Four Small Wheels 09/2001 - reviews, page 2

reviews, page 2

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Heco Modeles

Heco Miniatures - New 1:43rd Hand-built models

HECMC047B	Bugatti T50 Super Profilee Black/Blue	£150.30
HECMC047J	Bugatti T50 Super Profilee Black/Yellow	£150.30
HECMC047R	Bugatti T50 Super Profilee Black/Red	£150.30
HEC366	Ford Mustang M.Carlo 1967 #105 Halliday	£120.00

The third in Heco's 'Miniatures du Chateau - Fabuleux Carrossiers' is the very elegant 'Coach profile' body on Type 50 chassis designed by 25 year old Jean Bugatti. This groundbreaking design features a steeply raked front windscreen and several examples were sold. The overall finish is superb as usual from Heco and they have captured the shape fairly well though we are not sure the angle of the windscreen is quite right and the highly visible steering linkage is missing from inside the right hand front wheel-arch.

The Mustang is also superbly finished and represents the car driven by French pop-star Johnny Halliday on the Monte Carlo rally. Our initial reaction was that the car looked rather large and that the black bonnet should be matt, not gloss black. It appears we were wrong on both counts as when checked against similar subjects by other makers the size is consistent and the photo of the real car on the model box shows a clear reflection in the surface of the bonnet. Perhaps it's time for a trip to the optician?

K & R Replicas

K & R Models - New 1:43rd metal kits

KAR063	Austin Healey 100S Nassau 1955 Moss	£26.00
KAR062	Austin Healey 100S Sebring 1955 Moss/Macklin	£26.00
KAR061	Austin Healey 100S Mille Miglia 1955 Healey	£26.00
KAR060	MG Old #1 Lands End Trial 1925 Kimber	£26.00

The Austin Healey 100 was - in our view - one of the most attractive cars ever produced and K&R have captured the lines superbly. The kits are well cast in metal and should build well but there are a number of areas that will need to be addressed.

The wire wheels are cast instead of the readily available etched wheels that most makers use these days, there are no decals for the superbly cast dashboard insert or for the badges that are cast into the rear of the car and the plated grille and the headlights are grotty little plated metal parts. On the plus side decals are provided for the blue side panels in the MM car and we are given a paint colour as an alternative if modellers prefer to mask and paint the two colours. With some decent wheels and lights (BBRR24 wheels, MKL034 or SCAPL045W lights) and a little care these will look very good. K&R have also captured the lines of the MG superbly but once again you may wish to use aftermarket wheels (BBRR23). There is controversy over the name of this lightweight special as many historians believe it shouldn't be called an MG at all, simply the 'Kimber Special'. The car was built over a period of some years by MG founder Cecil Kimber using a modified Morris chassis, Hotchkiss engine and very narrow 2 seat body by Carbodies.

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Le mans Miniatures

Le Mans Miniatures - New 1:24th resin kits and pre-painted kits

LMM4047	Audi R8 Le Mans 2001 Gulf	£79.65
LMM4047PP	Audi R8 Le Mans 2001 Gulf - painted	£109.20

These Audi kits are excellent with the body in the painted kit being well finished in the correct pale Gulf blue. The smaller parts such as the rear wing and the p/e canard fins are also ready painted though some of these, including the wing endplates, are not so well finished with a pronounced 'orange peel' effect. A lot of the smaller parts are to be decaled so you should be able to get away with it.

Profil 24

Profil 24 - New 1:24th pre-painted resin kits and hand-builts

PFL2410PP	Porsche 962c 1st Le Mans 1987 - painted kit	£120.10
PFL2411PP	Porsche 962c LM 88 Shell/Dunlop - painted kit	£131.50
PFL2412PP	Porsche 962c LM 89 Blaupunkt - painted kit	£120.10
PFL2413PP	Porsche 962c LM 1987 Primagaz - painted kit	£114.85
PFL2406M2	Porsche 962c Le Mans 1985 Rothmans - built	£303.65
PFL2407M1	Porsche 962c 1st Le Mans 1986 - built	£303.65
PFL2410M17	Porsche 962c 1st Le Mans 1987 - built	£303.65

As we commented in the last issue, Profil do not give any body colour references in their kits. Pre-painted kits are one solution to this problem!

The paint finishes are reasonably good though there are odd blemishes where the preparation could have been better. The paint on the Shell/Dunlop car is the best of this particular bunch which is probably just as well, as this would certainly be the hardest car to mask and spray. We mentioned last issue that there was no small pink side panel on the decals for the Blaupunkt car - see above. On the painted kit they are still omitted (see letters page) this but have given you the symbols that go within the panel - this could cause a problem as you will now have match this tiny area to the pink on the top body-work... The built models look like the real cars as can be seen by the manufacturer's excellent photos in FSW 7/2001 but again the paint finishes are spoiled by poor preparation. STOP PRESS: we have just received a fax from France informing us they have a new painter. Watch this space. Photographs of a majority of the models detailed above have appeared in our last two editions.

Tameo Kits

Tameo - New 1:43rd metal kit

TMK298

Ferrari F2001 Monaco 2001 - Schumacher

£31.50

Another excellent kit from Tameo, this time the Ferrari that gave Schumacher and Barrichello a 1-2 at Monaco. The kit is superbly engineered and will go together brilliantly well. Note that Schumi's car had a nose camera on the left hand side and Barrichllo's car didn't have one. These facts differ from Tameo's instructions but we have checked race shots to ensure that we are right.

Starter

Starter - New 1:43rd resin hand-built model

ST0187M

Porsche GT1/97 Daytona 2001 #0

£51.65

Although released under the Starter name, this model is based on Provence Moulage kit PM2632. The detailing is well applied and the overall standard of build OK but the paint finish is not brilliant. Viewed closely we can see some of the sanding lines beneath the paint and there are one or two pieces of debris in the lacquer on the rear deck. We wouldn't accept this from our Studio but it is half the price.