Although I normally only try to collect 1:18 Formula One World Champions, I had to get his once it came out. I really like the very special and (dare I say) cool livery. It really stands out from all the other F1 cars I have. The black/white camo graphics make it somewhat harder to see all the curves and details of the car, but that was of course the whole point of the livery.
The Red Bull Racing Renault RB11 Testcar was released by Spark in scales 1:43 and 1:18. Both releases are not die-cast but resin, which again theoretically means more refined parts like real gills in the wing endplates in this case.
We will be looking at the 1:18 version here as it is the model I bought.
First thing is the packaging. It comes in a closed box with the black/white camo graphics on it and the Infinity Red Bull Racing logo's. I really like the artwork on the box, it's actually the first time I'm contemplating displaying a model with it's packaging. Especially when removed from it's gray base, it looks amazing on the box as the camo graphics of the car almost blend into the box. Very cool.
Looking at the front, the nose is nicely done. They did a good job on the shape, and the decals on it look good. The front wing is nice, the extra flaps look refined. I really like the slot gap separators on the cascades. Just like with the STR model, it's a shame there are no real slots in the front wing cascades, but it's understandable as it would become incredibly fiddly and fragile. The cut outs on the wing enplates are very nice. I also really like the details underneath the nose in between the front suspension.
The antennas on top are refined but the front suspension is too plastic looking, eventhough they make it look like carbon. I again do think they could have done a slightly better job on it. The rims look very nice, as does the wheelnut. I really like the OZ-Wheels decals in the wheels. The tires have a nice shape and the rubber looks smooth and (very important) don't look too shiny and plastic. The 'tea tray' looks good with that aluminiul colored rod connected to it. One minor point is the transition of the decal on the side of the nose to the top. The camo doesn't exactly align and you can clearly see where is goes over into the next part. This is only noticable from close up though.
The cockpit look nice, the steering wheel is detailed, the driver figurine has real seatbelts (not fabric though) and you can even spot a HANS device underneath the helmet. But here we arrive to a little letdown, the helmet. The shape is ok, but the decaling is quite sloppy. It's not 100% smooth, but the biggest problem is the visor. Some of the helmet design overlaps the visor and it doesn't have the crews on either side. I corrected it with some leftover decals I had and a black pen, but it shouldn't have been the way it looked. The aero parts on the sidepods look good and refined.
BEFORE
AFTER
The rear of the car looks really good. The suspension arrangement (although a bit plastic looking aswell) is quite nice, the brake ducts are very elaborate and the exhaust and monkey seat look fine. The rear wing endplates have real slots, which I really like. Connected to the wing is the DRS system, but they forgot to include a piece connecting it to the upper flap. The rear wing itself was bending a bit too much forward on my model, but i corrected that by disassembling it and replacing it in the correct position. A very interesting piece of detail is the floor of the car in front of the rear wheels. It has a slot in it which is really cut out.
It's as very good looking model with good details in it. The livery is simply amazing and even the box looks very good, especially when you display them together. The helmet is a real let down, it seems it has never been Spark's strong point. In the end, it was an easy fix, but not everyone is as handy and has suitable decals laying around. It looks amazingly good, but it's also somewhat flawed when looking at the details.
