Tamiya McLaren MP4/13 decal disappointment

I just bought Tamiya 1/20 McLaren Mercedes MP4/13, kit 89718. There was a disappointment with the decals: No front wing, rear wing and side markings, that is the replacements of West logos in several GP's in countries, where tobacco advertising is banned.

This kit is a new limited edition, published after the original kit 20046. I have seen photos of the decal sheet of the original kit, and found those markings there. Why on earth Tamiya had to drop them out from this new kit???

Of course I can use some of the West decal sheets by other manufacturers, but still, on the front wing, these markings with two fellows waving, appeared also in GP's where West-logos were used. Does anyone know, is there any decal sheets on the market, which include these markings. Bying the original kit (if found anywhere) is annoying. If I knew this, I would have tried to find the original kit.

Any ideas to solve this problem?

http://www.mediamixhobby.com.sg/shop/catalogsearch/result/index/?q=mp4+13&p=2

try here!

ps. the Studio 27 convertion kits, for instance like this one
http://www.mediamixhobby.com.sg/shop/st27tk2010r-studio-27-1-20-mclaren-mp4-13-japan-1998.html
has the "right" wing for japan, australia or monaco races and come with a nice photoetched set and decals for the wings No "west" but the seperate wing parts of the white underpart and grey line. only seperate "west" logo on top of it required.


with fellows waving
http://www.mediamixhobby.com.sg/shop/msmd066.html

Why on earth Tamiya had to drop them out from this new kit???


All of the re-released kits from Tamiya had their tobacco logos removed from the decal sheet. Smoking is bad for us, and they don't want to be advertising tobacco products to the young ones (as if the youth are actually building models, instead of playing video games, but that's another rant).

The re-released kit were also stripped of their tire logos (Goodyear only, I believe), due to copyright issues.

Funny thing, the kit price went up, but the content went down......:screwy:

Thank you very much "kingkai", that is what I think is needed!

The original release (20046) didn't come with any West logos. Only the Japan GP version (20047) for the Japanese market did. It didn't stop distributors from sending kits overseas, so some of them ended up outside Japan, but technically, Tamiya stopped selling kits with tobacco logos long before MP4/13. In fact, it was almost considered miracle when the Japan GP version came out because tobacco companies were already sensitive about the issues.

Back in 1991, Mr. Tamiya didn't want to make inaccurate kits by omitting tobacco logos, so Ron Dennis came up with the idea of putting the McLaren logo, and that's what ended up in the 1/12 scale MP4/6 kit.

I have never understood this 'thing' with so called advertising. If people, young or old are of the inclination that they want to smoke, then they will smoke. Regardless of any amount of advertising, weather it's on a billboard, a racing car, or on tv, whatever. I have never felt the urge to smoke and certainly for me, building model kits with tobacco logo's on them isn't going to make me want to smoke. I think companies over estimate the power of advertising. If you are going to smoke or not I think you will if you want to, with or without advertising.

I don't agree with that. Advertising puts thoughts of the tobacco into peoples mind. They do it to make people more aware of the product and thus more likely to consider it, compared to if they didn't advertise it at all. Sure, seeing a logo for cigarettes might not make some of you desire a pack, but if someone was trying to give up smoking/was suceptible enough, the advert might be enough of a subconcious jolt to make them want a pack.

I don't agree with that. Advertising puts thoughts of the tobacco into peoples mind. They do it to make people more aware of the product and thus more likely to consider it, compared to if they didn't advertise it at all. Sure, seeing a logo for cigarettes might not make some of you desire a pack, but if someone was trying to give up smoking/was suceptible enough, the advert might be enough of a subconcious jolt to make them want a pack.

I strongly disagree with you, although I respect your opinion. If someone was trying to give up smoking then they already smoked. So they are the type of person who would smoke in the first place. No amount of advertising would ever make me want to take up smoking or even try smoking. Don't get me wrong, I am not some anti-smoking campaigner. People can do as they wish. They could make me 'aware' of their product as much as they liked, but I am informed enough to know about the health risks of smoking, so as a result of this I can make an educated decision to either smoke or not. If you are a person who has never smoked or has no desire to smoke, seeing an advertisement is not suddenly going to make you so curious about smoking that you try it. Neither is building a model kit with Rothmans, Marlboro or West on the side. Most people start smoking at a young age, where peer pressure or having parents who smoke can play a large part in why they try it in the first place. Not because they see some F1 racing car driving round a track with tobacco logo's emblazoned on the side. Just my take on it....

I strongly disagree with you, although I respect your opinion. If someone was trying to give up smoking then they already smoked. So they are the type of person who would smoke in the first place. No amount of advertising would ever make me want to take up smoking or even try smoking. Don't get me wrong, I am not some anti-smoking campaigner. People can do as they wish. They could make me 'aware' of their product as much as they liked, but I am informed enough to know about the health risks of smoking, so as a result of this I can make an educated decision to either smoke or not. If you are a person who has never smoked or has no desire to smoke, seeing an advertisement is not suddenly going to make you so curious about smoking that you try it. Neither is building a model kit with Rothmans, Marlboro or West on the side. Most people start smoking at a young age, where peer pressure or having parents who smoke can play a large part in why they try it in the first place. Not because they see some F1 racing car driving round a track with tobacco logo's emblazoned on the side. Just my take on it....
My point was not that instantly seeing a tobacco advert would make people want to smoke, but rather that even just having it in the public conscious is something I think is wrong. I totally agree with you that just seeing the advertisement or logo on a kit isn't "suddenly going to make you so curious about smoking that you try it", but I don't think it's good to have a company endorsing it in the first place. The only reason I'm for having tobacco decals on a kit is purely for aesthetics as I think some kits look quite good with the logos/lettering and would be accurate to the replication.

The only reason I'm for having tobacco decals on a kit is purely for aesthetics as I think some kits look quite good with the logos/lettering and would be accurate to the replication.

Sure I agree with you fully on this point. What would the McLarens be without the Marlboro's, or the Jordan's without the B&H's and the Williams FW16 looks bare without the Rothman's. In fact none of the cars that have the tobacco sponsorship look 'right' without them in place. I wish that the model makers would include the tobacco logo's and let the model maker decide weather or not he/she wants to apply them to the model...

I wish that the model makers would include the tobacco logo's and let the model maker decide weather or not he/she wants to apply them to the model...
Exactly!