history
The Ford Focus RS WRC is a car built for the BP Ford World Rally Team by Ford and M-Sport and based on the Ford Focus Climate 2 litre production hatchback, developed to compete in the World Rally Championship. The RS stands for Rallye Sport and the WRC for World Rally Car, the car's FIA specification.
Like all contemporary World Rally Cars, the car is heavily modified from the production version, with which it shares only the basic shape and some parts of the body-shell. The car features four wheel drive, rather than the front wheel drive of the road car.
The Ford Focus WRC uses a Ford 1998cc Pipo built l4 Duratec WRC engine (Four Cylinders, 16 Valves, Bore 85 mm and Stroke 88 mm), Pi electronic engine Management system, Garrett Turbocharger (with required 34 mm inlet restrictor), Air Intercooler, and a Catalytic Converter.
Power is 300bhp at 6000rpm and 550 Nm (406 ftlb) of Torque at 4000rpm
Info from Wikipedia
The kit
This is the first kit from a new French company called Simil'R and the release date for this kit is around the end of March. A list of distributors from around the world are listed on their website, but I have found a few other online companies that are stocking this model.
Packed in a surprisingly shallow box the kit is broken down into three white sprues, one clear sprue and a small bag containing the small fret of photo etch, four rubber tyres, 4 poly-caps, and four metal springs. Each sprue is bagged separately so packaging is pretty much top notch. A set of decals, a set of masks and the instruction booklet fill the rest of the box contents.
The kit breaks down into around 130 parts and as you would expect from a new moulding, flash is pretty much non-existent. Pin marks are on most of the major parts, but do seem to be in places that can't be seen.
Interior detail for the car is pretty good with the seats having harness, in the form of decals, foot pedals, a couple of fire extinguishers, and the instrument panel has a set of decals for the dials. A full roll cage is also supplied.
Having watched a few races of the World Rally Championship, you could really go to town adding bits and bobs to the interior, to really liven it up.
The model has full running gear with the shock absorbers having metal springs, full suspension units, disc brakes and calipers, and part of the exhaust and transmission system. most of this will eventually end up hidden as the kit comes with skid plates for the underside. No engine is supplied, which is a little on the downside.
Doors can be modelled open. Until I build this car I'm not sure if the front wheels can be modelled in anything other then facing forward, but they can be removed to show off the disc and calipers, as two stands are supplied to keep the car off its discs.
The wheels are quite well done with the hubs having the wheel nuts as raised detail. The tyres are rubber and have full tread pattern. Manufacturers logos for the tyres are supplied as decals, and are actually printed with out the deliberate spelling mistakes, that you often see on some models due to licensing issues.
The clear parts cover the windscreen, rear screen, quarter windows and the headlight covers. The parts are distortion free, fairly thin and scratch free.
The photo etch supplied is stainless steel, and has parts for the two grills, wing mirror mirrors, and a "Focus" badge. Four fasteners are supplied which are applied after painting and decaling for the bonnet (hood) and the boot (trunk).
Also on the fret is a paint stencil for the "Abu Dhabi" logo found on one of the P.E grills and is a very helpful tool for painting this part of the kit, and would be difficult to try and paint this freehand.
Instructions and decals
The instructions are printed on a A4 size sheet which folds out too four pages long for the build and paint sequence. I'm not a fan of this type of instructions as you end up with a great big long sheet, which always in my case ends up taking up half my desk and being folded all over the place to size it down.
The actual build sequence is simple a straightforward to follow, but it does get a little complicated once you have to start painting and decaling parts during the build. Carefully following the instructions is required to get the best out of this kit.
Internal and some of the external colours for painting are given along the way and are matched to Tamiya, Gunze and Humbrol colours. The main body colours which are Ford Blue and BP Green, are matched to Simil'R spray paints, of which I haven't found as of yet, and are not listed on Simil'Rs website at this time. A trip to your local car shop should find at least the blue colour.
The decals are printed by Cartograph, and are glossy, and in register. Having used Cartograph decals before they are very good, and conform well with a little help from a decal solution.
The kit is supplied with a set of masks for painting the windows, and it isn't tape, but a thin plastic film. These are used on the exterior glass of the car apart from the rear window, which is masked on the inside. three other masks are supplied, one for a portion of the rear bumper (fender), and the other two are for the rear light stations, but unfortunately I seem to be missing one.
This sample was supplied from the French and Benelux Distributor
T2M, so I would like to thank them and Jean-Luc for the chance to review this iconic car.
Please remember, when contacting retailers or manufacturers, to mention that you saw their products highlighted here - on
Automodeler.
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