Background:

The Sauber Mercedes C9: "One of the greatest Group C cars ever" made by Tamiya: "First in quality around the world". How could I not build this one? Group C, certainly for me the most interesting era of endurance racing and looking at their output from it, also for Tamiya.

Kit review:

Pros:

Pretty flawless in terms of moulding, fitment and overall quality. The photo-etch parts in the re-release do make a significant difference to the end result.

Cons:

The windscreen wiper is straight and doesn't confirm to the curve of the screen. The body is a little loose over the chassis. A few more decals for the interior and dashboard would have been nice. And that's it.

Verdict:

Outstanding. If you're into Group C there's no reason to not get it and chances are if you are, it's already either in your stash or on your wishlist. There's enough in the box to make a very nice model and enough quality in there to make superdetailing a very worthwhile effort.

Build notes:

Built over in just over a month in Jan/Feb 2025. Painted in Tamiya rattle-can gloss aluminium. I had the original release of the kit but obtained the photo-etch parts from Tamiya as a spare part. Other additions to the kit are quite a lot of extra scratchbuilt detailing parts - hoses, fittings, wires and such, in both the cockpit and the engine bay. I also added seatbelts and removed the passenger seat. On the exterior, I filled and sanded the panel line caused by the front cover being a seperate part. This build is surprisingly heavy after completion, probably as a result of some of the solder-wire in the engine bay. Sitting there on the shelf it looks a very solid and grounded vehicle and it really does look like a miniaturised version of a real C9. If this somehow doesn't make my top 3 by the end of 2025, I will have had a very very good years modelling.

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