Bburago 1/24 Mini Cooper Monte Carlo Metal Kit Review

Today was I doing some cleaning during the Easter holiday break when I came across one of my old die-cast models collecting dust on the shelf.  The model car shown on the picture below is a 1/24 die cast replica of a Mini Cooper with "Rallye Monte-Carlo" livery.  If my memory serves me right this car was driven by Paul Easter and Timo Makinen in 1994 wherein Mini was celebrating the 30th anniversary of Paddy Hopkirk's Monte Carlo Rally win back in 1964. Don't you think it's a funny coincidence that I should do a review of a car driven by someone named Easter on Easter day... 

This car was given to me by an old college buddy who's really fond of Minis.

The  metal kit featured here today was produced by the Italian company Bburago.  The model is not your typical out of the box collectors die-cast models, this one required some assembly.  Despite of that setback this kit was easy to build, in fact the box states that you only need to be eight years of age to put it together.  That is due to the fact that the parts simply snap into place and no glue is necessary.  It does have a few screws under the chassis so a screwdriver is required.

The body is made of die-cast metal while the rest of the parts are in plastic. Most of the major components came pre-painted.  However, if I recall correctly the decals needed to be applied.  I may be wrong though since it's been ages since I've completed this one.  I did not bother to paint in details on the other parts so what you'll see on the following pictures will be pretty much how the kit will look when assembled straight out of the package.   Now on with my review...

The pre-painted die cast body looks nice and clean.  The color still retained the original quality even after all these years.  The decals also held up pretty well. I don't see any discoloration on any of them.  I am not much of a fan of the wheels though, I do not like how the axle peg looks out of place on the tire rims.  I also wished they had some clear parts for the lamp below the rear bumper instead of just plain chrome. 

The chassis on this kit looks very much like a toy, with the manufacturers labels engraved on it. There are however, a few nice details for the front and read suspension but I feel there is nothing much to look at here.  That's the reason why I normally keep this car mounted to the display base which came with the kit.

Like in most die-cast models, the doors and bonnet are operable which leads me into the next part of my review.  I have to apologize for the untidy interiors, I didn't have the chance to thoroughly clean up the kit before taking the pictures.

Generally, I think this kit's weakness is the interiors.  Most of what is inside are just molded in black plastic.  However to be fair, I think the kit does have a lot of potential for detailing.  I'm sure the engine and dashboard will pop out when the details are painted in.

In conclusion, if I were to rate this kit from 1 to 5 with five being the highest I'd probably give it a 3-1/2.  The pre-painted hull and ease of assembly is great for Mini Cooper lovers young and old.  That's all for now... Happy Easter everyone!

Bluestreak Repainted

Transformers Binaltech BT-19 Bluestreak
by Takara-Tomy
Paint: Tamiya Color TS-50 Mica Blue
Finish: Gunze Sangyo Mr. Hobby Topcoat - Gloss

I had the opportunity to finish my Bluestreak repaint today.  To be honest, I was a bit unsatisfied with the results.  However, I think it's still a decent attempt from someone who haven't been modeling for quite a while now.  I did accomplish my main goal of removing all of the scratches and the faded colors on the vehicle's body.

Here are some before and after pictures...

Unfortunately, as mentioned in one of my earlier posts, this Autobot will have to go into retirement and live the rest of its life as a display piece due to a cracked hinge on one of the rear doors.  I will, however, keep an eye out for people selling their broken toys. Who knows, maybe someday I'll find a suitable replacement part and truly be able to restore this Transformer to its former glory.

Die-cast Door Dilemmas

It was one of those rainy Sunday afternoons again, so I've decided to stay home and work on my worn out Bluestreak figure.  I've chosen to keep the car’s original blue color and disregarded my initial ideas of doing a completely different paint job on this model. 

In preparation for the first coat of spray paint, I had to cover up the surfaces that I didn’t want painted over with some paper and tape.  While I was masking the vehicle, I noticed a crack on one of the rear door hinge. 

  

This reminded me of the broken door on my Aston Martin DB5. Although unlike the Aston, I don’t really see any other symptoms of a zinc pest attack on this car apart from the unexplained crack I just mentioned.  This may be a different case altogether; it is possible that the break was caused by  the repetitive “transformation” process from vehicle to robot mode and back.

I guess after I’m done giving this Transformer a new coat of paint, Bluestreak will really need to avoid converting to and from his various modes.  After all, we wouldn’t want his fresh paint to get scratched nor do we want his door to fall of completely.

Not quite done, but almost there...

Reviving Bluestreak

What I've posted here are some pictures of my worn out Transformers Binaltech: Bluestreak figure by Takara Tomy.  For those who don't know, Binaltech is the Japanese version of Hasbro's Alternators toy line which were released roughly around 2003.  The main difference between the two is that the Japanese version had die-cast metal bodies while Hasbro's version were all in plastic.  Being die-cast, it is designed more for collection or display only and less of a toy.  The cars are presented in 1:24 scale and are highly detailed to match their real world counterparts.  Bluestreak's vehicle mode was based on a Subaru Impreza WRX. 

Contrary to what I've just mentioned just now, my Bluestreak had been played around quite a bit over the years thus resulting to its current sorry state.  There are numerous scratches all over the body.  Furthermore the color in other areas seemed to have faded away leaving the model with uneven shades of blue here and there.  Well today I've decided to attempt to give this car a new paint job.  I haven't quite decided if I'll keep its original blue color or go all out and custom paint it.

"You break it, I'll remake it" - Ratchet, Autobot Medic

Nevertheless, I've already began to disassemble the parts this evening in preparation for the upcoming task.  It'll probably be a while before I could fully restore this car mainly because I'm swamped with tons of work at the office lately.  I'll try not to let that hinder this project though.  Hope this paint job turns out okay. I'll post the "after" pics when I get things done.

Zinkpest

Coming home after working in Singapore for close to 3 years, it wasn't surprising to find my old room looking nowhere like how I left it.  Half of the room still bears some semblance of my former domain, while the other half seemed like a warehouse used to store artifacts from ancient civilizations.  Apparently my family took the liberty of using my room to store the things they hardly use anymore.

Since then, I've been spending around an hour or two every weekend trying to sort through boxes and boxes of our stuff, deciding which items to keep or dispose of.  

During one of these sessions I stumbled upon one of my old die-cast model cars.  It was a 1/18 scale replica of "James Bond's Aston Martin DB5" which was still neatly stored in its original package.  Having been away for several years, I realized it was about time I gave this baby a maintenance polish.  

While cleaning my vehicle I noticed that the door on the driver side seemed to have warped and did not close snugly in place like it used to.  Upon further inspection I also observed numerous cracks in the door's paint job. Meanwhile, the rest of the model did not seem to be affected by this problem.  Finally, as I tried to gently push the door back into its place, the thing just fell off its hinge.

Dismayed, I surfed the internet for others who've encountered similar problems with their die-cast models.  It was during this time when I first learned about this thing called zinc pest.  From what I've read, this problem should have less likely been encountered at present time, especially since the process of die-casting have improved significantly over the years.  One could only assume that this door probably came from a poor batch of alloy.  Unfortunately for me, I didn't know that my model car was already deteriorating until it was too late.

I used to think die-cast models were durable, this event proved to be contrary to my expectations.  I'll probably think twice before purchasing another die-cast model in the future.


If you want to read more about this phenomenon I've linked some websites below:
Zinc Pest Strikes Older Beauties
Die-Cast Cancer