Tamiya 1/24 Ford Focus

By Tony Paton

Introduction

The last year of the previous millenium saw Ford introduce a new rally car to replace the Escort ­ the Focus. The Focus was revealed at the Birmingham Motorshow and had it's first rally at Monte Carlo. The car, driven by former Subaru Driver & World Champion, Colin McRae, made an impressive debut. McRae finished in third place but were later disqualified due to using an illegal water pump. In the second rally they placed third, followed by two wins in the Safari Rally and Portugal rounds. After this impressive start, mechanical problems plagued the rest of the season, culminating in a gigantic accident in Australia that wrote the car off.

What's in the Box?

Tamiya have replicated how the car appeared in the Monte Carlo Rally. There are four sprues in the box. Two are colored white; these include parts for the wheels, roll cage, drive train and suspension. One is black that has the door seals, seats, dash and exhaust. The last is the clear for windows and lights. The body is one piece and molded in white.

One interesting thing that I have noticed is that Tamiya have included a spare tire that is to be placed behind the driver.

There are two decal sheets, one for the body stripes with the other for sponsor & seat decals. There are also masks for the windows, which have now become standard in Tamiya kits. Tire decals are also included and are very small so I advise care, as there are no spares if one goes missing.

A plastic bag contains the rubber tires with authentic tread and black mesh for the grills. The instructions have 15 steps and none seem to be too complicated. A drawing of the decal/paint scheme is also included

Conclusion

Once again Tamiya have produced another outstanding rally kit. I don't perceive any real dramas. Maybe when it gets time to painting the body with white and red that is separated by the curved blue decals, may cause some headaches. Apart from that is should make a stunning model at the completion.

See the review of the Studio 27 detail set of aftermarket accessories for this kit

I'd like to thank HobbyLink Japan for the review sample where both the kit and the Studio27 after-market kit can both be purchased.