AMD 1/20 Brabham BT-44B |  |
Introduction
This is a 1/20th scale kit of resin, plastic, white metal, and photo-etch from the Brazilian manufacturer AMD. Tamiya molds the same car in a 1/12th scale kit, but this is the only Brabham BT44B in 1/20th scale that I know of. If you haven't seen the AMD line up of kits take a look at their website
The Brabham Ford BT-44B was runner up in the '75 Formula 1 Constructors Championship. The car was piloted by Carlos Reutemann and Jose Carlos Pace and can be built to represent either driver. Reutemann won the German GP, while Pace won his first ever GP in Brazil. The team was competitive and lost only to Ferrari for the constructors title.
The Kit
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This is AMD's third kit #20003. The common theme for AMD is that all their releases are Brazilian subjects and in this case it is driver, Carlos Pace.
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This is a true multi-media kit. Its contents include a one piece solid resin body, a set of white metal pieces, three photo-etch sprues, a plastic Tamiya Ford Cosworth DFV sprue or tree 'A' that includes the engine pieces, a set of rubber tires, a vacuform windvisor, a bit of wire, two machined rear wheels, two cast metal front wheels, and a resin cast seat, top air intake scoop, and rear wing. There are also some springs, brass rod, and some, what I believe to be, rivet heads for added detail bits. That is about as multi-media as you can get.
The white metal pieces include the valve covers, steering wheel, front brake rotors and calipers, suspension arms and pieces, and a roll hoop or two. The photo-etch pieces include the dash, bulkhead, front lower spoiler, rear brake rotors, seat belt hardware, dzus fastners, wheel clips, wheel weights, mirror faces and wing end plates. The tires appear to be Tamiya-like with the pre-molded '70s era Goodyear logo that needs to be filled in. The block of the Ford Cosworth and other engine parts including the exhaust is provided as an actual Tamiya kit sprue. The infamous sprue A from all the Ford Cosworth DFV powered 1/20th Tamiya kits. The rear wheels are machined and look quite nice, while the front wheels appear to be cast in metal and are not quite as nice.
The decals look excellent and are comprised primarily of the blue and red Martini stripes for the sides, front and rear wing, with Goodyear, Fina, and Martini sponsor logos. Included are both numbers 7 and 8 for either driver.
The instructions are excellent. They consist of an eight page, 5 1/2 x 8" booklet. The front and back pages contain an introduction and a few pictures of the built kit printed in color. The first page has a drawing of all the parts contained in the kit with the corresponding part number, R for resin pieces, E for etch pieces, and M for metal pieces. Check and make sure you got everything. The next three pages guide you through the build and the last two pages show photo-etch and decal placement. There are no painting instructions for any of the pieces although the overall scheme is a straightforward, pure white with the applied decals.
Conclusions
The resin castings are excellent. A little clean up around the edges will be needed but they are sharp and crisp. All the detail is there, a full engine with a lift-off air intake. I like this particular car, the only F1 in Martini's white livery and if you want it in 1/20th scale this is the only kit available. From looking at the contents it should build into a eye catching built kit .
The kit isn't for the beginner and it is a true multi-media kit, bring all your various glue types for this one. This kit also isn't for beginners because of its whopping going rate price of around $150. This AMD release is easily on par with other well know resin kit makers such as Studio 27 and is no more or less expensive. Welcome to the 21st century modeling world reality. You can access the AMD website for a list of world wide distributors of AMD kits. I know here in the United States they are available from TnT hobbies.
