The Revell 1/24 scale Volkswagen T2 Easy Click System bus includes all the parts you need to build it, plus a choice between decals and stickers (the white walls for the tires and a few of the engine decals are not reproduced on the sticker sheet), and color instructions. You can build the bus to U.S. or European specs, but only left-hand drive. The spare tire, with a choice of two rims, can be added to the front instead of the VW badge, and all the doors, the engine lid, and the steering are posable.
Some of the well-molded parts have a little flash and fine mold lines, but cleanup isn’t a chore. The plastic is on the soft side, which works for this kit because there are some delicate areas on the body, especially around the windows.
The weatherstripping/seals around the windows are molded on the clear parts. They should be a bit heavier to be correct, but they don't look bad once painted. Painting the window seals turned out to be the most difficult task for the entire kit; the raised detail requires time and attention.
The windshield seal looks more correctly molded to the roof and front part of the body but doesn’t appear on the A-pillars. I scribed a line on each A-pillar to help represent the seal with paint.
I used both stickers and decals on the engine. Even though the stickers worked well, I went with decals for most of the exterior markings. They worked fine and responded to a little decal solution.
The tire whitewalls looked too white for how I finished the vehicle, so I applied a wash of Tamiya German Grey (No. XF-63) and Windex (about 1 part paint to 9 parts cleaner) to them and the hub caps. The kit supplies only four whitewall decals, even though the instructions indicate there should be a fifth on the spare.
The bumpers have black accent strips. The stickers didn’t work on the front due to the dropouts for the carriage bolts being located incorrectly, and I couldn’t stretch the sticker to compensate. I used the decal instead, but it suffers from the same problem. Ultimately, I cut the decal into three pieces and touched up the 1/16-inch gaps with paint.
The vents under the windshield and VW emblems on the mud flaps and the back of the bus look significantly better with decals instead of stickers.
For the dash details, I used the stickers instead of the decals. It only took a minute to apply them, and they looked good. All the interior parts fit well without cement, but it wouldn’t hurt to secure them with glue.
Except for the door glass, the instructions show the windows installed after the body is mated to the chassis. I added them all before attaching the body to the chassis so I could clean off any fingerprints on the inside. Check some of the glass parts for flash that may interfere with the fit.
I added the roof, taillights, spare tire, and engine compartment lid before mounting the body to the chassis. The taillight lenses are a very tight fit, and I cracked the right side lens pressing it into place. (At least it fits the distressed look of the van.) You should ream the top hole in the bezel on both the driver and passenger sides; there seems to be enough friction in the lower holes to keep them in place.
The instructions call out for the bottom of the right taillight to be painted black and the bottom of the left to be painted silver. The U.S. versions have clear or white lenses on both sides at the bottom, so I left them clear and gave them a wash of Tamiya Light Gray Panel Line Accent (No. 87189).
The external rearview mirrors are delicate, so be careful cleaning them up. The locators fit tightly, and it is easy to bend or break the arm. Open up the locating holes in the doors and use a drop of cement to attach them, especially if you plan to paint the body.
The front doors fit well, if a little tight, when closed. If you want to open them more easily, slightly ream out the hole the peg snaps into. The rear hatch does not stay up on its own but looks good when closed. The side door can be made to stay open properly, but it's a bit of a balancing act.
While the Revell 1/24 scale Volkswagen T2 bus is a snap-together kit, a few parts, like the wipers, mud flaps, and side mirrors are a lot less likely to get lost later if you glue them on. You won’t be able to see a lot of the engine detail in the finished model, but it’s there. Well-engineered and fun to build, this kit is definitely worth your time.