Nice review!
Maisto Hummer H2 1:18 Review
Any unspecified mention of the H2 is directed at this model, not the SUV version featuring that nifty roof on the back quarter.
No pictures could be linked here (I can't get webshots to work for me) but you can find the few I took:
http://community.webshots.com/album/87850357JteNvU
Ignore the H1 Pics squeezed in there. Now to the review:
Paint 4/8
The Paint on the H2 is a very rich, deep red and is applied fairly evenly over the entire body. No major runs were spotted and the paint is nice and glossy in all areas.
It does however have two problems. The plastic pieces can be easily identified in some places and seen to have thinly applied paint. Also right next to the windshield wipers I noticed three small fisheyes, something which should never be on a model. Inside the small horizontal side vents is some poorly applied paint which is noticeable upon detailed inspection.
I gave it a four because the paint has only minor problems. From what I've seen fisheyes are an extreme rarity in Maisto models. The difference between plastic and metal is common among these budget models however and needs to be corrected.
Exterior 5/8
The H2 features reasonably tight panel gaps, nothing noticeably horrible but not great either. Nothing to write home about here.
All the plastic pieces appear to be well placed by heat welds and none of them are loose. The doors are another matter. My SUT is new and the doors are fairly decent now but I have a heavily modified H2 suv (not suitable to review for obvious reasons) whose doors have loosened slightly over time. When closed they are nearly perfect but the hinges aren't nearly as tight as they should be and they are slightly floppy when open. Maisto has improved in this area some, anyone who owns a Maisto F50 knows how bad their hinges were, but they could do better. The front antenna was also somewhat loose.
The turn signals on the front sides, the running lights on the roof, and the brake lights (I think they're brake lights) on the back side are all painted in. They're applied wonderfully...but they're still paint
The H2 SUT measures in at about 189.8 inches. The works out to about 10.54 inches if converted perfectly. My model measures just under 10.30. So if you're worried about your H2 SUT being a 4 inches too short (it converts to 185.40) then thats fine. I don't notice the difference.
The model is neither disproportionate nor does it have anything very vague. This is mostly an average Maisto model, just above the other budgets and struggling slowly, painfully, towards decency.
Other notes: The plastic pieces on the H2 SUT are better than the H2 suv. Why? Simply put it has more chrome. The door handles, trunk handle, roof bars, antenna, and hood...thingies are all chrome whereas on the suv version they are a basic black. The chrome is fairly well applied and looks better than the suv version. The windsheld wipers are also very well done, placed correctly, and look realistic. The exterior parts look good and most don't have obvious molding seams.
It barely nudges to a five, because of the good exterior parts. Maisto models would look a good deal better if they would lay off the painted turn signals.
Interior 6/8
The interior of the H2 is made of one molded piece, separate seats and dash however. The mold is excellent and is well shaped, though the plastic for the floor is identical to the seats. The seats are also well molded and are slightly soft to the touch, though the plastic could be better. The seat belts are separate which is good, but are not well molded and the exact same color as the rest of the floor and seats which is bad. The dash is quite possible the best mold Maisto has ever done. It has the perfectly tacky texture actually present in the H2 and has all the details molded in. The buttons on the dash are all molded and painted excellently making the dash look very nice. Even the air conditioning vents are nicely molded and painted. The textures look and feel right and most everything is neatly done. The shifter in the middle is chrome and looks nice but since both the stick and its frame are one piece it doesn't look like anyone will be shifting it out of neutral anytime soon. The steering wheel is also textured with the word "Hummer" sticking out of the middle. Also it is painted two colors very nicely. So you're thinking the interior is great, huh? Everything is nice then, bam! You look at the pedals and see that they are totally flat. They look like a total afterthought. Its nice that they're part of the dash and not the floor but the lack of texturing in a richly textured interior is a big let down.
I give it a six because they made a lot of effort in the molds. Though its not part of the model, a few minutes work with carpeting makes this models interior much better. The uni-color floor will disappear and pedals won't look as horrible. Get yourself some clothe when you go to the store to buy this model.
