1/43 Bentley Continental GT dealer edition by Minichamps

The 1/43 Bentley Continental GT made by Minichamps lacked the B pillar until the newest 2011 version. The Minichamps did the same thing to their 1/18 models too. I like this lake blue color very much and that was the main reason I bought this car. The Minichamps always has a higher standard for their Bentley products. They usually have better interiors and better lights scratch.And the Bentley CGT itself is a masterpiece, a phenomenal looking car. Check the photos.

Make: Bentley
Model: Continental GT
Model brand: Minichamps
Scale: 1/43
Release year: 2005

1/43 VW Passat B6 by Minichamps and Passat CC by Schuco

I bought this Passat B6 two years ago from E-bay. It cost me $20 shipped. There used to have lots of cheap models and bargains on E-bay at that time. Not like now, you can seldom find any Minichamps, HPI racing, Spark or Schuco that below their retail prices.

The Passat B6 is not an ugly car however I prefer B5's outline better. The Minichamps has made a decent work on the B6 yet there are a lot more can improve: The front and rear lights and the wind shield wiper for instance. The paint is fairly good on my model which is lucky. The interior is dull and full car lacks details. It seems the Minichamps put more efforts on their Bentley products over others.

A few photos are taken with its little brother, the CC by schuco:

Make: Volkswagen
Model: Passat
Model brand: Minichamps
Scale: 1/43
Release year: 2008

1/43 Mecedes-Benz SLR by Fline

Fline, lucky or "莱琪" in Chinese, refer to the same resin model manufacture in China. They started with making open & close handmade resin cars without authorization. Their products are good in shape and interior and have open-close function. Due to the escape of the authorization fee, their products are quite cheap comparing with famous handmade car brands as BBR, MR and Makeup.

Although it sounds like an underground workshop, the Fline's QC is good. The products' quality are high--their kits usually contain 100-150 parts with decent photo etched parts as brake plates, vehicle logo, engine details and many more.They've made around 20 different car models, each one comes with several colors, and not surprisingly, their qualities vary. Recently, they started to produce several models for Japanese and European model shops exclusively, including the Honda NSX and Mclaren F1.These models price are quite high (around $250, close to their highest priced model BMW X6, which also contains most parts among their production line, 196). Open & close feature is always their biggest selling point though sometimes it reduces the accuracy of the model. If they can obtain car manufacture's authorization and bring their carrier onto the correct lane, their future will be quite promising.

The Mecedes-Benz SLR is their early product. Built in 2008 or 2009, the door joints are big dog-leg ones, which is quite disappointing. The engine is modeled with moderate details. They did better works in their later products. I bought this car for $90 shipped and I'm fairly satisfied with it.

Here are some photos. Click to enlarge.

Make: Mecedes-Benz
Model: SLR
Model brand: Fline
Scale: 1/43
Release year: 2008

1/43 Opel Insignia hatchback sedan by Schuco

The Opel Insignia was first introduced to the public at the British international motor show in 2008.Being the succeed model of Opel Vectra, the Insignia was voted 2009 European car of the year.It is a sport and luxury hatch-back sedan. In North America and China, the Insignia replaces the Buick LaCrosse as the fifth generation Buick Regal.

Schuco has made the 1/43 model of the Insignia. The hatchback version comes with white and lightgold metallic while the saloon version comes with dark blue and grey metallic. Each color has a 1500 limited run. Just like any other Schuco product, this model features great shaping and paint work and detailed head lights and rear lights. The Insignia's front and rear wind shield wipers are photo etched parts and door handles are individual parts.The interior is not bad but a little dull in color. The hatchback 's rim and spoke is sexy. However I like the wheels in the OPC version better.

Here are some photos I took of my white hatchback one. Click on the pictures to view the full size photos.

 

Make: Opel
Model: Insigina
Model brand: Schuco
Scale: 1/43
Release year: 2010