G
Guest
·it's been a while since I last did a review
today I'll be reviewing the 2003 Ford BA Falcon XR8 by Biante Premium
Firstly, I apologise for no pics as I still have no Digital Camera, Domin8 posted pics of it a while ago
I'll be reviewing the "Phantom Purple" one
PAINT
The paint of this car is a dark metallic purple with a pearl overcoat, and it is very shiny!!!! Looks like the same colour as on the 1:1 .the cool thing about it is that under dim lights, the car appears to be dark purple or even black!!! and under brighter lights, the purple gets lighter. The paint on my model is smooth, no orange peel and no blemishes, the metal flakes are quite small, maybe a bit big ,but is probalbly as small as they could get them to be. Also paint appliaction is even on all areas of car, even on bottom of bumpers, it is very hard to distingush between plastic and metal pars becuse this paint job is very, very good.
8/8
EXTERIOR
The exterior of this car is quite impressive. the dimensions appear to be correct. Starting at the front of the car, the grille is correct shape and perforated completely, the small piece just above the grille that is placed on all Falcon XR models is present, the Ford logo is a seperate piece and is well detailed, lower intake is well defined, the lights are just amazing, they look so realistic and have bulbs too!!! Biante even did the two horizontal lines on each headlight cover and the 2 raised bits on the indicators. The hood is correctly shaped and has the "power bulge" at a proper scale. Windscreen looks like a copy of the 1:1, the black paint on the screen is done quite well and thr wipers have detail on them and the bottoms are hidden under the hood, like on the 1:1. Moving onto the side, the side indicators are clear and have a bulb. Panel gaps of openings are very tight, the tightest I've seen on my 1:18's . The side skirts are correct shape and have the XR8 badge on them. the doors have windows and windows have black surrounds, rear view mirrors are correct shape, the side rubber strips are present but painted in body colour as is with the real XR8's. Thr rear windscreen has the black paint on the outer bits and the heater lines are present. the lights are well defined, the backup light and indiactors are both clear, the chrome strip under each light is present, the license plate surrounds are true to the 1:1, the Ford badge is a separate piece and is like the on on the front, the Falcon and XR8 badges are present, rear bumper is well defined. Rear spoiler is separate piece to bootlid and is shaped nicely, panel gaps aren't quite perfect so that is y it not get full marks
7/8
INTERIOR
the interior is one of the greatest things about the model. the doors open on realistic hinges. The door trim is quite detailed , with door handles, power window buttons, and driver's door has buttons for all 4 windows. The interior is fully carpeted. Interior appears to be in correct colours, steering wheel has ford logo on it and all othe other buttons on it, steering column has indicator and windscreen wiper stalks and have a bit of detail to them, dash is well detailed with all vents, etc loking good. the instrument panel is a bit cheap, sticker was used but it is a good sticker. centre console looks way better, vents, radio buttons and the screen are well detailed, gearstick is moulded nicely and so is handbrake, the handbrake is moveable!!!, the centre console can also be opened and has proper depth, moving leftward, the glovebox has a handle and it can be opened, but is not as deep as it should be. the pedals are well defined and are grooved, the setals are wel detailed, and they feel like leather, they also slide and recline, seatbelts are present and so are the the things that the buckles go in, the sunvisors are present, they look like the can be folded down, but can't, rear view mirror is present and door lights are present. opening the bot, which is has a bit of stiffnes to it so it stays up, not a whole lot to see, but is carpeted, underside of bootlid has grey trim on it and same for bootsill
8/8
Wheels/Brakes
The wheels are the same as used on the 1:1, the shape and colour is correct. a tiny ford logo is present on each wheel and the lug nuts are well defined, so much that they look like separarte pieces, the only thing the wheel is missing is the air valve. Tyres are unbranded but appear to have correct tread. the car has disc brakes that rotate separately from the calipers, which are molded nicely, the discs have a weird design on them, not sure if 1:1 is like that too
5/6
ENGINE/UNDERCARRIGE
after opening the hood, which you must press a button underneath the car to release the hood latch, and seeing it being support by simulated gas struts that are used in the 1:1, you see a very highly detailed engine. there is wiring just behind the front grille. A first for Biante, the battery is wired!!!! and with colour coded ones too, and they do lead off to various parts of the engine bay. Battery also has labeling on it, the engine coolant bottle is white and has yellow cap and is moulded correctly, you can see a pipe leading from it to the radiator, the radiator is well detailed and has it's own filler cap with labelling on it, the cam covers of the engine are visible with 4 small silver dots on each cover, the ford logo is on top of the engine cover thingy and it has a raised section further back with silver stripes and BOSS 260 labeling, after all the engine is known as the BOSS 260, there is a pipe running from the raised bit to an air filter. there is lots of wiring in the engine bay, you can even see the top of the dipstick!!! .
