These are my most recent buys. Always been a huge fan of the mighty Porsche Le Mans cars and wanted a couple of distinctive 1/18 models to get the ball rolling as I already have an Exoto 917/30 Can Am car. It took me a while to find a couple of cars at a decent price, I am a big fan of detail and as the Minichamps and Autoarts I had been looking into seemed a step down from Exotos I wasn't going to spend £100 on one, especially as I am supposed to be saving for an Exoto Jaguar!
So eventually I got these two on Ebay for about £50 each and thought I would provide my usual rubbish photos and newby opinions
http://photobucket.com/porsche2
Autoart 917
I was toying with a few possible 917s from Autoart, either a Vic Elford in white or this Hippie version. I ended up getting the Hippie as it was cheaper and more distinctive although I like the history of the Elford car. I am pretty pleased with it, it looks very sleek and the paint work seems rich and uniform. I am no expert but the colours all seem accurate and the swirling paint job does a good job of distracting the eye from the rather thick shut lines.
The yellow tinted headlight covers are unusual and the tires and breaks through the spokes look cool when on display. The engine fan is visible through the engine cover and is a rather bright lemon yellow which I don't think is accurate? Everything opens but there are two irritating aspects, the first is that the front hood cover falls off as soon as you turn the car over, it is barely secured and I keep forgetting this and sending it clattering off the table. The back over is secured by a thin prop but this means you cannot take it completely off to have a good look at the engine detail.
Saying that the detail is pretty hidden under the engine cover. There is a surprising amount of stuff in the cockpit and engine but it is just not that well done. Mainly simple painted plastic moulds but there are some pipes and I like the big orange ventilation pipe in the cockpit. The seat belts are just moulded painted plastic as well.
The car is probably a bit better than I expected over all. Nice bodywork and a good weighty feel it has a lot of presence with these colours. I think Autoart have doen a good job capturing the feel of these beautiful car. While the interior detail is not so great, particularly if you own the Exoto 917/30 which blows the mind, I was not expecting that much and this will look great next to my Minichamps Pink Pig 917, which is again a very cool model but pretty basic. I would not pay anywhere near £80-100 I have seen these being sold for but for £50 this is an 7/10 model.
Minichamps 956
I was quite excited by this car as I had just been reading about the great up and down battle that was the 1983 Le Mans. While I was also tempted by the Ickx/Bell car this was a more unusual choice and I liked the history of it.
I have the Minichamps Pink Pig mentioned above already. This 956 is a mile ahead in terms of details but for me is a little soulless. I am not sure why but it feels quite fragile, it really creaks and compared to the Autoart 917 above feel quite light and toylike. It has a lot of cool little details like the aerial and small emergency fire catches on cockpit along with the three ventilation holes in the doors windows. There is a towing hoop on the nose and rear underside and the exhaust pipes which exit from behind the doors.
The doors have massive very noticeable hinges which stand out because of the white paint work. The interior is OK, much the same as the Autoart in detail and also has moulded plastic rather than fabric seat harness. One major difference is you can remove the whole rear bodywork (but not the nose section) so you get a lot of engine detail. It is quite good but very plasticy. I am looking forward to comparing this with a Maisto Audi I have coming as from photos they look of a similar level of detail. The ties and wheels look quite poor, the Autoart 917 has big chunky tiers which look better although the Minichamps are more authentic feeling rubber.
Neither of these cars has working suspension and the detail in this area is minimal. I did not really think about it but this is a major and interesting part of a cars detail and it is a shame when this is quite basic. Again it is asking a lot for a model of this price but I think the key difference between a basic and a high end model is having that cool suspension detail and being able to press them down and have that give. Maybe it's just my fetish! Both models have steering which is good for posing the car, i have a read a few post by people who are insistant about have working steering on their models so I am not the only one with a crazy thing I like to have on a car!
Conclusion
I got these cars as they were the best 1/18 options and for the price I got them they are OK, particularly the 917. However if I had paid full price or around £100 I would have been disappointed, or rather I would not have bothered as from research I knew the detail would be only OK. I maybe starting an argument here but Exoto are really on a different planet to these, even my GMP Ferrari 512PB blows these models out of the water for detail. While new Exoto are much more expensive on Ebay if you get a bargain you can get a much better model for only a little more than these two models cost me. I got the Exoto 971/30 and rolling chassis for £180 and that is a really amazing model. Unless you are a real Porsche or Le Mans nut and have to have them, like me, you would be better off saving up and getting a higher end model. I am going to check out a Maisto Audi and BMW V12 as both were very cheap and no one else does these cars but from now on I think I will stay away from mid range models and save up for a few really top end cars such as the Exoto GT40 MKIV, Sauber or Jaguar XJR9. Exoto have a 956 in the pipeline apparently so I will wait for that and probably sell on the Minichamps 956.
