1/43 Model Review: 1996 Benetton B196 Renault

Background

Jean Alesi and Gerhard Berger joined the reigning champions from Ferrari with Schumacher going the other way. The car would be the last to be designed by Rory Byrne with the influence of Ross Brawn before they too would head to Ferrari. The drivers found the car difficult to drive, as many of Schumacher's previous team-mates have in the teams cars, but the team did compete for victories at Monaco and Germany before reliability problems halted their progress. The drivers took 10 podiums between them earning the team third place in the Constructors' Championship.

It was interesting that Brawn admitted recently that Berger blocked Alesi's progress with the team due to his behind the scene antics. There's also stories of how neither driver could get their head around a simple change in the starting procedure as the grid sped past them at the European GP. The car was clearly no match for the Williams FW18, but you still wonder what Schumacher may have done in this car had he stayed with the team.

Minichamps

Off the back of the success of the Michael Schumacher collection and the various versions of the B195, Minichamps continued to sponsor Benetton and produce several versions of the B196, albeit the interest has waned with the departure of Schumacher to Ferrari. However, there is no change in shape in any of these versions which is a little disappointing, so I'll give on score at the end.

Minichamps 430960003

Minichamps 430960004

I post both cars because Berger's car had an inverted colour logo by the drivers helmet. I can't find any Grand Prix where Berger ran that nor at the launch or in testing, and its weird how it only appeared on one car. The model itself is not bad. The nose is quite chunky, and it's annoying how the under side of the nose is not flush on any of the models.

Qantas

Minichamps 430960003

For the 1997 Australian Grand Prix, a number of 1996 cars were released in a Qantas, and the Benetton is the only affordable one I have managed to get a hold of. The models themselves are the basic models, but even today, they command high prices close to £100 - though they rarely get traded at those prices.

Monaco GP (Lemaco)

Minichamps 430960063

After Hill retired from a commanding lead at the Monaco Grand Prix, Alesi actually ran in the looked on course to take the victory, but for mechanical issues forcing a retirement. There's not too many differences, other than the Hype logo now being in florescent yellow and a slight change on the nose front wing support. What's odd on all of these race specific liveries is the box with the information, most of which is covered by the car. You have to look at the back of the box at the barcode to actually confirm which GP its from. Minichamps changed their logo for all these races,

French GP (T2M)

Minichamps 430960033

The French GP was the first non-tobacco race in this Minichamps run. It's good that they remembered to move the refuelling decal to the left side of the car. The French GP was not only a non-tobacco sponsorship race, but also non-alcohol, so the Kingfisher logo was replaced. It was the first race with Rollerblade on the side.

British GP (Amerang)

Minichamps 430960054

Jean Alesi's British Grand Prix version was one of my first models I had whilst growing up, but I eventually got a hold of Berger's car as well. I do like the mid-season change of the headrest to bright green from the French GP. 

Belgian GP (Homble)

Minichamps 430960023

The Belgian GP version is one of the harder ones to find as its limited to only 500pcs, although they all sell for around the same value. 

Minichamps 430960043

I'm missing the Italian GP version (RIPA) from my collection, but I have found a picture of one with Nordica running on the sidepods.

To the score, and because of the nose, I am going to give this a slightly below average score. The rear wing is a bit low too, there is not enough gap between the upper and lower rear wings.
Score: 6/10

Tameo

Tameo TMK216

Tameo's version is from the Argentine Grand Prix. The shape on this is really nice, as is the livery. There's just something about how it all fits together, something doesn't quite fit for me, I can't put my finger on it, but it's a very minor complaint.
Score: 9/10

BBR

BBR Met60

I can't find any pictures of a built version of this, but it's here purely because it exists.

Ixo

This is  not a terrible offering from IXO, the front of the car is really not bad at all. I like the cockpit area, and the engine cover and roll-hoop looks very similar to the Minichamps offering. The sidepod opening is OK, but where the blue decal stops, it remains white which doesn't help. Ther ear of the sidepod doesn't look great, and the Benetton splashes look rushed, like I asked my toddler to draw it. The skinny rear wing gives a nice alternative, but the rims are laughably bad. So overall, some nice bits sadly ruined by some glaringly bad bits. 

Score: 4/10

To read more reviews from the 1996 season, click here: https://fongugp4.blogspot.com/p/1996-model-review.html