A fantastic kit by Revell, another one in their line of Special Edition releases that generally just have much better stuff to work with as well as a bunch of extras. The plastic is much smoother and more detailed, usually every one of the Special Edition kits comes packaged as a 2’n’1, this one having a sort of custom set up with large chrome rims, lowered suspension and this AAR Cuda inspired look to it with a single unit grille and a double intake hood. Hell it even has two of each bumpers(one chromed and one unpainted), a different carburetor and suspension kits for each version.
The stock version’s the one that gains the most detail though, the 426 cubic inch HEMI engine’s a beauty to behold and looks fantastic once painted and put together and that shaker hood on top makes it all the more pretty. There’s a ton of decals for the engine, even down to the logo’s and measurements for the electrical cables. The interior has a ton of detail, with decals for the dials, the shifter and even the wood paneling on the dashboard and arm-rest. There’s about 3 different decals for the dashboard as well to match your painting even better.
The exterior decals are plentiful too, it has the default HEMI stripe in black, white and red. Then a set of stripes similar to the HEMI ones just, well, without the HEMI branding and there’s a set of green stripes for the custom version if you desire to use them. Loads of extras! And of course all the badges, license plates and stuff but they’re to be expected.
The kit fits together really, really well. Mostly thanks to the much better sculpting and molding job that Revell does for the special edition line, painting the car’s a fun job too and not to mention quite the challenge. The only thing I’m missing from this kit’s the branded tires that became really, really common in the 1970s as a default option, but I reckon it’s got to do with licensing being a pain.
The only downside to the kit’s the hood, the arms are the realistic version but you gotta
glue them to the hood and then force them into the slots. Normally, not a big deal, but getting them in there without ripping them loose from the hood; not easy. But that’s it, that’s literally it with the downsides, this might easily one of the best kits Revell has put
out in terms of detail and how good the end result looks.
In the end I decided to do add some branded tire lettering, courtesy of a good guy by the name of Joseph Osborn with a fancy set of printers over at Fireball Models.
Overall, I’m super excited about the result and now really regret not having gone through the effort of wiring the engine up.
’70 Plymouth HEMI ‘Cuda specifications:
Kit: #85-4268
Skill Level: 3
Parts: 149
Molded in: White
Scale: 1/25