1/43 Model Review: 1997 Prost JS45 Mugen-Honda

Background

Alain Prost returned to F1 as team owner taking over from the Ligier team. The team was in transition for 1997 as Prost looked to build an all French team. The team retained the Mugen-Honda engines and Olivier Panis who was partnered by Shinji Nakano at Mugen's request. The team was amazingly competitive for the first six races, Panis offering a true title challenge, but a crash at Canada broke both of his legs, and he would not return until the end of the year. Prost quickly hired impressive Trulli from Minardi and they continued to show good speed. He finished 4th in Germany and lead much of the Austrian Grand Prix.

Minichamps

430970014

This model was one of the earliest models I owned, with reasonably good midfield runner, Panis making an unlikely title challenge. Truth was he was in the best position to make the most of the new Bridgestone tyres that were particularly strong during the race. It's a shame Panis had his accident, I doubt he would have maintained the points scoring rate for the rest of the season, but I certainly think he would have added to his two podiums he had already secured. I remember the particularly long nose on this car, and compared to other cars, the rear wing endplates were as small as they could be. Other than that, the shape of the car is a development of their 1996 car, but I did like the simple all blue livery. The Minichamps model was reasonably well done, no real problems with the dimensions, and they've done a reasonably nice job at the rear of the car where the detail is.
Score: 7/10

Tameo

Tameo TMK246

This Tameo model is based on Trulli's Italian GP car, with low downforce wings, and it also comes with a removable engine cover. The detail underneath is fantastic and a plus for me is the asymmetric detailing, and you can see more it opens up more than on the Stewart car. I have to say, I'm a little disappointed by the rest of the model, the nose and monocoque section looks too square. The front top edge of the sidepod should be more rounded. The rear wing endplate looks like the normal season one, but the Italian GP version was even more cut down and minimalistic than this model.
Score: 7/10