Revell 85-8883 1/4 Visible V-8 Engine Plastic Model Kit, 12-Inch,Multi-Colored

I’m an old retired mechanic. I have been wanting to build one of these for a long time. I finally got the time to do it. I was very patient. I spent the first day, (about 6 hours) just trimming parts and looking through the directions. It took another 3 days, or so, to complete. Some pieces MUST be allowed to dry thoroughly before proceeding.Most of the parts fit very well. However, some pieces need to be ‘shifted/pushed’. Its wise to pre-fit, and understand how everything is going together, and, some temporary assembly is also helpful. The finished engine looks very good, with some mis-alignment where the water pump matches up with the heads; mostly caused by slight warpage in a front clear piece. Its minor to me.The box recommends paint. But I think that is an error. This model looks great without painting. Instead of adding detail and realism, I believe painting just distracts from the purpose of this model. (Having said that, there are exceptions. Some of the pictures other builders have uploaded, are impressive.)I used Canola vegetable oil, It seems to be working fine. You really need to be careful to clean the oil off the end of the rocker arm shaft, before gluing the cap on. And then work that closest rocker arm back and forth, to be sure no glue is stuck to it. (OR, just lubricate it after gluing.) DON”T apply oil to the cylinder walls. It is not necessary, as the pistons are a loose fit. The oil will just cloud up the view.I used Testors Clear Parts Cement where it said to use epoxy. I think the clear parts glue worked very well. It takes longer to dry, but it also gives you time to clean any glue from the threads, and you can even install the screw, and tighten the nut into the hole, getting it perfected centered. AND, it dries clear.The screws and nuts in my kit were nearly perfect. The sole exception was putting the screw through the generator bracket into the thermostat housing. I had to enlarge the hole opening a little bit, then it worked.It is a copy of an old small block Chevrolet. (Although, you can modify it to look like other engines.) If you assemble it correctly, the valves and pistons are in correct ‘time’. HOWEVER…some fool put the rotation direction on the bell housing pointing in the wrong direction. The engine actually turns clockwise…looking at it from the front. (The same as a real engine.) It doesn’t hurt to turn the wrong direction, its just that the valves work backwards then.It has great detail, and a lot of parts. I actually would have liked to have seen even more detail. Such as, a timing chain, camshaft bearings, a rotating distributor shaft, and a clear distributor cap. They also need to include spark plug wire looms. My pictures do not show them, but I have some split wire wraps on the way from Amazon. That should make the wires look better.Interestingly, if you build this correctly, some of the important items can be disassembled. You can add oil to the parts, or even swap out pistons, heads, etc.I don’t really see this as a great father/son project. This is a model you will need to concentrate on. (I believe this is the same, or very similar to a model engine that I tried to build 45 years ago…and failed. If my memory is correct, I gave up after messing up installing the nuts. I had them crooked, with glue in the threads. But, back then, we didn’t blame others, for our own failures, like I see many reviewers here doing.)

The media could not be loaded. Got this for my husband for Christmas because he loves working on cars. This is a good alternative to the real thing which is way more expensive. He finished it in a week! No issues. Just need to get your own glue and oil.

60 years ago I put one of these together. My revisionist memory recalled it as "fun". I tried again. Now I remember that at 10 years old I made a mess of this model. Too much glue, missing parts and a lot of patience lacking. This time was different. I was patient. And you need of lot of that. I limited myself to two hour sessions. It took seven of them.I assembled this model as a preview for one I have bought for my 9 year old grandson for Christmas. Suffice it to say that if he is able to put this together, MIT will greet him with open arms. The instructions are incomplete.The parts are not the best quality. And the snaps and fits don't. I have penciled in plenty of notes on the instructions for my grandson. Every part needs to have flash and sprues filed off and smoothed. Gluing is tricky finding the sweet spot between too much and not enough. The internal nuts came loose on later steps which meant I needed to employ "ship in a bottle" techniques to reseat the nut. One push rod broke all by itself after having 80% of the engine together. I had a choice of carving out a replacement part from the mold tree reside or repair it with a heated straight pin up the shaft. I chose the ladder. Getting it back in place was a real challenge. Another "ship in a bottle" effort.The piece de resistance was the crank on the final assembly. After finishing everything I turned the crank and watched the valve and piston action. It was all wrong. I pondered the problem for a few days. Did I set the timing exactly 180 degrees off? NO! The answer was the stupid arrow on the crank points in the wrong direction. Turning the crank in counterclockwise direction "fixes" the problem. All the timing is correct. Another error in the directions. Although I haven't checked to see if the fan is now turning i the wrong direction.Because I was patient, clever, and willing, the reward is a fine looking model that I am proud of. Even with the not so perfect repaired push rod. The deeper into the assembly steps, the flimsier the instructions. The last few steps are almost "What ever". I guess they figure if you made it that far, you can figure it out for yourself. And that was part of the enjoyment for me. The instructions are a game unto themselves. There are four color parts. Why do they only tell you which ones are clear? You have to hunt for the rest. My penciled notes to my grandson tell him if the parts are black, light grey or dark grey. That right there saves a ton of time.I liked putting this model together and recommend it with four stars. Not five for the poor quality parts and deficient instructions. But with care and ingenuity, you can have yourself a trophy that attests to your patience and creativity.

I bought this for my wife for her birthday...lol. She is always asking me about how a gasoline engine works and what are the parts. She was so excited when she opened the present and thank me as if I bought her a diamond ring. My wife was has great mechanical ability and loves a challenge. This will keep her busy and informed and she won't be asking about how an engine work anymore.