By Daniel Holmes - images & text © 2005

Scale: 1/24 - approximately 8"/ 203mm long when completed

Parts: 84 styrene and 5 rubber tires

Instructions: 8 pages of 'Janglish', painting guide with Gunze Sangyo callouts.

Decals: Waterslide, markings for one vehicle

Molding Quality: 9 - very little flash, a few sink marks

Detail: 8 - what is there is really sharp, but it there could be so much more

Accuracy: 9 - from what I could tell, it hits the main points

MSRP: ¥2800 JPY (~$27.43 USD/$33.38 CAN/ € 21.00 EUR) available from HobbyLink Japan

Overall Rating: 9 - see review

Max Rockatansky's 'Last of the V8 Interceptors' was a Australian 1973 Ford XB Falcon Hardtop. Between the events of Mad Max and Mad Max 2 (aka The Road Warrior), he added a few items to it: Drum fuel tanks, a seat in the door for his dog, Jerry cans, and other assorted items a post-apocalyptic drifter would need.

I obtained this kit as a gift to myself for getting a new job. From ordering to receiving from HobbyLink Japan, it was 10 days. It arrived with damage to the body, but a few emails back and forth to HLJ, and a new body is winging its way to me now. Kudos to HLJ!

What You Get

Aoshima has re-released their kit of the Interceptor from Mad Max 2. I never saw the previous release, so I do not know if there have been any changes to this kit. The kit comes with about 84 pieces, including a sprue of clear parts, and a small decal sheet. The instruction sheet has been badly translated from Japanese into English, but is reasonably understandable. One example is the directions to glue the chromed parts: “In the case of the parts with plating, remove the plating off from the gluing point before gluing.” A nice feature is having English translations of colors—something to keep for the reference file for other kits that don't include color translations.

The interior detail is excellent for what is present. There is a baby seat that attaches to the door for Dog, a bucket, and the police radio on the headliner. The gearshift includes the handle Max pulled to activate the supercharger. Aoshima has even included a decal for a can of Dinky-Di dog food!

Much more could have been done though. The door handles and window cranks are molded to the inside panels and the dash has depressions rather than definite guages (decals take care of the guages). The exterior is similarly equipped: Large drum fuel tanks for the back, a spare tire, Jerry cans, even the explosive device Max put underneath. The front suspension is fully represented: Rotors for the front with separate struts, steering rack, etc. The chassis does have the lower half of an engine and associated components molded into it. Detail on the underside of the engine includes starter, oil pan, fan belts, but is strangely missing the fan itself. The rear has almost nothing—just the drum attached to the axle pin from the one-piece leaf springs and differential. One piece is supposed to represent the shock and assorted doodads. There is no separate driveline, it is molded into the chassis. Decals represent the louvers over the headlights, rather than a separate piece. The supercharger and exhaust sidepipes are in a nice matte chrome, however the supercharger attaches directly to the hood—there is no engine. The hood does not open so for most, the lack of an engine won't be an issue. I haven't decided if I am going to try and fit a Ford V-8 in there or not.

The tires are vinyl, and poly bearings are included. I can't tell if the tires will be able to roll on them or not though.

Assembly

It looks like a straightforward car build. A number of small pieces have either flashing on them, or pins attached. Most parts are a single piece. Visible mold lines are minimized; Aoshima has either put them on the back or the sides where they could. What seam work will be required looks typical: The Jerry cans are two parts, as are the fuel drums. The supercharger is a well engineered. The mating surfaces will have to have the chrome scraped off, but Aoshima has minimized the visible gluing surfaces. I cut a few pieces off the sprue to test them out. The Jerry cans mate so well that after sanding just a little, the seam is completely gone! I hope the rest of the build goes this well. A full painting guide is included, with paint numbers for Gunze Sangyo's Mr. Hobby and Mr. Color lines. No weathering guide is included—break out the DVD or VCR.

Conclusion

• Pros: Nice kit of the Interceptor, matte chrome on the supercharger and exhaust. Excellent interior. Good price.
• Cons: Missing the engine, what details are there are soft-door handles molded in, etc.

I look forward to starting on this kit—it has bumped several others out at the head of the 'to do' pile. Aoshima has tried to include everything the casual observer would notice on Max's car. I'm not sure it would stand up to close scrutiny though. The buildup will be fairly easy, but the lack of weathering references is going to hamper an accurate job. The lack of an engine in this kit is a minus for me, however for a curbside kit it appears to be excellent. Recommended for all modeling skills, but some scratchbuilding and weathering experience will be required if recreating an accurate representation of one of cinema's most recognizable cars. This kit will surely turn heads in the IPMS 1/24 scale automobile category.