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Thursday, 30 January 2020

Update of 1/43 Mercedes W10 (Minichamps)

Minichamps have released a US GP version of the same model, commemorating when Lewis drove into a painted spot at the end of the GP reserved for the 2019 World Champion. This means the car is facing the other way in the box.

Minichamps 417191844

Having bought both models, I thought it would be a good opportunity to compare both cars in a bit more detail, both cars being diecast.




From the front of the car, there's not really any noticeable change, other than the front wing endplates which you can't quite tell from this angle. There is a change to the winglets in around the bargeboard area, but we'll consider that later.




Moving to the back of the car, and I know it's been three years now, but I still love the wider rear tyres. Mercedes have very high rear suspension mounts as they do on the front, with the driveshaft covered in a wing shaped cover reminiscent of the Williams FW16. It's great to see even at this scale, the detail that goes into the rear brake ducts and all the tiny wings they squeeze in there. In terms of the two models, I can't really find any differences to spot.



Another area of highly intricate details is the bargeboard region in front of the sidepods. Reduced in size that they're able to develop, hasn't stopped the complexity, with teams managing to get their boomerang wings in. The main difference is on top of the sidepod, with the winglet not connected to the vertical outboard vane, although all the vertical vanes have changed slightly. The new version cleverly incorporates the mirrors, which are vented, hence the increased black region. It's still great to see the winglet on the halo get such good definition, and the different number of gills on the side of the cockpit which is race specific.



The final comparison is from a kind of T-Cam position. I like how the model has the saw-tooth shaped visors in front of the cockpit, and the models feature an accurate steering wheel shape with nice stickers on. As noted above, the US GP car makes an attempt at the vented mirrors.

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