Very :cool1 model! Thanks for the review MB! :cheers :cheers
BMW 3.0 CSL
13
BMW ALEXANDER CALDER 3.0 CSL ART CAR
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Ok, this is going to be a review of my favourite model ever. The BMW Alexander Calder CSL Art Car. I'll be using my old pics for this review cos can't take any new pics now.
Since this is quite a popular car here... i'll try my best at giving it a review... my first every BMW and my first ever minichamps car too... the BMW Alexander Calder 3.0 CSL Art Car.
PAINT
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Paint? oh wat a paintjob for this car. The nice splases of color on this car makes it look really really lively and it really stands out among all the cars i've seen. The main color would be red, followed by yellow, blue and white. The paint is applied ok but it looks rather fragile. There is a very slight crack in the paint under one of my door handles so minus points there.
The number: 93 on the car is placed in a very nice spot on the engine bonnet and along the sides it sits in a nice circle which goes rather well with the paint scheme for this car. The number of the car: 93 sits in a nice teardrop shaped white area too... nice touch from the artist of this car.
Along the side of the car is the letters: "C-A" which most likely stands for Calder Alexander (or the other way round i suppose) There are no bubbles on the paintwork for this car though. And the paints used are very nice and bright. not dull at all. I'm so afriad of the paint losing its saturation that i cover up the car most of the time to hide it from the sunlight. Poor car...
No complaints from me for the paintwork here, only small minor problems here and there..but none too great. Still fantastic thought not flawless.
6/8
EXTERIOR
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Where do i start again. Ok.. let's start with the front. The BMW badge is repliced very very well. i think its painted on. 100% sure its not a crappy sticker. The stance of the car looks spot on and looks rather menacing indeed when viewed from the front. Very shark-like. Those lights up front do show some kinda locking pins though. But from afar, they kinda resemble bulbs...haha.. the twin kidney grilles are sadly not perforated, the grille itself is also not perforated. But i'm ok with it because it does not detract from the look of the car.
What does spoil it abit would be the turn signals ALSO have those pins in sight...and they don't resemble bulbs at all... so minus some points there....
You can take a macro shot of the front of the car and even though the grilles are not perforated, you still will not really notice it as a flaw. those side fins running down the sides of the engine hood look great and are held in place very well. Running towards the back of the engine hood we can see the airvents which ARE perforated. (*Yay!) and little locking pins which are very nice , small and detailed. small touches like these really make the model yah?
Windsheild washer jets are represented by little blobs of paint... no complaints here though.... I'm ok with that. It would be rather hard to replicate those little things in 1:18 i suppose.
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The windsheild is very well made With a silver against black border along the sides.There is a little metallic bar running down just off center too. the single wiper is also well placed and well replicated. no problems so far.
Just in front of the left side mirror is a little hook thingy which i guess is for some kind of emergency in the 1:1. another nice touch. Very well replicated. The Side mirrors are also well repliced although a little flimsy when u touch em.
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Going along the side of the car the air vent behind the front wheels are unfortunately NOT perforated again. chop off more points.... booo.....
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But the side vent BEHIND the side flanks are well done and are really hollow so u can see the front wheel. The doors do not have proper excavated handles sadly so trying to pry open the door requires a nice blend of delicacy and a little bit of strength cos the shutlines are real tight. There some kinda silver plastic blob on the side doors which i did not see on the normal racing CSLs by minichamps so i'm gonna add points to this car here... more stuff then on normal editions=more points from me i guess....
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I love the exhaust pipes under the right side door. Very well done. looks like real metal too. It's not totally silver, it has a tinge of bronze to the silver so that adds to the realism there.
*time for a break here cos i gotta go pick my my girlfren for lunch, be back in a while..*
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Movin on back towards the rear wheel arches we can see the air vent in froont of the rear wheels. Those are nicely perforated. Very well done. The spoiler above the rear windscreen is also replicated. And the "Batmobile" style rear wing is very well done as well. so no complaints from me.
The rear boot has 2 openings for the fuel. And also latches for the bootlid as well. All replicated rather nicely. There is a vent behind the rear flanks and those are also perforated. Well done.
