Testors 1/6
Dodge 426 Hemi Racing Engine

Background

Check out the kit review here.

The Project

As I mentioned in the kit review, all of the parts are nicely sealed up into small packets to prevent damage before reaching your workbench. Assembly is to be accomplished with four different types of screws and/or cyanoacrylate glue.

The large instruction sheet is nicely illustrated with only a part or two covered in each step. You'll need to spend a little time to acquaint yourself with the instructions and the kit as there are a few precautions you'll need to take to make this a smooth project. First, while the instructions show part numbers, the parts are not numbered, so you'll have to locate each part the good old-fashioned way. Second, I had hoped that the parts were grouped together by steps to minimize the number of packets that need to be open at any time. For the most part, plan on opening all of them up and putting the loose parts into a bowl or container to keep them from wandering off before you need them.

Construction

Once I was oriented with the project, I located each part and dry-fit the part first. If the fit is tight, don't force it. The paint and/or powder coating has closed up the holes ever so slightly, so use a small round needle file to open up any holes that require some help.

You might be tempted to use liquid cement on the plastic-to-plastic bonds (I was). Don't bother - the paint or chrome plating is thick enough that you won't get any reaction from the cement. Stick with the cyano.

The Dodge Hemi goes together rather well and it is a simple build. The initial steps have you build the starter and oil filter mount on the engine block before attaching the engine stands and the display base. Don't get this out of order as some of the assemblies can be a royal pain if you get out of order.

Step 9 has you assemble the water pump and fan/pulley but these parts come already assembled. Some improvements were obviously made to the kit after the instructions were written.

It is very important to check out each step carefully before proceeding, for instance in Step 23, they have you mount the oil filler onto the valve cover using a screw, but I had already run out of those screws by this time and the screw wouldn't have held the part in place anyway. I used cyano for this step. In Step 24, the instructions show four screws used to mount the valve covers to the head, but only two are needed for each side.

The only real difficulty was with one head that would not sit tightly to the engine block with the indicated screws (shorter screws were needed, but I was out of that size). It is a minor movement and it is definitely not coming off again.

Conclusion

The kit goes together as advertised and looks stunning when completed. I never used any paints. The instructions do recommend a little painting of details and a wash to bring out more details, but this is left to the modeler's taste. I rather enjoyed the project as a quick-build that looks great on the shelf. Give one of these engines a try, I think you'll like it!

My sincere thanks to Testors and the DLV Company for this review sample!