1:43 Garage43 Benetton B193 Michael Schumacher First Win in F1

After collecting a number of BBR Ferrari F1s of Michael Schumacher, I felt the need to acquire Michael's Benetton F1 models. At that time, the only alternative was a 1:43 minichamps version with figure but the quality was below that of BBR. I researched for a BBR Michael Schumacher Benettons but only found the B194 Spain and B195. For this reason, I commissioned Laurent Tay of Garage43 to build me this special model: B193 Portuguese GP.

Quality of the paint was exceptional. Others might not like the clear coat over decals on this model but personally I prefer it this way to protect the decals and paint. I have models which resemble the real car more and not too shiny because of the lack of clear coat but I'm concerned that decals might lift in the future.

Based from a Tameo kit. I like the tobacco livery on this model. Unfortunately tobacco liveries have been banned probably to protect kids from smoking. I'm not sure if FIA or whatever regulatory body had conducted a scientific study that proved a direct correlation between tobacco advertisement and smoking on young adults.

Laurent's builds are always very clean. For sure, his models have more details than a factory built BBR or MR. For example, in this model a custom seat belt was used.

 I like the carbon base which contrast that of the bright color of the F1 car. There was a time when I planned to have all my Schumi's F1s to be built by Laurent.  The quality to price ratio was hard to beat but the frequent delays on the finish date (and one time even cancelation of the project after months of waiting) of the models were too much to bear.  For this reason, I've decided to look for other professional builders and source my models from other auction sites such as Ebay and Yahoo Japan.

1:43 Autobarn Mclaren F1 GTR Orange Crusher

In the past few years, car enthusiasts have been comparing a Ferrari 250 GTO and a Mclaren F1. This may be unthinkable when the car was released in the mid 1990s and even when it won Le Mans in 1995. However, the dramatic rise in its value of more than $20 million has raised a valid point in the claim of being the best supercar of all time. Morever, the Mclaren F1 has overtaken the valuation of iconic Ferraris such as the Ferrari 250 SWB and other notable supercars including the Bugatti Veyron. This may be attributed to many factors such as low production number (106), Le Mans winner, fastest naturally aspirated car, central sitting position, among others. Moreover, in my opinion the F1 is still the best Mclaren road car beating newer cars including the P1 and Senna.

When I became aware of the Autobarn Mclaren models in 2010, I was hesistant to start a new line in my collection. At that time, I was focused on BBR Ferrari F1 Schumacher models. In addition, the increasing number of Autobarn Mclaren F1 variants will make it quite expensive to complete. Without doubt there were a lot of interesting Mclaren F1 model liveries such as the Ueno Clinic, Fina, Marlboro, West, Gulf, Lark and others. If I buy one, it would lead to another purchase that would result to having no funds for my main line (BBR F1s). For this reason, I decided to buy just one Mclaren F1 Papaya Orange. Little did I know that this particular model would be extremely hard to find because of its limited production of just 50 pieces. Not until recently I bought one from a collector in UK.

The quality of Autobarn (AB) Mclaren F1s is at the level of BBR which is not surprising because I believe MR produced AB models. After all these years, the condition of the paint and parts are still good. Not bad for an almost 20 years old model! As much as I like this model, in the near future I'm thinking of commissioning a master builder to build me another Orange crusher for more details and the UENO clinic Le Mans winner version. Until then, I'll enjoy this model and continue to hunt for other AB F1 models.