FSW Weekly Edition #44/2026

Antonelli’s Suzuka Statement

Spark’s Mercedes W17 1st Japan 2026 #12 Antonelli in 1:43 scale captures the race that put the newly crowned World Champion at the top of the standings for the very first time. Kimi Antonelli arrived at Suzuka for the third round of the season fresh from his maiden Grand Prix victory in China, and having out-qualified team-mate George Russell by almost three-tenths of a second he started from the front, only to slip back to sixth as the Mercedes pair lost ground at the start. The race turned on lap 22, when a heavy accident for Ollie Bearman brought out the Safety Car while Antonelli was yet to make his pit stop, and having stopped under the Safety Car he rejoined in the lead, managed the restart perfectly and pulled clear to win by 13.722 seconds from Oscar Piastri and Charles Leclerc. It was his second consecutive victory, and with 72 points to Russell’s 63 it made the young Italian the youngest driver in history to lead the World Championship, a position he would ultimately convert into the title in Mexico last weekend.

Spark’s resincast interpretation captures the #12 W17 as it ran to victory at Suzuka, with the compact proportions of the new generation car and its Mercedes-AMG Petronas livery and sponsor detailing all neatly resolved at 1:43, and to set the scene Spark has added an animated Antonelli figure and a celebratory “KIMI POSITION P1” pitboard. With the Drivers’ title now secured, this is the car that first carried Antonelli to the head of the standings, and a model that will sit very happily in any Mercedes, Antonelli or modern Formula 1 collection. It is due in December and is available to pre-order now with a 5% pre-order discount, and with the pre-order window closing soon, be sure to place your order to avoid disappointment.

The W17 heads a strong week for the Formula 1 collector. BBR’s latest delivery brings two Ferrari SF-26s from its 1:43 Concept43 range, both celebrating third place finishes from the opening weeks of the season, Lewis Hamilton’s car from the Chinese Grand Prix and Charles Leclerc’s from that very same Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka, where he completed the podium behind Antonelli and Piastri. Place the Ferrari alongside the Mercedes and you have two thirds of the Suzuka podium on the shelf, and with the Scuderia’s two drivers each represented, the pair make a fine record of Ferrari’s early season form under the new regulations. Both models are available to order now.

There is a good deal more to look forward to besides. Spark’s latest shipment announcement includes the McLaren MCL40s of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri from Barcelona testing, George Russell’s Singapore Grand Prix winning Mercedes W16 and several Racing Bulls releases, along with 1:5 helmets celebrating James Hunt, George Russell and Liam Lawson and a selection of 1:64 Formula 1 models, all with a 5% pre-order discount. Spark has also listed a veritable treasure chest of 1:5 alternative design helmets, with four for the newly crowned World Champion Kimi Antonelli, three each for Fernando Alonso and Lando Norris, two each for Alex Albon, George Russell, Oliver Bearman and Oscar Piastri, and one each for Carlos Sainz and Valtteri Bottas, taken from races including Catalunya, Singapore, Monaco, Holland, the USA, Italy, Spain and Bahrain. Looksmart is re-releasing Lewis Hamilton’s 1:5 helmet from the 2025 Las Vegas Grand Prix, worn during his first season with Ferrari, with the pre-order window closing soon. BBR has added the X-ray decorated Ferrari SF-26s from the United States Grand Prix in 1:43, with or without driver figures, with the same X-ray decoration also announced in 1:18, and BBR is making two special presentation limited edition 1:43 display pieces, “250 Wins”, celebrating Charles Leclerc’s British Grand Prix victory, and “Hamilton’s First Win With Ferrari”, marking Lewis Hamilton’s win at the Catalunya Grand Prix.

