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a model or the logo to see the complete range from that manufacturer |
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| We've seen other versions of MG's 1:18th 550 and we know that the finished results are very impressive, but you will have to work at it a little. There are a number of bubbles in the main body casting on our kit which will need filling, though these thankfully aren't in high visibility areas. The smaller resin parts are much better and will merely require a bit of cleaning up as will the small metal parts. A fair amount of p/e is included and the clearly printed decals have most of the details for the Dart Racing entered machine as it made its race debut at Enna. |   |
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| We can't find any
tyre decals though. If you're looking for an involved winter project then you could do a lot worse than one of MG's 1:12th scale superkits. This range started with the Ferrari 312PB and we remember that the castings weren't the best. MG have made great steps in this department but there is still plenty to do. It will be well worth the time to clean up the castings as you will be rewarded by a well detailed model of the Andretti/Ickx Sebring winner. The decals are printed on two sheets and will leave you with plenty of extras (including tyre decals) for the spares box but the darker coloured square to go behind the numbers on the sides isn't included, just the white roundels. It's not a huge job to paint this to match reference photos but it shouldn't be necessary.  |
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| With this latest batch from
Spark it is unfortunately a case of 'close but no cigar' on all of
them. The standard of finish is, on the whole, very good and the shape
of the Mirage is also excellent. However there are a number of errors
on the decals for this one including misplaced stripes up the sides
of the rear wings and the JCB logos shouldn't have white backgrounds.
Also the mirrors are very clumsy. The decoration of the 2002 cars is much better, providing you don't compare the shapes too closely with photos of the real cars. All three look very heavy and it looks as if this is largely caused by the airboxes being slightly oversized. |
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| The Am-Pm car still looks very attractive and Spark have done an excellent job of capturing the complex livery. The difficult to match colour is also very good. When we photographed the model we immediatley saw why it is so hard to get the measure of as, even on the model, the colour is very light dependant. | |||||||||||||
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| The overall standard of finish
for this range is usually very good but on this example there are
a few problems. The paint has a very good gloss and the decals are
well applied but the masking of the red nose has been very poorly
executed. |
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| Otherwise it's an OK model of the Mitter/Schutz car as it ran in practice. In the race (the first competitive start for a 917) Mitter 'accidentally' destroyed the clutch and engine getting the evil handling beast off the line. | |||||||||||||
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Click on a link to order a model or the logo to
see the complete range from that manufacturer |
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| The first of these subjects
serves as a very vivid justification for our handling this range,
as the fluorescent orange Autobacs Toyota is one of the most spectacular
looking racers we've seen for some time, oh and it won its class in
the 7th round of the JGTC. The other MR2-based Toyota MR-S is also
very pretty in its red white and blue livery but sadly not quite as
successful. The first of the Taisan Porsches is finished in the red
and black livery now very familiar to Le Mans collectors and in 2000
won the GT300 class of the JGTC. We're not totally sure how the points
system works between the classes in this series but we suspect it
may have won the championship outright. The 2001 Taisan car is finished
in a rather fetching purple with white stripes and finished 5th in
class in the final standings, white the black and white Rodeo Drive
GT3 was 6th in 2002. Matsuda drove all three of these cars. The remaining
two JGTC subjects were mid-field runners and feature attractive liveries.
In all cases they are well finished and will look fine once removed
from their display cases, especially with a few aftermarket details
such as alternative wheels and wipers added (search for Renaissance
1:43rd accessories in our on-line shop. |
    
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| These are all illustrated
so you can match to the models). The historic subjects are the first that we've seen from Ebbro and overall they look very good. The wheels on the Mazda are pretty horrible and unfortunately we can't offer alternatives, but otherwise the shape, finish and decoration look excellent. The Japanese Sportscar GP entrants are all very well finished and there are no obvious details that need improvement. Great value. |
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| The latest of these resin bodied die-casts show that Bizarre are making more use of p/e which must be commended but also have a few problems. The paint finishes are generally good but the detailing on the Jaguars leaves something to be desired with the window fitment being particularly rough. The decals on the Jags are well printed but the two shades of green are both on the dark side. The finish of the WM is much better, though again the front screen doesn't fit brilliantly. |   |
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| This car featured a very attractive livery which is tricky to reproduce as the faded 'lightning' stripes. Bizarre have had a good go and from a distance it looks good, but look closely and it's very pixelated. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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