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Armor/AFV: Modern Armor
Modern armor in general.
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How Good Are Revell Kits?
shonen_red
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Metro Manila, Philippines
Joined: February 20, 2003
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Posted: Friday, January 12, 2007 - 12:54 PM UTC
I have built one, but in 1/72 and never completed it. How good are their 1/35 line of armor? I'm eyeing out on the modern ones like the Fuchs and the Marder 1A3. How's the fit? How are the tracks for their tracked kits?
Hohenstaufen
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England - South East, United Kingdom
Joined: December 13, 2004
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Posted: Friday, January 12, 2007 - 01:35 PM UTC
I'd say they're a real mixed bag, because they seem to have obtained loads of old dies from Esci & Italaeri & are churning them out labelled as Revell. However, I don't have any experience of their modern subjects, specifically not the two you ask about, they may be OK. I'd expect the tracks to be the old rubber bands though, not individual links.
cbuk
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England - South East, United Kingdom
Joined: June 02, 2005
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Posted: Friday, January 12, 2007 - 01:45 PM UTC
A couple of years ago I bought a Revell JagdPanther; this built fairly easily but it did come with individual links for the tracks. Was the first time I had seen these so they are still in the box!!!

CB
Dirk-Danger
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England - North West, United Kingdom
Joined: September 06, 2006
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Posted: Friday, January 12, 2007 - 04:48 PM UTC
That Revell Jagdpanther was a re-boxed Dragon.

Have a look at the side of the Revell box to see where its made -

Korea - Usually ex accurate miniatures.
China - Dragon
Russia - Zvezda
Italy - Italeri/Esci
USA - Monogram
Japan - Hasegawa
Poland - I believe this is where their new factory is.
Germany - Older Revell kits

The above is not a complete list and nor is it gospel! Its just a rough guide.

Lee
Logan
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British Columbia, Canada
Joined: September 30, 2004
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Posted: Friday, January 12, 2007 - 06:03 PM UTC
HI

As mentioned, the kits are a mixed bag.

As far as the FUCHS and MARDER go ... well, the they look fine when finished but be prepared for a lot of TLC. The parts are often thick and the plastic somewhat difficult to work with. The tracks can be stiff at times.

shonen_red
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Metro Manila, Philippines
Joined: February 20, 2003
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Posted: Friday, January 12, 2007 - 06:09 PM UTC

Quoted Text

HI

As mentioned, the kits are a mixed bag.

As far as the FUCHS and MARDER go ... well, the they look fine when finished but be prepared for a lot of TLC. The parts are often thick and the plastic somewhat difficult to work with. The tracks can be stiff at times.



TLC? What's TLC?
Danial
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Singapore / 新加坡
Joined: May 23, 2005
KitMaker: 693 posts
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Posted: Friday, January 12, 2007 - 06:26 PM UTC

Quoted Text

HI

As mentioned, the kits are a mixed bag.

As far as the FUCHS and MARDER go ... well, the they look fine when finished but be prepared for a lot of TLC. The parts are often thick and the plastic somewhat difficult to work with. The tracks can be stiff at times.



i go with Logan. I started work on my Fuchs late last year and it still isn't done. TLC* is the key words here.

* TLC = Tender, Loving, Care
Sabot
Joined: December 18, 2001
KitMaker: 12,596 posts
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Posted: Friday, January 12, 2007 - 07:47 PM UTC
As stated, they tend to rebox other company's kits. If you see the same or a similar kit in a Revell box to another manufacturer, then it is almost safe to assume it is the other manufacturer's kit. A lot of times they add some originally produced pieces to make it different.

A good rule of thumb in 1/35 scale is that if the model subject is a modern Bundeswehr vehicle of German design, the kit is probably an original Revell kit.

Among some of their original kits are:
PanzerHaubitze 2000
Marder 1A3
Unimog
SpahPz Luchs
Fuchs

Many kits in Bundeswehr markings and issued by Revell tend to be reboxes like the M88A1G Bergepanzer (an AFV Club model).
kevinb120
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Virginia, United States
Joined: May 09, 2006
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Posted: Friday, January 12, 2007 - 08:49 PM UTC
I started the Pzh2000 and gave up on it awaiting aftermarket if it ever comes. It may as well just snap together...
Sabot
Joined: December 18, 2001
KitMaker: 12,596 posts
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Posted: Friday, January 12, 2007 - 09:22 PM UTC

Quoted Text

I started the Pzh2000 and gave up on it awaiting aftermarket if it ever comes. It may as well just snap together...
Eduard makes a PE set for it, #35288.
kevinb120
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Virginia, United States
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Posted: Friday, January 12, 2007 - 10:05 PM UTC
The tracks stink too, simplified shiny vinyl.
james84
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Roma, Italy
Joined: January 28, 2006
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Posted: Friday, January 12, 2007 - 11:04 PM UTC
I have a Spae.Pz. 2 Luchs to build and it seems a nice kit with good details, rubber tyres and no particular difficulties for building. Anyway, I also got the Eduard PE set for better details (for example, there is a side port in which wheel blocks are put: neither the box nor the blocks are provided, and the PE set allows you to recreate it, provided you have to open a square hole). As for the tracks, I think the quality of the ones included in Revell kits is similar to Italeri's, but the most of the modern German tanks have side protections, so the tracks are visible only on the lower parts.
seuss95b
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Ohio, United States
Joined: October 30, 2006
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Posted: Saturday, January 13, 2007 - 05:00 PM UTC
I built a Old M-113 from Revell (germany If i remember right). But the only good thing about this kit was it had an interior. The tracks were injected plastic (that were one piece with up to 10 or so track treads). That you have to line up in the just the right order to get it to fit, not the mention several of the indidual were twisted from packaging. And the sprues were tightly packedto were some of the parts are hard to get cutters into. without cutting the parts in two. I am not happy with this kit but hopefully because they have several different company's to copy they newer stuff is better!!
Sabot
Joined: December 18, 2001
KitMaker: 12,596 posts
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Posted: Saturday, January 13, 2007 - 07:05 PM UTC

