Background:

I was always going to build a Delta at some point, it was just a case of which one. Hasegawa offer a lot of liveries and though many of them were tempting - especially the Sega Rally classic,Martini. However in the end I went for the Carlos Sainz car, the 1993 Jolly Club Repsol Delta Acropolis Rally. I've learned that Hasegawa's kits of this era are frequently gravel height regardless of the intended subject or event, so at least I knew choosing this one for the Acropolis Rally would not have to have it's suspension modified to look correct.

Kit review:

Pros:

It has a Photo Etch fret included, and material for the seatbelts and mudflaps. More or less goes together OK. Some areas have a good level of detail - the dashboard is good for example. Ride height is correct for a gravel setup.

Cons:

The moulding for the body is quite scruffy and soft, especially around the windows. The glue points for the rollcage are tiny and weak. The front suspension is weak, vague, fiddly and has far too much play in the steering - with everything connected correctly you can point both front wheels in opposite directions. The tyres are too big and look like tractor tyres, I had to swap them. The front lights and grille could have been engineered better to aid painting. The instructions show one of the decals on the roof incorrectly - 180 degrees from the correct orientation. The supplied decals combine the Repsol logos for many parts with the colours behind them meaning you don't have the option to paint these big areas instead without obtaining other decals, which is doubly annoying since the blue parts of the Repsol livery on the decals are almost black and therefore automatically look incorrect and in need of replacement.

Verdict:

Not terrible but certainly not good either. It's an OK model the produces an OK but slightly scruffy result (which at least for a rally car can be partly disguised by some weathering). It's typical of many kits from this era of Hasegawa. It's certainly not good enough to make me think about buying a second one, as I had originally planned.

Build notes:

Built over the course of one month in Feb-Mar 2024. Changes to what came in the box are: Tamiya driver and co-driver figures added, seatbelts added, hoses and wiring inside added, new decals for the Repsol logos, changed tyres, weathering and a diorama base.

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