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Old 06-12-2004, 12:57 AM   #40
Layla's Keeper
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1:24th scale Hasegawa/Revell of Germany Mitsubishi Lancer Evolultion VI road and race versions.

While the Yankee model companies have had the Camaro - Mustang rivalry to kit since 1967 (and most every year/generation has a kit available), the Japanese manufacturers have had their own feud to put into plastic; the Subaru Impreza WRX versus the Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution. Just about every Japanese kit manufacturer has produced one or the other, if not both, and with varying degrees of success.

Hasegawa is well known for their rally kits, which often rival Tamiya's and depict more versions than Tamiya's. In the case of their rally LanEvo VI, the car is Tommi Makinen's ride at Rally New Zealand, complete with gravel setup. And for you road fans, they adapted this very same kit to replicate the GSR version of the road car. I'll be reviewing both as many parts are shared.

(side note, Revell of Germany has a marketing arrangement to sell reboxed Hasegawa kits. As I could not get ahold of a Hasegawa rally version, I am using the RoG kit as a review sample. There may be differences in decal quality between the two)

The Lancer Evolution is well known for carving corners with the best of them, and the well thought out suspension that gives it this ability is well represented in both kits. The front suspension breaks down very conventionally for a Japanese kit, with brake discs securing polycaps to front spindle/strut pieces that offer posable steering. The rally verison's brakes are pretty lacking, being devoid of the stellar engraving that Tamiya's version offers, but the stockers are just fine. However, the rally version's are bigger in diameter than the stock version. Good to get the details right. Also nice about the chassis is that both the exhaust and the drivetrain are full separate, making detail painting MUCH easier. A large skidplate piece contains the front lower control arms, and separate lower control arms and trailing links finish off the rear. It's a solid chassis.

Kudos, also, to Hasegawa for including a different back half of the exhaust for the rally version, as it's a good little detail for that racing version. Not to mention all you tuner builders with LanEvos might want it too. There's also fabric and templates included for making mudflaps. Too cool.

Most uncool, though, about the chassis is that the rally car was tooled up first, so the street car sits ready to take on gravel. Not cool. Not accurate. Cut a little bit out of the struts and drop this sucker.

Moving onto the interior, we find a serious problem. Again, the rally car came first, and this gives us all the stamping and metal floor detail we could ask for, but when you see this interior tub in the street car kit it's a big letdown. They give you a rear seat insert, a proper transmission tunnel, and correct seats and dashboard (RHD with stereo for the street car, LHD and bare bones for the rally) for the street car, but there's still the issue of no carpet texture and no side panel detail. In the rally version you get the proper shifter, hand brake, and plenty of rollcage tubing roaming around. The seats have all the right belt decals, but no carbon fiber decals. They have separate mounting brackets (Yay) but scale out a bit smaller than 1:25th. Either Tommi Makinen has the world's smallest heiney for a racing driver or someone at Hasegawa put down MM instead of CM for the measurement. Either way, scam seats from a Tamiya rally kit if you want to build the rally car.

By far the star of the kit, the Hasegawa body is superb. Only some tiny mold lines to clean up and all the panels are crisp and clean. The rear wing comprises three well fitting parts, and the tiny holes to mount it to the rear deck are easily filled for non wing enthusiasts. Street versus Rally, the only difference is the mirrors and the wheels. Both sets of wheels and tires are nice enough and represent the subject matter well. One does wish, though, that Hasegawa had satin plated the street wheels instead of molding them in plain grey plastic. Ah well, a good aluminum metalizer will be much more accurate.

Be forewarned, painting the tail-lights will be tricky. Hasegawa gave good instructions, but it's still a pain since the amber and clear areas are so small compared to the red. Also, is it such a pain to ask for chrome trees that include head and tail light buckets? Seriously, painting and/or foiling these areas never works as well as a separate part.

The rally version decals are of Tommi Makinen's New Zealand ride, and go on rather nicely. All photos and footage of the car say that they're accurate, and the addition of the kit's mesh for the grilles and the included wire antenna really spark the appearance of the car. It sure makes it a looker. The street is much plainer, but still has the mesh and the license plates. Not much, but it's something.

So, what do you get for buying Hasegawa's Lancers? Well, good fit on a Tamiya level, lots of mixed media dress up parts for the rally version, and excellent body accuracy. However, cost cutting measures sacrificed a lot of interior detail on the street version. The ride height issue is practically negligble, but having no side panel detail and no carpet engraving with windows this big bites big, especially without engine detail to make up for it. Plus Hasegawa kits regularly are marked at Tamiya level prices (sometimes more). You can build an excellent rally Lancer from the Hasegawa kit, and an okay street Lancer from the Hasegawa kit. However, at this price, you should have both kits in one box.

1:24th scale Hasegawa Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VI GSR

Accuracy: 1.5/3
Fit&Finish: 2/2
Detail: 1/1.5
Options: 0/1.5
Value: 1/2
Final Verdict: 5.5/10

1:24th scale Hasegawa/Revell of Germany Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VI Rally car

Accuracy: 2/3
Fit&Finish: 2/2
Detail: 1.5/1.5
Options: 0/1.5
Value: 1/2
Final Verdict: 6.5/10
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