Revell and Testors do a little team-up

Revel-Germany has been hit or miss for me.   A few of their models are very poor,  I am guessing those are older or something?  I did build their A10 and that one was pretty decent.   I am currently building the airbus A320 and its rough.  Nothing fits.  The decals are decent though.  go figure.

bobbaily

the Baron

bobbaily

...Regarding Revell Germany, I was more than a little disappointed when I ordered the current Revell Germany 1/48 P-51C only to open it and see ICM...

Really?!   I didn't know that, and that means that it's really the Tamiya kit, because ICM copied it for theirs.  I built the ICM kit alongside the old Monogram kit a couple of years ago, for fun and to compare, and then I compared the ICM kit to the Tamiya kit and learned that it's a copy.  But at $10 from Squadron, with an additional fret of figures, I don't regret having bought and built it.

Really-and I don't have a big problem with that other than the lack of locating pins (but I already have a plan in place) and the Tamiya kit was only a dollar or two more.

I'm surprised that they'd put their label on the ICM kit.   I thought the fit was bad.  The instrument panel didn't fit, I had to sand the sides, to get the fuselage to close.  The whole flight deck piece itself fit badly.  It didn't fit on the rails molded on the fuselage halves to hold it, it fit between them.  The tail end of the piece, which forms the bottom of the fuselage immediately aft of the radiator vent, wound up too deep in the fuselage.  It took me a lot of time before I figured out how it was supposed to look, including crawling under a P-51 at an air show, and looking at the Tamiya kit.  The ICM instructions were of little help, too.  The rest of the build was much easier, though.

the Baron

bobbaily

...Regarding Revell Germany, I was more than a little disappointed when I ordered the current Revell Germany 1/48 P-51C only to open it and see ICM...

Really?!   I didn't know that, and that means that it's really the Tamiya kit, because ICM copied it for theirs.  I built the ICM kit alongside the old Monogram kit a couple of years ago, for fun and to compare, and then I compared the ICM kit to the Tamiya kit and learned that it's a copy.  But at $10 from Squadron, with an additional fret of figures, I don't regret having bought and built it.

Really-and I don't have a big problem with that other than the lack of locating pins (but I already have a plan in place) and the Tamiya kit was only a dollar or two more.

bobbaily

...Regarding Revell Germany, I was more than a little disappointed when I ordered the current Revell Germany 1/48 P-51C only to open it and see ICM...

Really?!   I didn't know that, and that means that it's really the Tamiya kit, because ICM copied it for theirs.  I built the ICM kit alongside the old Monogram kit a couple of years ago, for fun and to compare, and then I compared the ICM kit to the Tamiya kit and learned that it's a copy.  But at $10 from Squadron, with an additional fret of figures, I don't regret having bought and built it.

Have to agree with you Stik....

I think I'll dive in here-Monogram/Revell USA has a some great low cost 1/48 aircraft-P-51, P-40, B-17G, B-24 that take some work but with a little effort, make nice builds.  And their automotive lineup is great in my opinion.

Regarding Revell Germany, I was more than a little disappointed when I ordered the current Revell Germany 1/48 P-51C only to open it and see ICM on the spruce.....oh well, it's all good...

If I could afford a trip to Nuremberg, I would go... But that's not gonna happen anytime soon. Yes Revell Germany is putting out some great kits, especially in 1/32 aircraft.  No argument from me there. Buy and build what you please Silver. Everybody else here does. Share your work for all to see, whether it is the latest Eurasian uber kit with $2K in aftermarket, or a repop of some 1960s era US vintage kit. There is no right or wrong in personal tastes for kits in this hobby...

The world wonders... (about Hans that is)

stikpusher

............Yes some panels should be butt joined, but not all. Raised panel lines are not a bad way to represent the rows of raised rivets that some many aircraft displayed quite prominently... And I think that the new Revell Ventura kit, with it's forthcoming RAF version show that they can pull off a great new kit and keep it affordable. And the Stearman? Under $15? They are doing just fine in my eyes.

Result:  In order to correct serious faults in Trumpeter kits costing roughly $100 or more each, I must buy new wings for the P-51 B and a new seat and a much smaller canopy for the P-51 D; if I want an accurate engine for the P-51 D, I must steal one out of an AIRFIX kit .

(Hans : where are ya, buddy? ) 

Amen to that, Stickpusher! Now if everyone else would follow suit.

I am in agreement there Baron. Now I know that model companies can properly recreate overlapping skin panels, rasied rivets, and proper flush rivets. And the flush rivets are not simple divots, but actual recessed circles around a flush rivet head! I have OLD kits in my stash that have just those features. If they could do in the late 1960s, there is no reason that it can not be done today, aside from folks just not wanting to. Yes some panels should be butt joined, but not all. Raised panel lines are not a bad way to represent the rows of raised rivets that some many aircraft displayed quite prominently... And I think that the new Revell Ventura kit, with it's forthcoming RAF version show that they can pull off a great new kit and keep it affordable. And the Stearman? Under $15? They are doing just fine in my eyes.

stikpusher

Raised panel lines are no big deal to me. Without restarting that whole debate here, I can work with them just fine.

I don't mind restarting it here, Stik!  When I read that first crack about Revell/Monogram being dead, I thought to myself, "You better smile when you say that, son."

Raised panels lines are not always incorrect, just as recessed panel lines are not always correct.  For the modeler who looks to reproduce panel lines on his subject, the important thing is to do your research and then decide how best to reproduce the lines.

Silver, I will grant you that I'd like to see something spectacular from RM, too, but for me, that would be a C-46 or a B-32 in 1/48, extending the original Monogram line of large aircraft kits.

As to this partnership, it won't really impact my kit or supply buying habits.

Seeing as how Revell Germany has their own paint line already, that makes perfect sense. I wonder how long thhis will last? I do recell that Monogram and Humbrol teamed up for awhile in the 80s for a few years. I may still have a tin or two of those Humbrol paints with the Monogram logo left in my paints.

An addendum to the story: The partnership extends only to Revell (U.S.). Revell Germany is not part of the deal, even though both entities are owned by Hobbico.

Raised panel lines are no big deal to me. Without restarting that whole debate here, I can work with them just fine.

Silver

I think Revell and Testors will have to do that because the rest of the modeling paint and model world left them in the dust.

pyrman64

Testors really didn't make any kits, as the kits were mostly molded by Italeri, IIRC.

Testors really didn't make any kits, as the kits were mostly molded by Italeri, IIRC.

you know I didn't even know testers still made model kits.   I always see the SR-71 in stores, but always thought that was left over from years ago.   Are the testors kits decent?   The SR-71 has always interested me,  I might have to check it out.