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In-Box Review
124
Citroen DS 21
Citoren DS 21
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by: Michael Mitchell [ COSIMODO ]

Background
Launched in 1955 at the Paris Motor Show, the Citroen DS was a sensation. Although its arrival had been long rumoured and allowing for the fact it came from a manufacturer known for innovation, it still exceeded all expectations. The styling, of course, caught the initial attention compared to the staid designs of the 1950’s from other manufacturers. However, the car masked even more radical advances on the mechanical side, the most famous being the use of hydraulics for the suspension. The DS range was in production for 20 years with about 1.4 million cars sold worldwide.
This model, the Citroen DS 21 was introduced in 1965 with further refinements including swivelling headlights and more powerful engine. It hard to pin down the attributes of any one year as it was refined over its lifetime with several changes. The kit is provided as the Pallas, the upmarket version of the range.

The Kit
Ebbro’s kit comes in a deep box. Each sprue and accessories is individually bagged. The kit comprises:
A white body shell
5 sprues of white (51 parts), black (43), chrome (24) and clear (16) plastic though not all parts are used.
5 unbranded tyres
Decals for chrome parts, number plates and badging
A set of fold out instructions

Overall the kit is flash free, with no moulding marks that will be visible once the kit is assembled.
The body is blemish free. You are required to add the front doors, bonnet and roof so shut lines maybe a challenge but also allows the car to be displayed in way that the interior and engine is visible.

Sprue A moulded in black contains the floor pan, engine and suspension parts. everything seems well cast with no visible marks on the outward side of parts. there a full engine to work with in the engine bay and this should be straightforward to add some detailing to.

Sprue B moulded in white with the main body panels of front doors, roof and bonnet. It also has the exhaust system, steel wheels plus other small parts.

Sprue C moulded in white has the interior parts of floor pan, seats, interior door panels, dash and ancillaries. The dash it well detailed and of course the one -spoke steering wheel is provided.

Sprue D has the chrome parts. It has the bumpers, hub caps, external window trim for front and back, and the famous “trompettes de Jericho”, the rear indicators that ran the length of the roof line. There parts from the DS 19 model that are not required.

Sprue E has the clear parts. The rear window and rear side windows are cast as one piece, but all the parts are blemish free.

The tyres are without mould lines and one provided for the spare wheel. Though the tread detail is well defined surprisingly there are no manufacturer marks on the sidewalls given that Michelin were a big part of Citroen and these cars were used as part of the launch of radial tyres.

Decals and instructions
The decals are quite thick, more like stickers, which is good way to handle the finer chrome edging that is seen on the car, inside and out. You get four plate number options and thickness provides a little more depth than a typical decal.
The instructions are clear and logical to follow. The paint call out references Tamiya paints and the colours look reasonable though some colours for parts are not given a Tamiya reference. Body colour is an individual choice.

The instructions are set out in an A4 sized fold out style there are 9 pages on construction laid out in 18 steps.

Steps 1 & 2 are engine and gearbox assembly. the engine comes with all the major components. Given the space in the engine bay it would be fairly easy to add extra detailing as desired such as wiring or fuel lines.

Steps 3 & 4 is assembling the dashboard and firewall and installing in the body.

Step 5 is installing the engine and adding battery, hydraulic pumps, reservoirs and spare tyre frame.

Steps 6 & 7 are front and rear axle assembly. the front wheels are posable and also linked to the front light assembly (Step 14) so the inner lights of the two pairs swivel in line with the front wheels.

Step 8 is exhaust and muffler attachment along with the radiator intake.

Steps 9 & 10 detail the interior assembly and attaching to the floor pan.

Steps 11 & 12 sees the front and rear screens, windows, external chrome window trim and other chrome pieces, including the “trompettes”.

Step 13 is constructing the swivelling headlights and bringing the body shell and floor pan together.

Step 14 is on finishing the front axle assembly, adding steering rods and linkages to the lights. Looking at this I would suggest this should be done after the headlights are assembled in Step 13 but before the body and floor are brought together.

Step 15 & 16 are adding the rest of the chrome in the former of the front and rear bumpers, indicators, tail lights and other chrome trim,

Step 17 is constructing the front doors which interior detail as separate parts, including the handles and arm rests.

Step 18 Add the bonnet and the roof, plus the final minor details of mirrors, wipers, door handles and badging.
Given the above instruction steps it is clear that you need to paint the body and panels before starting assembly. The viewable engine bay and bare internal body work would make a difficult task to mask after assembly.
The decals are quite thick, more like stickers, which is good way to handle the finer chrome edging that is seen on the car, inside and out. You get four number plate options and thickness provides a little more depth than a typical decal.

Conclusion
Ebbro’s Citroen DS is an amazing kit with a lot of detail, both internally and externally. It looks well engineered though the challenge will be in the fit of all the opening parts. It would be straight forward for most modellers.

Please remember, when contacting retailers or manufacturers, to mention that you saw their products highlighted here - on AUTO MODELER
SUMMARY
Highs: Excellent moulding and great detail provided. Assembly should not to be complicated as the steps are clearly detailed and straightforward
Lows: None really, maybe fold out instructions booklet and potentially the fit of the doors, bonnet and roof.
Verdict: Looks to a great kit and will build to detailed version of a classic Citroen.
Percentage Rating
95%
  Scale: 1:24
  Mfg. ID: 25009
  PUBLISHED: Jun 09, 2019
  NATIONALITY: France
NETWORK-WIDE AVERAGE RATINGS
  THIS REVIEWER: 95.00%
  MAKER/PUBLISHER: 89.71%

About Michael Mitchell (Cosimodo)
FROM: AUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND

Copyright ©2021 text by Michael Mitchell [ COSIMODO ]. Images also by copyright holder unless otherwise noted. Opinions expressed are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of ModelGeek. All rights reserved.



Comments

Michael, Great review for sure. I love Ebbro kits, for the details, excellent fit, and fidelity to scale. looking forward to your build blog and or Feature. Joel
JUN 09, 2019 - 02:49 AM
Excellent review, thanks for your contribution Michael. Looks like a very nice kit, it will be good to see a full build log to see how it all goes together. Cheers, D
JUN 09, 2019 - 01:58 PM
Excellent review Michael. Sure looks like a great kit. Thanks for taking the time to do a review. BTW, Zero paints have 25 colors, for the DS19, in their range.
JUN 11, 2019 - 10:28 PM
Thanks all for the comments. I will try another review shortly. On the Zero paints, that is true, unfortunately it is very difficult to get them shipped down under. The US stockest is erratic and the UK won't ship.
JUN 12, 2019 - 02:38 PM
BNA in Melbourne stocks Zero paints Michael. LINK Cheers, D
JUN 12, 2019 - 04:27 PM
   


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