WEEKEND MODEL WINDOW

Weekend Model Window is an occasional spot to show you some interesting stuff we've come across recently.

The 2008 F1 Championship winning McLaren MP4-23 race car is the latest offering from partwork publisher DeAgostini, and the launch issue looks terrific. The 1:8 scale kit will measure some 594 mm (23.4 in) long when assembled, and has been developed with Kyosho, so should build into a fine replica. How long it will take to collect all the necessary parts is not revealed.

A recent AFV from Revell is the 1:35 scale Marder 1 A5, with supplied markings as used in the Kosovo and Afghanistan conflicts. The 196-part kit has detailed Milan missile launcher, machine gun and tracks, aspects which have earned it some very good reviews.

SCALEXTRIC MERCEDES RACERS

Mat's piece on the Tamiya Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren reminded us that Scalextric produces a fine two-car set to 1:32 scale.

These are motorized slot cars, but the fine presentation pack and high moulding standards mean that they are eminently collectible as scale models in their own right.

For the realism fan, some light weathering would be all that's needed to turn this pair into fine desktop presentation pieces. And note too, that they are both SLRs - the M-B 300 SL 'Gullwing' was a hard-top coupe; the SLR was an open two-seat track racer.

The Scalextric two-car pack is presently available at a good discount from Amazon, here.

TAMIYA MERCEDES-BENZ SLR McLAREN - A SUPERCAR IN MINIATURE

A MAT IRVINE REVIEW
There are several competitors in the ‘200-mph-plus’ street-legal road car market, and the Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren is one of them, with a top speed of 334 km/h (208 mph). Using Mercedes' expertise in racing, and harking back to the classic M-B 300 SLR racer and 300 SL ‘Gullwing’ coupe of the mid-1950s, the SLR has been a joint venture with Formula One teammate McLaren, which built the car in the UK from 2003-2009.

Tamiya produced this 1:24 scale kit of the SLR in 2006, as an addition to its ever-growing Sports Car Series, and the 195 mm (7.7 in) long kit is still available (top picture). It is moulded in silver and black plastic, colours that echo one of the real SLR’s available schemes, though adding red to the model’s cabin lends a splash of colour (see picture) and helps mimic the original Gullwing, which often sported a red interior.

The kit also features a Tamiya innovation of recent years - a metal underbody pan that adds weight and heft to the completed model. One complaint with plastic cars kits is that they always seem ‘too light’, though as they are static models, I’ve never quite been sure how relevant this is. However, the use of this metal underbody pan does help, even if it is purely picking up the model to admire it!

The bottom pic shows the Revell 300 SL model (left), showing one of its doors open. The Tamiya SLR (right) displays a door opening not only upwards, but forward as well. The comparison also shows, as both models are to the same 1:24 scale, the increase in size of the newer car over its forebear.

The SLR is available from Amazon here.

Model interior pictures, courtesy Tamiya.