Diecast News & Chat

Minichamps releases week 47

Rick — Sun, 28 Nov 2010 20:22:01 +0000

Here are the new releases from Minichamps for week 47/2010:

1/12 Bikes:

- HONDA CB1100R – 1982 – BLUE/RED/WHITE

1/18 F1 Cars:

- RENAULT F1 TEAM – CAR # 11 – SHOWCAR 2010 L.E. 1002 pcs
- RENAULT F1 TEAM – CAR # 12 – SHOWCAR 2010 L.E. 1002 pcs

1/43 Race Cars:

- BMW Z4 – TEAM SATORIUS BLACK FALCON – WEIJERS/SWART/SCHWERFELD/COLELL – 24H NÜRBURGRING 2009 L.E. 999 pcs
- BMW Z4 – TEAM SATORIUS BLACK FALCON – WEIJERS/SWART/SCHWERFELD/COLELL – 24H NÜRBURGRING 2009 L.E. 999 pcs

1/43 Road Cars:

- ASTON MARTIN RAPIDE – 2009 – BLUE METALLIC L.E. 750 pcs
- HORCH 855 SPECIAL-ROADSTER – 1938 – SILVER/GREEN
- MERCEDES-BENZ 280 SE 3.5 CABRIOLET (W 111) – 1970 – WHITE L.E. 1200 pcs

Spark releases its first 2010 F1 car!

Rick — Tue, 16 Nov 2010 20:34:04 +0000

Some months ago, Spark announced it would make the 2010 F1 cars of Sauber, Virgin, Lotus and HRT.
A few weeks ago, the Virgins of Timo Glock and Lucas di Grassi were released and now the big question is:
Are they better than Minichamps?

At a first glance I would say: YES!
The detail on the cars is great. Sure, they are a bit more expensive than Minichamps, bit you also get more value for money in my opinion. The best example is the rear wing with the air holes in them. Minichamps never really drew real holes in their rear wings, but Spark has taken a step forward in this respect.

Oh well, enough talking. If you want to see more photos, please visit our forum

Minichamps announces Sauber C29 and Williams FW32

Rick — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 20:16:38 +0000

A new announcement was made by Minichamps today.
After cancelling the minor teams of 2010, Lotus, Virgin, HRT, Minichamps decided to make the Sauber C29 of both Kobayashi and De la Rosa together with both the Williams FW32 of Barrichello and Hulkenberg.
All four models will be made in 1/43 only.

Diecast reviews

Rick — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 20:35:06 +0000

Dear visitors of Diecastnewsandchat.com,

did you know that in our forum we have several reviews on diecast with lots of photos taken of the specific model?
This might help you to convince yourself to buy a certain model!

For instance, take our latest addition to the review section. Today we added a photo review of the brilliant Spark Ligier JS 17 of 1981, driven by Jacques Laffite in the Austrian GP of 1981.

Want to see more? Visit our forum and sign up as a forum member!

Spark announces Lotus T127 2010!

Rick — Sat, 12 Jun 2010 11:10:21 +0000

Spark is known for their excellent quality models. They have been making many classic cars as well as the nowadays DTM and Le Mans cars. But now they announced that they will be making the 2010 Lotus T127 in 1/43 and 1/18 scale!
At this moment a release date wasn’t given yet, but this will finally be the big test for Spark to see who is better… Minichamps or Spark. I can’t wait!

Spark Audi R8 LMS 1/18

Rick — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 16:27:43 +0000

The long awaited Audi R8 LMS models by Spark in 1/18 are finally out!
This car is a real racer, great looks, great sound, great performance! Spark has made four different versions so far. These are:

- Audi R8 LMS, No.97, 24 ADAC Nurburgring 2009 (black car)
Luhr – Abt – Hemroulle – Kaffer

- Audi R8 LMS, No.98, 24 ADAC Nurburgring 2009 (yellow/blue car)
Stuck – Biela – Pirro – Fassler

- Audi R8 LMS, No.99, 24 ADAC Nurburgring 2009 (silver/red car)
Rockenfeller – Stippler – Basseng – Fassler

- Audi R8 LMS, Test Car (plain silver car)

Retail price is pretty high though for a model which doors cannot be opened, which has no openeing bonnet or whatsoever.

Minichamps releases week 22/2010

Rick — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 16:18:39 +0000

Here are this week’s Minichamps releases week 22/2010:

1/6 Road Bike:

- KAWASAKI 900 Z1 ´SUPER 4´ – 1973 – GREEN/YELLOW

1/12 Road Bike:

- NORTON COMMANDO 750 FASTBACK – 1969 – SILVER

1/18 Road Car:

- OPEL REKORD P1 – 1958 – YELLOW/WHITE

1/43 F1 Car:

- MERCEDES GP – MICHAEL SCHUMACHER – SHOWCAR 2010

1/43 Race Car:

- BMW 700 SPORT – STUCK/GREGER – WINNERS 12H HOCKENHEIM – 1960 L.E. 504 pcs

1/43 Road Car:

- MERCEDES-BENZ CL-CLASS COUPE (C215) – 1999 – GREEN METALLIC L.E. 528 pcs
- FORD FK 3500 – TANKWAGEN – 1950 – ´ARAL´ L.E. 492 pcs

AUTOart Porsche 908/2 S. McQueen/ P. Revson 1/18

Rick — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 16:11:28 +0000

AUTOart is currently working on a classic Porsche race car, the 1:18 PORSCHE 908/2 GREEN PARK SEBRING 1970 SECOND POSITION #48 S.MCQUEEN / P.REVSON. Scale of the model will be 1/18, and looking at the first photos, it looks stunning!

Only questions that many collectors have is why the prices of AUTOart’s models have gone up the last two years. Surely with the financial crisis in the world, diecast producers have to make sure they still earn enough profit from their models. The most common used excuse is that costs of labour have gone up.

Anyway, this looks like a real great model and I’m sure it is worth the retail price of 160 US Dollars.

Michael Schumacher Showcar 2010

Rick — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 16:03:54 +0000

With the return of Michael Schumacher, Minichamps have already made three versions of the 2010 Mercedes GP Showcar 1/43 and two versions of the 1/18 version. It is up to you to decide if this is a bad or a good situation.

The good news however is that Minichamps picked it where it left with the Michael Schumacher Collection. This collection came to an end when Hotwheels took over the Ferrari and Schumacher license. Now, with Schumacher racing for Mercedes, Minichamps can finally continue this amazing collection.

The 1/43 is out now, and this is #41 in the Michael Schumacher Collection.

True Scale Amazingatures!!!

Rick — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 15:30:32 +0000

a new brand in diecast world is True Scale Miniatures. They started with the beautifull replica of the Porsche 935 K3 Le Mans cars from the early 80′s. When they announced they would be making the most ugly beautifull weird F1 car ever, the Tyrrell P34 6-wheeler, in 1/43 and 1/18 everybody knew it would turn out to be a success.

Now the first version of the P34 is out. It is the P34 #3 International Trophy Race at Silverstone Test Car in 1/18. we saw some first glimps of this model at the Nuremberg Toy fair. Then it was already clear that this was going to be a classic model. But in reality, it is even better!

This model is absolutely the best I’ve seen in the last couple of years. The ammount of detail exceeds the Exoto version of the P34. And it looks so smart!!! You even get a sort of name tag with it, so that you can put the model on display in a cabinet.

It is hard to describe how great this car looks, so if you want to see some more photos, please have a look in our forum. All in all I would say that with the retail price between 140 and 160 euro, this is an absolute bargain!