UNOBTANIUM. Part One.

[360spider]

I was doing an almost impossible task last weekend - sorting through my kits. I realized that I have too many of them, and some of my boxes just need to go - to free some room, and money for possible future boxes!

I have rather extensive collection, and while going through my resin/multimedia kits, I realized that many of these kits are rare, long out of production, and very hard to find. Some were made in very limited quantities to begin with, and with time turned into....well, unobtainium!

As such, a lot of people won't have a chance to see, build, and enjoy these kits. Sad, but there is nothing we can do about it. What I can do, is to share these kits with everyone - by posting pics and short reviews. I'm sure a lot of people would be interested to see them, know history and stories behind the kits and cars too. I'm planning on a series of these reviews, and if they popular enough, maybe I'll do them on a weekly, or monthly basis?

OK, let's start - today we look into Q-Model Ferrari DINO 246 SP High Tail kit, a car that raced at 1961 Le Man under #23 (chassis 0790), driven by Wolfgang von Trips and Richie Ginther, but failed to finish the race.

By the time this kit was released, Q-Model of Japan was one of the most established and well-known cottage industry manufacturers. In fact, this kit is an anniversary release - to celebrate 10 years of Q-Model. There is no release date on the kit, but it was made sometimes in early/mid-1990s. By that time Q-model has already released several very accurate and high quality Ferrari resin kits. Most of them were full detail, very advanced models.

This kit was a simple curbside, but superb nonetheless. Clean and crisp castings, excellent photoetch, superb decals, very clean white metal parts, great packaging and clear instructions all made this into one terrific kit. The price was high too, and as a result, only few copies were made and sold. By my estimates, there were somewhere between 50 and 150 copies made. Since there is no price on the box, I can only guess what it sold for originally, but if one would exchange hands right now, the price would probably be somewhere north of $400-450. I have obtained this kit from a private collection about 6 years ago, and have not seen another one for sale since.

Well, let's look at the kit itself:




Great decals were printed by Cartograf, and include various numbers and markings for several different cars, and look correct. Colors are excellent, decals are thin and perfectly registered. Superb packaging helped keep them as new for so many years.



Body and chassis castings are very simple, with lots of molded-on detail, but still very clean and nicely done. Chassis is simple plate with no suspension detail whatsoever. No engine or drivetrain detail either. But what's there done right.





Two photoetched sheets contain various small details, badges and all the usual stuff. Photoetch is really nicely done. I also like their packaging - everything is neat and clearly marked.



Wheels are a piece of art: tires are still soft, and threads are accurate, but have some casting flaws. Easily fixed. But the real gem are the rims - they are made spoke-by-spoke on a special jig that is provided in the kit!





There are also the rest of the parts - windows, seats, brake detail, exhausts, and finally interior and chassis bits and pieces. Everything is neatly packaged and labeled. Turned parts are superb, and various materials used makes the kit feel "expensive"! Instructions are excellent, and even thought most of them are in Japanese, they are very clear and easy to follow.




Hope you enjoyed this "unobtanium" review.



Alex

[jano11]

Great idea Alex! :up:
I'm glad to have info on some of these very very hard to get kits in order to know what I lose and if I'll put them on my mission impossible list.

Thanks for this first unobtainium review!

One thing that I would be ore happy with, could you name the thread 'Unobtainium <kit name>'? This way we would have an easier life keeping track of them.

[CrateCruncher]

I've never seen a Q-model on the inside. Those wire wheels are very cool. Nice that you're doing this Alex. Usually the only way to find out what these obscure kits are about is to bid and pray. A recent LeMans Miniatures GT40 WIP and it's horrible quality parts is a negative example still fresh in my mind.

I hope you will also consider doing a few "obtanium" kits too. Maybe I'm being naive but I think our concentrated audience of kit consumers could potentially influence whats being released now and in the future. I was pissed at Hiro's lumpy white metal 330 P4 body and let everyone know. I've been wanting to even it out with a review of the Hiro Alfa T33 kits which look excellent.

[ChillyB]

Thanks, Alex, for providing us with this vicarious cheap thrill. You once posted a picture of a closet packed with some of your kits and I remember thinking, "I'd sure like to look through those!" Even if these kits are things I don't aspire to build, I love the subjects and love being able to examine the contents.

[73superduty]

Thanks you for sharing that treasure with us Alex. Great review, and content. I too always enjoy looking at unobtanium items.
I look forward to another review soon.
Chris

[da_ashman]

Awesome Review Alex, good to see some rare kits unearthed & reviews, Keep em coming, i constantly go back to your web site for the reviews & tips etc.
Cant wait for the next one

[bri g]

wow! the hand laced wire wheels is a scary thought but should come out great. the body looks flawless.

[druid_99]

Excellent review Alex. Hope more of the unobtainium items review will be coming in the future.

The hand-laced wire wheel is something unique for a 1/24 scale model kit...

[hirofkd]

Nice review. The Dino SP isn't exactly my favorite, but the content (especially the wheel) convinced me to get one.

BTW, according to Q-Model website, the Dino SP High Tail kit was released in October 1993 for 20,000 yen.

[F1Tommy]

Thanks Alex for the rare kit review. I also have this kit and can say it is not by any means flawless compaired to the new Hiro kits, but it was nice and had a good set of Cartograf decals and very nice photoetch. It does offer a good kit of a car not made by anyone else.(ok Teapot did make one as did another Japanese company, but they are even rarer and not as good)

For those that don't have this kit just wait. Someone will do the car again someday(Hiro). It was Ferrari's 1st rear engine sports prototype after all, and it did win a few important races as both a high tail and low tail.


Tom Tanner/Scale Designs/Ferrari Expo 2010 model/photo contest-Chicago April 2010

[PeterGrave5]

i'm also one of those people who constantly re-reads your website alex, so thanx for the further look into your collection.

[Slash.Snakepit]

Superb!

A man with many skills...congratulations and keep them coming.

[pharr7226]

Thanks for the review. I know very little about these cars and this is not the genre of models that I build. But, I enjoyed the review and will continue to read and learn if you continue to post.

[360spider]

Thanks!

[MPWR]

Cool kit!

I'm intrigued by the wheels. I wonder if they are a time consuming but reasonably practical way to get a fantastic looking part, or a tedious, painful way to go batsh!t insane.

Alex, would you mind posting a pic of the lower half of this page? I'm curious about the wire pattern. Also, does it say anything about how to secure the ends of the wires? Thanks!