Provence Moulage 1/43rd Scale Rizla+ March 821 '82 South African Grand Prix By John Jameson

Introduction

1982 was a tumultuous season for Formula 1. It was the year of Gilles Villenueve's death and the boycott of the San Marino Grand Prix following the disqualification of Nelson Piquet and Keke Rosberg's results at the Brazilian Grand Prix. The San Marino Grand Prix was only run by half of the cars and the bare minimum for a Grand Prix to be staged, 13. The other half withdrew in protest. It was also the year Ken Tyrell protested the turbocharged cars that were supposed to be banned by the rules. The driver championship was won by Keke Rosberg with Team Williams and the constructor championship was won by Ferrari.

The story of the March 821 Ford is more about of what didn't get accomplished than what did. The car failed to make any podium finishes and scored no championship points in 1982. The driver line up consisted of Jochen Mass and Raul Boesel. Jochen Mass only managed to finish in six of the 17 races and Boesel only managed to finish a meager four of 17 races. The kit features the cars as they ran at the first race of the year in South Africa where both actually finished.

The Kit

This is a 1/43rd scale kit from Provence Moulage and is a brand new release from the French company. It is kit #K1620 and represents the March 821 Ford sponsored by Rizzla+. This is a rather simple kit of resin, photo-etch, rubber tires, and aluminum wheels.

The kit is primarily made of resin. The body, under tray, rear wing and wing mount, mirrors, steering wheel and front suspension arms are all made of resin.

There is a small photo-etch sprue containing wing end plates, wheel centers, radiator grills, and suspension arms.

The wheels are aluminum with the rear wheels actually being two piece unto which the PE wheel center is sandwiched.

The tires are rubber slicks that actually appear accurate for the car. Provence Moulage has a habit of including treaded tires for race cars that ran on slicks in their kits.

The decals look excellent and contain the green parts of the livery, numbers for either driver, and sponsor logos. The kit needs to be painted the metallic black and then use the green decals to achieve the scheme.

The kit's striking livery of metallic black and green with Rizzla+ sponsorship is what drew me to this kit. The car really has no significant historical significance. I also wanted to see a modern Formula 1 kit from Provence Moulage.

Conclusions

The kit appears to be no Tameo or BBR kit and is rather simple. Its simplicity should translate to a quicker build. It retails for around $35, the same price as a Tameo. The resin castings are excellent with no pinholes and little flash. The instructions are typical of Provence Moulage and consist of a one-page sheet with pictures of the finished kit and one exploded view of the build. Not much to go on for sure. The painting instructions are done with color coded 'boxes' that point to the part to be painted but the quality of the printing is lacking so the builder can't tell the difference between black and metallic black. The colors are specified as Humbrol colors.

I was expecting more of Provence and this kit, and I am not sure why. The kit is really true to form for PM. I really dislike the molded in one-piece under tray, seat and belts, but what can a builder do? If you want to add this car and its striking looks to your collection it is the only game in town. The decals are of high quality. It should build into a decent looking finished model, but it really lacks the detail of a Tameo kit.