A mixed bag... for a new tool...
Well, I'm not exactly a newbie, but I had a few big problems with this kit that newbies might be interested in. First of all, this kit was produced with a new tooling. Usually that means that the research was intensive, so that it fit like a glove. Not so for me. Yes, the parts were very clean, as they should be with a new tool, but the tolerances were so precise (meaning that I think you need to be better than a newbie to get everything to fit the way it was designed), it left hardly any room for error.
For example, the windshield looks so cool, with its built-in guidelines for the black surround, but it is very thin and the margin for applying glue is about 1mm. It would have been nice to just snap it into place, but knowing that it will not perfectly match the contour of the A pillar, means you really have to use some glue to keep it tight against the trim. Well, how do you apply glue to a 1mm strip, without causing it to ooze/run and spoil either the clear plastic or the black surround? You tell me... I tried a few different things, but I still wound up having to clamp it in place, for fear this miniscule amount of cement would fail in flexing at final assembly. Can you imagine what that could do to completely finished parts? I'm sure you can.
Then, there is the rear bumper. Try as I may, I could not get it to match the position against the rear quarter panels. In fact, it doesn't even match the wheel well, so that I had to paint the outer edge red to hide it!
And last but not least... the extension to the dashboard, which holds the windshield wipers. This was the most demanding of my problems with this kit. I actually had to get out the old Dremel and remove the wings on the sides because otherwise I would not have been able to get it together!
A small margin for error here would have made the whole final assembly go much smoother. So, yes, I can recommend this kit, but only to modelers who are confident that they can handle these problems.
A box full of fun & enjoyment
I've built a few models over the years, and this one was so much fun to build! This kit from Revell was well engineered for details and fit and no or minimal flash. It might take some care and patience, but I think even a novice could do a great job and end up with a model to be proud of. The instructions are somewhat of a challenging at first, but they soon are easy to follow. I like a lot of parts, and this kit has 142.The parts went together close and exact, no trouble with fit. Spray painting the larger parts was easy, but hand painting the small parts by hand was a challenge for me only because for my hands aren't as steady as they once were. There are ample decals in the kit, and they are thin to follow contours, so care must be taken when applying them. I think I'll buy this one again because it was so much fun, and it finished up looking pretty good.