Wheels/Brakes 4/6
The wheels of the H2 don't attract a lot of attention but Maisto has done a decent job of reproducing them. The rims are nice with a small fill caps? for pumping the tire up. Also the center piece with the word "Hummer" painted on is actually a seperate piece which adds a good deal of realism to the rims.
The tires are unbranded which seems odd since most newer Maisto cars and alot of older ones are branded. The tires look good though and are well molded, if not well branded.
The brakes are fixed with a fixed caliper, a Maisto standard. They are not easily visible and don't look great. Maisto didn't really put a whole lot of work into them. The wheels could be improved alot by adding branding, and of course autoart quality brake discs or even those found on the Enzo. Maisto doesn't seem too far away from this and I hope to see fixed calipers soon.
The suspension, as always, is a nice accent for the Maisto models and is particularly nice on this model since it is an off-roading vehicle. Unfortunately the suspension attracts some attention to the wheels-wells. The wheel wells in the front are rather poorly done and you can actually see the underside of the engine mold. This needs to be covered up in all the Maisto models but especially in this one since the area is so visible. Also the front seemed a bit hopped up to me. This may actually be stock (having the front end higher than the back) but it looked crappy and I lowered it (using a pair of washers).
Engine & Undercarriage Detail 3/8
The engine is certainly not one of the SUTs fine points. It is a poorly molded single piece of plastic which is obviously not good quality. It has some paint detail but that can't make up for the lack of quality in that section.
The undercarriage is surprisingly good with a nice, realistic variety of colors and textures. It is made from several pieces and although it could be better it is looking good as is.
Competition 6/6
Nobody else makes this model and I suspect noone else ever will.
Desirability 5/6
This is arguable. The models does not exhibit any special quality but it both has not competition and is also reasonably uncommon.
Objective Score: 32
In the big picture this model is fairly nice. I'm partial to this truck and it doesn't really have any horribly glaring problems (the paint difference is galling but definitely acceptable) so it's worth buying if you like the car. It ranks with most of Maisto's current lineup and with a few improvements could be equal to the quality of the Carrera GT. This isn't a new model so it isn't too surprising that its quality isn't up to par with Maisto's newest lineup.
Total (of 50): 33
No pictures could be linked here (I can't get webshots to work for me) but you can find the few I took:
http://community.webshots.com/album/87850357JteNvU
Ignore the H1 Pics squeezed in there. Now to the review:
Paint 4/8
The Paint on the H2 is a very rich, deep red and is applied fairly evenly over the entire body. No major runs were spotted and the paint is nice and glossy in all areas.
It does however have two problems. The plastic pieces can be easily identified in some places and seen to have thinly applied paint. Also right next to the windshield wipers I noticed three small fisheyes, something which should never be on a model. Inside the small horizontal side vents is some poorly applied paint which is noticeable upon detailed inspection.
I gave it a four because the paint has only minor problems. From what I've seen fisheyes are an extreme rarity in Maisto models. The difference between plastic and metal is common among these budget models however and needs to be corrected.
Exterior 5/8
The H2 features reasonably tight panel gaps, nothing noticeably horrible but not great either. Nothing to write home about here.
All the plastic pieces appear to be well placed by heat welds and none of them are loose. The doors are another matter. My SUT is new and the doors are fairly decent now but I have a heavily modified H2 suv (not suitable to review for obvious reasons) whose doors have loosened slightly over time. When closed they are nearly perfect but the hinges aren't nearly as tight as they should be and they are slightly floppy when open. Maisto has improved in this area some, anyone who owns a Maisto F50 knows how bad their hinges were, but they could do better. The front antenna was also somewhat loose.
The turn signals on the front sides, the running lights on the roof, and the brake lights (I think they're brake lights) on the back side are all painted in. They're applied wonderfully...but they're still paint
The H2 SUT measures in at about 189.8 inches. The works out to about 10.54 inches if converted perfectly. My model measures just under 10.30. So if you're worried about your H2 SUT being a 4 inches too short (it converts to 185.40) then thats fine. I don't notice the difference.
The model is neither disproportionate nor does it have anything very vague. This is mostly an average Maisto model, just above the other budgets and struggling slowly, painfully, towards decency.