So eventually I got these two on Ebay for about £50 each and thought I would provide my usual rubbish photos and newby opinions
http://photobucket.com/porsche2
Autoart 917
I was toying with a few possible 917s from Autoart, either a Vic Elford in white or this Hippie version. I ended up getting the Hippie as it was cheaper and more distinctive although I like the history of the Elford car. I am pretty pleased with it, it looks very sleek and the paint work seems rich and uniform. I am no expert but the colours all seem accurate and the swirling paint job does a good job of distracting the eye from the rather thick shut lines.
The yellow tinted headlight covers are unusual and the tires and breaks through the spokes look cool when on display. The engine fan is visible through the engine cover and is a rather bright lemon yellow which I don't think is accurate? Everything opens but there are two irritating aspects, the first is that the front hood cover falls off as soon as you turn the car over, it is barely secured and I keep forgetting this and sending it clattering off the table. The back over is secured by a thin prop but this means you cannot take it completely off to have a good look at the engine detail.
Saying that the detail is pretty hidden under the engine cover. There is a surprising amount of stuff in the cockpit and engine but it is just not that well done. Mainly simple painted plastic moulds but there are some pipes and I like the big orange ventilation pipe in the cockpit. The seat belts are just moulded painted plastic as well.
The car is probably a bit better than I expected over all. Nice bodywork and a good weighty feel it has a lot of presence with these colours. I think Autoart have doen a good job capturing the feel of these beautiful car. While the interior detail is not so great, particularly if you own the Exoto 917/30 which blows the mind, I was not expecting that much and this will look great next to my Minichamps Pink Pig 917, which is again a very cool model but pretty basic. I would not pay anywhere near £80-100 I have seen these being sold for but for £50 this is an 7/10 model.
Minichamps 956
I was quite excited by this car as I had just been reading about the great up and down battle that was the 1983 Le Mans. While I was also tempted by the Ickx/Bell car this was a more unusual choice and I liked the history of it.
I have the Minichamps Pink Pig mentioned above already. This 956 is a mile ahead in terms of details but for me is a little soulless. I am not sure why but it feels quite fragile, it really creaks and compared to the Autoart 917 above feel quite light and toylike. It has a lot of cool little details like the aerial and small emergency fire catches on cockpit along with the three ventilation holes in the doors windows. There is a towing hoop on the nose and rear underside and the exhaust pipes which exit from behind the doors.
The doors have massive very noticeable hinges which stand out because of the white paint work. The interior is OK, much the same as the Autoart in detail and also has moulded plastic rather than fabric seat harness. One major difference is you can remove the whole rear bodywork (but not the nose section) so you get a lot of engine detail. It is quite good but very plasticy. I am looking forward to comparing this with a Maisto Audi I have coming as from photos they look of a similar level of detail. The ties and wheels look quite poor, the Autoart 917 has big chunky tiers which look better although the Minichamps are more authentic feeling rubber.
Neither of these cars has working suspension and the detail in this area is minimal. I did not really think about it but this is a major and interesting part of a cars detail and it is a shame when this is quite basic. Again it is asking a lot for a model of this price but I think the key difference between a basic and a high end model is having that cool suspension detail and being able to press them down and have that give. Maybe it's just my fetish! Both models have steering which is good for posing the car, i have a read a few post by people who are insistant about have working steering on their models so I am not the only one with a crazy thing I like to have on a car!
Conclusion
I got these cars as they were the best 1/18 options and for the price I got them they are OK, particularly the 917. However if I had paid full price or around £100 I would have been disappointed, or rather I would not have bothered as from research I knew the detail would be only OK. I maybe starting an argument here but Exoto are really on a different planet to these, even my GMP Ferrari 512PB blows these models out of the water for detail. While new Exoto are much more expensive on Ebay if you get a bargain you can get a much better model for only a little more than these two models cost me. I got the Exoto 971/30 and rolling chassis for £180 and that is a really amazing model. Unless you are a real Porsche or Le Mans nut and have to have them, like me, you would be better off saving up and getting a higher end model. I am going to check out a Maisto Audi and BMW V12 as both were very cheap and no one else does these cars but from now on I think I will stay away from mid range models and save up for a few really top end cars such as the Exoto GT40 MKIV, Sauber or Jaguar XJR9. Exoto have a 956 in the pipeline apparently so I will wait for that and probably sell on the Minichamps 956.