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Trabant 601 Builder’s Choice (07713) 1:24


Mike

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Trabant 601 Builder’s Choice (07713)

1:24 Carrera Revell

 

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The Trabant 601 was the third generation of the utility vehicle that was produced in East Germany by VEB Sachsenring from 1957, and over 3 million were built before the production line closed in 1990.  With its 2-stroke engine that suffered from poor performance, the Trabant was a popular and well-loved car in the former eastern bloc due to its simple construction and ease of maintenance and repair, despite its many failings.  The bodyshell  was made from a plastic called Duroplast, which was made from waste materials from other areas of manufacturing, including cotton and resins.  There were different versions of the Trabant available, including the most popular saloon (sedan or limousine), and the 3-door estate (Universal or Station wagon) version.  It has now become a classic in enthusiast circles around Europe, and examples of this car are sought after with collectors worldwide.

 

For the last 2 years of production following the fall of the Berlin Wall, Trabant production methods were modernised by Volkswagen, which included adding a 1.1L Polo engine to give it some additional reliability, access to four-stroke fuels, and more of a turn of speed, coupled with upgrades to the brakes and suspension to cater for the increase in power.  This last variant was known as the Trabant 1.1 after the engine size, even though it was more like a 3.1 in terms of versions.

 

 

The Kit

This reboxing of Revell’s Trabant kit is due to it winning the Builders’ Choice poll for 2022, as voted for by you the modeller, apparently!  It must have passed me by, but then so do a great many other things.  It arrives in one of Revell’s much beloved thick end-opening boxes, and inside are six sprues in white styrene of varying sizes, five black, flexible tyres, two clear sprues, the decal sheet and instruction booklet in colour, and a single page of profiles in the rear.  The original tooling has 2009 stamped on the inside of the floor pan, and has been seen in various boxings and with an estate bodyshell over the years.  This is the 3-door sedan, brought back by popular demand for another turn on the shelves, decorated in pacifist slogans related to the tearing down of the Berlin wall.  I have a feeling that the sprue with the grille and exterior trim parts was once chromed, but that has been left off for this boxing, which will probably please many of the more serious modellers, as it won’t need removing.

 

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Construction begins with the engine block and transmission, which has raised cross-hatching moulded-in, and is completed by addition of the sump, forward end with pulleys, and a rear face to the gearbox.  The boxy motor is installed transversely in the floorpan with a leaf spring across the bay, and two inner arch panels added to the sides and joined together by a simple bulkhead that the steering mechanism passes through.  More ancillary parts are layered into the bay, including the exhaust manifold, fluid reservoir and battery, then under the bay the remaining space is filled with suspension and steering components and covered over by a subframe.  The rear suspension is simpler, with a short spring supporting each axle, which has the exhaust pipe and muffler passing between the two halves, and a towing hitch sticking out of the back.  The wheel hubs are made from two halves with a third part trapped between them without glue, each of which has a flexible tyre pulled over it before four of them are glued to the axles, taking care with the glue if you intend to leave the wheels mobile.  The back wheels also get a mudflap at the rear of their arches, fitting into a slot for strength of bond.

 

The interior is based upon a large part that has the rear shelf moulded in, adding the pedal box, hand brake, a pair of three-part seats for the driver and front passenger, plus a simple bench seat at the rear, which has a support glued underneath to form a pair of tubular legs.  At the front of the cab is a lower console that holds a few instruments and provides a little shelf space under the dashboard, which will be along in a moment.  First, the door cards are prepared by adding a seatbelt to each side before they are glued to the sides of the cab.  The dash is a single part that has been given extra detail thanks to some sliding moulds, and it has the three part steering column attached on pegs under the binnacle, and is detailed with decals to complete the job.  It is set to one side briefly while the bonnet (hood) and boot lid (trunk) is built.  Both panels have two hinges fitted, the bonnet as a single full-span piece, the boot as two separate hinges.  The boot also has a push-button lock inserted into a hole in the centre.  The bonnet is dropped into position in front of the windscreen, and its hinges are locked in place by installing the dashboard, while the boot lid is trapped by the interior trim, which is a single part that clips into the rear bulkhead.

 

The headlights have separate bezels and reflectors, with a clear lens placed over them, adding a clear side-light underneath.  The rear lights also have separate bezels and clear lenses, which should be painted with clear amber and red before installation, with separate flat clear lens beneath each one painted with clear red, or using the decals that are supplied on the sheet.  At the front, the rear view mirror is fixed to the centre of the headlining after applying a silver decal to the rear, and the grille is inserted into the front of the engine compartment to give the Trabbi a big smile, adding a bumper and number plate holder underneath.  The rear bumper has additional lights and over-riders moulded in, the former having clear lenses, and on the C pillar are a pair of decorative trim panels either side of the rear windscreen.  The rear plate holder inserts into a recess under the boot lid.

 

It's a bit breezy inside the Trabbi at this stage, lacking windows and roof, as well as the underside and cab, which is about to be remedied by an infusion of clear parts.  The windscreen, rear screen, rear side windows all have painted black surrounds, while the front door windows are without, as are a pair of L-shaped inserts on the B pillars.  The windscreen wipers and aerial are glued into holes in the scuttle panel, door handles are added to paired depressions, and a pair of wing mirrors with decal lenses are fixed to holes in the A pillars, then the roof panel is dropped into position, leaving it loose or gluing it down if you wish.  The (usually) chrome trim is applied to the break line on the vehicle sides, with the instructions advising that they have a raised black centre along their length, three parts per side.  The interior clips into the bodyshell first, and is covered by the floorpan, with the final tasks installing the spare tyre in the boot, and popping a cover over the end of the towing hitch.

 

 

Markings

As this is a special edition, there is just one decal option on the sheet, which has a white body that has birds and a white dove carrying an olive branch on the sides, and a number of peaceful slogans on the rear, boot and on the windscreen as a sunvisor strip.  The final decal is a CND peace emblem in the centre of the bonnet, with a brand logo at the front.  From the box you can build the following:

 

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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

A welcome return of the Trabant to the shelves with a peaceful message that should be heeded more readily everywhere.  The moulds have been kept in good condition, and an impressive replica of this… let’s face it… piece of junk will be the result.

 

Highly recommended.

 

Carrera Revell model kits are available from all good toy and model retailers. For further information visit

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On 1/27/2023 at 10:03 PM, richellis said:

I’ve driven one and it’s awful 🤣


agreed, but that's not the point of driving one! The point is that you can say that you've driven one. I absolutely LOVE this car because it is so awful

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