Academy/MRC 1/24 Joe's Power Plus Service Station Kit First Look
By Michael Benolkin
| Date of Review | March 2014 | Manufacturer | Academy/MRC |
|---|---|---|---|
| Subject | Joe's Power Plus Service Station | Scale | 1/24 |
| Kit Number | 15122 | Primary Media | Styrene |
| Pros | Reissue of the classic service station | Cons | Nothing noted |
| Skill Level | Basic | MSRP (USD) | $69.00 |
First Look
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Model Rectifier and Academy have reissued a popular kit, this is the 1/24 scale Joe's Power Plus Service Station. If you look online, this kit has started attracting collector's prices but that is no longer a problem. The kit represents a circa 1950s-1960s service station which makes for an ideal diorama or vignette setting for your favorite 1/24 or 1/25 model cars.
This kit is molded in white styrene and presented on six parts trees plus one building foundation molded in gray styrene and two trees molded in clear. The station's building is enclosed on two sides and open on top and two sides. The key elements are the building on its base, the two fuel pumps on their island base, and the street sign on its own base. These allow you to arrange the structures to suit your display needs, whether permanently mounted to a display base or arranged with your model cars on a display shelf.
In addition to the building, twin fuel pumps, and station sign, the kit also provides a nice array of familiar details to recreate a station scene including:
- Positionable garage door
- Hydraulic lift in garage bay
- Air compressor
- Creeper
- Grease drum w/pump
- Oil can rack with cans
- Portable (luggable) car battery
- Portable jack
- Lug wrench
If you look at the sizable decal sheet, this provides the essential signage for the station, pumps, sign, and even all of the oil cans.
For many folks, this is a great backdrop for displaying your favorite cars. For others, this kit is merely a starting point. Using sheet styrene and other materials, you can enclose one or both open walls, add a roof, frame off the office and bathrooms, add a roof to the building, and add LED lighting to the scene.
The pumps can be backlit to simulate the lighting on these older pumps, or you could modify the pumps with additional nozzles and credit card units to modernize the pumps. The fuel island cover and road sign can also be lit. Simple additions can add new dimension to this kit whether you want to keep the station 'new' in the 1960s or remodel it to bring it into the present. We still have gas stations that look like this today in the smaller towns of the midwestern US. You're only limited by your imagination!
For a look at this kit built-up, look here.
My sincere thanks to MRC for this review sample!