Crown Vic Smackdown- Lindberg Vs. Revell

In the summer of 2014, Revell announced the addition of a few new members to it's growing "SnapTite Build & Play" family. Though aimed at the youth market, quite a few 'serious modelers' have taken the 2015 Mustang GT from that line and worked wonders with it. Anyway... Among the subjects to be released was a 1995-1997 "Six Window" Ford Crown Victoria in police form. Many (myself included) at first assumed that it was somehow based on the 1996-era Lindberg tooling. As details developed, however, it was revealed that Revell's effort was a completely new kit. While many wondered why Revell would commit to a subject already represented by a nearly twenty-year-old kit from a competitor, I looked forward to picking one up to see if Revell's entry was worth the effort, especially since it is aimed squarely at the beginner.

So, is it? Let's have a look.

The Lindberg kit is in the background, the Revell kit in the foreground. I did add Tamiya clear orange to the Lindberg's front side markers and I painted the window borders, but other than that, both are built totally out of the box with no other detailing.

Both kits are simplified, obviously. The Revell kit's interior has a molded center console, and front seats molded in place. The steering wheel is molded with the column. On the other hand, the Lindberg kit has separate front seats, and a separate steering column with stalk and gear selector detail. The Lindberg includes separate police equipment that glues to the dash.Both kits feature a separate rear-seat divider. Both kits have lackluster side panel detailing, but very nice dashboards. The Revell kit has the gauge detail engraved, while the gauges are supplied as a decal in the Lindberg kit. The Lindberg interior is shown on top, the Revell interior below...

I was expecting a flat, featureless chassis on the Revell kit, but was surprised (and pleased) to see that an effort was made to include underside detail. The Lindberg kit has a slight edge as far as chassis detail goes, though to be fair, both would qualify as adequate. Lindberg chassis top, Revell chassis bottom.

The Lindberg kit's chassis fastens via four screws, while the Revell kit uses two plastic rivets.

The Revell kit appears to use the same tires as the 2015 Mustang GT. As such, the wheels are oversized, and the tires are too tall, which makes the Revell kit sit much higher than the Lindberg kit.

There are clear cut disadvantages to the Revell kit. We just mentioned the tires. There are no side-view mirrors. The side window trim is even more faintly engraved than it is on the Lindberg kit... and the Lindberg window trim is not fun to foil to begin with. The side marker lens engraving isn't as good as it is on the Lindberg kit, though the headlights and grille are about equal as far as appearance goes. No Ford oval or Crown Victoria badging is provided.

The Lindberg kit isn't perfect, either. The front wheels are too far back in the fender openings. The glass unit does not fit as well- if you aren't careful you'll end up with a gap at the top edge of the windshield. Speaking of the glass unit- the Revel comes with a blackened border for the windshield and backlight, but you'll need to paint the border on the rear quarter windows. Like all Build and Play kits so far, the glass in the Revell kit is a bit murky looking, but it can be polished out.

The Revell kit's one big advantage over the Lindberg offering might be availability... many "big box" retailers like Meijer and Kmart still stock kits in select stores. I paid less than $13 for mine, while the Lindberg kits seem to sell for anywhere from $10 to $20.

Both cars are dimensionally similar.. which shouldn't be a surprise as both are listed as 1:25 scale. It looks like any aftermarket decal sets meant for the Lindberg kit should work on the Revell body.

I'd really say it's a wash in the end. While the Revell kit has better fitting glass, a properly centered front axle, and can literally be built in minutes, the Lindberg has a slight but decisive edge in overall detail- better wheels and tires, side view mirrors included, and slightly better interior detail. The Revell kit might be a bit easier to track down, as it is still in production, while the Lindberg kit is not. I suppose it really all depends on where you want to start. Unless you already have 30 of the Lindberg kits in your stash, I'd say this one is worth checking out.

So, was it worth the effort on Revell's part? Truthfully, I'm still on the fence. I'll let you know after I've done a little paint and detail work on one. I'd definitely like to see how it looks with some better wheels and tires. I'll keep you posted...

UPDATE- 5/9/2015

I wrapped up a mildly kitbashed Revell kit just minutes ago. It has wheels and tires from a Lindberg kit, old Chimneyville decals, and basic paint and foil detailing.

The village of Ashley, Michigan doesn't actually have a police force, but what the hey... it's a model, after all.

Just like the Lindberg kit, it responds pretty well to detailing, and the more authentic looking Lindberg tires really help, though the lack of side view mirrors is still pretty distracting.

I'll still have to give the edge to the Linberg kit, but I wouldn't totally write off the Revell kit either. Just keep your expectations within reason!

I do wish Revell had done a '98-'10 Crown Vic instead, but oh well. Maybe if they sell enough of these they'll look into it? Hey, a boy can dream, can't he... ?

TL;DR version...

The Lindberg kit's advantages are- more realistically-sized wheels and tires, side view mirrors, separate front seats, turn signal and gear selector on the column, decalized badging, scripts, and gauge cluster. There can be a gap along the top edge of the windshield if you aren't careful during assembly.

The Lindberg kit's disadvantages are- front axle positions the tires too far rearward in the openings, softer trunk lock detail, no panel cut lines on over the grille, or on the c-pillars. The kit is not currently in production, but can be found easily for reasonable prices.

The Revell kit's advantages are- Properly centered front axle, better engraved detail in a few areas (trunk lock, and cut lines and fuel-filler 'finger bump' omitted on the Lindberg kit). Better-fitting glass unit. Currently available, and it shouldn't set you back more than about thirteen bucks.

The Revell kit's disadvantages are- Oversized wheels and tires, no side view mirrors, seats and police equipment molded to interior tub. No steering column stalk detail. The grille does not come plated (though it responds well to 'plating' with foil) and the turn signal lenses aren't as convincing as the Lindberg kit's. No script or emblem decals are provided.