The undercarrige is well detialed in general, underneath the car, you can't see a whole lot of the engine as the sump cover hides a lot of it, you can see the front suspension setup, and it works!!!, the gearbox is well detailed and the drive shaft is connecte d to it, and has 3 univeral loints , like on a real car, the drive shft connects to the differential which is connected to the rear wheel axles, turning the rear wheels makes the driveshaft rotate, rear suspesion also works. the exhaust system is nicely done too, you can barely see the exhuast manifolds and they run into the catalytic converters, then the two pipes merge together and run side by side, they meet at the first muffler, then they continue as two pipes to the rear muffler, and to a single exhaust which has a hollow tip and painted back inside.
8/8
COMPETITION
so far, Biante is the only Manufacturer of this car in 1:18, so they have no current competiton, and if there was a new player, they would have a tough job competing with this model and a next to impssible job of beating it, CC would be the only decent competition, but they are only doing the FPV models
6/6
DESIRABILITY
This model eas been on may wishlists becuse the XR8 is quite a popular car, especially with ford fans and when Biante announced the amount of features this car would be having and still being sold at regular price, it is hard to resist.
6/6
OVERALL
48/50
the score says it all, this is one damn good mid priced model!!!! and with details that rival premium models
hope you found this review useful.
review added to the DX Model Review Database on 27-JUN-2004
today I'll be reviewing the 2003 Ford BA Falcon XR8 by Biante Premium
Firstly, I apologise for no pics as I still have no Digital Camera, Domin8 posted pics of it a while ago
I'll be reviewing the "Phantom Purple" one
PAINT
The paint of this car is a dark metallic purple with a pearl overcoat, and it is very shiny!!!! Looks like the same colour as on the 1:1 .the cool thing about it is that under dim lights, the car appears to be dark purple or even black!!! and under brighter lights, the purple gets lighter. The paint on my model is smooth, no orange peel and no blemishes, the metal flakes are quite small, maybe a bit big ,but is probalbly as small as they could get them to be. Also paint appliaction is even on all areas of car, even on bottom of bumpers, it is very hard to distingush between plastic and metal pars becuse this paint job is very, very good.
