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The F1-2000 kit is pretty good by any standards, and superb considering its total lack of official support. There are, however, a number of areas which required major correction if a super-accurate model is to be made from the basic kit contents. Whilst I was going through the pain of carrying out these corrections, I got in touch with Alessandro Goracci at MG, and in no time at all, it became clear to me that MG take all forms of input from their customers very seriously, in the pursuit of product improvement. After several exchanges of emails, Alessandro (designer of the newly released F2002 kit) proudly announced that virtually every area I had struggled to improve on the F1-2000 kit had been improved at source in the F2002, the first kit to be solely designed by himself for MG.
So, I'm sitting here, beer in hand, kit at my side, PC on standby. What has Alesssandro come up with?
Main Body Parts
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Starting with the main resin components, the chassis tub moulding is generally much cleaner, and external details such as the access covers on top of the nose, along with the panel detail around the lower front suspension pick-up points, are far better represented (no more scribing and making bits of panels by improvisation!).
Also, (and what a relief for the resin-breathing superdetailers), the intake area is opened up, and the inside of the cockpit is thinned out, leaving a much more accurate scale interior appearance, without the use of a razor saw.
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The cockpit features resin side cushions, and enhanced interior details, along with a much improved steering wheel - well, actually, a choice of two different configurations of wheel, but whichever one you choose, you won't have to build one from scratch….
The rear cowl is extremely thin in section, and the fit of the cowling onto the chassis is much improved over the earlier kits. The overall profile of the car, even down to the subtle "kink" along the top of the air intake cowling, is extremely well captured.
The undertray is a new sculpting, and is generally thinner and more accurate than the older units. The overall fit of these components is much improved over the earlier kits, and preparation of these parts will take significantly less time than before. I'm not going to argue with that…
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Mechanicals
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The engine is much more tidily sculpted, and features separate upper and lower air intake sections, with fully detailed individual ports from photo-etch. The gearbox unit is a completely new sculpting, which more faithfully represents the latest ultra-thin profile unit, and the whole of the rear end of the car is a significant improvement over the F1-2000 and F2001 kits. The exhausts in particular are much more convincing, and capture the "brass band" shape of the original to perfection.
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Sidepods
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One of the most innovative and impressive features of the F2002 is its extremely thin rear body section. This has been achieved on the real car by the diagonal mounting of the radiator/oil cooler units, and by designing them into a diamond shape to maximise the use of the available space.
One of my major tasks on my F1-2000 build was to completely scratchbuild the sidepods and radiators to better reflect the real thing. I am pleased to report that on the F2002 this little exercise will not be necessary, as they are accurate, and contain correctly shaped radiators with photoetched matrix detail. All that needs to be done is to add the necessary wiring and a few electrical boxes, and the result will be absolutely stunning. This alone will save approximately four months of my model-building life
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Suspension and Wheels
Given all the above, and the fit of the engine cover, it is quite feasible to build a superb replica of the F2002's mechanical bits - but what about the suspension?
The F1-2000 and F2001 kits contained similar white metal suspension components, which needed major reprofiling and thinning down in order to look like the real car. The F2002 has corrected this point, with the inclusion of much thinner and more accurate units. Given the material, it will still be necessary to drill and pin each arm, if only to provide the inherently heavy model with a long life, but this is a major step forward in creating the correct visual impression
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However, above all else, the major improvement in this kit has to be the inclusion of turned aluminium wheels with correct 7-spoke inserts, and photo-etched rims with the BBS logo on them. These are absolutely exquisite, and this feature alone makes me want to build this kit. The tyres are of course as nice as on previous kits…
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Photoetch and Goodies
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Can it get any better? Well, we haven't really talked about the photoetch yet. Hundreds of parts, ranging from the radiator matrices, to intake details, hose clips, nuts, bolt heads, brake parts, everything needed to make this car truly spectacular. Wonderful!
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The kit is rounded off with the customary bag of hardware, but this time, micro-screws in abundance replace the pins, although there are still a few pins lurking in the goodies bag - I have a sneaking feeling they have been left in just to keep me quiet….
Overall Impressions
So, how do we summarise the above? Well, simple, really - "they ask, we tell them, they listen, they improve dramatically". MG have actually acted on customer feedback, and have produced a superlative kit which is a significant improvement on their previous products. So our part of the bargain is simple. The kit is great. We want 12th scale cars. Therefore, expensive outlay though it is, if you buy one model this year, make it this one. That way MG continue to fly in the face of conventional thinking, and make next year's car, and the next, and so on. Take your time, and enjoy the build. I certainly will - although to some extent, I'm out of a job….
Well done Alessandro, and Thank You, MG, for making this product available.
Decals
Two A4 sheets, logos and a carbon fiber one.
Instructions
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