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All posts for the month August, 2019

Mike Crespi builds and reviews Revell’s Porsche Junior Tractor


It’s a pretty uncomplicated kit to build, and a snap kit too with pretty good detail. It’s not a curbside. Unlike any other model vehicle I’ve built this one builds around the engine. The engine and transmission is one assembly.

You then attach the rear end and front axle and everything else. I decided to build it weathered. Looking for pictures of the 1:1 tractor on line I found over 20 of them of a tractor that’s for sale for $48,000. It’s in mint condition but I was hoping to find an unrestored one. I found other rusty tractor photos to help me with the weathering.


When you open the box it’s only about ½ full, no large body, chassis or interior tub parts. Most of the plastic is red, you can almost build it without painting it, just a few details. I started with flat red since it will be weathered. It looks like it can mostly assembled before weathering.

Here’s photos of what’s inside the box:

It comes with nice rubber tires too!

Well, here’s the engine/chassis going together. The engine/transmission/rear end essentially form the main
structure of the tractor. I still have to weather it up and add the rust and dirt. Here’s the rear wheels:


Here’s the main assembly so far:


This model is certainly going together easily, very little flash and the parts fit together well. You can almost get away without painting. Here’s more photos of it nearly completed.

This kit has a nice decal sheet but the directions doesn’t quite show where they all go.

I’ve been using the Rust All weathering kit along with a Rust antiquing kit by Sophisticated Finishes which has a gray iron paste and a chemical to turn it into real rust. I also used some rust colored pastels.

Well, it was a nice easy build, I enjoyed building it too. A good quality kit. Here are some finished photos:

Steve Linngren builds and reviews Revell’s Ford GT-LM

The Revell Ford GT Le Mans 2017 kit is probably the most complex model I have ever built but the comprehensive 44-step instructions played an important role in a successful project. 

The 16-page instruction document contains a paint guide that lists the 15 colors required for this build.  I studied that paint guide so that I could acquire the colors I did not already have before I began working on the kit.  There is also a section that identifies all the parts that make up this kit.  The kit contains 101 parts and is cast in white plastic, clear plastic, red plastic and soft rubber. The section titled “Read this before you begin” is also valuable in supporting a successful project. The kit is very well designed and I did not have significant problems with parts fitting together.  Nearly all of the parts fit well, but I still used trial fits for all of them to learn how they worked together.

One issue I encountered was with the two-piece body.   Because of the long seams, I glued the two main body parts together in phases to simplify the process.  After I assembled the two body pieces, I noticed some gaps in the joints and decided to fill them with body putty to improve the appearance.

Another issue appeared after I applied a coat of Duplicolor Automotive Sandable primer to the body.  I noticed several very fine mold lines on the front and rear fender tops and the front and rear valances.  I sanded them away and proceeded with the finish.

This kit contains many decals to enhance the realism of the model.  Since they need to be installed after particular areas have been painted, the order of a few assembly steps had to be changed.  Many of the decals are quite small and require real concentration to handle and put in place.  I put a small tweezer to good use for that process.  In my case, I decided to build the Ford GT Le Mans 2017 kit in how I imagined a street livery would look, and I did not need to apply all the exterior decals.

The body is painted with Duplicolor White Sandable Primer, Duplicolor Ford White, and Rustoleum Crystal Clear. No final polishing was required. Various shades of Tamiya paints were used for interior, chassis, and engine details.


The overall build process proceeded very well, but I did encounter difficulties installing parts number 49 (rear intake top), 53 (left turbo exhaust)  and 54 (right turbo exhaust) because of their tight fits.  The rest of the project was routine and I am pleased with the outcome.  This is a well-designed, well-detailed, high quality kit that produces a very good replica of the 1:1 automobile.