Introduction

The Land Rover in its various guises has seen service with many military forces and is often the vehicle of choice for those individuals who want to explore places that do not have roads. Revell of Germany has released a 1/35th scale Land Rover. The model itself is the Italeri offering with the addition of Revell of Germany decals and finishing options.

The following is the introduction supplied by Revell of Germany for this release.
The Land Rover was initially produced in 1948. It was extensively tested and shortly thereafter introduced as Series I into the British Army. Series I and Series II vehicles (built from 1958) and were gradually superseded by the Series III Land Rover built between 1971 and 1983. The Land Rover was also purchased for use by other armies throughout the world and very quickly acquired a legendary reputation as a robust and reliable vehicle that in addition to a permanent rear wheel drive also possessed a selectable four-wheel drive transmission. In addition to the short 88 inch (2235 mm) wheelbase a long 109 inch (2769 mm) wheelbase model was also available.

Contents

This model is packaged in the typical end opening box that Revell of Germany use, inside the box you will find a single plastic bag containing the parts for the model. The parts break down as follows:
4 light grey sprues
1 clear sprue
A loose leafed instruction book
A decal sheet.

Review

First impressions
An examination of the sprues finds quite a few ejector pin marks, both raised and recessed; however most of these ejector pin marks will be hidden on the finished model. The sprue gates are of a reasonable size and placement, and so the removal of the various parts should not cause any major issues. I did find a mould misalignment which affects the indicator stalk only, on the driving column. Flash is not an issue with this model, but there are signs of wear just starting to creep in and this indicates that the moulds are coming up for remedial work.

Chassis, Suspension and Wheels
The chassis is for the most part a single piece moulding and so there is no fear of the chassis not being square. There is no engine detail provided with the model, but there is space for one if you wish to look at the after-market items that may be available. The axles and drive shafts present are nicely detailed and so at least some good detail can be seen under the vehicle. A few other items with reasonable detail are the leaf spring suspension mouldings and the exhaust, the exhaust however will benefit from the end being drilled a little. Another nice touch is that the front wheels are steerable and I feel this makes for a model that looks better with the front wheels turned. Moving onto the wheels which have acceptable hub detail and even the tyres have ‘AVON WRANGLER’ in raised lettering, I cannot however vouch for the accuracy of this brand and tyre name as regards use on this vehicle type.

Interior
The interior detail is a little sparse, but then again the Land Rover was never supposed to be full of creature comforts. Starting with the rear bed there is a reasonable level of detail should you decide or opt for not having the canvas installed, but there are a few ejector pin marks that will need to be taken care off if that is what you decide. The dashboard and front firewall are again nicely detailed and with the exception of the moulding fault mentioned earlier on the indicator stalk should look the part. The only other areas where I would have liked to see some more detail is the door interiors which are very poor and while these are supplied as separate parts they will need some work if you want to display them open. Other detail could be aded via scratch work or after-market parts to lift the area up to current standards.

Exterior
The exterior of the model is quite good considering the moulds are not new. All of the detail present look reasonable and reproduces the iconic shape of the Land Rover quite well, sure there is room for improvement, but it should meet the requirements of the majority of modellers out there in plastic land. One of the nice touches here is the canvas which has a nice texture imparted on it and with careful painting should look quite realistic.

Conclusion

So this is not a new model but with it being released by Revell of Germany it is cheaper to purchase and that is always a good thing. I would have liked to see an all new kit of the Land Rover, but this offering meets with my approval as it is reasonably accurate and affordable when compared to the Italeri offering. There are a few areas that could do with improving or depending on your ability be improved, but for most I am sure it will meet expectations.

Revell model kits are available from all good toy and model retailers. For details visit www.revell.de/en, @RevellGermany or facebook.com/Revell