I bought this kit as a Christmas present for my brother – who always got just shirts, socks and scarfs and was finally hoping for the rest of us to think of something else (hands up if you feel the same).
This is one of the kits I always wanted to buy but still passed on. I wasn’t sure if the kit quality was going to be good enough, after all this kit was back then one of the old ones. Round2 Models, as you all know, has been re-issuing many old school kits and adding some improvements to the tooling and other stuff. Since I never owned the original MPC Kit, I can’t compare both. But all in all, I can say that this “newer” kit is really well made and has many good things to point out – and just some few that could have been better.
All in all, the body is pretty solid. The details are well moulded and it doesn’t have many imperfections to get rid of. So that’s part of the good news. The four door body makes a great basis for a police car, of course, but you could also build this car as just some every day beater or a some cool four door junker. Unlike real life, in scale model world, four door cars are rare and this is a cool four door kit.
The chasis, however, doesn’t make me very happy. It has just too many parts fixed to the car’s floor – like the exhaust or the transmission. The chasis isn’t the first thing you look at on a finished model, but still a great place for adding extra details. This isn’t a good basis to start adding brake lines or stuff like that.
The chromed parts are pretty good. You get some extra stuff, like a chromed shot gun and a pistol (this kit comes with 3 shot guns, by the way, so you can use one to place it in a pick up kit for instance). What I didn’t like much, is the fact that the headlights are completely moulded as chromed parts, instead of adding the clear parts. Otherwise, you will find many engine parts on chrome.
Speaking about clear parts, this is all you get with this kit. Considering the fact, that the head and taillights aren’t moulded in clear, I really appreciate that the siren lights are moulded in clear red and clear blue after all.
The decals are just fine. Besides the expected Police decals, you get two sets of license plates – both matching the plates used on TV. Since this is one of the few Police Cars around, I wished the had added some more police motives from real US counties or cities. You may still be able to do that with printable decal paper and some patience, though.
Pros:
- very well moulded
- lots of extra parts (like the shot guns)
- the kit matches the TV car very well
- the body looks much better than what you think of while looking at the box art (positive surprise)
Cons:
- The chassis isn’t good enough for these times (still, this is a re-edition of an old kit, so I guess we can live with that)
- No police decals for other counties
- Taillights and Headlights are moulded in chrome (no clear parts)
All in all, this is a very cool kit, not only for those who liked the series but also for those looking for something different to place in a diorama. I could very well see a dark green four door Dodge Monaco with some bumps and dents placed next to the OLD BARN Gas Station, for instance.