Mercedes W17 1st Japan 2026 #12 Antonelli - SPK9365

Ford Escort RS1600 13th Silverstone TT 1972 #26 Team Broadspeed - TRFRRUK112

Broadspeed at the Tourist Trophy

Trofeu’s Ford Escort RS1600 13th Silverstone TT 1972 #26 Team Broadspeed in 1:43 scale celebrates one of the great partnerships of British saloon car racing. Ralph Broad’s Broadspeed concern built its reputation preparing small saloons that consistently punched above their weight, and John Fitzpatrick had been part of the story since 1963, when the team drafted him into its Mini Cooper S for the closing rounds of the season. He returned to Broadspeed in 1965 and stayed for the rest of his British Saloon Car Championship career, winning the title in 1966 in a Broadspeed Ford Anglia, before the team bought a Ford Escort for him in 1968 and began a long and successful association with Ford’s compact rear-wheel drive saloon. The RS1600 was the ultimate expression of the early Escort, its Cosworth BDA engine with twin overhead camshafts and four valves per cylinder giving the little Ford genuine giant-killing performance, and at the 1972 Tourist Trophy at Silverstone Fitzpatrick shared the #26 car with David Matthews, bringing it home 13th overall and third in class. It was a busy year for Fitzpatrick, who also took the inaugural European GT Championship in a Kremer Porsche 911 S, winning five of the nine races.

Trofeu’s diecast interpretation captures the #26 Broadspeed Escort as it raced at Silverstone, with the neat, boxy lines of the Mk1 Escort and its purposeful race stance faithfully reproduced at 1:43. Trofeu’s models are produced in Portugal and offer a competitively priced way into historic touring car collecting, and with so many great Escorts having raced in the period, a car with Broadspeed and Fitzpatrick behind it is a subject with real pedigree, and one that will sit very happily in any Ford, Broadspeed or British touring car collection. It is due in November and is available to order now.

The Escort heads a strong week for the touring car collector. Trofeu’s delivery also brings a second Ford Escort in 1:43, the car of Roppes from the 1975 Diepholz race, while DSN 43 adds the Ford Capri 3000 GLX of Gordon Spice and John Hine, entered by Wisharts Garage in the 1973 Spa 24 Hours. Place the Capri alongside the two Escorts and you have three of the Fords that defined European saloon car racing in the 1970s, from British circuits to the Ardennes, and all three models are available to order now.

There is a good deal more to look forward to besides. Spark has newly announced a large number of 1:43 models from the 2026 DTM grid, with Aston Martin, BMW, Lamborghini, McLaren and Mercedes GT3 machinery all represented, while its latest shipment announcement adds the McLaren 720S GT3 Evo from the DTM, available to pre-order with a 5% pre-order discount. For the collector who enjoys following Germany’s premier touring car series from one era to the next, it is a programme that brings the modern grid right up to date.

Endurance and rally fans have been every bit as well looked after this week. DSN 43 celebrates the Ferrari 365 GTB/4 Daytona at Le Mans with three 1:43 models, the fifth placed Charles Pozzi entry of Jean-Claude Andruet and Claude Ballot-Léna from 1972, the sixth placed Thomson entry of Vic Elford and Ballot-Léna from 1973 and the fifth placed Touroul entry from 1974. TrueScale adds the third placed #93 and tenth placed #60 Meyer Shank Racing Acura ARX-06s from the 2025 Sebring 12 Hours and the Forte Racing Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo2 from the 2025 Daytona 24 Hours in 1:43, and Top Speed offers the #69 GetSpeed Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo from the same Daytona race in 1:18, which is in stock. On the stages, Trofeu’s delivery brings the Alpine A110 of Chubrikov/Chubrikov from the 1971 Monte Carlo Rally and two Ford Sierra RS Cosworths, Droogmans/Joosten’s fifth placed car from Antibes in 1987 and MacHale/O’Brien’s entry from the 1988 RAC Rally, all in 1:43 and available to order. Looking ahead, Spark will make “Bushi Rexy”, AO Racing’s 2026 Suzuka 1000kms winning Porsche 911 GT3 R, in 1:12 complete with its finishing position board, and its new announcements include 1:18 Le Mans winners from 1957, 1990 and 2004 from Jaguar and Audi, plus the second and fourth placed Mustang and Corvette from the Suzuka 1000kms in 1:43. Spark’s shipment announcement brings an extensive selection of 2026 Super GT contenders from Aston Martin, Lamborghini, Mercedes, Nissan and Porsche, Valentino Rossi’s BMW M4 GT3 Evo from Spa, 1:64 historic Lancia Beta Montecarlo Le Mans models and three Toyota GR Yaris Rally1s from the 2026 Monte Carlo Rally, including Oliver Solberg’s winning car, while twenty-one 2024 Super GT500 and GT300 racers are coming in 1:64. BBR has followed last week’s Cetilar Racing Ferrari 499P with its AF Corse entered sister car from the Asia Le Mans Series in 1:43, 1:18 and 1:12, with the Cetilar car itself also coming in all three scales.

