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Academy Benetton

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  • Member since
    November 2005
Academy Benetton
Posted by Anonymous on Wednesday, August 25, 2004 3:58 PM
Hi
I am thinking about buying the Academy Benetton F1. I was woundering if it is any good. Like how is the fit and the decals. And is it easy to build.
Thanks, David
  • Member since
    March 2004
  • From: Paarl, South Africa
Posted by SeaBee on Friday, August 27, 2004 5:43 AM
David, I had one which I converted to Panis' Ligier. I am going to be frank. It's easy enough to build. But it is nowhere close to Tamiya in the quality stakes. Fine if you want it as a curbside model, but esp engin detail leaves a bit to be desired.

Can't answer on the decals, as I used F1 Specialties' decals to do the Ligier convertion. I am presuming you want that model because of the driver. I'd advise you (IMHO) that if you want an early (pre-Ferrari) Schumi drive, rather go for Tamiyas B192.

Btw, if I remember correctly, there is quite a bit of tricky masking involved for the blue and white borders, which is not supplied in template-form.

As said, the Academy goes together easily and makes for quite a nice curbside build, but it lacks a bit of detail. Also check some wings and endplates for being a bit too thick for scale - easy enough to rectify, though. Depends what you want/expect from the model. I'm not saying you should not buy it, just what to expect.

It's a very nice model in that it's almost the only F1 of that era, where Tamiya suddenly stopped bringing out F1's regularly. And the colourscheme is quite nice, as well.
  • Member since
    November 2005
Posted by Anonymous on Friday, August 27, 2004 9:26 AM
Thanks alot for all the help! I have only just gotten in to Formula One cars. Only built Tamiya's Renault Turbo. Thanks for the help again.

David
  • Member since
    March 2004
  • From: Paarl, South Africa
Posted by SeaBee on Monday, August 30, 2004 7:23 AM
David, it depends on what you've got available and how experienced a modeler you are. The only "difficult" part in this kit, if you want it to be curbside, is the masking between the colours. If I remember correctly, a lot is given to you in decals, but I'm not sure. If you want to find your feet at F1 modeling, this will do fine. I just feel a few of the Tamiya kits go together a bit better, some even have completed rear wing assemblies, which is pretty easy to get wrong.

I have also found some of their newer kits, despite having more detail, being easier to build. Joins better defined, etc. I still haven't started on any of the two Williamses in my cupboard, so I can't comment on that. But the F2000 and MP4/13 went together like a dream.

Happy hunting! Keep us up to date!
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