WRC WINNER FROM 1979: 1:24 SCALE FORD ESCORT RALLY RACER FROM ITALERI

THIS IS A WELCOME ITALERI REISSUE OF what was previously an ESCI kit, Italeri having since acquired the tooling.

1:24 SCALE FORD ESCORT RALLY RACER FROM BELGIUM

THE FORD ESCORT 1972 RALLY-WINNER CAR SHOULD HAVE been released in kit form years ago. But it’s better late than never, so here is one of Ford’s most popular mid-sized cars from the late 20th century, released to 1:24 scale by Belkits of Belgium.

HIGHWAY REPAIRS ARE GO: CORGI AA VANS ON SALE NOW

Here’s a nice set of diecast vehicles for British 00-gauge (1:76 scale) rail fans. The set consists of a quartet of small British vans from the 1970s era, painted in the bright yellow house style of the roadside repair outfit, the AA (Automobile Association).

They are pleasant castings that seem reasonably accurate, featuring a Ford Anglia, Morris Minor, Ford Escort and Austin Mini. They’ll look good on any layout set in that time period.

However, I don’t like my vehicles too shiny, and these will benefit from the standard Mr J treatment. Mask off the windows, then spray the rest with a couple of light coats of satin varnish. This knocks back the ‘showroom shine’ to a more realistic finish.

You could also airbrush the lightest dash of weathering around the wheel arches and back doors if you like, but don’t overdo it - the AA has always kept its vehicles nicely washed! It still does, as I found out last Friday night, when I flattened my car battery working on your SMN. It wasn’t the laptop (a MacBook Pro) that did it though - the guilty party was the inverter I was using to plug the MBP into my car’s power outlet! From now on I’ll play safe and use a separate battery pack.

The Corgi van set is available here, priced at £12.99 GBP ($19.62 USD), which gives a useful saving over buying them separately.