I’ve read about some excellent, recent kits from Revell-Germany. I looking through their web site, they identify some kits as being “new moulds”. However, the kit numbers for these new molds are interspersed with existing kits of older, dubious quality. To make matters more confusing, some vendors have what I thought were “new” kits at the same prices as older molds. Other vendors have these new kits at much higher prices than the old Revell-AG kits they still sell.
So how do I tell the new molds (good) from the old ones (bad) in advance of purchase? I’m questioning whether vendors with low prices actually have old stock of inferior quality with the same kits numbers.
For instance, Revell AG kit #4001 (F/A-18C) sounds like an excellent kit in the 1:144 scale I prefer. Are there older, dodgy versions of this kit on the market or all they all the new kits I’ve read good things about?
Bottom Line: Did Revell-Germany re-issue some old kits with updated and dramatically improved molds yet keep the existing kit numbers? Or does “new moulds” mean totally new and there never was an “old” version to avoid?
As far as your question goes, I believe that new molds means just that. It can be an entirely new subject or new molds made for a subject which has been previously released or boxed for release under the manufacturers label. Revell of Germany has released many kits manufactured by Monogram, Revell USA, Italirei (sp), Matchbox, and even Hasagawa. As far as new molds for these previously released kits, it can be because the old molds have become so worn as to be useless, the detailing is so bad the kits won’t sell etc. Usually the mfg doesn’t tell you it’s a new mold, so you have to keep an eye on the reviews of a newly released kit.
One thing you have to watch for are rip-offs. You don’t normaly get them from a major manufacturer, usually a new line of kits from a third world country. The buy a model made by a major manufacturer, use reverse engineering to make cheap molds and produce the kit (I’ve even seen a couple of resin kits which were obviously made using a kit already on the market as a pattern). These kits are usually much worse than the origional and are generally much cheaper. Again keep your eye on reviews and if you have never heard of the manufacturer, take a close look at the kit before you buy it.
BTW - I know how to spell and type - unfortunately my fingers can’t do either
KTNR,
[#welcome]
A lot of the 1/144 military kits are definitely older kits rereleased. It looks like this kit is really a new mold. But they had a version which is actually an old crown kit of the prototype with all of the features of that version. Their Hawker Hunter and recent helicopter kits (Chinook, CH-53) have all been new kits and very nicely done. Haven’t found a review of this new Hornet but looks like it could be a good one. Dragon also makes a Hornet in this scale that is pretty good and you can get it with a flight deck catapult launch diorama.
One way of telling which are new moulds and which are not would be to see if you can find a review of the kit on the web or in modelling magazines. If you can, the review will probably tell you if it’s a genuine new mould or not. If you can’t find a review, this would tend to mean that reviewers don’t think the model is worth reviewing, which would increase the chances that it’s a re-issue.
Another way would be to ask about a specific model on this forum. There are some very knowledgeable people here, so the chances are that someone would know.
I am working on the Revell B24D kit, I checked the date on the box which was 2003. But I was a little suprised when I opened the box and discovered some raised panel lines, I thought that scribed lines were generally the norm these days, was this infact a reissued kit?
All being said though, the kit itself fits well and is well engineered, and I am enjoying the build.
You are correct. The current Revell B-24 is the old Monogram kits that’s a good 15 years old. They simply made a new box, decals and instructions and released the model. The current date on the box is the date Revell released the kit under their name.
BTW, check the indexs of FSM for the past several years (6 or 7 at least, I don’t remember the exact date). There is a good article on accurizing the Monogram/Revell 1/48 B-24 - Main items of work that I remembered was the cockpit canopy (which never looked right to me) and changing the angle of incidence of the tail surfaces. Takes some work but results in a very nice looking model.
I am a bit of new player at the moment, and after reading the postings relating to this topic I now realise why I couldn’t find any reviews for the B-24 kit, I will be a little more careful in the future when buying kits.
My modelling is at the stage of getting a kit together with it looking half decent, I guess I need to take the next step of building a model to look right and actually be right! And if there is one place where I can get good advice…its gotta be this forum.
Revell have been busy over the last few years reboxing a number of other companies kits. Some of these are great, because they offer an axcellent kit at a price considerably lower, in the UK at least, than the original kit, a case in point being the Me109f, which is ex Hasagawa.
However other reboxings are somewhat more dubious. Their 1/48 Fw190D is the Dragon kit, which is not always to everyone’s taste. Some of the kits are also re-issues of ancient Frog moldings from the 60s I beleive, but look like new release, eg the 1/72 Blackburn Skua.
There is a site which provides kit reviews, along with pictures of the sprues out of the box, I think it is called www.modellingmadness.com, but don’t quote me on that. It’s stopped me buying a number of kits recently for the same reasons that concern you.
KJ200 is right about that site except the address is www.modelingmadness.com, only one L . It is a great site which is updated every week day, he reviews old and new stuff and has many hundreds of reviews to browse through.
I really can’t help with your question of new molds, but I can say this- Revell Germany is one of the best companies I’ve seen in the Detail vs. Cost battle. True, I’ve never tried a Hasegawa or Tamiya kit, but from what I’ve seen, Revell Germany is right up there. (And usually cheaper!)
Speaking of that Revellogram 1/48 scale B-24- I remember building it in 1979- It was a new kit then. Many of the Revell of Germany kits are reboxes- the F-15E is a rebox of the better Hasegawa F-15E (not the reissue that Hase is currently offering), for example.
Richard
I recently ordered a Revell 1/48 scale Marauder…is it another Revellogram, Revellogawa or another type of rebox. But I guess I already know the answer as I haven’t seen any reviews in the ‘press’ in recent times!!!
Simon