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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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When
we opened the box up for the Dome we were slightly surprised to see
much of the colour instruction sheet dedicated to build of the similar
Den Bla Avis car from the 2001 Le Mans 24 Hours. We didn't remember
this kit but checking back it was released about 18 months ago! |
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| The
kit shares the same basic components which means there's a very crisply
cast resin body that captures the shape of the car very well and an
assortment of equally good resin, cast and turned metal and p/e ancillary
parts. The main resin castings have significant feed tags that will
need carefully removing but there are no bubbles at all. Two sets
of clearly printed decals are available and with the complexity of
the livery on this Racing for Holland car with all its individual
sponsors on black and white rectangles this is probably a wise precaution.
The end result of several hours decalling will be a very attractive
model. The accessory parts are precisely machined from aluminium with the exception of the Enzo reservoir caps which appear to be very fine metal pressings. The Ferrari wording on these is totally legible and the edges are neatly fluted, very impressive when you consider that they're only about 3mm in diameter! The decal sheets each include various sponsors and will have a variety of applications, though most of these will be for sportscars. Of the 1960s/70s sheets the first features suppliers more commonly seen Stateside such as Autolite, Bardahl & Union 76 along with the various other tyre and oil suppliers, while the second is geared slightly more towards European races. There are a similar spread of logos on the later two sheets and the last one even includes ALMS logos. Especially useful if you like to modify standard kits. |
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| We've said it before and will again, the quality of these mass produced die-casts has improved significantly over the last few years. |  |
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| They're still not a patch an a decent hand built model but the paint finish is good and there is an attempt at replicating carbon fibre on the suspension and wing endplates. Decoration is for a no-smoking race and once removed from the base it's a passable miniature. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| We saw photographs of these first offerings in Gamma's new 'Simple Gamma' range in FSW 6/2003 and they looked very good. The shapes are fine, the paint finishes good and there are some nice details but the interior castings appear to be unpainted. As these are built to a price something had to give and the more adventurous might want to take the model apart and finish the interior off. |  
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| Our coupe had a very poorly fitting vac-form but this is probably an isolated incident. Apart from the plain interiors these are attractive models and will look fine in the cabinet among other coachbuilt or Alfa Romeo subjects. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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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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If you're familiar with BBR's 1:43rd scale 360 Modena kits you'll
know just what to expect from the 1:24th versions, it's just bigger!
The crisply cast resin body and interior parts will require simple
clean up and to these we add a reasonable number of cast metal parts
and some fine p/e. The windows are printed acetate and the headlamp
covers are coloured vac-forms. The only real difference we've noticed
is that the wheel spokes are cast rather than p/e, which works well
on a model this size. |
 
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| A three colour paint
finish is required but self adhesive templates are included to simplify
this a little and decal stripes will cover the masking lines. Take
your time and the end result will be a very impressive model. And impressive certainly sums up BBR's latest special edition hand built! The car itself is modelled on Schumacher's San Marino GP winner and is mounted in a large display case with a brushed aluminium (or is it stainless steel?) base. The display celebrates 15 victories with the F2002 chassis and lists all of these races with the dates. Only 250 pieces have been made and they're going fast. |
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| We were sure that we'd seen the Escort kit before but looking back Meri haven't previously released this exact version. The subject is one of the most attractive rally cars to have run in recent years, the Escort Cosworth of Cunico which has the famous Martini striping curving up around the rear spoiler. |  
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| The kit will need
a fair amount of surface preparation as the castings show signs of
porosity but your efforts will be rewarded with a very good looking
model. Like the Escort the BMW's castings will need a little fettling and we know from past experience that they go together OK. The end result will be another very vividly decorated machine, this time white and bright green. The instructions in this kit have a colour placement drawing which is a help and we hope will become the norm in future Meri kits. The transkit is for a Group N machine and includes the production car type dash panel, transmission tunnel cover and rear seat required by the GpN regulations. There are also rollcage sections to be used in conjunction with some of the donor kit (TAM24203) components all of which is fairly obvious from the well drawn instructions. |
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