BBA Design - RS200 Kit review

[The Sheene Machine]

OK, I thought it would be appropriate, after giving BBA some stick these last few weeks, to review the kit I'd waited so long for until last Tuesday.

The kit is presented in the usual fashion - a sturdy plain box with a pic of the RS200 on the top. The kit totals some 70 parts and each bunch of parts are bagged together or wrapped in bubble for protection. A 4 page instruction sheet in, Portuguese and English, covering assembly using Tamiya paint codes is nicely done. The instructions also cover markings for four versions of the car - those being 1986; RAC, Swedish, Portuguese and Acropolis rallies for drivers Blomquist and Grundel.

A picture speaks a thousand words etc....so here are some shots of various parts of the kit;

two shots of the body...nice!! Only spotted one air hole to fill!



Front and rear views...



The nicely done roof air intake..



Rear three quarter...


The underside of the body with chassis in place. There's some cleaning up to do here. Chassis detail is not a good as some parts.




For comparison here's the '200' along side my WIP S4 from Ken Rally..


...and my other in progress car the 02 Pug..


The seats..


Dashboard..very crisp..


The engine block...


The wheels are excellent..these are the tarmac wheels, Bruno is also doing the snow/gravel wheels for the RAC/Swedish cars. You can of course use these for the RAC car..it ran these on the Sunday spectator stages.



Brake discs..very sharp, should look good in paint.


More engine parts..these are good too unlike my photo!!


Pedals, steering wheel and column.


Photo etch parts..you also get some material for the belts.


The roll cage is a combination of brass rod and resin parts..


The decal sheet...one small error..you don't get a front plate for B200 YEV, but two B200 YOO (Portuguese car)..the sheet is very good, glossy with virtually no carrier. Excellent!


Overall the quality looks on par with most offerings from Reji and less cleaning up to do compared to my LMM Bentley. It would be difficult to comment on the fit of the parts but after some dry fitting things look good there too. The bodyshell is very good and looks just right along side the S4. I have no doubt someone will build this before I get around to it but it should look very nice when built. Inevitabley as with any resin kit there will be some cleaning up and adjustment to do so this kit is aimed at the experienced modeller.

Group B rally cars have been overlooked for too long. It's lovely to see these kits available at sensible prices. I have kit 16 of 150..so there'll not be many about. Get one while you can..highly recomended.

...Now for that Audi S1...

http://www.bbadesign.net/

[SteveK2003]

Nice pics. Is that the RS200 that I heard guys were having trouble getting after they ordered?

At tip for the chassis/suspension: If it uses a metal axle, you can make a mount for it in the middle of the chassis, so it doesn't go through holes at the edge of the chassis or however it works. Since the axles it now supported in the center, you can trim off the outter edge of the chassis and make new suspension wishbones out of styrene and they won't have to support any weight. The metal axles can also be detailed to look like driveshafts. I am trying something similar on a Revell Dakar Touareg model.

I have an MG Metro 6R4 and Skoda Fabia coming, my first resin kits: I look forward to trying them out.

[sportracer02]

Hi,

nice to see photos...

parts look crisp, I agree with you, but the cast at the edges isn´t good, lots of health-harming cleaning necessary (f.e. all holes in the body, bottom of the seats, engine block)

resin tires ,

brakes might look great when painted, but meanwhile etched discs (sometimes several parts) and separate calipers are nowadays standard in this price range

decal sheet looks great.

BTW: sometime ago I swapped my Modeler´s RS 200 ;; I can´t help, but the body resembles that Modeler´s body very much. Anybody has the Modeler´s still in his model pile and can compare??

[The Sheene Machine]

[quote=SteveK2003]Nice pics. Is that the RS200 that I heard guys were having trouble getting after they ordered?

Indeed it is!

[The Sheene Machine]

Originally Posted by sportracer02

Hi,

nice to see photos...

parts look crisp, I agree with you, but the cast at the edges isn´t good, lots of health-harming cleaning necessary (f.e. all holes in the body, bottom of the seats, engine block)

resin tires ,

brakes might look great when painted, but meanwhile etched discs (sometimes several parts) and separate calipers are nowadays standard in this price range

decal sheet looks great.

