Great review!!! And I need your expertise in photography!
Maisto Aston Martin DB7 Vantage
4
Here's the next review as I promised. It's for Maisto.
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PAINT
The model is available in green and light metallic blue (as shown in the pictures). The paint is reasonably well applied. The coverage is virtually perfect on the exterior without any uneven or rough areas. However Maisto's traditition with painting still remains - there are still incompletely painted areas - the underside of the hood and in the door sills.
6/8
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EXTERIOR
The model is of correct proportions but it is slightly off scale - more like 1/18.2 scale. The panel gaps on the doors and the trunk are reasonably small but the one on the hood is very large and the hood rattles a lot. The side repeaters are applied by painting which looks unrealistic although the rest of the lights are applied by separate plastic pieces. However, they have mounting posts and affect the model's appearance significantly. The grille is incorrect as well - although there is the correct number of horizontal slats on the grille, there should be no vertical slats on the grille whatsoever even though there are 9 on the model's grille. The doors also have separate handles and all of the external lines are replicated nicely on the model although the fuel filler cap is incorrect - it is raised on the model but it shouldn't be.
4/8
INTERIOR
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The green version of Maisto's DB7 has probably got the most attractive interior because it isn't as dark as that of the light metallic blue version's own. Unsurprisingly there is no carpet detail but the seats have some texture to them. The seats also have seat belts and seat belt buckles but they lack detail. The centre console is extremely well done - the buttons are moulded and painted and the wooden effect is very nicely simulated but there is one fault with it - the starter and hazard light buttons are incorrectly placed relative to the steering wheel. In addition the steering wheel is far too large and it resembles the steering wheel of the original DB7 not that of the DB7 Vantage. There is also no interior roof detail and the pedals are poorly replicated - they look grooved but they should look drilled.
4/8
WHEELS & BRAKES
The tyres are correctly branded and have realistic tread detail. The wheels are extremely well replicated and frankly outstanding by Maisto's standards. The patterns on the spokes and wheel nuts is noticed and well defined and even the pin used for inflating the tyres is present. The thing that really lets the wheels down is the brakes. The brake discs are poorly detailed and incorrectly coloured - they should look like steel instead of chrome. The holes are incomplete and the hub that connects the wheel to the brake disc on the real car is absent from the model. Although the brake discs rotate with the wheels, there are no brake calipers to speak of.
3/6
ENGINE & UNDERCARRIAGE DETAIL
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The loosely fitted hood raises and is held up by a prop-rod to reveal the engine bay.
The engine bay of the real car may be slightly minimalist but this is correctly replicated on the model. Some paint and labelling are applied in the correct places indicating water boxes, electrics, etc. and there is even a simulated block of an engine inside but you will only know this if you dismantle the model itself. The engine detail is very good but it is let down by the undercarriage detail. The gearbox and exhausts are made separately from the "chassis" but they should resemble aluminium/steel not chrome (a typical fault with Maisto models) - and the tail pipes are roughly finished. The driveshaft, differential, wiring and many of the other parts of the undercarriage are moulded with the rest of the "chassis" and poorly defined.
5/8
COMPETITION
Guiloy makes the standard DB7 in 1/18 but it is vastly inferior to Maisto's DB7 Vantage.
4/6
DESIRABILITY
The quality is reasonable but the model isn't even remotely rare - you can find these at supermarkets and car accessory stores.
3/6
OVERALL
This is a fairly old model and it has a sizeable number of faults but for a budget model it is reasonably good. It will certainly look good next to the Beanstalk Group's Aston Martin Vanquish and Maisto's Jaguar XKR Convertible.
29/50
Thanks to Project 1/18 for the use of their photos
© 2003 www.DiecastXchange.com All rights reserved
PAINT
The model is available in green and light metallic blue (as shown in the pictures). The paint is reasonably well applied. The coverage is virtually perfect on the exterior without any uneven or rough areas. However Maisto's traditition with painting still remains - there are still incompletely painted areas - the underside of the hood and in the door sills.
6/8
EXTERIOR
The model is of correct proportions but it is slightly off scale - more like 1/18.2 scale. The panel gaps on the doors and the trunk are reasonably small but the one on the hood is very large and the hood rattles a lot. The side repeaters are applied by painting which looks unrealistic although the rest of the lights are applied by separate plastic pieces. However, they have mounting posts and affect the model's appearance significantly. The grille is incorrect as well - although there is the correct number of horizontal slats on the grille, there should be no vertical slats on the grille whatsoever even though there are 9 on the model's grille. The doors also have separate handles and all of the external lines are replicated nicely on the model although the fuel filler cap is incorrect - it is raised on the model but it shouldn't be.
4/8
INTERIOR
The green version of Maisto's DB7 has probably got the most attractive interior because it isn't as dark as that of the light metallic blue version's own. Unsurprisingly there is no carpet detail but the seats have some texture to them. The seats also have seat belts and seat belt buckles but they lack detail. The centre console is extremely well done - the buttons are moulded and painted and the wooden effect is very nicely simulated but there is one fault with it - the starter and hazard light buttons are incorrectly placed relative to the steering wheel. In addition the steering wheel is far too large and it resembles the steering wheel of the original DB7 not that of the DB7 Vantage. There is also no interior roof detail and the pedals are poorly replicated - they look grooved but they should look drilled.
4/8
WHEELS & BRAKES
The tyres are correctly branded and have realistic tread detail. The wheels are extremely well replicated and frankly outstanding by Maisto's standards. The patterns on the spokes and wheel nuts is noticed and well defined and even the pin used for inflating the tyres is present. The thing that really lets the wheels down is the brakes. The brake discs are poorly detailed and incorrectly coloured - they should look like steel instead of chrome. The holes are incomplete and the hub that connects the wheel to the brake disc on the real car is absent from the model. Although the brake discs rotate with the wheels, there are no brake calipers to speak of.
3/6
ENGINE & UNDERCARRIAGE DETAIL
The loosely fitted hood raises and is held up by a prop-rod to reveal the engine bay.
The engine bay of the real car may be slightly minimalist but this is correctly replicated on the model. Some paint and labelling are applied in the correct places indicating water boxes, electrics, etc. and there is even a simulated block of an engine inside but you will only know this if you dismantle the model itself. The engine detail is very good but it is let down by the undercarriage detail. The gearbox and exhausts are made separately from the "chassis" but they should resemble aluminium/steel not chrome (a typical fault with Maisto models) - and the tail pipes are roughly finished. The driveshaft, differential, wiring and many of the other parts of the undercarriage are moulded with the rest of the "chassis" and poorly defined.
5/8
COMPETITION
Guiloy makes the standard DB7 in 1/18 but it is vastly inferior to Maisto's DB7 Vantage.
4/6
DESIRABILITY
The quality is reasonable but the model isn't even remotely rare - you can find these at supermarkets and car accessory stores.
3/6
OVERALL
This is a fairly old model and it has a sizeable number of faults but for a budget model it is reasonably good. It will certainly look good next to the Beanstalk Group's Aston Martin Vanquish and Maisto's Jaguar XKR Convertible.
29/50
Thanks to Project 1/18 for the use of their photos
© 2003 www.DiecastXchange.com All rights reserved
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