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MI6 reviews the fifth 1:18th scale James Bond
car from RC2 - Tiffany Case's Ford Mustang from the
1971 film "Diamonds Are Forever"... |
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RC2 1:18th Ford Mustang Review
10th October 2005
Diamonds Are Forever not only
featured Sir Sean Connery in his come back performance, but also
some spectacular driving in the Ford
Mustang.
Exterior
The models exterior has a non-metallic red finish that is lifelike
to the original car, however the wing mirrors on the car are plastic
and the colour does not quite match, but they do not stand out
too much. Its obvious that a lot of effort has gone into the external
detailing of the car, as the paint work has only very minor blemishes
and in this sense the Mustang is one of the best models that RC2
have produced. Like others before it; all except for sidelights
are made from different colour plastic parts instead of being
painted or represented with stickers. The wing mirrors also have
reflecting metal inserts, which is a nice detail.
Above: The 1:18th scale Ford Mustang
by RC2 |
| Both the front and the back of the car
sports a Mustang logo, which in both places is made from
a separate plastic part. Along the side of the car we see
the words “Mach 1 MUSTANG” just above the painted
line mid wheel level. One thing that lets this model down
is that the number plate detail, which is represented by
a sticker. It may be a one off with this model but the sticker
was part peeling off the plate. This is a shame because
the rest of the external detail is excellent.
The models wheels are made of plastic, however the finish
on them is good, and they really do look like the real thing
and have some finer details on them. When it comes to tires,
as always, they have a good tread on them as well as a firm
but rubbery feel.
The car has more moving parts than others in the RC2 range.
The Mustang has opening doors; movable seats working steering
(broken on this model but this could be a one off) as well
as a working hood.
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On the underside of the car there is a great deal of engine detail
as well as moving parts for the steering. One thing that does
stand out on the underside is the mounting points that secure
the model to its base. For some reason RC2 have opted to have
the points coloured in red, a shame when you consider that area
around them is black and that the red makes them stand out.
Interior
The Mustang’s interior is hard to get a good look
at being that the car is not a convertible. You could be fooled
into thinking that the interior was poor if you started from the
back. Looking through the rear window shows little to nothing
of any sort of detail. However, when you open the doors and look
inside it is a whole different story. The interior section of
the door has some excellent detailing including a handle, door
locks and a window crank that is finished in silver. Seating is
made out of red plastic though the car lacks any form of seat
belts. What it does have however, is movable seating, something
that RC2 have improved on since previous models.
One thing that was nice to see were pedals on the drivers side,
these are separate parts that are finished in black and give the
car some real feel to it. The dashboard controls each have individual
faces like with other RC2 models. This is something that is not
always seen.
The car’s hood does not rise very high making it a little
difficult to see inside. However, due to the length of the hood
its easy to see that RC2 opted realism over functionality and
credit to them for doing this. What can be seen is what looks
like a basic yet very well detailed engine. It is easy to see
that the engine has several parts to it, as well as being finished
in many different colours. As with the real life car, it also
has some inscriptions on it, in this case the inscriptions are
represented with stickers. It’s nice to see that RC2 have
valued details that most users will rarely notice.
Above: The packaging displays all
of the Ford Mustang features. |
Packaging
Clean collector friendly packaging the box has windows on four
faces. A small montage of clips of the car is show on the front
and side faces. The rear face gives pictorial details a little
information on the car. There is no documentation on the car and
its famous role in "Diamonds Are Forever". Even if included
on the Q-CD it would have been a welcome addition.
The car comes taped up and screwed to a hard plastic base. The
plastic base fights snugly into the box and only allows the flaps
to be closed in a securing order. There is no tape seal on the
externals of the box, which ensures you do not damage it when
removing the car. What would have been nice is if the base had
some inscription it.
Gadgets
Unlike most previous models, the Mustang has no gadgets. This
is a shame but RC2 obviously have to work with what was in the
film.
Q-Card
With RC2's second attempt at this new business card size CD-ROM,
it features 2 wallpapers, an interactive gallery of stills and
a 360 degree view of the car with images of the cars features.
The quality of the presentation and images are still poor, requiring
a re-think. Sound would be a big improvement to the cards being
as at the moment they have none.
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Above: End face packaging
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Overall
The Ford Mustang is RC2’s fifth attempt at a 1/18th
scale Bond car, and what an attempt it is. The model is
excellent with good attention to detail. It is a shame that
this model had some problems with the steering however no
doubt this will not be an issue to other owners. Previous
models in the series had more realistic wing mirrors with
regards to the colour; but this is only a very small point.
RC2 should be very proud of the Mustang because its certainly
one of their better cars.
As with previous models the Q-Card needs some improvements,
however it is still a nice little extra to have in the box
for rainy days. Something out of RC2's control are the gadgets
featured on the car, which equal a staggering zero. This
is disappointing because it leaves the general Bond fan
feeling a little short changed, yet for the collector owning
this car is a must.
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MI6 Rating
Other Models
Joyride Entertainment (part of the RC2 group) secured the James
Bond license in 2004 and plans to release twelve cars over the
two years. The range will visit a mixture of famous cars from
the 20-film canon. The models are expected to retail at £34.99
in the UK, and $39.99 in the USA (prices may vary). Updated release
dates are estimates and are subject to change. RC2 had a proposed
Bond 21 car for a 2005, but due to the film being moved to 2006
its unclear what will happen. Expect a further four cars to be
announced in the near future.