Bentley’s Most Powerful Grand Tourer

TrueScale’s Bentley Batur 2025 Metallic Green in 1:43 scale celebrates one of the most exclusive cars ever to leave Crewe. Revealed in 2022 by Mulliner, Bentley’s in-house coachbuilding division, the Batur is a two-seater grand tourer limited to just 18 examples worldwide, every one of which was spoken for, and beneath its long, sculpted bonnet sits the 6.0 litre twin-turbocharged W12 tuned to 740 PS and 1,000 Nm, making it the most powerful road car in Bentley’s history. Named after Lake Batur in Bali, it was more than a celebration of the great W12 engine, for its bold front end, upright grille and taut, muscular flanks were conceived to preview the design language of Bentley’s future electric models, and each car was tailored to its owner’s individual specification, making the Batur as much a bespoke commission as a production car.

TrueScale’s resincast interpretation captures the Batur in a rich metallic green, a colour that suits the car’s long, low silhouette perfectly and that brings out every crease and curve of Mulliner’s coachwork, with TrueScale’s well finished casting and paintwork doing full justice to the subject at 1:43. A car built in only 18 examples will always be a special subject, and this is a model that will sit very happily in any Bentley, British luxury car or modern grand tourer collection. It is currently in stock and ready for immediate dispatch, and stock is very limited.

The Batur heads a strong week for the road car collector. TrueScale’s delivery also includes the Batur in metallic white, while BBR’s delivery brings a beautifully crafted 1:18 hand-built 1972 Ferrari Dino 246 GTS in striking yellow, the open-roofed version of Maranello’s exquisite mid-engined V6 sports car. Mini GT’s latest arrival is the 1:64 1989 Honda NSX Prototype, celebrating Ayrton Senna’s involvement in the development of Honda’s iconic mid-engined sports car, a fascinating chapter in Japanese automotive history and a natural choice for Senna enthusiasts, Honda fans and collectors of classic Japanese performance cars alike. The green Batur is in stock, with the remaining models available to order.

There is more to come on the road car shelf as well. Expected to arrive in the next few days from Matrix are 1:43 models of the 1975 Jaguar XJ-C Avon-Stevens Convertible and the 1971 Chevrolet Impala Convertible, both in three colours, along with single additional colours for the Porsche 356 Abarth Coupe and 1935 Mercedes 500K Speziale Stromlinie. Kyosho has three new 1:18 high detail diecast models available to pre-order, Nigel Mansell’s Ferrari F40, a Morris Mini Cooper 1275S and a Porsche 911S, each with opening panels to reveal the interior, engine and gearbox detail, while Cult Scale Models has listed the Aston Martin DBS V8 Banham Convertible, 1973 Cadillac Eldorado Convertible, De Tomaso Pantera SIV and Ford Cortina MkIV for release next year, each in a choice of three colours. Looksmart will model the Lamborghini Temerario Tettonero Capsule in 1:43 in three colours, and our favourite has to be “Scandal Green”. Ferrari fans are spoilt for choice by BBR, with a further palette of new colours and stripes for its 1:43 Ferrari 296 Speciale, six new colours for its 1:18 Ferrari 12Cilindri with Panoramic Roof, new colours for the 1:43 Ferrari 12Cilindri Spider and limited numbers on the Ferrari 296 Speciale Aperta, and more colours for its Ferrari 849 Testarossa Assetto Fiorano, along with 1:64 models of the Ferrari F50, F80, 599 XX Evo and 296 Speciale Piloti. A Cortina and a Cadillac on the same production list? What a thrill!

Bentley Batur 2025 Metallic Green - TSM430897