Short review about the Revell BMW new Mini

I built this nice car almost straight of the box. The only additional parts where a set of wheels from xstuning which fitted very nicely under this car.

I have to say that in my opinion there are too many small mistakes in this car that I don't like:

• Poor fitting of the headlights because the rims are to small;
• The imprinted black shades of the windows are absolutely off centre. See the chapter below;
• The left rearlight fits, the right fits not very well because it is to small to fit properly (or the hole is to big);
• The centering of the front wheels in the wheelbays are to much forward. I had to place the wheels off centre according to the axles to let them fit in well;
• The chrome parts are not well chromed, so I had to remove the chrome and spray all parts over with Alclad.

Is it a rotten kit because of all this? No, but I know Revell can do better than this. The overall shape of the kit is good and when you take time to let it fit in well, you can build a beautiful kit.

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The wheels
I replaced the standard kit wheels, which I disliked, with wheels from XS-tuning. The kit wheels are prototyppically correct, but I can't find them beautiful enough for an Mini. XS-tuning delivers an manual for the wheels to attach, but I found out another way, so I could use the diskbrakes as well. As you can see on the right picture I attached an small piece of pipe in the brakes that I fitted over the axles of the kit. The results are very nice. Just a small job that gives great looks to the car.

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Windows
The stamping on the windows is absolutely off centre and incorrect. At the picture on the left you can see the black as given on the window-tamping. The tape gives the correct place. The photo on the right is for the right rearwindow. Here is the tape that shows the tamping. The black painting have to become more forward and more straight up. Compare this with pictures of the real thing and you know the tamping is absolutely wrong.

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Painting
I painted the kit with and mix of several mica powders mixed in automotive paint wich give a very good result. The powders are from Jaquard Products. These mica powders are very wel to use in different paints and can be applied for several effects. When you paint the car black first and then apply mica in a thin layer you can't almost go wrong. The much mica you put in the paint, the muc covering the paint will be. When you use a knifepoint bit of mica in the paint it give a nice pearl effect.

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Well, this time a very short review I know, but because of some 'in life problems' this is all I did build during the last months. I hope you enjoy the pictures below. If you have any questions or comments, you can reach me with the 'contact us' button.

Rinus