Since it appears Ertl will continue its popular (?) practice of offering detail-enhanced limited edition versions of its new mold offerings, it makes sense to do a side by side of the differences between the typical LE and RE versions of the same car. I have chosen one of the latest cars available, the 1969 Charger to illustrate the extra details typically included in the LE versions. Neither subject car pictured here has yet been detailed so this is a comparison of the efforts Ertl has put forth. If I ever end up with a RE version of the Ertl Nova, I'll do an addendum to this article but right now all my RE Novas are already detailed. But lets take a look at the Chargers.
From
the exterior, the only real improvement the LEs get are a "fuel"
tag on the gas cap. Don't underestimate the improvement this makes.
This one small detail really makes the gas cap look 100% better.
Both cars received fully silver painted chrome trim. Both of these
copies had very well painted trim though I'm sure they will both
benefit greatly from a good dose of chrome foil detailing.
Ah,
now we begin to see the improvements made for your additional
$10 or $15. Amazing how a little detailing makes a model look
so much better. But then maybe I'm biased! The LE has painted
details on the washer bottle, radiator cap and battery caps and
terminals. Nice to note that both got plenty of body color paint
on the under hood and engine compartment as they should.
At
first glance the interior in the LE may not look that much more
detailed, but please look again. Not only do the LEs get the screw
nubs painted carpet color and silver painted sill plates, but
they also get chrome trim around the instruments and also on the
dash switches which really improve the interior's overall impact.
Can you see how the dash just wakes up with the chrome touches?
The shifter is detailed the same on both models but it is still
a nice touch to see a little paint on the knob and boot instead
of just leaving the entire assembly chrome. Before I really looked
at this LE, I never thought about detailing the door sill plates.
This could be a good addition to detail onto any model, it really
wakes up the interior and overall impact of the door opening.
See
how flat the interior looks without the detailing the LEs receive?
The interior is nice, but it just doesn't have the impact as the
detailed LE interior. Both did received detailed steering wheels
and console inserts. Ertl is getting much better at adding additional
detailing to its products, even on the RE side of things. Compare
this RE interior to the interior of a model offered just a few
years ago. Much better. Ertl has always done a nice job putting
well detailed gauge faces on the dash panels, but they still look
a little interesting with little to no detailing such as chrome
trim, knobs, window cranks and door handles. They have been making
strides in the area of door panels with trim and chrome but the
rest of the interior often still needs a bit of attention to really
bring it to life.
One
unexpected discovery was to find that the LEs get detailed wheels.
The chrome lug nuts are left chrome on the LE while the RE wheels
are simply painted all black in the inset areas. And I don't care
what most of the rest of you think, I think the green Charger
looks great with the whitewalls. Lots of muscle cars were delivered
with whitewalls especially when they had been sold to less-than-young
folks who could more easily afford them. Often times red line
tires and white walls tires were exactly the same tire except
for the sidewall stripe coloring. I still think this style of
wheel looks great on almost every muscle car ever made. Ford,
GM and Mopar divisions all had similar wheels on various models
at one time or another. Odd how they all made such similar wheels.
The only thing missing is an emblem on the wheels' center caps.
Neither model has such ornamentation. You can also see here how
bland the side marker light looks, I wish they would return to
casting the marker light into the diecast metal. They chrome up
very nicely for a much more meaningful visual impact.
The
LE received black touches to the tail pipe tips and a little white
touch to the backup lights. Both versions get a little silver
to the trunk lock bezel. Other than that, the cars look the same
from the rear, but again, this illustrates how much of an impact
a few additional details can make.
I
guess I expected more detailing on the undercarriage. I recall
the Novas got additional details on the gas tank, oil filter and
starter. In this case, the LE only got additional detailing to
the transmission. I wonder if Ertl will ever consider painting
the undercarriage of Mopars body color. They paint the engine
compartment so how tough would it be to paint the undercarriage?
Food for thought. It can be tough for we detailers to match the
body color on the under body, it would be much easier for the
manufacturer to paint these areas since they already have the
proper paint on hand.