Quoted Text

I built a Old M-113 from Revell (germany If i remember right). But the only good thing about this kit was it had an interior. The tracks were injected plastic (that were one piece with up to 10 or so track treads). That you have to line up in the just the right order to get it to fit, not the mention several of the indidual were twisted from packaging. And the sprues were tightly packedto were some of the parts are hard to get cutters into. without cutting the parts in two. I am not happy with this kit but hopefully because they have several different company's to copy they newer stuff is better!!
This is the re-boxed Italeri M113A1 and not an original Revell kit.
EL_Martino
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Baden-Württemberg, Germany
Joined: February 27, 2006
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Posted: Saturday, January 13, 2007 - 08:06 PM UTC
hi guys !
I´m from Germany, maybe i can help you with some questions yu have, concearning the qualitiy of Revell kits, because i´m in a way " sitting at the source " because i built a lot of Revell kits already and i know a lot about Revell kits, because Revell is " the typical german label "
so if there are any question, don´t hesitate !
Lisec
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Croatia Hrvatska
Joined: September 13, 2006
KitMaker: 306 posts
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Posted: Sunday, January 14, 2007 - 02:34 AM UTC
so,revells JagdTiger is a Dragon?

here,there is just a slight difference in price for those two kits, if they are,in fact, the same thing
Sabot
Joined: December 18, 2001
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Posted: Sunday, January 14, 2007 - 02:57 AM UTC

Quoted Text

so,revells JagdTiger is a Dragon?

here,there is just a slight difference in price for those two kits, if they are,in fact, the same thing
Yes, but the older 1990s vintage one, not the more recent ones.
H_Ackermans
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Gelderland, Netherlands
Joined: July 11, 2006
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Posted: Sunday, January 14, 2007 - 03:11 AM UTC

Quoted Text

so,revells JagdTiger is a Dragon?

here,there is just a slight difference in price for those two kits, if they are,in fact, the same thing


they also have a re-boxed Dragon JagdTiger, but the Revell version comes without any of the PE and rather crap decals. the instructions are also a big step backwards compared to the DML ones.

Price-wise, they're not THAT much cheaper to warrant a Revell kit over the original Dragon offering, seeing as the DML ones give some nice extra bits.

They also have a 250/3 that is a DML-kit originally.
capnjock
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United States
Joined: May 19, 2003
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Posted: Sunday, January 14, 2007 - 03:17 AM UTC
I have built the PZH 2000, the unimog and 105 howitzer. The Pzh was soft in some detail and the plastic was inconsistent in whether it was hard or soft. Scuffed up the tracks and painted. Look ok to me. Does look like a PZH 2000.
The unimog turned into a very nice model, even though the frame was A BIT fiddly to assemble( did I make the words 'A BIT' large enough?). I enjoyed the kit though.
The 105 turned out nice also. Have to watch out for ejector pins in obvious but hard to remove places. I have other Revell modern stuff and have no qualms about building them at all. Not real easy but very doable, just don't rush.
capnjock
DT61
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Ontario, Canada
Joined: September 18, 2005
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Posted: Sunday, January 14, 2007 - 04:44 AM UTC
I have started the Fuch and put it away on numerous occassions. I experienced very poor fit of the drivetrain, with parts being way too short and had to replaced them with plastic rod and lots of putty. I also found the other parts soft in detail. I guess I was just really disappointed with the kit as I really want to add one to my collection.

Like others have said, the WWII Revell stuff is often Italeri or Dragon and it is best to check on line with others to see what you are getting in the box.

Darryl
GeraldOwens
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Florida, United States
Joined: March 30, 2006
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Posted: Sunday, January 14, 2007 - 06:03 AM UTC

Quoted Text

so,revells JagdTiger is a Dragon?

here,there is just a slight difference in price for those two kits, if they are,in fact, the same thing

The only advantage at the time of its release was that the original issue of the Dragon Henschel-chassis Jagdtiger didn't come with the side skirts, while Revell's release included them.
Dragon has now retooled their kit a bit with improved wheels and new Magic Tracks, plus some nice photoetch and a metal gun barrel, so the Revell boxing has little to recommend it now.
H_Ackermans
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Gelderland, Netherlands
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Posted: Sunday, January 14, 2007 - 06:08 AM UTC

Quoted Text


Quoted Text

so,revells JagdTiger is a Dragon?

here,there is just a slight difference in price for those two kits, if they are,in fact, the same thing

The only advantage at the time of its release was that the original issue of the Dragon Henschel-chassis Jagdtiger didn't come with the side skirts, while Revell's release included them.
Dragon has now retooled their kit a bit with improved wheels and new Magic Tracks, plus some nice photoetch and a metal gun barrel, so the Revell boxing has little to recommend it now.


That's true, however, Revell only could include those skirts because DML had added them to the Porsche suspension JagdTiger.

But you would still need some Pe for the grills on the Revell JagdTiger.
Drader
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Wales, United Kingdom
Joined: July 20, 2004
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Posted: Sunday, January 14, 2007 - 02:39 PM UTC
Both the Fuchs and Marder 1A3 are Revell originals. The Fuchs suffers from being seriously over-engineered with a drive train and suspension that needs a lot of work to assemble (and some replacement of parts if you want them to fit). The Marder avoids the dimensional problems of the Tamiya one, but again has some fit challenges. Mine also suffered from Revell's approach to (or rather retreat from) quality control with some broken parts and clear sprue of totally unknown origin. Sure wasn't for a Marder.

David
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