Background:

I'd been waiting for one of these uncommon kits to show up on ebay for a while, and this August it finally did, so it went straight on the workbench. I don't build many US cars but the Pontiac Fiero is one I was certainly interested in, being such an unusal car for GM and having decent-from-many-angles styling. I wanted to try something a little different from my usual, and it was also the first Monogram kit I'd bought and I was interested to see how it compared to AMT in terms of quality. I've still not built (or owned) any MPC kits yet for a different comparison.

Kit review:

Pros:

Most of it fits together very well. The glass is practically snap-fit (hurrah), and the chassis and the body have a perfect snug fit where the wheel arches go all the way up to the body, no gap as per many kits. There's a nicely detailed engine and the seats look good once finished. The glass is nice and shiny.

Cons:

The wheels don't steer and for all four wheels, they won't stay on without something beyond what is supplied. There's a lot of flash to clean up from many parts - especially the seats. There are no side windows. The door mirrors have no decent mounting points. The decals are few and pathetic. Some of the transmission and axle parts are warped and need a lot of glue and coaxing to sit well. There are many chrome parts and the chrome is unrealistic and basically demands stripping. No option to pop-up the headlights. The exhaust tips are clumsily not-very-round. And finally - the worst thing, it's entirely moulded in red - even the interior and engine - the worst colour to cover with paint. Except the two cam covers - these are red on the real Fiero, but Monogram have chromed them.

Verdict:

It's pretty good considering it's age. I was expecting a lot more trouble getting it to fit together - probably based on my experience with an AMT kit. So though it requires a little work, there's nothing tricky about building this at all. The end result looks very Fiero.

Build notes:

Built over the course of 3 weeks in August 2023. Painted in Hycote Vauxhall Caribic blue acrylic and clearcoted in Tamiya Clear. Aside from the seatbelt retainers, carpets and the custom number plate, it's built entirely out of the box. All of the chrome parts have been restripped and where applicable (such as the wheels) repainted in Tamiya Metallic Silver.

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