Got one of em now, my first vanquish.
Since there has been a lot of interest in the car before it was out, and no one has said anything about it, I shall put some notes here.
It is a stunning model, but not without problems. It looks too big to me, although its wheel-base is smaller than modern F1s. But there are comparative pics on other threads, its a vanquish, so that was to be expected. The body also seems to get a tad chunky, maybe it is too tall in the middle, but overall, it looks very satisfying to me.
The livery is done beautifully, and the attention to detail is stunning. There are clear blue plastic dials on the dashboard, the seatbelt is properly attache to the car, the engine looks magnificent, and the wheels are superb, the rear wheel vented brakes are brilliant.
My main dissappointment with it (and overall I am chuffed) was that nothing was attached or glued properly, except for the rear exhaust pipes which are firmly attached and wonky. You can't see the wonkiness when its on the track tho. The 2 side mirrors fell off in seconds without a crash, and the window kept popping half out. the chimney thing wobbled about too. Out with the glue, and after a mirror attachment accident, and wiping glue off the body, discovered there was no clear coart to keep the beautiful gold markings on
.
Oh and the guys arm up in the air annoyed me, so I had to reposition it, which probably due to the lack of glue or welding, was pretty straight-forwards to do.
As mentioned elsewhere, the body (basically the front half of the car) is held on with only 1 screw, under the guide. The back of the chassis kinda sits in place, i guess this allows the chassis to flex.
It is my first experience of the differential gear in a slot car, and I am very impressed, it seems like a very well built thing, the only drawback is it made tyre-trueing very difficult. It is visible behind the engine, but molded in black, it does not detract at all for me.
How does it drive? It's drive mechanism is very smooth, and its close to my quietest cars (carrera evos are my quietest, but not by much). It has one centrally positioned large button magnet, and a rear engine, housed by the engine detailing. On my difficult home track (curvy hilly and on carpet), it was not the fastest of cars by a long way. But it drove very nicely, with the back sliding way out without it deslotting, if the speed was just so. If you like adding extra magnets, which I tend to due to my uneven track and low driving skills, you will be hard pushed to find anywhere for them. the engine is to the rear, behind that is the rear axel with the gear which protrudes through the chassis, so there is no-where for a rear magnet. The only place I could find required modification and trimming, to put a very slim button magnet just behind the guide.
This car has taken a bit of work, some of it unavoidable cos bits fell off, but has resulted in not the fastest, but a very smooth and nice driving car that is gorgeous, and am very pleased with
