1/43 Model Review: 1986 World Champion Alain Prost (McLaren MP4/2C TAG)

Background

The MP4/2 had already won the previous two years' championships and with the updated MP4/2C, and ex-champion Keke Rosberg joined Prost at McLaren. Rosberg struggled with the setup and running out of fuel however, whilst the Williams team were now the team to beat. Prost cleverly took big points finishes whilst Piquet and Mansell took points off each other in their own battle. Coming to Australia, Mansell was 7 points ahead of Prost, with Piquet a further 2 behind. Rosberg stormed in front, but a puncture on lap 62 caused him to retire. Mansell dramatically suffered the same fate as Rosberg and Prost went on to win the race and his second Drivers' World Championship.

Minichamps

Minichamps 530864301

Like the other MP4/2 cars by Minichamps, this is quite an early edition which is number 42 in the McLaren Collection. For its time, I think this is a lovely model. 

Minichamps 436860001

The car was re-released as part of the World Champions Collection and comes with some revised parts. Most of the changes look great, but to me, the rear wing seems to be placed much further back and that doesn't look quite right to me. Though it lacks some of the fine details of some of the newer models, it is still a nice model in its own right.

Score: 7/10

Solido

Solido 14003

I'm quite impressed with this Solido car, and it's very reasonably priced too. It's comparable in quality to the Minichamps version and, though it doesn't come with a driver figure, it does have quite nice cockpit details. 

Score: 7/10

Altaya/RBA

As you'd expect with the RBA cars, these are low budget, low detail cars, so it's never really going to get particularly good scores. It's recognisable enough, but it looks more like a toy than a model. 

Score: 5/10

Spark

Spark Mc-ES-1622-06

This McLaren is part of the 50th Anniversary collection from Spark from the Japanese Euro Sports store. Like the 1985 version, there are only 200 of these made, so these are pretty rare or very expensive. Spark have done a great job on this car. Again the shape is simple but the details in the cockpit, the brakes and at the rear of the car are all beautifully done. The driver figure is good, and the helmet is OK, but I'm still not a fan of the visor. 

Score: 9/10