1/43 Model Review: 1996 Jordan 196 Peugeot

Background

Barrichello in his fourth year with the team was joined by Martin Brundle in what turned out to be his final season in F1. The Jordan 196 car sported a now common high nose cone for the first time, sporting unique double radiator inlets and low side cockpit head protection, whilst it enjoyed its second year of Peugeot works engines. After testing in a green, white and red livery, the team secured B&H backing turning the cars, initially a yellowy gold, before refining to a distinctive gold. Brundle spectacularly barrel-rolled at the first Grand Prix in Australia and was able to walk away and take the restart. But the season was not Jordan's most competitive with no podium finishes, but it did finish 5th in the Constructors' Championship with 22 points.

Minichamps 

Minichamps 430960011

Minichamps 430960012

I quite like Barrichello and Brundle as drivers, and couldn't resist getting both versions of the car. The livery is distinctly from the British GP, with a combination of the drivers' names and 'Special F1' replacing the tobacco logos. Whilst most of the bodylines are there, they didn't include the bodyline that runs over the top of the front half of the sidepod around the side of the cockpit.
Score: 7/10

Minichamps 402109596

The Jordan model was updated slightly for the 10 year anniversary of Jordan twin set collection. The gold was made a bit lighter, I personally preferred the original colour. I like the updated rear wing - winglet, but much of the rest of the model is the same as the original. To me, there's not enough of an improvement to gain any extra points in my score.
Score: 7/10

Ixo (Eaglemoss)

In Brazil, you could get this Ixo version with early season colours of Barrichello's car. The front sidepod opening isn't great, but the rest of the car is quite nicely done. They could have painted the bargeboard around the front suspension. Nevertheless, it wouldn't be a bad car to add to the collection as an early season version next to the Minichamps cars. I was tempted to give it the same score as the Minichamps car, but I had to mark it down for the reasons above.
Score: 6/10

Tameo

Tameo TMK212

Tameo have produced some excellent models for the 1996 grid, but for me, this one is a disappointment. The B&H logos are particularly bad. The front sidepod inlet is too straight and there's no actual opening. The top of the nose doesn't look right to me either. I like the inclusion of the turning vane just in front of the rear wheels. This version is from the Australian GP.

Tameo TMK213

We do get an early season version from Tameo, this one from the Argentine GP which includes the mid-wing and the more mustard coloured gold.

Tameo TMK224

We also get a German GP version of the Jordan with amended gold livery. The Peugeot decal on the engine cover is too bold for me.
Combining the models together, I gave it the same score as the Minichamps car, because despite my misgivings over the overall shape, the details bump up the score back up, with the pitot tubes, in-cockpit detail, fuel caps, suspension detail, and nicely modeled rear wings.
Score: 7/10

BBR

BBR BG96

BBR's version also comes from the Australian GP. I was disappointed by the Tameo offering, and to me the BBR version is worse. That rear wing is huge, and the nose/monocoque is too low. Again, you get nice additional details over the Minichamps and Ixo offerings, so that bumps the score up from a 5 to a 6.
Score: 6/10

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