Arii 1972 Ford Thunderbird- Review

The simple, yet classy box art draws you in. Then you notice the logo. Hmmmmm.... isn't Arii a Japanese kit manufacturer? And arent' the Japanese kits among the best in the world? Well, the answer to the first question is "yes". The answer to the second question? Well, nationality means little. ALL kit manufacturers have their share of treasure to trash... some just hit a better ratio in favor of "treasure". Overall kit quality has little (if nothing) to do with country of origin. But if you're one of those people who are into blanket statements, a few kits like this one might change your mind.

Let's dig in. We already saw that simple, elegant box top. What greets you upon opening that box?

Well, so far so good. One general statement you CAN make about Japanese kit manufacturers is that they generally don't cram as much as they can into the box. Parts carefully placed into a generously-sized box without crowding is something of a Japanese hallmark, with a few exceptions. That's the case here. Note that the tires are on their own cardboard "riser", which separates the body and chassis from the sprued parts. The instruction sheet is neaty tucked underneath all of this.

That instruction sheet starts off with a diagram showing what part is what, and how everything is laid out. Yes, if you can't read Japanese you are a little S.0.L., but the diagrams are easy enough to follow.

Here we have the body, hood and doors... oh, yes, this kit has opening doors! And if you look closely, you'll see that the door handles are separate as well.

The chassis and interior parts are molded in black... and this is the point where things start to go a little bit sour. See that geared metal shaft, and the small piece of wire? Yep... this was a motorized kit. And, even the most rabid fans of kits from the Land of the Rising Sun will tell you those types of kits are, ah.... compromised. You can also see the tie rod for the "functional" steering. This enabled the motorized model to scoot around in circles on the living room floor. Get 42 more of them, slather them in NASCAR graphics, and you could have your very own Bellawood 500!

Here's the chassis plate. As you can see, it's a collection of open holes and notches. Obviously, the big opening to the left is the engine bay, but the others are for the battery door, and a clearance notch for the geared rear axle. Underside detail is more theoretical than prototypical... a motorized kit will never win "best chassis" in a contest. Let's just leave it at that. And of course, all of this means the interior is unrealistically shallow.... we're talking Hollywood starlet shallow.

The chrome looks good. In fact, this kit has some of the nicest kit chrome I've ever seen. The stock wheel covers look clunky, though, and don't fit the supplied tires. The "jackman" wheels do, but they'd look more at home on an old K5 Blazer than on a T-Bird. Yes, the taillight is molded in with the bumper, so break out your favorite transparent red paint. Also note the heavy handed detail on the engine parts. It's hard to see in the pic, but the grille has an incorrect number of bars.

The clear parts are good- they're not too thick and they exhibit little optical distortion. Yes, that's the rearview mirror molded to the windshield. AMT caught hell for doing the same thing when they first released their '66 Nova SS kit in 1988, and that wasn't the first time they'd done such a thing. This picture shows why it was always a craptastic idea. Note also that not only are the headlight lenses provided as separate parts, but so are the cornering/turn signal lenses.

Here are the separately packaged parts- the big, chunky tires which, again, would look more at home on a light truck, the poly caps, and the various metal contacts and pieces for the electric motor... which, by the way, was not even included in this particular release.

The decal sheet features some slighlty oversized sponsor graphics which aren't printed as well as you might want them to be. If they'd not included these decals at all, I doubt anyone would complain.

So... I've discussed the fact that it was originally sold as a motorized kit, so you know that the chassis and interior will be woefully compromised. I've mentioned that the supplied wheels and tires aren't the best choice for it. I've mentioned the heavy-handed engine detail, the inaccurate grille, and the chrome taillight. Anything else you should know? Just this... though listed as 1:24, the kit is somewhat overscale.... closer to 1:22. The closest thing to it would be the MPC (and sometimes AMT/Ertl) Mercury Cougar Street Machine, which represents a '71-'73 model. Side by side the Thunderbird should be slightly larger in all dimensions, but the Arii kit absolutely dwarfs it. The basic body proportions look okay, but it is off a bit in a few areas. I mean, yes... it most certainly looks like a 1972 Thunderbird, and you won't mistake it for anything else. It's just far from perfect. But... if a '72 T-Bird is what your heart desires, this is your one and only choice.

Now, here's one I built.

I went with a nice metallic blue (with matching vinyl top) and a little careful foil work and detail painting to the lenses and grille. I glued the hood and doors shut... no sense in having them open to show off a substandard engine and interior. I went with a semigloss black finish on the interior, mostly just to de-emphasize it.

Back when I built this I was still using Testors Stoplight Red enamel. I've since switched to Tamiya Clear Red. It would have looked better on the all chrome taillight. I just had to be careful not to slop any on the T-Bird emblem in the center of the lens.

This side view shows off the wheels and tires, which came from the AMT Rides Magazine '72 Chevy pickup. I used them to fill in the overscale wheel openings. They looked ridiculous on the 1:25 Chevy, but on the 1:22-ish T-Bird they look more realistic.

The grille should have seven horizontal bars in the grille, and two in the bumper opening. It does not.

You can't knock this kit too much for its simplification, compromises, or inaccuracies... these '70's era Japanese kits were designed to appeal to kids, not "serious adult scale model hobbyist" types. You can still make a presentable model out of it, but unless you are up for some serious scratchbuilding, modification, and kitbashing, don't expect anything close to a museum-quality replica of a '72 Thunderbird.