One of the most talked about cars of last couple of years was the McLaren MP4-12C. The iconic British brand hasen't made a road-legal car after their first one, the F1, while all-time Formula 1-rival Ferrari flourishes. When the first pictures of their long-awaited car (called the MP4-12C) arrived, the reactions were moderate. A lot of that caused by the Ferrari 458. However, the specs of the vehicle were astonishing and proven time and again; the MP4-12C is a lot quicker than the Ferrari. Besides the looks then, McLaren clearly met the expectations.
There are a couple of models of the MP4-12C coming out, but Minichamps is one of the first to release it in 1:18. AUTOart is also building one, but because of Minichamps' flawless reputation in my collection, I inmediatly opted for this one. Is it as perfect as the real-deal?
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Exterior
I've never come across a Minichamps model which didn't get this category nailed. This is no exeption. From every angle the model looks exactly like the 1:1, but detailwise, it is flawed. Let's begin with the front of the car. The first thing you'll see is the bonnet. The panel flows beautifull onto the rest of the bodywork, which makes the front as bulky as the normal car. The headlights are spot-on. Even the "bubble" in which the main-projector is housd is copied with the same curvature. It's a very impressive detail and probably my favourite detail of the model. A big miss (especially at this price) is the lack of metal logo's. De McLaren emblem is just a sticker. Also, the splitter at the bottom of the bumper looks good, but is made out of... well I don't know. Recycled Playmobil I guess. It feels cheap and the color looks like a garbage-bin.
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Moving to the side you can't discard the door-issues this model has. Because of the complex hinges of the door, it's hard to get the door closed right. More so, my local reseller only had one in her store, but straight from the box, the door wasen't lined up properly. Luckilly she still had one on display which didn't have this isse, but let's be honest; that fault is a disgrace. Luckilly though, my model doesn't have this problem. It has another...
The rear end of the car is where this model starts to fall apart. First of all; where the *&%^$ are the taillights? I know they are placed inside the black part of the bumper, but they still need transparent glass to shine through. Minichamps seems to have forgotten this and just painted everything black. Another problem is the mesh of this detail, it's solid. A shame, because on the front and side all the air vents are meshed very nicely. Hoewver, the shape is spot-on and the stane of the vehicle is very good, allthough I do think the parking sensors are to big.
5/10
Interior
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When you open the doors you'll see a nicely detailed interior which appears to be made out of the same garbage-bin as the splitter. The dashboard features the navigation screen which makes the dashboard seem clinical but if I'm honest, I like the style of the dash. What I also like is that Minichamps bothered to use the special multi-colored dashboard-lining. The detail of the dashboard is very, very good and every button has their own stickers. What bothers me is the lack of flocking. The whole of the interior, and I really mean the entire inside, is made out of this useless plastic which squeekes, is light and looks cheap. I'm sprry, but at this pricepoint I simply expect a flocked interior and seats which are painted instead of stickered. It dragges the entire model down.
3/10
Wheels and brakes
I'm beginning to repeat myself, but the wheels and brakes look cheap as well. I must say, I've seen and sat in the MP4-12C a couple of thimes and the real wheels have the same issues. The paint on the rims is flat and a bit to bright then, well let's say, we are used to. The brake disks ook good and are ventilated, but I don't really like the fact that they painted the calipers silver. When you go through the effort of multi-coloring the lining of the dashboard, using some orange paint on the calipers isn't much to ask, right?
7/10
Paint
The paint is quite simply spectacular. I've never seen such a deep and rich color on even a real car. The Vulcano-orange is applied evenly onto every panel and delivers. However, the mirrors seem to have been painted in a lighter shade then the rest of the vehicle. I don't know if that's because they're made out of a different kind of plastic or just becaue of a different shade of paint, but it does look a bit strange. When I showed the model to a non-car enthousiast, the first thing he noticed was the different shades of paint.
6/10
Engine
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The engine looks very detailed as you might expect. Unfortunately, I know I'm repeating, the same worthless plastic returns in all it's glory on every single surface of the engine. I just can't understand what they were thinking. My job is engineering plastic products so I know about different types of plastic, what they cost and how you can use them so maybe that's why it frustrates me so much, but everyone can see it's just a shame.
4/10
Features
The car features opening doors, bonnet, hood and spoiler. The spoiler can be adjusted to the braking position, but doesn't raise high enough. Stars of the show are the doors. They hinge exactly like the real vehicle and look very, very cool in diecast form. To open them you better be very carefull, and to close them you almost need to be a monk, but it's worth it and a great look.
8/10
Quality
Specially for this model, I added an extra subject to my reviews because, if I wasn't negative enough, this model has serious quality issues. I've mentioned the troubled doors, but my model has more problems then that. First of all, the rear window let loose. It's fasted with double-sided tape which didn't stick on my model. To make it worse, it barely fits in the space reserved for it (between the two air-vents). Forcing it in fixed the problem, but it's a big irritation. A bigger irritation is that the movable spoiler broke off. I did it myself, but I didn't put any force on it and I didn't push it in an unpossible angle. It just snapped and, allthough it's my fault, an AUTOart model never did this. Also, the bottom of the modele squeekes, the pushrod to open the bonnet is to tight and the front wheels aren't aligned to the steering wheel properly. Quite simply; extremely disappointing.
2/10
Conclusion
I love the MP4-12C and I love Minichamps, but the combination of the two is a no-go. It does look very good from a distance and detailwise it's pretty spectaculairly good, but for 199 euro's I expect much, much more. Save your money and wait for the AUTOart version, I've never seen that one, but I guarantee it'll be the better buy. Even if you don't get an included Stig with a very big head.