8/8
EXTERIOR
The exterior of this car is quite impressive. the dimensions appear to be correct. Starting at the front of the car, the grille is correct shape and perforated completely, the small piece just above the grille that is placed on all Falcon XR models is present, the Ford logo is a seperate piece and is well detailed, lower intake is well defined, the lights are just amazing, they look so realistic and have bulbs too!!! Biante even did the two horizontal lines on each headlight cover and the 2 raised bits on the indicators. The hood is correctly shaped and has the "power bulge" at a proper scale. Windscreen looks like a copy of the 1:1, the black paint on the screen is done quite well and thr wipers have detail on them and the bottoms are hidden under the hood, like on the 1:1. Moving onto the side, the side indicators are clear and have a bulb. Panel gaps of openings are very tight, the tightest I've seen on my 1:18's . The side skirts are correct shape and have the XR8 badge on them. the doors have windows and windows have black surrounds, rear view mirrors are correct shape, the side rubber strips are present but painted in body colour as is with the real XR8's. Thr rear windscreen has the black paint on the outer bits and the heater lines are present. the lights are well defined, the backup light and indiactors are both clear, the chrome strip under each light is present, the license plate surrounds are true to the 1:1, the Ford badge is a separate piece and is like the on on the front, the Falcon and XR8 badges are present, rear bumper is well defined. Rear spoiler is separate piece to bootlid and is shaped nicely, panel gaps aren't quite perfect so that is y it not get full marks
7/8
INTERIOR
the interior is one of the greatest things about the model. the doors open on realistic hinges. The door trim is quite detailed , with door handles, power window buttons, and driver's door has buttons for all 4 windows. The interior is fully carpeted. Interior appears to be in correct colours, steering wheel has ford logo on it and all othe other buttons on it, steering column has indicator and windscreen wiper stalks and have a bit of detail to them, dash is well detailed with all vents, etc loking good. the instrument panel is a bit cheap, sticker was used but it is a good sticker. centre console looks way better, vents, radio buttons and the screen are well detailed, gearstick is moulded nicely and so is handbrake, the handbrake is moveable!!!, the centre console can also be opened and has proper depth, moving leftward, the glovebox has a handle and it can be opened, but is not as deep as it should be. the pedals are well defined and are grooved, the setals are wel detailed, and they feel like leather, they also slide and recline, seatbelts are present and so are the the things that the buckles go in, the sunvisors are present, they look like the can be folded down, but can't, rear view mirror is present and door lights are present. opening the bot, which is has a bit of stiffnes to it so it stays up, not a whole lot to see, but is carpeted, underside of bootlid has grey trim on it and same for bootsill
8/8
Wheels/Brakes
The wheels are the same as used on the 1:1, the shape and colour is correct. a tiny ford logo is present on each wheel and the lug nuts are well defined, so much that they look like separarte pieces, the only thing the wheel is missing is the air valve. Tyres are unbranded but appear to have correct tread. the car has disc brakes that rotate separately from the calipers, which are molded nicely, the discs have a weird design on them, not sure if 1:1 is like that too
5/6
ENGINE/UNDERCARRIGE
after opening the hood, which you must press a button underneath the car to release the hood latch, and seeing it being support by simulated gas struts that are used in the 1:1, you see a very highly detailed engine. there is wiring just behind the front grille. A first for Biante, the battery is wired!!!! and with colour coded ones too, and they do lead off to various parts of the engine bay. Battery also has labeling on it, the engine coolant bottle is white and has yellow cap and is moulded correctly, you can see a pipe leading from it to the radiator, the radiator is well detailed and has it's own filler cap with labelling on it, the cam covers of the engine are visible with 4 small silver dots on each cover, the ford logo is on top of the engine cover thingy and it has a raised section further back with silver stripes and BOSS 260 labeling, after all the engine is known as the BOSS 260, there is a pipe running from the raised bit to an air filter. there is lots of wiring in the engine bay, you can even see the top of the dipstick!!! .
The undercarrige is well detialed in general, underneath the car, you can't see a whole lot of the engine as the sump cover hides a lot of it, you can see the front suspension setup, and it works!!!, the gearbox is well detailed and the drive shaft is connecte d to it, and has 3 univeral loints , like on a real car, the drive shft connects to the differential which is connected to the rear wheel axles, turning the rear wheels makes the driveshaft rotate, rear suspesion also works. the exhaust system is nicely done too, you can barely see the exhuast manifolds and they run into the catalytic converters, then the two pipes merge together and run side by side, they meet at the first muffler, then they continue as two pipes to the rear muffler, and to a single exhaust which has a hollow tip and painted back inside.
8/8
COMPETITION
so far, Biante is the only Manufacturer of this car in 1:18, so they have no current competiton, and if there was a new player, they would have a tough job competing with this model and a next to impssible job of beating it, CC would be the only decent competition, but they are only doing the FPV models
6/6
DESIRABILITY
This model eas been on may wishlists becuse the XR8 is quite a popular car, especially with ford fans and when Biante announced the amount of features this car would be having and still being sold at regular price, it is hard to resist.
6/6
OVERALL
48/50
the score says it all, this is one damn good mid priced model!!!! and with details that rival premium models
hope you found this review useful.
review added to the DX Model Review Database on 27-JUN-2004