Overall for the exterior i would say it is very very well made and nice little details are replicated. There are some faults with this car like the fact that the front grille is not truely perforated. But again. It's not THAT huge of a problem for me. I just really like this car. The Art Car scheme of the whole car just makes me happy whenever i see it.
7/8
INTERIOR
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Interior wise, i would say there is nothing i do not like here. the dials in the dash look like they have a little small thin plastic over them. the seats are superbly made, the details of the foot pedals are very good. the nicely done steering wheel. I'll just stop short here and attach an image and let u all decide for yourself. So far minichamps have not let me down on their interior detailing. Fantastic job here on this magnificent CSL. Full Marks!
8/8
WHEELS & BRAKES
Wheels and brakes.. well, brake wise i can't really see em behind those really well made wire wheels. But when u flip the car over, u can see a faint hint of the brakes, so i'll give it the benifit of the doubt here.
*New note! on closer inspection with a brighter lamp, i CAN see them brakes through the rims!*
As for the fantastic rims. WOW! nice. really really nice. I love the little wire rims that is shown on this car. along with the nice chrome used for parts of the rim. no complains here, even the tyres have a nice rubbery texture to them and they are branded. So good work minichamps!
6/6
ENGINE & UNDERCARRIAGE DETAIL
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Engine detail? Lots. let's start off by opening the engine. I really like the little metal prop rod used to hold it up in place, so add in some point for that. The engine itself is a fantastic piece of 1:18 detailing. Nice little shiny carbs, little BMW badges and littlepipes & hoses really add to the beauty of this fine automobile. I can find no problems with the engine here.
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I feel that for 1:18s, engines on the older cars tend to look alot better cos they do not have little plastic thingys to cover em up. Its a very nice and refreshing contrast to the modern day BMW M3 GTR model which i also have.
There isn;t much to say about an engine is there? Especially when one like this is so well made with nothing for me to complain about. What can i say? Probably that they should have made the whole engine out of metal.
Undercarriage detail is again. excellent, u can see the brake hoses which are orange in color and that gives a nice contrast to the black chassis. The exhaust pipes can be seen as well. nice. Too bad the chassis is not made out of metal, like the M3 GTR. But other then that, no complaints.
8/8
COMPETITION
No competition. this car is very rare and very unique. it probably even blows the doors off (ok... maybe not blow the doors off but u get the point) the regular minichamps CSLs
6/6
DESIRABILITY
Yes! very! very! grab one while u can. I think these are limited in production. besides the car, it also comes with an Art Car book and a very very nice display case. Grab one while u can. Only problem would probably be the price.
6/6
OVERALL
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Overall? I absolutely love this car. Here's another story about this car:
This was also a car which i was never really looking out for, but one fine day i passed by a store and i saw this car inside. I went in and i fell in love with it. I was kinda put off by the steep price but i really wanted it, so i was determined to save up for it. My girlfriend all the while saw how much i really liked this car and she offered to pay upfront for it, cos it was the last car avalible. After some deliberation , i accepted the kind offer. But when we went back to the store, it was closed. Sadness.
Strangely though, valentine;s day was just round the corner, and on Valentine's day eve, i met up with my girlfriend and lo and behold, she was carrying a big bag with the Art Car box (BIG) inside! i was SOooooo happy!!!!! So that's the story of how i came to aquire this car.
Quality wise, its not the best out there i'm sure, but the rarity and the uniqueness of this car is 2nd to none, so that's why this car is my favourite among all the cars i have.
This car started off my love for BMW models. i haveto admit i was never too fond of BMWs, but after this, i began to take notice and somehow i find BMWs to be rather nice cars to have 1:18s of. I was thinking of getting another racing CSL to go with this car as well. Gota love those CSLs! (the new M3 CSL too!)
Total Score - 47/50
I'll add another rating here, hope that's ok with all of u...-
To describe how i feel about this car when holding it and lookin at it for days on end....
Total overall F E E L of the car - 42/50 (cos it's rather light / feels kinda fragile)
To rate how much i love this car...
