I'm just going to tell you again, democracy doesn't work, I'm not putting stuff up for votes on here again! :)
Right, now that we've got that out of the way let's get on to the subject at hand. I already determined yesterday that Martini is the rally livery to have. It's not really open to discussion, that's just the way of the universe. Yesterday it was showcased on a Lancia Delta S4 from 1986. Well today it's time to wind back the clocks to 1978. Disco music was still rife, clothing was perhaps even more questionable than 1986 and Bjorn Waldegaard was piloting a Porsche 911 through the Safari Rally. The Safari Rally of yore was, if we're being generous, quite a challenging event. Matter of fact out of 72 starters, a scarcely believable thirteen made it to the end. The rally was won by some French people in something French, but that's not interesting today. What is interesting is the car that came in fourth, the Bjorn Waldegaard - Hans Thorszelius Porsche 911. Now a cursory inspection would show that this wasn't your ordinary 911, rather a bespoke Safari-bashing machine with a significant amount of modifications, most of which I have absolutely no clue about so I'll just pretend to look knowing and nod sagely.
Right then, on to the model. Today's review is the 1978 Porsche 911 Safari Rally car, produced in resin by Spark Models, and here it is.
Design and Accuracy: 10/10
The beauty of resin is that it allows model makers to go nuts on little details on the bodywork and really get panel gaps, door shuts and detail features absolutely spot on. I've looked at a few pictures of the actual car found on the internet and things seem to be pretty damn close to what they were on the real car. For example, allow me to draw your attention to the little handles at the top of the rear screen, what are they for? I have no idea, maybe to provide you with a handhold to stand on the roof and survey all that surrounds you like a 1/18 scale boss. But the fact remains, they were on the real car, here they are on the model.
Fit and Finish: 10/10
Perfect, utterly perfect. As I said, resin is what allows model makers to get the fit as close to real as humanly possible. The pictures don't do the car justice (note to self, steal EL_ULY's picture skills), but I can guarantee that absolutely everything is finished to an almost obsessive level of detail.
Features: 6/10
Weeeeeeell, this is where things get more complicated. Despite the aforementioned brilliance of resin as a modelling medium for certain aspects, there is one thing that you don't get (yet). On this particular model nothing opens, there is no steering, no suspension action and no little bits for you to play with, the wheels turn and that's about it. However the static features more than make up for that shortcoming, however I'm still going to mark it down, because comparing it like-for-like with a diecast won't do it any favours. But look at the detail on that interior!
Value: 7/10
This was a €200 model when I got it, which is a significant amount of money. However you are getting what I think is the gold standard of detailing so I won't be too harsh on it.
Rarity: 9/10
I'm going to give it a high mark because I've just been on eBay and, erm, I can't find any...
This may be due to my eBay illiteracy but I've also done the rounds of my usual internet model shops and I cannot for the life of me find another one! However I reserve the right to knock it down a point or three if you guys can expose me for the Google-neanderthal that I really am.
Final Score: 42/50
A pretty good score I'd say, possibly bumped up by me not finding others around to purchase, but the fact remains that this is a quality model, a really well put together piece of kit that takes pride of place in my Martini-themed bookshelf and will continue to do so for a long time. Oh yeah, it's even got a full-length skid plate underneath!
