Revell 1/32 EC135 'Flying Bulls' Kit First Look

By Michael Benolkin

First Look

We've had a look at the Revell 1/32 EC135 in the past and overall this is a really nice kit which includes a nice interior and a few extra parts for special configuration aircraft including radome and FLIR ball. My only complaint with this kit was that all of the cabin doors are molded closed which can hide some of that nice detail, but also provide an opportunity for the experienced modeler and some careful surgery. So why are we looking at this again? The Flying Bulls.

What kind of group has two EC135, two Bo105, and an AH-1 Cobra together in an aerial demonstration team? The same group that also has a growing stable of warbirds on the airshow circuit and an entire global air race that bears its name: Red Bull. Last year, Revell AG released a special edition EC135 kit depicting OE-XFB, the metallic blue over silver aircraft of the Flying Bulls team. This set included the kit and paint set. I don't remember seeing this kit offered in the US market but in any case, it is getting hard to find anywhere. I just happened to spot this kit on sale for £12.99 while searching the Hannants website and had to acquire one.

As we've observed previously, this kit is molded in multi-colored styrene and presented on five parts trees plus one tree of clear parts. My reservations about the cabin doors are moot at this point since this kit is all about the paint job. The decal sheet provides the markings and stenciling for Austrian-registered OE-XFB and includes the silver striping and borders to make your job of painting easier.

Update: one of our readers commented on this first look on Facebook and pointed out his disappointment in this kit. I took some of his observations and looked closer at this kit. One observation was that there was lots of flash on the kit parts. True - this isn't unusual for older Revell toolings and this kit is no exception. Another observation was that the larger clear parts had distortions - my example had a few minor distortions but I was planning on dipping the parts in Future anyway. One observation that would be considered a show-stopper is a poor fitting windscreen (a frustrating problem I've seen on other kits) - I dry-fitted the windscreen to the fuselage halves taped together and had no fit problems. The reader continued with some concerns about the accuracy of rotor blades, etc., but that goes beyond the scope of our first-looks. I originally listed this kit for Experienced modelers and that recommendation stands due to the mold flash and if there are detail issues, an experienced modeler can make the necessary changes to bring their model up to their expectations.

If you're a rotary-wing modeler and want a relatively easy build that will have some stunning color, this is one aircraft you'll want on your scale flightline. After seeing some of these aircraft in action at a European airshow, I wanted one on my shelf, and finding it on sale was all the better!