Total overall L O V E for the car - 50/50
review added to the DX Model Review Database on 08-JUN-2004
Ok, this is going to be a review of my favourite model ever. The BMW Alexander Calder CSL Art Car. I'll be using my old pics for this review cos can't take any new pics now.
Since this is quite a popular car here... i'll try my best at giving it a review... my first every BMW and my first ever minichamps car too... the BMW Alexander Calder 3.0 CSL Art Car.
PAINT
Paint? oh wat a paintjob for this car. The nice splases of color on this car makes it look really really lively and it really stands out among all the cars i've seen. The main color would be red, followed by yellow, blue and white. The paint is applied ok but it looks rather fragile. There is a very slight crack in the paint under one of my door handles so minus points there.
The number: 93 on the car is placed in a very nice spot on the engine bonnet and along the sides it sits in a nice circle which goes rather well with the paint scheme for this car. The number of the car: 93 sits in a nice teardrop shaped white area too... nice touch from the artist of this car.
Along the side of the car is the letters: "C-A" which most likely stands for Calder Alexander (or the other way round i suppose) There are no bubbles on the paintwork for this car though. And the paints used are very nice and bright. not dull at all. I'm so afriad of the paint losing its saturation that i cover up the car most of the time to hide it from the sunlight. Poor car...
No complaints from me for the paintwork here, only small minor problems here and there..but none too great. Still fantastic thought not flawless.
6/8
EXTERIOR
Where do i start again. Ok.. let's start with the front. The BMW badge is repliced very very well. i think its painted on. 100% sure its not a crappy sticker. The stance of the car looks spot on and looks rather menacing indeed when viewed from the front. Very shark-like. Those lights up front do show some kinda locking pins though. But from afar, they kinda resemble bulbs...haha.. the twin kidney grilles are sadly not perforated, the grille itself is also not perforated. But i'm ok with it because it does not detract from the look of the car.
What does spoil it abit would be the turn signals ALSO have those pins in sight...and they don't resemble bulbs at all... so minus some points there....
You can take a macro shot of the front of the car and even though the grilles are not perforated, you still will not really notice it as a flaw. those side fins running down the sides of the engine hood look great and are held in place very well. Running towards the back of the engine hood we can see the airvents which ARE perforated. (*Yay!) and little locking pins which are very nice , small and detailed. small touches like these really make the model yah?
Windsheild washer jets are represented by little blobs of paint... no complaints here though.... I'm ok with that. It would be rather hard to replicate those little things in 1:18 i suppose.
The windsheild is very well made With a silver against black border along the sides.There is a little metallic bar running down just off center too. the single wiper is also well placed and well replicated. no problems so far.
Just in front of the left side mirror is a little hook thingy which i guess is for some kind of emergency in the 1:1. another nice touch. Very well replicated. The Side mirrors are also well repliced although a little flimsy when u touch em.
Going along the side of the car the air vent behind the front wheels are unfortunately NOT perforated again. chop off more points.... booo.....
But the side vent BEHIND the side flanks are well done and are really hollow so u can see the front wheel. The doors do not have proper excavated handles sadly so trying to pry open the door requires a nice blend of delicacy and a little bit of strength cos the shutlines are real tight. There some kinda silver plastic blob on the side doors which i did not see on the normal racing CSLs by minichamps so i'm gonna add points to this car here... more stuff then on normal editions=more points from me i guess....
I love the exhaust pipes under the right side door. Very well done. looks like real metal too. It's not totally silver, it has a tinge of bronze to the silver so that adds to the realism there.
*time for a break here cos i gotta go pick my my girlfren for lunch, be back in a while..*
Movin on back towards the rear wheel arches we can see the air vent in froont of the rear wheels. Those are nicely perforated. Very well done. The spoiler above the rear windscreen is also replicated. And the "Batmobile" style rear wing is very well done as well. so no complaints from me.
The rear boot has 2 openings for the fuel. And also latches for the bootlid as well. All replicated rather nicely. There is a vent behind the rear flanks and those are also perforated. Well done.
