New Release: 1:24 Revell 4.5 litre Blower Bentley
Discussion
I noticed this in the LHS last week:
http://www.revell.de/en/products/model-building/ca...
I'm pretty sure it's a re-boxing of the Heller/Humbrol kit, which I built a long time ago as the Humbrol boxing. For anyone interested in these cars, it's a very good model, especially if the £16 price from some online shops is correct. Not over-complicated, plenty of detail and IIRC the mouldings were very sharp.
http://www.revell.de/en/products/model-building/ca...
I'm pretty sure it's a re-boxing of the Heller/Humbrol kit, which I built a long time ago as the Humbrol boxing. For anyone interested in these cars, it's a very good model, especially if the £16 price from some online shops is correct. Not over-complicated, plenty of detail and IIRC the mouldings were very sharp.
I have a still shrink wrapped Heller Blower Bentley, which I bought as a reminder of my old man who worked on them as an apprentice back in the day.
Have been putting off building it as I have it in my head that the older kits are bloody hard to get a good finish with for an inexperienced modeller like me.
If this is likely a re-issue of that old kit, am I right in thinking I should be able to make a good fist of it?
Have been putting off building it as I have it in my head that the older kits are bloody hard to get a good finish with for an inexperienced modeller like me.
If this is likely a re-issue of that old kit, am I right in thinking I should be able to make a good fist of it?
Eric Mc said:
Has Revell bought these ex-Heller moulds or are they borrowing them from the French company?
Heller are selling "polybags" i.e. sets of mouldings sealed in a bag. Revell then put them in their own boxes. It's a quick way for Heller to raise some cash, but an expensive way for Revell to sell kits. Quite a common thing in the industry, works well where certain companies have limited distribution in some areas of the world.Sway said:
I have a still shrink wrapped Heller Blower Bentley, which I bought as a reminder of my old man who worked on them as an apprentice back in the day.
Have been putting off building it as I have it in my head that the older kits are bloody hard to get a good finish with for an inexperienced modeller like me.
If this is likely a re-issue of that old kit, am I right in thinking I should be able to make a good fist of it?
As I said in the O/P, I built the Heller/Humbrol version in the early 80's. I still have it, and can't see that I had any issues with it. It stands comparison with much more modern offerings. Have been putting off building it as I have it in my head that the older kits are bloody hard to get a good finish with for an inexperienced modeller like me.
If this is likely a re-issue of that old kit, am I right in thinking I should be able to make a good fist of it?
I'd make a start on it and see how you get on. If it doesn't turn out as you wanted, you can now always easily get another to keep, if that's what you want.
Yertis said:
Indeed, in the eyes of Scale Aircraft Modelling, Heller could do no wrong, at that time.
I don't think I ever built a Heller kit though.
You may have built an Airfix kit which was from Heller moulds.I don't think I ever built a Heller kit though.
As stated, the Dragon Rapide is one example. Fairly recently I built the "Airfix" Hawker Tempest V, which is really a nice little kit.
I'm working on the Heller Fouga Magister at the moment - although this project has ground to a halt because of work commitments.
Eric Mc said:
You may have built an Airfix kit which was from Heller moulds.
Yes I did actually, now you mention that. The 'Airfix' 1/48 Tornado F3, one of my various abortive attempts to restart the hobby, in about 1992. It was an awful kit, nothing fitted, put me off for ages. I actually enjoyed throwing it away, most unlike me.The much-lauded Airfix 1/48 lightnings and late spitfires were essentially Heller kits- contrary to popular belief, they were not designed by Trevor Snowden, but subbed out to Philippe Goulard, one of the Heller kit designers. "Our Trev" just supplied him with some reference material.
Edited by lufbramatt on Monday 1st December 14:34
lufbramatt said:
The much-lauded Airfix 1/48 lightnings and late spitfires were essentially Heller kits- contrary to popular belief, they were not designed by Trevor Snowden, but subbed out to Philippe Goulard, one of the Heller kit designers. "Our Trev" just supplied him with some reference material.
Do you guys have records of who deigned which kits, or was that info all lost in Airfix's troubled past? It would be nice to put a name to each Airfix kit in my (small) collection.Edited by lufbramatt on Monday 1st December 14:34
I don't think there are set upper limits. Manufacturers will use them as long as they produce something that's sellable. Whether they should is, of course, a separate discussion. Airfix and Revell make use of moulds that are older than me (56).
What eventually forces a mould out of action is that the model produced is no longer deemed acceptable by modellers regarding the detail level and/or accuracy and the opposition starts producing something better. That is the main reason why Airfix has embarked on a major programme of replacing some of its most ancient moulds with brand new, much more modern standard, kits.
Of course. moulds do get tired and if buying a kit produced by an old mould, it is usually better if you can get a kit from the early life of the mould.
Also, moulds last longer if treated better. When FROG went out of business in the mid 1970s, their moulds ended up being sold to the Soviet Union - and the kits produced under Soviet ownership were generally of a much poorer quality than those produced by FROG.
Since then, some of those moulds were acquired by Revell who cleaned and tidied them up and produced passable kits again.
Certainly, if looked after properly, mainstream steel moulds can produce 100,000 plus individual kits.
What eventually forces a mould out of action is that the model produced is no longer deemed acceptable by modellers regarding the detail level and/or accuracy and the opposition starts producing something better. That is the main reason why Airfix has embarked on a major programme of replacing some of its most ancient moulds with brand new, much more modern standard, kits.
Of course. moulds do get tired and if buying a kit produced by an old mould, it is usually better if you can get a kit from the early life of the mould.
Also, moulds last longer if treated better. When FROG went out of business in the mid 1970s, their moulds ended up being sold to the Soviet Union - and the kits produced under Soviet ownership were generally of a much poorer quality than those produced by FROG.
Since then, some of those moulds were acquired by Revell who cleaned and tidied them up and produced passable kits again.
Certainly, if looked after properly, mainstream steel moulds can produce 100,000 plus individual kits.
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