Jim Beam Falcon

This is the 2011 Jim Beam Racing Ford FG Falcon in 1:18 scale. It's from Apex Replicas and is made solely from resin. No working or opening parts but lots of external and internal detail and some photo-etched parts. No engine detail either. You can't tell it apart from a diecast model and it is heavy to lift, though not as heavy as a diecast. This is the way of the future for limited-run models, as the costs are getting too high for metal with working parts. Interestingly the price is $195? I thought it would be cheaper than diecast, but it seems that resin requires a lot of manual cleaning and hand decalling to achieve a high quality finish.

BTW this is a pre-production model, and needs more corrective work to be done before it is released in October. I took it to the AMCC meeting last night to get some opinions. They thought the model is OK but the price isn't. Any thoughts anyone?

Image removed - no more discussion required.

that's one very cool race car.

Wow!!! That looks amazing!! As a static model- awesome looks great, finish and all that looks spot on.
However for 195 clams, I can get this(picked at random): http://www.biante.com.au/product_22780.htm
with the full detail. Sorry Tezza, but they seriously need to do something about that price.

The guys that collect these sorts of cars(I don't-because of the price) I don't think would shell out $195 for a kerbside model.
That's my two cents.

Don't be sorry mate - I'm only reviewing the model for The Diecast Magazine, and I agree with you. The AMCC concensus was around $130-140 they would consider it, but not $195.

I saw this on Monday night.
It looks great, is heavier than I expected but the wheels don't go round (not sure why that matters but I think it does) and as Tezza says, nothing opens.
Non-opening doors, bonnet & boot mean tighter panel gaps and added realism but is that enough to make the collectors buy?
Maybe the lure of having one of a more "limited edition" run will be enough to make them shell out.

However, I think that the fact that it is a 1/18 slammer makes it an expensive paperweight rather than a scale replica.

Now that the story is published i can place the image here again.

Looks better than the BottleO car that i saw the day it was delivered to my local shop. I thought that one (BottleO) was for my kids to play with. At the moment i would not shell out for these, they are to dear compared to there competition which seams a better car. And if the wheels don't turn the tyres will go flat on the bottom in the cabinants over time.

So take the wheels off and put it up on blocks...

Good point, i think some people do that now to stop them moving them around. I haven't done it but it would save some work and cleaning time once or twice a year.

i'd be very surprised if resin was cheaper than diecast, as the raw materials are very expensive, and although the molds are cheaper, they don't hold up very well and would have to be replaced after a hundred units.

zenrat wrote:So take the wheels off and put it up on blocks...

just watch out. the 1/18 scale 'hoods will do that for you. They use them on their bogan 1/18 commodores.