Overall for the exterior i would say it is very very well made and nice little details are replicated. There are some faults with this car like the fact that the front grille is not truely perforated. But again. It's not THAT huge of a problem for me. I just really like this car. The Art Car scheme of the whole car just makes me happy whenever i see it.
7/8
INTERIOR
Interior wise, i would say there is nothing i do not like here. the dials in the dash look like they have a little small thin plastic over them. the seats are superbly made, the details of the foot pedals are very good. the nicely done steering wheel. I'll just stop short here and attach an image and let u all decide for yourself. So far minichamps have not let me down on their interior detailing. Fantastic job here on this magnificent CSL. Full Marks!
8/8
WHEELS & BRAKES
Wheels and brakes.. well, brake wise i can't really see em behind those really well made wire wheels. But when u flip the car over, u can see a faint hint of the brakes, so i'll give it the benifit of the doubt here.
*New note! on closer inspection with a brighter lamp, i CAN see them brakes through the rims!*
As for the fantastic rims. WOW! nice. really really nice. I love the little wire rims that is shown on this car. along with the nice chrome used for parts of the rim. no complains here, even the tyres have a nice rubbery texture to them and they are branded. So good work minichamps!
6/6
ENGINE & UNDERCARRIAGE DETAIL
Engine detail? Lots. let's start off by opening the engine. I really like the little metal prop rod used to hold it up in place, so add in some point for that. The engine itself is a fantastic piece of 1:18 detailing. Nice little shiny carbs, little BMW badges and littlepipes & hoses really add to the beauty of this fine automobile. I can find no problems with the engine here.
I feel that for 1:18s, engines on the older cars tend to look alot better cos they do not have little plastic thingys to cover em up. Its a very nice and refreshing contrast to the modern day BMW M3 GTR model which i also have.
There isn;t much to say about an engine is there? Especially when one like this is so well made with nothing for me to complain about. What can i say? Probably that they should have made the whole engine out of metal.
Undercarriage detail is again. excellent, u can see the brake hoses which are orange in color and that gives a nice contrast to the black chassis. The exhaust pipes can be seen as well. nice. Too bad the chassis is not made out of metal, like the M3 GTR. But other then that, no complaints.
8/8
COMPETITION
No competition. this car is very rare and very unique. it probably even blows the doors off (ok... maybe not blow the doors off but u get the point) the regular minichamps CSLs
6/6
DESIRABILITY
Yes! very! very! grab one while u can. I think these are limited in production. besides the car, it also comes with an Art Car book and a very very nice display case. Grab one while u can. Only problem would probably be the price.
6/6
OVERALL
Overall? I absolutely love this car. Here's another story about this car:
This was also a car which i was never really looking out for, but one fine day i passed by a store and i saw this car inside. I went in and i fell in love with it. I was kinda put off by the steep price but i really wanted it, so i was determined to save up for it. My girlfriend all the while saw how much i really liked this car and she offered to pay upfront for it, cos it was the last car avalible. After some deliberation , i accepted the kind offer. But when we went back to the store, it was closed. Sadness.
Strangely though, valentine;s day was just round the corner, and on Valentine's day eve, i met up with my girlfriend and lo and behold, she was carrying a big bag with the Art Car box (BIG) inside! i was SOooooo happy!!!!! So that's the story of how i came to aquire this car.
Quality wise, its not the best out there i'm sure, but the rarity and the uniqueness of this car is 2nd to none, so that's why this car is my favourite among all the cars i have.
This car started off my love for BMW models. i haveto admit i was never too fond of BMWs, but after this, i began to take notice and somehow i find BMWs to be rather nice cars to have 1:18s of. I was thinking of getting another racing CSL to go with this car as well. Gota love those CSLs! (the new M3 CSL too!)
Total Score - 47/50
I'll add another rating here, hope that's ok with all of u...-
To describe how i feel about this car when holding it and lookin at it for days on end....
Total overall F E E L of the car - 42/50 (cos it's rather light / feels kinda fragile)
To rate how much i love this car...
Total overall L O V E for the car - 50/50
review added to the DX Model Review Database on 08-JUN-2004