35/70
Minichamps
199 euro's
1:18
![Image]()
![Image]()
![Image]()
There are a couple of models of the MP4-12C coming out, but Minichamps is one of the first to release it in 1:18. AUTOart is also building one, but because of Minichamps' flawless reputation in my collection, I inmediatly opted for this one. Is it as perfect as the real-deal?
Exterior
I've never come across a Minichamps model which didn't get this category nailed. This is no exeption. From every angle the model looks exactly like the 1:1, but detailwise, it is flawed. Let's begin with the front of the car. The first thing you'll see is the bonnet. The panel flows beautifull onto the rest of the bodywork, which makes the front as bulky as the normal car. The headlights are spot-on. Even the "bubble" in which the main-projector is housd is copied with the same curvature. It's a very impressive detail and probably my favourite detail of the model. A big miss (especially at this price) is the lack of metal logo's. De McLaren emblem is just a sticker. Also, the splitter at the bottom of the bumper looks good, but is made out of... well I don't know. Recycled Playmobil I guess. It feels cheap and the color looks like a garbage-bin.
Moving to the side you can't discard the door-issues this model has. Because of the complex hinges of the door, it's hard to get the door closed right. More so, my local reseller only had one in her store, but straight from the box, the door wasen't lined up properly. Luckilly she still had one on display which didn't have this isse, but let's be honest; that fault is a disgrace. Luckilly though, my model doesn't have this problem. It has another...
The rear end of the car is where this model starts to fall apart. First of all; where the *&%^$ are the taillights? I know they are placed inside the black part of the bumper, but they still need transparent glass to shine through. Minichamps seems to have forgotten this and just painted everything black. Another problem is the mesh of this detail, it's solid. A shame, because on the front and side all the air vents are meshed very nicely. Hoewver, the shape is spot-on and the stane of the vehicle is very good, allthough I do think the parking sensors are to big.
5/10
Interior
When you open the doors you'll see a nicely detailed interior which appears to be made out of the same garbage-bin as the splitter. The dashboard features the navigation screen which makes the dashboard seem clinical but if I'm honest, I like the style of the dash. What I also like is that Minichamps bothered to use the special multi-colored dashboard-lining. The detail of the dashboard is very, very good and every button has their own stickers. What bothers me is the lack of flocking. The whole of the interior, and I really mean the entire inside, is made out of this useless plastic which squeekes, is light and looks cheap. I'm sprry, but at this pricepoint I simply expect a flocked interior and seats which are painted instead of stickered. It dragges the entire model down.
3/10
Wheels and brakes
I'm beginning to repeat myself, but the wheels and brakes look cheap as well. I must say, I've seen and sat in the MP4-12C a couple of thimes and the real wheels have the same issues. The paint on the rims is flat and a bit to bright then, well let's say, we are used to. The brake disks ook good and are ventilated, but I don't really like the fact that they painted the calipers silver. When you go through the effort of multi-coloring the lining of the dashboard, using some orange paint on the calipers isn't much to ask, right?
7/10
Paint
The paint is quite simply spectacular. I've never seen such a deep and rich color on even a real car. The Vulcano-orange is applied evenly onto every panel and delivers. However, the mirrors seem to have been painted in a lighter shade then the rest of the vehicle. I don't know if that's because they're made out of a different kind of plastic or just becaue of a different shade of paint, but it does look a bit strange. When I showed the model to a non-car enthousiast, the first thing he noticed was the different shades of paint.
6/10
Engine
The engine looks very detailed as you might expect. Unfortunately, I know I'm repeating, the same worthless plastic returns in all it's glory on every single surface of the engine. I just can't understand what they were thinking. My job is engineering plastic products so I know about different types of plastic, what they cost and how you can use them so maybe that's why it frustrates me so much, but everyone can see it's just a shame.
4/10
Features
The car features opening doors, bonnet, hood and spoiler. The spoiler can be adjusted to the braking position, but doesn't raise high enough. Stars of the show are the doors. They hinge exactly like the real vehicle and look very, very cool in diecast form. To open them you better be very carefull, and to close them you almost need to be a monk, but it's worth it and a great look.
8/10
Quality
Specially for this model, I added an extra subject to my reviews because, if I wasn't negative enough, this model has serious quality issues. I've mentioned the troubled doors, but my model has more problems then that. First of all, the rear window let loose. It's fasted with double-sided tape which didn't stick on my model. To make it worse, it barely fits in the space reserved for it (between the two air-vents). Forcing it in fixed the problem, but it's a big irritation. A bigger irritation is that the movable spoiler broke off. I did it myself, but I didn't put any force on it and I didn't push it in an unpossible angle. It just snapped and, allthough it's my fault, an AUTOart model never did this. Also, the bottom of the modele squeekes, the pushrod to open the bonnet is to tight and the front wheels aren't aligned to the steering wheel properly. Quite simply; extremely disappointing.
2/10
Conclusion
I love the MP4-12C and I love Minichamps, but the combination of the two is a no-go. It does look very good from a distance and detailwise it's pretty spectaculairly good, but for 199 euro's I expect much, much more. Save your money and wait for the AUTOart version, I've never seen that one, but I guarantee it'll be the better buy. Even if you don't get an included Stig with a very big head.
35/70
Minichamps
199 euro's
1:18
I will still end up buying it probably as i have a soft spot for Minichamps, but this is not something that i would expect from Minichamps.
