20 replies to this topic

[Bill Becketts]

I know little about models but more about Le Mans and so I have enjoyed building up a collection of the IXO Le Mans winners 1/43rd collection.................BUT

Why are there so many mis spellings of the drivers names

Even Ickx has more than one spelling.

These models seem to give a good scale view of the cars but do let themselves down on this point.

[jj2728]

IXO are'nt the only ones. I think it just boils down to many more cars being produced these days and at times the quality control lacks a bit. I can't complain all that much though, I've been collecting 1/43 for over 40 years and cars that I never thought would be produced as diecast have hit the market and ended up on my shelves. Keep em coming I say, spelled correctly or not.

[Barry Boor]

Quite right, Bill.

I have a lovely model of the 250.LM Ferrari driven at Sebring in 1965 by Mark Donohue and Walt Hansgen.

The box says HANSEN and the decal on the side of the car reads HANGER.

'Tis a beauty, though, for all that:



I think we must just accept that model manufacturers, in the main, simply don't care....

[FLB]

My NART 1965 250LM does not have any driver's name on it.

[Bjorn Kjer]

I am searching for a 1:43 Maserati model : The T151/3 from 1964(red with stripes). Any help ??

[dretceterini]

Originally posted by Bjørn Kjer
I am searching for a 1:43 Maserati model : The T151/3 from 1964(red with stripes). Any help ??

1/43rd scale models of this car were made in the past, but as far as I am aware, no diecasts.

MA scale models makes a hand-made 1/43rd scale model cast in resin, and based on the old John Day kit.

There are a few models available of the 1963 car.

[D-Type]

Grand Prix Models list a 1/43 diecast (by Italian firm Pinko) of the 1963 car at £36.50 but don't provide a picture which is unlike them

[Barry Boor]

[T54]

The errors in name spelling on these models are quite simple to understand: these toy cars are now designed, engineered and produced in China. The various companies marketing these toys or models now rely entirely on Chinese companies to produce and deliver finished goods, with no other intervention from them than producing a purchase order and a leter of credit.
So, as for Tamiya and many other Japanese companies in the 1960's, joyously mispelling so many English words and names, it is now the turn of the Chinese to do so.
Some here will remember the famous Tamiya "Lora T70" slot car kit...

And yes, they DO care, but they often rely on hard-to-decipher available documents for their research, and while they would be well advised to check the Nostalgia forum time to time, there is no Chinese version... :

Think of the reverse situation and you would have pretty much the same problem!

[Alan Cox]

Originally posted by T54

Think of the reverse situation and you would have pretty much the same problem!

Well said, Phillipe

[fausto]

Originally posted by T54
The errors in name spelling on these models are quite simple to understand: these toy cars are now designed, engineered and produced in China. The various companies marketing these toys or models now rely entirely on Chinese companies to produce and deliver finished goods, with no other intervention from them than producing a purchase order and a leter of credit.
So, as for Tamiya and many other Japanese companies in the 1960's, joyously mispelling so many English words and names, it is now the turn of the Chinese to do so.
Some here will remember the famous Tamiya "Lora T70" slot car kit...

And yes, they DO care, but they often rely on hard-to-decipher available documents for their research, and while they would be well advised to check the Nostalgia forum time to time, there is no Chinese version... :

Think of the reverse situation and you would have pretty much the same problem!

Yes, it's true, but the Mecom 250LM model is "made in Italy", by Best Model Cars...

http://www.m4modelca...&IdVariante=131

[Paul Parker]

The Ixo models vary from quite good to bloody awful (Aston Martin DBR1/300 and the more recent Talbot Lago, the former looking like it's been on steroids, the latter grotesquely wide). Also their wheels are very poor.

As an aside I've recently purchased the Minichamps 'Birdcage' Maseratis, one Camoradi the other Carroll Shelby Times GP. They are extremely accurate shape wise and nicely detailed but are surely not 1/43rd scale, especially when put alongside other 1/43rd models. To me they look like 1/46th or similar. Anybody else think they look too small?

Minichamps are of course made in China and personally I think that the best made and finished 'affordable' 1/43rd models come from Auto Art.

[Jager]

There was a time not that long ago (ie '96 - '99) when Minichamps models up to half the LeMans grid. These days all you get from them are the Audi's and a few 911's if your lucky. In recent times Minichamps have shown very little interest in Le Mans, other than for the recent release of the 1971 winning 917. Likewise Auto Art, for all there technical superiority have only given us one single Le Mans winner - the C-Type Jaguar.

I congratulate IXO for their Le Mans winners series. I agree the 1950 Talbot is hideous, but for the most part they have produced a very inexpensive series that has introduced many new collectors to Le Mans models. It is now possible to have a diverse collection of over 65 Le Mans winners, something that 5 years ago would only have been possible with a very expensive collection of handbuilt models (that in many case were also of average quality).

Anyway, here's my small tribute to IXO with a selection of their 1930's Le Mans winners :

[Bjorn Kjer]

dretceterini , found it ! Would you please mail me ?

[ovfi]

Bjorn,
Try this:

http://mascalemodels...sportscars.html

[T54]

Yes, it's true, but the Mecom 250LM model is "made in Italy", by Best Model Cars...

Proving once and for all that no one is perfect!
Fortunately, OTHER Italian model companies do a truly fantastic job with superb research:

[Paul Parker]

My comment about Auto Art was a general observation, not anything to do with Le Mans models per se, so aplogies as I strayed off the precise thread subject.

[dretceterini]

Outside of older and obscure cars, finding photos isn't that difficult, so there really is no reason to get so many models wrong.

[Bill Becketts]

What is the story about the"Rothmans" sponsored Porsche 956/962 winners

Santa was good enough to deliver a "Spark" Porsche 956 1/43rd replica (via those good people at TRAX) of the 1986 winning car on Christmas day.

But not before one of his little helpers told me that Rothmans ( Unlike Silk Cut) were posh and important, because they had been in Grand Prix racing ( I mean "F1", to those under a particular mental age) told me that the adverts on the car could not be reproduced without them "afterfitting" them manually.

They duly fitted the said "Fag ads" for a fiver and I am happy with the results.

Anyone know the full story

[Bjorn Kjer]

dretceterini , would you please contact me at :

kjerbjoern@hotmail.com

[CJE]

It's all about lawsuits. The tobacco companies consider these detailed adult collectibles as children's toys They monitor this stuff closely. Minichamps once sold the Rothmans 956's with the 'Rothmans' decal sheet secretly taped under the case! I've still got 2 of those. What's odd, is Minichamps also produce the identical models under contract for Porsche AG. Porsche sell these models via their dealer network with full tobacco livery!

One of the most infamous stories was the Villeneuve 1995 Indy 500 winner. Minichamps produced a 1:43 diecast of the car. They thought they were safe because they deleted the Players logos. The model were sent out to the North American dealers. Within a day or 2, Minichamps was contacted by Players and threatened with legal action if the models were sold. They said they owned not only the Players name but the blue and white color scheme! The models were returned to the NA distributor by the dealers, but a few got out. These were extremely valuable for a few years (some selling upwards of US$2000!).

A couple of years ago, the remaining stock that had been languishing in the distributor's warehouse all these years was sold off under somewhat questionable circumstances. The models are now in full circulation and worth less than US$50.