The Car
Did anybody watch last year’s Super Bowl? The game wasn’t important-so the New York Giants knocked off the undefeated New England Patriots in a huge upset, big deal. Besides, we all watch the Super Bowl for its commercials, right? There are always a bunch of beer ads and tech spots, but there was one commercial that really stood out. This was the commercial obviously inspired by The Godfather movie, in which the mob boss wakes up and finds a Bentley front end under his covers.
After this, a very beautiful and tough sounding car is shown that starts up and speeds off. This was the first commercial to feature the Audi R8 and introduce Audi to the sports car world. For those of you who have seen the movie Ironman, there is a brief cameo by the R8 in there too.
The R8 is a mid-engine 2-door coupe and it is largely identified by the carbon fiber panels located behind the doors on both sides of the car.
Powered by a 4.2L V-8 engine, the R8 produces 414 horsepower, propelling the car from 0-60mph in 4.4 seconds. On December 9th, 2008, Audi introduced an R8 with a 5.2L V-10 that pushes 518 horsepower and a 0-60 time of 3.9 seconds. I am sure that pushes the price tag up a bit, but when you are spending $109,000 who’s counting right?
The Kit
Right off the bat, I will say this is a pretty good kit. I was a little concerned because certain Revell kits assemble easier than others. But in this kit, the car went together fairly well without many hiccups. The kit comes in molded plastic with chrome wheels and tires. It also includes full engine detail and a great set of instructions. Most of the R8s I have seen were mostly aluminum color. I didn’t have enough aluminum in my paint drawer for a whole car, but I did have some Tamiya Gunmetal. This color worked well with the car. My original plan was to strip the chrome off the wheels and paint them aluminum. However, when giving them a bleach bath, nothing happened. I have also heard of using Coca Cola to strip the chrome, but I tried this to no avail also.
So, I decided to keep the wheels chrome.
When putting this kit together I was disappointed in only one thing. I was surprised that there were no carbon fiber decals included in this kit, especially when the car includes such a large, visible area of it. I had some carbon fiber decals left over from a previous project, and they were not hard to cut to size and apply. I mentioned earlier that this kit includes complete engine detail, but it’s somewhat simplified. I would therefore recommend not spending too much time on the engine because most of it will not be seen. However, I do like how it looks under the glass. The decals make it very classy and a pleasure to look at and admire.
Another problem I had was in fitting the rear bumper.
Unfortunately, this problem would be obvious when the kit was finished, but I really tried to get it to fit correctly. I don’t mind it as much because on the shelf, it is hard to notice. One of the standout features of the R8 is the LED string of lights under each headlight. I really liked how Revell did this, because all you have to do is drop a bit of paint in there with a toothpick and voila, it’s done. A very nice piece of detail that adds to the overall look of the kit.
Conclusion
I liked this kit a lot. There were a few problems I had with it, but they don’t detract from the finished product. I like that the back hood can be lifted to display the engine of the car. It is also fun to look at.
The carbon fiber panels really make the car unique to other cars on the shelf. I would recommend the kit to any modeler, and I would really love to drive the real car if I ever get the chance!