Box & Build Review: Revell Porsche Diesel Junior 108
NOTE: This will be the first in a series of reviews where I go beyond a straight out of the box review and include a buildup review. Future Box & Build reviews will go into even greater detail. Well, that's the plan at least. My favorite types of model reviews are the ones that cover the project from beginning to end, so I thought it was about time for me to try reviewing kits in that style. The first subject will be Revell's (by way of Revell Germany) excellent little Porsche tractor kit, rendered in 1:24 scale.
It isn't any big secret that Porsche built tractors, sort of. Yes, Dr. Porsche designed the tractors which bore his name, but the tractors themselves were built by outside firms, most notably Allgaier GmbH and Mannesmann AG, the latter of which was based out of the old Zeppelin factory near Friedrichshafen. His air-cooled modular engine design allowed one, two, three, or four cylinder engines to share many major parts. This would enable a line of tractors of different power levels to be produced while saving money on R&D and tooling cost for the engine components. Some 125,000 Porsche tractors were sold worldwide, and a good number still exist today. In the US, only about 1,000 were imported when the units were new, mostly on the East Coast. This wasn't for lack of trying, as Porsche actually set up a US subsidiary in Pennsylvania to help promote and sell the tractors Stateside.
The small-fry in the Porsche Diesel lineup, and the most popular seller, was the Junior. Built between 1953 and 1963, the Junior's single-cylinder engine displaced 822 cubic centimeters and boasted Bosch fuel injection. The frugal oil burner produced 15 horsepower at 2250 RPM. The tiny power plant was economical and durable, and easily serviced due to it's simplistic design. The Junior also sported a six-speed manual a good four decades before Porsche's legendary sports cars would become available with that many gears. The 1960 MSRP for the Junior was $1750. In that year, you could purchase a Massey-Ferguson 35 for $2529, or the last two-cylinder John Deere, the diesel-powered 730, for $3700. Both of these tractors produced at least twice the power of the Porsche, which it appears was largely deemed overpriced by the few American farmers who'd shown interest. I would imagine this tractor's closest competition Stateside would have been something like the International/Farmall Cub. At the time, American farmers were certainly buying into the "bigger is better" way of thinking, and why buy a small, low-powered oddity from Porsche when you could get something more suitable to your needs from a more established manufacturer with a larger dealer network?
So maybe the Junior just wasn't cut out for the needs of US farmers. But hey, it certainly looked good. Now let's have a look at the kit.
The US boxing features the tractor on a path through a wheat field, with a whimsical German town in the background. Farm Tractor series? Oh yes... there is at least one more new farm tractor kit coming from Revell in the near future, but that's a story for another time.
The majority of the kit is molded in red. These sprues contain the main body of the tractor, hood and fenders, axles, etc. The kit provides the option of two different seats, front fenders, and a couple of fender mounted passenger seats.
The wheels and optional ROPS roll bar are molded on the cream-white sprue.
The black plastic sprue contains the steering wheel, battery, air cleaner housing, oil filler, and an optional mirror. Two plate frames are also included.
On the chrome sprue you will find the hood trim, valve cover, grille, and exhaust system.
The clear sprue contains two tiny headlight lenses.
The hollow soft vinyl tires were somewhat distorted in the bag, but no worries- they're fine once stretched onto the wheels.
The Cartograf decal sheet is nicely rendered, except for the graphics making up decal 12, which features somewhat dark and murky images.
The instruction sheet is typical Revell, beginning with a history of the 1:1 vehicle, moving on to an itemized list of parts in the kit, the assembly diagrams, and decal placement.
The kit instructions are clear, and since this is a snap kit, assembly is easy. That's right- this full detail kit is a snap kit! Don't let that discourage you... it has more than enough detail It even has a working hood and pivoting seat, though we'll get back to that previous feature in a second.
I opted to build mine as a weathered tractor, without the ROPS, front fenders, or passenger seat. The front wheels are steerable, but I glued the components for added strength. This angle shows off the nose of the tractor to good effect, it kind of reminds me of The Rocketeer's helmet. Does anyone else remember The Rocketeer? No? Thought so.
The hood is meant to open, but much like the Heller Ferguson, I couldn't get it to open smoothly without binding. Which is a shame- the underhood detail is more than adequate, and there's even a small folding prop rod included in the kit! As stated, this is a snap kit, and the precise parts if combined with layers of paint probably worked against me as far as hood operation went.
From the side the Junior looks stubby due to it's height, but overall it's only slightly shorter end-to-end than a Ferguson. This would normally be where I start getting into commentary on parts fit and things to look out for, but I already mentioned the hood. Other than that, the kit gave me no fitment issues whatsoever. The process of building this kit was pleasant overall, and relatively quick. The decals laid down well and set nicely.
Other than the use of a Molotow chrome pen, Tamiya acrylics were used on the model. I was happy with how the Cartograf decals applied, but opted not to use the tail light decals and paint them instead.
So... what are my overall feelings about the kit?
I like the subject matter. I tend to lean toward oddball and uncommon vehicles, and here in the states a Junior 108 is certainly uncommon. The kit itself is great- it packs in quite a bit of detail despite being simplified in areas. And there's nothing to worry about in the building process- again, aside from the hood wanting to bind when opening, the assembly itself was trouble free. And the kit does offer a few detail options to keep things interesting. I really like the kit and would recommend it to anyone. It would be a fun box-stock build, and you could have all kinds of fun making up implements and such for it.
Between this, the new Heller Ferguson 20 and reissued Massey-Ferguson 2680, and the upcoming RoG Deutz, times are getting good for modelers interested in farm tractors. I wonder if maybe this will prompt Round 2 to start reissuing some of the old Ertl tractor and implement kits? Time will tell.