Other notes: The plastic pieces on the H2 SUT are better than the H2 suv. Why? Simply put it has more chrome. The door handles, trunk handle, roof bars, antenna, and hood...thingies are all chrome whereas on the suv version they are a basic black. The chrome is fairly well applied and looks better than the suv version. The windsheld wipers are also very well done, placed correctly, and look realistic. The exterior parts look good and most don't have obvious molding seams.
It barely nudges to a five, because of the good exterior parts. Maisto models would look a good deal better if they would lay off the painted turn signals.
Interior 6/8
The interior of the H2 is made of one molded piece, separate seats and dash however. The mold is excellent and is well shaped, though the plastic for the floor is identical to the seats. The seats are also well molded and are slightly soft to the touch, though the plastic could be better. The seat belts are separate which is good, but are not well molded and the exact same color as the rest of the floor and seats which is bad. The dash is quite possible the best mold Maisto has ever done. It has the perfectly tacky texture actually present in the H2 and has all the details molded in. The buttons on the dash are all molded and painted excellently making the dash look very nice. Even the air conditioning vents are nicely molded and painted. The textures look and feel right and most everything is neatly done. The shifter in the middle is chrome and looks nice but since both the stick and its frame are one piece it doesn't look like anyone will be shifting it out of neutral anytime soon. The steering wheel is also textured with the word "Hummer" sticking out of the middle. Also it is painted two colors very nicely. So you're thinking the interior is great, huh? Everything is nice then, bam! You look at the pedals and see that they are totally flat. They look like a total afterthought. Its nice that they're part of the dash and not the floor but the lack of texturing in a richly textured interior is a big let down.
I give it a six because they made a lot of effort in the molds. Though its not part of the model, a few minutes work with carpeting makes this models interior much better. The uni-color floor will disappear and pedals won't look as horrible. Get yourself some clothe when you go to the store to buy this model.
Wheels/Brakes 4/6
The wheels of the H2 don't attract a lot of attention but Maisto has done a decent job of reproducing them. The rims are nice with a small fill caps? for pumping the tire up. Also the center piece with the word "Hummer" painted on is actually a seperate piece which adds a good deal of realism to the rims.
The tires are unbranded which seems odd since most newer Maisto cars and alot of older ones are branded. The tires look good though and are well molded, if not well branded.
The brakes are fixed with a fixed caliper, a Maisto standard. They are not easily visible and don't look great. Maisto didn't really put a whole lot of work into them. The wheels could be improved alot by adding branding, and of course autoart quality brake discs or even those found on the Enzo. Maisto doesn't seem too far away from this and I hope to see fixed calipers soon.
The suspension, as always, is a nice accent for the Maisto models and is particularly nice on this model since it is an off-roading vehicle. Unfortunately the suspension attracts some attention to the wheels-wells. The wheel wells in the front are rather poorly done and you can actually see the underside of the engine mold. This needs to be covered up in all the Maisto models but especially in this one since the area is so visible. Also the front seemed a bit hopped up to me. This may actually be stock (having the front end higher than the back) but it looked crappy and I lowered it (using a pair of washers).
Engine & Undercarriage Detail 3/8
The engine is certainly not one of the SUTs fine points. It is a poorly molded single piece of plastic which is obviously not good quality. It has some paint detail but that can't make up for the lack of quality in that section.
The undercarriage is surprisingly good with a nice, realistic variety of colors and textures. It is made from several pieces and although it could be better it is looking good as is.
Competition 6/6
Nobody else makes this model and I suspect noone else ever will.
Desirability 5/6
This is arguable. The models does not exhibit any special quality but it both has not competition and is also reasonably uncommon.
Objective Score: 32
In the big picture this model is fairly nice. I'm partial to this truck and it doesn't really have any horribly glaring problems (the paint difference is galling but definitely acceptable) so it's worth buying if you like the car. It ranks with most of Maisto's current lineup and with a few improvements could be equal to the quality of the Carrera GT. This isn't a new model so it isn't too surprising that its quality isn't up to par with Maisto's newest lineup.
Total (of 50): 33
1 - 8 of 8 Posts
Thanks for the review, gafotes. :mrgreen:
Same here :jk:Thanks for the review, gafotes. :mrgreen:
1 - 8 of 8 Posts
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