 |
 As
promised in the last issue, we took ourselves off to Paris to
see what is new and exciting in the European model industry.
For those not familiar with the event, Retromobile is a huge
event for full sized classic and vintage cars running for 10
days at the Port de Versailles exhibition centre. This is an
event we would recommend to all car enthusiasts, but we would
offer one piece of advice to anyone intending to travel to any
major event. Check if and when the GPM team are going and if
at all possible go on another day and travel by any means we
are not using! If we go to Le Mans, it rains. When we went to
Goodwood on a ‘quiet day’ it rained, a lot! Readers
in the UK will no doubt have seen the news coverage about a
Eurostar train which broke down just outside Waterloo Station
on Friday 7th February with 600 passengers trapped inside with
no air for a little over five hours. And which mode of transport
had we chosen? Correct.
When we did eventually
arrive on Saturday afternoon we did at least get to spend a
little time looking at the spectacular displays of full sized
machinery including the centrepiece LSR displays featuring Bluebird,
Golden Arrow and the 1000hp Sunbeam. A quick glance around also
revealed at least three beautiful Delahayes, numerous Bugattis,
Alfa Romeos, Renaults, Alpines, the spectacular V16 Cadillac
racing coupe and much, much more. Unfortunately due to our slight
travel delays we didn’t have as long as we would have liked
for tourism as there was much to see in the large area devoted
to miniature masterpieces.....
First port of call
was to ABC Brianza who were celebrating their 30th year in the
model business. 2003 promises to be as busy a year as any that
have gone before and on display were advanced samples of their
Rolls Royce Phantom Figoni & Falashi, Aston Martin DB4 Jet
Bertone and FZ 93 Zagato. They are also hard at work on the
1963 Lamborghini 350 GTV and 1991 Iso Grifo 90. If anyone knows
where to find interior shots of the latter, please let us know.
Sharing stand space
with ABC was ‘mad’ Pierre Laugier of LP Creation with
three of his latest prototypes, the Ferrari 156 Sharknose, Alfa
Romeo 159 and Lotus 95T. The Ferrari has to be seen to be believed
with pressed brass body panels and functioning steering and
suspension. This is a hand-built 1:43rd don’t forget....
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Following
last year’s Retromobile we brought you a sneak preview
of the engine from Christian Gouel’s 1:8th scale Bugatti
T50. Christian is now much closer to completion of this project
and it is easy to see why progress has been fairly slow. This
is a true miniature following similar techniques to those employed
in building of the real cars. The body framework is made from
various woods including pear, olive and beech. The 0.3mm thick
aluminium panels are then punched and screwed to this framework
before the tiny screw heads are ground flat and then smoothed
over. As you would expect with a model of this size and detail,
the bonnet and doors will open, the steering, suspension and
differential are fully functional, the radiator fully tubed,
the list just goes on and on. All of this takes around 1,000
hours per model and if you have somewhere in the region of £16,000
available, one of these show stoppers could be yours. Photos
of this and many of the other subjects we found are on page
16.
Unbelievably Christian
has also found time over the last few months to develop a new
range of 1:43rd kits called SLM 43 which will fill several important
gaps in the Le Mans story.
Renaissance made
their presence felt with an impressive display of much of their
range built up, including a large number of their transkits
built up on Tamiya base kits. They also had several new 1:43rd
masters on show including the much needed Maserati 150S (above)
and 1953 version of the Osca MT4.
Another show-stopper
was the painstakingly researched 1:8th scale Ferrari 315S made
by the legendary Patrice de Conto. The model features more that
1500 parts and each individual piece is built to order as either
von Tripps’ Mille Miglia car or the Hawthorn/Trintignant
Sebring car. We assure you that the photographs on page 16 are
of the model and not the real car! Price for these unbelievable
pieces is approximately £5000.
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1:8th Bugatti T50 by Christian Gouel
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Apart
from the cars, classic powerboats have also become a feature
of the show, with much beautifully varnished mahogany visble
in the Retro Nautique area. There were slightly fewer full size
pieces this year when compared to last, but Meri Kits were present
with several slightly smaller ones. In 1:43rd scale there will
be resin and metal kits of the historic Slo-Mo-Shun III &
IV complete with engine detail, while in 1:18th there will be
four versions of the Ferrari Arno, also with engines and with
veneered hulls! Back in more familiar territory, Meri are also
producing a new range, called Racecar, of 1:12 kits, starting
with two versions of the Ferrari F300 of 1998.
Elsewhere we spotted
a protoype moulding for a 1:12th Ferrari Daytona by André-Marie
Ruf under the Titan range name. As soon as we have more details
on this one we’ll let you know!
Back to more familiar
names, Paddock brought along their long awaited Porsche 917K,
complete with detailed engine and also on display was a beautifully
finished Nurburgring version of their Aston Martin DBR1 with
exposed rear wheels. This is available as a limited edition
hand built only and the price is around £420. Work in
progress includes superkits of the DBR1 and the King of Belgium’s
Ferrari 375MM.
Le Mans Miniatures
have been busy, with kits of the Team Goh Audi and Renault Etoile
Filante due soon to follow up on their excellent Bentley kit
recently released. They have also joined the 1:32nd slot-car
wars with a very fine model of the 1967 Le Mans winning Ford
Mk4. This will be available either as a full kit, including
motor and complete driveline, or as a comprehensive transkit
for a Ninco base.
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Just
down the road from LMM, Profil 24 are branching out from their
usual 1:24th scale with a 1:18th kit of the brutal Can-Am
Ferrari 712 and, we know these will be popular, high detail
1:43rd kits of the Porsche 917K photographed on the front
cover. You may remember the Le Mans movie diorama we photographed
in FSW03/2002 which featured these Porsche models. At the
time the kits were not going to be available but a limited
run of 200 pieces is being produced. Sharing stand space with
Profil were Chrono 43 who produced this diorama and they are
launching some handy accessories for diorama builders which
we hope to be stocking.
Miniature scenes
are to be found all over the place at Retromobile and offer
real inspiration to those who prefer to bring their model
collections to life, rather than just having a regimented
display. In addition to the scenes at Chrono, Jade were displaying
a section of the Reims pits and MEA had a very atmospheric
little scene to show off some of their incredible 1:43rd motorcycles.
We brought the latest release in this amazing little range
back with us, a multi-option kit of the 1964/5 Yamaha 250
and 350cc machines and are looking forward to more of the
1998 FIM 500cc grid.
Next year we hope
to have a little more time to wander around the larger areas
of the show. Die-cast collectors will be in their element,
as will those who are searching out older and very rare kits.
For example we managed to unearth a few Bosica kits (see arrivals).
If we do make it
next year we’ll probably drive, so if you’re intending
on going from the UK, you might want to check if we’re
on the same ferry. If we are? Bring a life jacket.....
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LP Creation Lotus 95T |
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