TWENTYONE: Porsche 962C, 1986 Le Mans Winner, H. Stuck, D. Bell, A. Holbert (1/43, Spark)

 

Another great hand crafted Spark resin model. The Rothmans Porsche livery is perhaps one of the most well known, and most easily recognizable out there. This model was purchased without the Rothmans decals affixed, but are provided by Spark in the package. The decals are nice, and easy to work with. I for one, love this car, the dominance of the 956/962 platform in group C racing was amazing, and the cars looked great. Spark models are really impressive, and they are beginning to take over Minichamps' spot as top brand to buy.  

Thoughts on HPI diecasts

Having received my third HPI diecast, here are my initial thoughts. First, they are not perfect by any means...they have some minor quality control issues. However they are mostly wonderful diecasts. Whether or not they are nice enough to justify their high costs is debatable - I am still on the fence.

In a nutshell:
precision of Minichamps + fine details of Spark - sometimes poorly applied decals of Minichamps - somewhat inconsistency of handbuilts like Spark = HPI Racing diecasts...?

TWENTY: Yamaha YZR-M1, MotoGP 2008 Season, Valentino Rossi (1/18, Maisto)

 

Another great Maisto diecast at a great price point. These MotoGP bikes from Maisto are such good deals that it would seriously be foolish not to buy them if you have any interest in racing bikes. The overall finish quality on these models are nice. Just make sure to inspect the models before you buy, as there are some examples where the tampo prints are not that great (misaligned, rubbed off).

Valentino Rossi, "The Doctor", is pretty much a modern day legend, his skillful riding cannot be disputed. Having had much success riding for Honda-Reposl, many had criticized that The Doc's success was from the amazing Honda RC211V. However, when Rossi made the surprising move to pilot the inferior YZR-M1 for Yamaha, he silenced the critics.

NINETEEN: Porsche 956LH, 24 Hours of Le Mans 1984 Winner, H. Pescarolo, K. Ludwig, S. Johansson (1/43, HPI Racing)

  

 

 I just received this diecast in the mail this morning, my 50th 1/43rd scale model car. The NewMan (brand of jeans in Europe) sponsored Team Joest Racing 956 driven to victory in the 1984 Le Mans is recreated nicely by HPI. The 1980s were Porsche's for the taking in Endurance/sportscar racing. The 956/962 platform was a dominant contender in the Group C category. I really like Group C, as the rules allowed for variety and creativity in the design of the cars. There was no limit to engine size/output, instead the rules regulated how much fuel could be consumed by a car in a given race. Porsche went with twin-turbo'd flat six motors, Mercedes a turbocharged V8, Mazda entered the game later with a rotary powered machine, while Jaguar elected for a 12 cylinder powerplant. 

There has been a lot of hype surrounding HPI's diecasts. They are detailed, and relatively expensive. I must say, I am impressed with many aspects of the HPI diecasts. The removable rear engine cover reveals a nicely detailed motor. Exterior details are nice and crisp. I really like how HPI's diecasts make minimal use of decals, most everything is done with tampo graphics. The graphics are done very nicely, crisp and even. A downer for me however was the paint quality. Its not that the paint is bad, but given the price of these diecasts it leaves something to be desired. The paint is mostly smoothly sprayed, but there are areas where the paint is a little thin. The display case this diecast comes mounted on is nice. Like Minichamp's cases, it is simple, with simple not too flashy text on the base (I hate how some manufacturers use flashy text - looks gaudy). Of all the different brands of 956/962 diecasts I own (Minichamps, Quartzo, Spark), I think the HPI is best.