1992 Pontiac Firebird Formula – Monogram

Revell-Monogram’s been pushing out 1/24th scale Firebirds since 1982, which marked the drastic change in how the car looked for the third generation.

Much like the Camaro on which it was based from here on out in both chassis as well as engines, it became boxier but also maintaining its meaner appearance due to the hidden headlights and darkened out taillights. And again, much like its Camaro brother it changed very little through its ten year lifespan before the even more drastically changed fourth generation would take over, but before it did; it spawned a model that would last for the last two years with a interesting and rather pretty facelift.

Inspired by the Banshee IV concept car(The fourth generation of both the Camaro and Firebird actually got a lot of the design cues from these things, man if only the Pontiac Banshee happened) it was given a rounder body and that Banshee nosecone with recessed lights and a giant air-dam. Granted, the ’91 and the ’92 are virtually the same car just with some real world improvements for driver comfort but in the model world this means nothing and that’s why this kit also co-exists with the Revell release in 2007 of the “’91 Firebird Formula” with the exact same car on the box.

Anyway, I got my hands on a rarer re-release of the kit from the early nineties that isn’t the Revell one and doesn’t have the 2-in-1 options like the giant aftermarket rims, though it’s still technically a 2-in-1 based on the giant fiery Formula logos and literal Firebird decal for on the hood, but I didn’t bother with all of that – I went for a metallic blue Firebird Formula, simple yet pretty damn good looking.

It’s still the same Firebird kit from 1992, but with all the modern improvements. For instance, the plastic is really sturdy and the detail is fantastic. And along with the expanded decal sheet(comes with two sets of dials, black and white, indicator/reflector lights for the sides, three colors of Formula logos, so on) it makes for a worthy re-release.

And like most Monogram releases of old, the kit goes together smoothly too. I mean, it’s still a bit of a chore to get body parts to sit where they’re meant to when other parts are sort of in the way, like the chassis for instance is meant to sit perfectly in a slit under the inside of the headlights in the front bumper, though the chassis is free to much around until the bumper’s glued on so… Yeah, that’s a tug of war the bumper ain’t gonna win. But really, that’s the only niggle I ran into and it’s just a silly little annoyance.

Though of course, gotta mention that with nearly all Monogram kits, the engine bay detail is great but very… “slab-ish“. That’s a new term I sorta invented just there, but the idea is that important bits of the engine bay are usually molded in such a way that they sort of are elongated down to the chassis, for simplifying reasons I suppose. I mean, it’s hardly visible on this model cause of the giant 305ci/5.0L Tuned Port Injection V8 which is molded fantastically, but it’s generally always there and kind of just doesn’t look right.

The bottom line is that this kit is freakin’ great. In every way possible, it’s just a fantastic little kit that goes rather unloved it would appear. It’s still readily available, very cheap and seemingly staying in stock for a long, long time. And I will say, I’m glad I bought it and used some extra stuff on it, like the BF Goodrich Radial T/A decals and the slightly fancier metallic blue paint.

’92 Pontiac Firebird Formula specifications:
Kit: #85-4012
Skill Level: 2
Parts: 78
Molded in: White
Scale: 1/24