars, a bit of Lifecolor grey and a grey fine Gundam marker for the shut-lines, plus a little Klear over and under the decals so they stay put as long as they can I like it, and I have a feeling my son will too Don't tell anyone, but I think I might have crimped the corner of that glazing on the engine bay 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twentecable Posted July 28, 2018 Share Posted July 28, 2018 Always good to see models that can draw the youngsters in our hobby. I have seen other kits that tried the same but were old or to fiddly or both. Resulting in more frustration then anything. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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