Revell AG BMW i8

[MidMazar]

New kit I just recently found. Would've preferred a rerelease of their e36 or a newer generation M3 but can't complain. If anyone has a kit can you please share the contents.

http://www.revell.de/produkte/modell.../id/07008.html

[generationx]

This is a stunning-looking car, and if Revell have done a good job it'll be a "must have"

[Kjenjak]

The level of details is great, according to their instruction sheet, but painting the blue accents could be difficult.
And: There's no more 2-piece rims, but rims in one piece! Maybe there's still hope for Revell.

[BVC500]

Agreed that painting the blue accents will be a pain. Would have been nice if they had engineered those parts as separate.

[ZoomZoomMX-5]

I'm willing to bet the blue accents are decals. Sadly they chose what looks to me to be the ugliest factory wheels, and of course it's Revell so they look undersized. Overall the kit looks good.

Looking forward to this and the 918 Spyder.

[MPWR]

Originally Posted by MidMazar

Would've preferred a rerelease of their e36

Agreed!

[Hemi Killer]

I don't get why Revell has such a hard time making wheels and tires correctly. Their Mustangs and pretty much all the exotic cars just look weird.

[da_ashman]

There were some pics of it the Nurburg model show eariler this year (Sorry bad spelling)
Showed it is like Tamiya LFA, can be built as seperate body with a rolling chassis, includes all the detail of the drive train that would otherwise never been seen. I'll def be getting this!!! & the 918 with the undersized wheels!

[mattbacon]

OK... I have the kit in hand, and I've measured the wheels and tyres, so before we go off into yet another "Revell's wheels are undersized and they have tractor tyres" rap, these are the facts.

All wheels are the same diameter, 21mm. This translates to 19.9". The real rims are 20", and I'm not measuring to an accuracy of 0.02mm, I'm sure. So, the rims are the right diameter.

The front and rear tyres are different widths. The rear tyres are 9mm wide and 4mm high, which translates to 216/44, where the real ones are 215/45s. Again, close enough to satisfy me.

The front tyres are 8mm wide and also 4mm high, which translates to 192/50. The real things are 195/50s.

So, the Revell rears are 216/44 R19.9, while the real ones are 215/45 R20s
The Revell fronts are 192/50 R19.9s, while the real ones are 195/50 R20s

It's true that they've chosen to give us the narrow section wheelset rather than the wider "special equipment" ones, but the Revell wheels are pretty much bang on the money for the standard issue model.

...and yes, the blue accents are decals.

[I'll take some pictures of the contents tomorrow, but it needs setting up, since most of the sprues are black!]

bestest,
M.

[ZoomZoomMX-5]

Originally Posted by mattbacon

OK... I have the kit in hand, and I've measured the wheels and tyres, so before we go off into yet another "Revell's wheels are undersized and they have tractor tyres" rap, these are the facts.

All wheels are the same diameter, 21mm. This translates to 19.9". The real rims are 20", and I'm not measuring to an accuracy of 0.02mm, I'm sure. So, the rims are the right diameter.

bestest,
M.

Sorry, they are not the right diameter, and this is so frustrating with Revell in general. The wheel diameter is measured where the bead of the tire meets the rim, there is a very visible bead retainer on every wheel, that Revell continues to completely ignore, so their wheels will always be undersized.

A 20" wheel in scale should be about 22.76mm. That would be 20", with a 3/4" lip, which increases diameter to 21.5", then divided by 24 and converted to mm.

One would think Revell would have figured that out in the dark ages. Or there's some evil person at Revell gladly skimming a fraction of a penny of plastic cost per model and thinking they are a star. So their bloody i8 looks like it has rental-car spec 18" 2 series wheels on it. Nice

[mattbacon]

Fair enough -- I stand corrected. Given how accurately sized they are based on the same incorrect assumption as me, I'm sure they could get them right. I really doubt that it's penny-pinching, just duff gen. The Revell Germany product guys are always at SMW, so if no one else has caught up with them by then, I'll mention it (again)...

In the mean time, does anyone know of some aftermarket 20" wheels that look at all like this:



?

bestest,
M.

[Mr Plumb]

If anyone wants to see a closer look and unboxing I uploaded it 2 days ago to my channel

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6OWXFU1K62I

[blubaja]

There is a 1/24 scale RC version of the concept. Has the 5 spoke looking wheels.


They seem slight bigger. But still not accurate for the production model. But I think I'll aim for these. Or some other bigger diameter aftermarket wheel.

[ZoomZoomMX-5]

Here is a photo of one of the Revell builtups. Photo taken by Gerry Paquette who has shared this photo on several forums. The undersized wheels look sad under that otherwise excellent looking model. I wonder why in 2015 this is still an issue? Revell finally got rid of their odd "trap the brake disc between wheel halves" wheel/brake design, but we're still being treated to poverty-spec wheel diameters. C'mon Revell, this is totally unnecessary, totally easy to fix, and somewhat embarrassing.

[lezdep]

Never have been a big fan of Revell kits. But there are subject not available from any other
plastic kit makers. Wheels are a big annoyance, but at least body shapes are good in general.
Both i8 and 918 are on my wish list.

Somewhat related question - where do I get Revell kits from in North America (preferably Canada)
at best prices ?