Question for you Revell model builders. Have you had fit problems? I have one nearly completed Z (practice) and another in the box. Fit problems include the y tube on the exhaust not long enough to reach the manifold, right seat cushion extends out from the floor pan which prevents the right door panel from sitting up against the edge of the pan and front suspension pieces not fitting well. Also when I cut the chrome plated pieces off the frame, some of the plating chips off and it seems that paint for retouching these parts is not available. I was very young and with a full head of hair when I last built a model car so I do not know what to expect with quality. Help from Revell seems unavailable. The way they routed the exhaust pipe is sort of peculiar!

It may be cheating but I spray painted the body and the engine compartment which gave me better results than on the large areas I brush painted. I will spray more areas in the other one.

I bought one of the Kyosho yellow Z's and really like it a lot.

Merry Christmas and I hope you find all of your dream Z parts under the Christmas tree.

Are you building the BRE 240? I built one with a few fittment problems, but nothing a razorblade couldnt fix. I modified mine a bit buy lowering it, custom exhaust and a DOHC crossflow head.

I got a Sun Star Black 1972 240z for my birthday.

And sparay painting is the way to go. I sprayed my RA28 Celica, and it still looks good.

The models of old like your 240Z kit done 25 plus years ago, aren't like the nice fitting kits that than you get from Japan nowadays. I bought the kit your talking about and noticed the high amount of flashing (the bits of plastic that seep through the mold cracks), and poor fit in the first two minutes of trying to build it. I've built models for most of my life and these things don't bother me but they could doom the model from ever being completed by a new builder. Just take your time and test fit everything before you glue it. If it doesn't quite fit, trim and sand carefully until it does. Sanding boards, (the fine grit types), for finger nails from the beauty isle are good for keeping parts edges true and use small side cutters for cutting the parts loose from the sprue trees. I spray my stuff too but I always prime the parts first. Plastikote gray is the best. If it's a standard color, light coats of Krylon are the ticket only if you prime the plastic first.

I hope this helps a little.

I keep looking a the local Walmarts and have not seen any 240Z or 510 models. Has anyone found another source?

The BRE 240 and the current revell "reissue" 240 are the same kit with the addition of the rear bumper and differant wheels on the reissue. also the BRE kit has some other "goodies" in the box for racing an such. I too have built models all my life and I agree with britt boyette...the kit fits somewhat poorly and needs a little bit of work to make everything go smoothly.

OwenK, you can purchase the 240 model from any hobby shop in your area or just order it from the revell site. the link is below

revell-monogram

I got my first one off of ebay for about $16.00 (s&h included) and recently found one at a Walmart for about $11.00. It is a crap shoot at Walmart because they do not have a choice of what they receive and supplies may be short at this time of year. I just got lucky. Small independent model/hobby stores would be more likely to special order for you.

Brit-could you tell me more about the Japanese models you mentioned. Where can I get one? What brand name? Thanks for your help. I was hoping to get a response from a pro. Doing this first one with mediocre results has given me lots of ideas on how to do my next with better results.

Zwolley, check out Tamiya. They make fantastic kits and they make a 1/12 scale 240ZG RHD. I am almost done with this one. Aside from Revell, Fujimi makes about 6 differant 240 kits and one racing 280. the Fujimi kits are equivilant in quality to that of tamiya. Razor sharp decals, excellent molding and usually are molded in more than one color. AMT/ERTL also makes an 81 1/2 ZX. I tend to find Revell and AMT/ERTl kits to have much more flashing to trim and most of the time my models require quite a bit altering to get things to line up properly. Filler putty works wonders!

I like to wash all the parts especially the body with some warm soapy water prior to any painting to remove and of the chemicals from the molding process. light sanding with 1000 grit paper prior to shooting any primer coat to give a nice tooth for the primer to adhere too. three light coats of primer with a light sanding in between gives a nice surface for painting. if you are using rattle cans for your body paint, try sitting your paint can in warm water for a few minutes. It warms the paint and it flows better. Check back for some more tips :classic:

Have youvisited http://www.hlj.com HobbyLinkJapan. If you got a Visa or some other major creditcard you can order from there!! There are plenty of z cars available...

St.stephen--I checked out the Tamiya model. The description of the model leads me to believe that I am not quite ready for it. Would you post some pictures of the of the model when you are finnished?

Thanks to you all for the tips.

Ebay is another good place to look for different kits of the Z and the 510 too. I found my Z at a hobby shop in Portland, OR and they had quite a few for $11.50 each. I see the BRE 240Z on Ebay all the time. Don't ever pay over $25.00 for this kit. Even $20.00 is on the high side.

Building good models is like anything else, the more you do it, the better you get. I've been building all kinds of models since I was 6 years old, (I'm 42 now), and there isn't much I haven't done in the way of modeling. The best advice I can give you for building any kind of model is to take your time, ask lots of questions and never get upset when something doesn't work out. It's just a model.

I have a friend of mine that can build anything out of a lump of raw plastic. I have seen him take what I thought was a museum quaility model and smash it with his fist because it didn't work out the way he wanted. As I staired in total shock , he just looked at me and said, "It just a f***ing model." in a very calm voice and then he would start on the next project. I don't recomend building models like this but this was his way of saying lifes too short to cry over things that can't cry over you. The point is, if it's not going right, back up and do it again. It's no big deal. Just have a good time and don't worry about your skills. I wish I still had my first model. What a mile marker that thing would be.

The Walmart in Antioch, CA had a 240z on the shelf yesterday. I didn't buy it because I still have 2 of the BRE kits still in the box and haven't done anything with them for the last 5 years.