BTW: sometime ago I swapped my Modeler´s RS 200 ;; I can´t help, but the body resembles that Modeler´s body very much. Anybody has the Modeler´s still in his model pile and can compare??

Micha,
I'd agree with you on some points. Ken Rally's S4 comes with resin tyres too, but carefully painted they can look convincing. I've made some allowances for this kit - it's Bruno's first and he's looking for constructive criticism.

I did lots and lots of cleaning up on my Le Mans Miniatures Bentley - it was a real eye opener!

Price wise this thing's alot cheaper than you'd have to pay for a Modellers example but I share your view, maybe some more etch parts would bring things on a par..

I can't believe you swapped a Modellers RS???? What were you thinking!!!

[sportracer02]

Hi Paul,

Originally Posted by The Sheene Machine

Micha,
I'd agree with you on some points. Ken Rally's S4 comes with resin tyres too, but carefully painted they can look convincing. I've made some allowances for this kit - it's Bruno's first and he's looking for constructive criticism.

I don´t know these kits from Ken, how are they, what does he offer? Price?

You are right, resin tires can be painted and look good, when they are cast round ; here it is a little advantage, that wheel and tires are separate, that helps painting

Originally Posted by The Sheene Machine

I did lots and lots of cleaning up on my Le Mans Miniatures Bentley - it was a real eye opener!

Price wise this thing's alot cheaper than you'd have to pay for a Modellers example but I share your view, maybe some more etch parts would bring things on a par..

Concernig cleaning up resin parts it is somehow funny: some companies really bring bad resin parts to the customer, but they get good critics from modelers. Other companies offer bodys, you can (nearly) prime without cleaning or fill holes - modelers find other "bad things" at those kits . My impression: those (European??) companies that want to earn lot in a short time, bring the resin parts you have to clean the most ...

Yes, some more etched parts would have been nice...

Originally Posted by The Sheene Machine

I can't believe you swapped a Modellers RS???? What were you thinking!!!

Oh well, it the time, I swapped, I got a -in my eyes- better kit (Model Factory Hiro, Ferrari 512 M ), so I didn´t hesitate

[SteveK2003]

Originally Posted by sportracer02

Hi,
resin tires ,

I dunno, I'd rather clean-up and/or paint resin tires rather than deal with rubber tires that may or may not be true and smooth.

[CMTA]

nice!

btw what is the bba's website?

[puffyrs]

Hi all
I to now have my model No.17
I also have a Modelers RS200 so I will check and let you all know if they are the same.

If you do have this model I have just taken over 50 photos of a works RS200
Which I will be putting on my website soon.

http://www.piczo.com/classicrallymod...804&cr=1&rfm=y

[sportracer02]

Originally Posted by CMTA

nice!

btw what is the bba's website?

... a website of BBA

Just click on the link in Paul´s posting and see ...

[The Sheene Machine]

[quote=sportracer02]Hi Paul,
I don´t know these kits from Ken, how are they, what does he offer? Price?




The S4 transkit is made by the Japanese modeller Kengo Nishi, known as Ken Rally. He has a good website with many superbly built GpB cars including a Totip S4 using his own transkit and a blindingly good 205 T16 Evo 2. The transkit uses the Hasegawa 037 kit floorpan, engine and suspension. You will need to contact Ken directly to see if he any left or that he can allocate one for you.. I believe he doing his 4th batch...

Check out his site for more details..

http://homepage2.nifty.com/KEN-RALLY/index.htm

[The Sheene Machine]

Oh, forgot to mention, if any of you UK guys are going to the Modelsport show in Telford next weekend, I will be bringing the RS200 kit with me so you can see it in the flesh. Dan and I can be found on the centre table...just look for the gaggle of 1/12th stuff.

[cfcrules]

How much did you pay? I can't find it anywhere on his site, it just says in stock

[The Sheene Machine]

Originally Posted by cfcrules

How much did you pay? I can't find it anywhere on his site, it just says in stock

You'll find no mention of cost specifically on the site which is why I said contact him directly!!! Use the email link on the website - ask him for cost + shipping. I used Paypal to pay him.

[CMTA]

Originally Posted by sportracer02

... a website of BBA

Just click on the link in Paul´s posting and see ...

oops... my bad! i didn't even see the link at the bottom of his post.