I just got the Tamiya and Hasegawa versions of the Lotus 79.
I had been waiting since Mario won the F1 Drivers championship in 1978
for this
car to come out as a kit. Back then Tamiya was making great kits in 1/12
and 1/20 of
many of the f1 cars of the time so I figured it was just a matter of
time.
Little did I know it would take 32 years! And within weeks of each other
two of
the biggest modeling companies have come out with their versions of this
historical kit.
My first impression is that they both look good in
the box
and in the photos on the vendors sites. The shapes look good and the
moldings
look good also, as you would expect from these guys.
The Tamiya kit didn’t include any Goodyear logos
for the
tires or in the decal sets. While fixable with aftermarket decals this
problem
has never been an issue with Tamiya F1 kits before. Maybe it’s a
licensing
issue? Tamiya uses decals for the seat and shoulder belts although their
upgrade kit has parts to build a proper looking belt set.
The Hasegawa kit has no spark plug wires and they
didn’t
chrome the wheels. Instead they are molded in gray plastic. That’s
really too
bad because I’ve always liked the look of the chrome rims and gold inner
wheel
with the gloss black of the car. The seat belts and shoulder harness are
molded
in plastic and look way too thick.
I think these will build up fine and look great but
it will
take more work/money than I would’ve thought to get them looking as good
as
Tamiya’s previous kits. Don’t get me wrong, I’m so happy to finally have
these
kits in hand, it just seems that they’re lacking some bits that used to
be
a part of the building experience.