Revell Revell 1:12 Honda CBX 400f Motorcycle

[richellis]

Revell 1:12 Honda CBX 400F Motorcycle

 

The Honda CBX 400F was produced from 1981 it has a 4 inline producing 48hp, it has aluminium swingarms, and suspension to save weight, with disc brakes to slow it down. It is a popular bike and sold well for Honda before this model was discontinued in 1984. Revell have produced this bike kit in 1:12, a popular scale for Bike builders with this kit being Revell Level 5 as its classed as a complex kit. The kit is laid out over 6 sprues and includes 2 rubber tyres and some soft rubber hose. The instructions are the new style type, and they are clear and easy to follow with paints referenced back to the Revell paint range. The parts are vey crisp and there is no flash or mould lines visible on the review sample. You get 2 chrome sprues, and they are nice and not too shiny. The frame and other parts are done in black; engine is in grey and the body is white. A small clear sprue includes the lights and glass for the dials.

 

Construction starts with the 4 inline engine, the parts have nice surface details and will give a good representation of the engine. The rubber hose is cut to length and added to the engine to represent fuel and oil lines around the block. Looking at reference photos the engine is a realistic part, and you can add HT leads and other wiring to give a very detailed model. I would add some more detail here as the fairings on this bike don’t cover the engine so its visible on the model. The wheels are on the chrome sprue and I would keep the chrome so cut away with care. The wheels are in 2 parts with the axle sandwiched between the 2 parts on the front wheel, with the dampers added next.

The rear swingarm is a single part, and the back wheel is added with the chain and brake hub. The engine is sandwiched between the frames with the stand and rear swing arm/ wheel assembly. I would probably build and detail the engine, before building the frame I would paint that and all the ancillary parts before assembling the bike to allow detail painting and extra detailing like wiring.  The exhausts are chrome, but they join along the length top and bottom so will have a join line that will need work, this is a shame as the real bike has nice polished pipes.

The bodywork can be painted gloss whit as the red is all included as decals, the decals are as expected from Revell, very nice except the UK registration plate is wrong and should read A400 HCB. I would go online and get a replacement made up.

This is a nice detailed model from Revell, and can give a detailed build from the box, but leaves scope for some super detailing if wanted.

 

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