Revell's COMPLETE! 1/25 Dodge Viper RT/10

By Chris Banyai-Riepl

History

450 horsepower. 8.0-L V-10 engine. 490 pound-feet of torque. And it's street legal. What more do you want? How about flowing curves, a roomy interior, and a throaty exhaust note that will announce you decades before you arrive? Get a Viper and you have all of the above. With the Viper Dodge has firmly put the United States back into the high-performance sports car arena.

The V-10 powerhouse of an engine propelled the Viper into Ferrari class, a fact made all the more apparent when Dodge built their GTS-R racing Viper. Its first appearance in the 1996 Le Mans resulted in a tenth place finish, pretty good for an untried race car. But it didn't stop there. In 1997, moving to the GT-2 class, the Viper dominated the track, leaving Ferraris and Porches behind and snagging the 1997 FIA GT-2 Drivers' and Manufacturers' World Championships. In 1998, not wanting to be seen as a flash in the pan, the Viper team won both championships again. What about Le Mans? Well, instead of tenth, Vipers finished first and second.

The RT-10 is the convertible street Viper that removes the top and lets the 180mph wind tousle your hair as you scream down the highways. So if you're looking for something to turn heads, and you have a spare $70,000 lying around, take a trip on down to your local Dodge dealer and pick up a Viper.

The Kit

Of course, if you don't have $70,000, you'll have to settle for a model of the Viper. Revell has always been one to try to get new, younger modelers into the hobby and these two kits are part of a new program aimed at doing just that. In addition to the kit, the box also contains glue, a paintbrush, and some acrylic paint. The model isn't a simplified junior model, though. Quite the opposite, in fact, with a full interior and engine detailing included. If you're interested in building a Viper, don't skip this one by simply because of the added paint and glue.

This kit is very complete and incredibly well detailed. The Viper hasn't really changed much since its debut, a fact seen by the copyright date on the kit of 1992. Still, the kit has held up well through the years. The drivetrain is very complete, with the engine and transmission split down the middle, with separate pieces for the pan, engine front, and belts. The suspension also is well detailed, but some parts (such as the coil springs) could use some cleanup or replacement. The usual engine compartment wiring and plumbing will need to be added as well, but out of the box it will look pretty good.

The interior is done somewhat differently from other car kits in that the base tub has separate door pieces. This will make doing the detail painting much easier, and should make things easier should you want to try opening the doors. The instrument panel cluster is separate, with detailing raised up for the instruments. These will be difficult to paint, though, as they are set back in the cluster and no decals are provided. The unique black on white instruments will really stand out, too, so it's sad that Revell couldn't have provided decals for this part.

The chassis and suspension look to be tricky to get everything going where it needs to be going. This is a complicated car, and the model is no exception. You'll definitely want to do some dry fit runs with this kit before gluing anything down. The body is built up of front and rear bumper sections, the main body, and a separate hood. All fit well and follow along sections of the original car, so there won't be any seams to buff out. There is a tree of chrome parts, but so far all the pictures I've seen show these parts to be more of an aluminum color rather than chrome, so it might be better to soak them in bleach and repaint them with aluminum paint.

The decals provide you with the Viper logo and a Texas license plate, and the clear parts cover the windscreen and headlights, with clear red plastic adding the taillights. The big 17" tires are vinyl and have a bit of flash around them, but that shouldn't take too much time to clean up.

Conclusion

The Dodge Viper has an interesting look to it, and this kit captures it well. With the full engine and interior treatment given in this kit, you won't have to spend $70,000 to see what this awesome car looks like. But if you want to feel your hair ripped out of your follicles going around a corner at 180mph, better go see your Dodge dealer.

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