McLaren F1 partwork

[JTD]

Anyone seen this item on sale yet?

http://buildmclaren.deagostini.co.uk/

It looks almost identical to one of the oferings from these people?

http://www.amalgamcollection.com/en/

[Red Firecracker]

Except it'll be a much cheaper model for approximately the same price.

Partworks are made to a price, that price being in the cheap end of the market sector. If it's anything like the the Hatchette Flying Scotsman debacle which has taken a superb kit (DJH) and turned it into a pile of confusing junk, I'll stay well clear.

[JTD]

Looking at the one on the Amalgam web it costs £2999, if people think they'll be getting anything like a 3k model as a partwork model they need a lobotomy, more likely it will be a hundred quid's worth of a half baked effort

[The_Jackal]

Magazines like that give modelling a bad name.
At 1/8 scale that will show up the full plastickness of it.
There is a reason those other ones cost nearly 3 grand.

[Red Firecracker]

JTD said:

Looking at the one on the Amalgam web it costs £2999, if people think they'll be getting anything like a 3k model as a partwork model they need a lobotomy, more likely it will be a hundred quid's worth of a half baked effort

But they will. In your OP you said the exact thing that most people will expect,

JTD said:

It looks almost identical to one of the oferings from these people?

which is unfortunately how people these days think. As you say, what they'll probably actually get is a drip fed probably shoddy kit of parts that have been scaled up from the Airfix model that was released on the back of the recent TV advert. All at a price running into the hundreds and then painted with rubbish paint and a cheap brush spilling bristles everywhere.

Looking at the pictures on the site, there doesn't appear to be a seperate engine cowling so possibly only a curbside model?

The few posts in their forum are quite amusing as well......

ETA: nothing on the few scale modelling sites I've visited yet but will await the threads full of disappointed punters with interest.

Edited by Red Firecracker on Wednesday 15th April 13:46

[motormania]

Before you all laugh at the OP, take a closer look at the web site.

Reviewing the detailed photos, this model looks pretty good quality. Remember that the Amalgam is also mass-produced in thew Far East these days, so I wouldn't laugh off this alternative too quickly.

What would be interesting to know is how many issues will need to be purchased in order to finish the model as that info does not seem to be clear... @ £5.99 per issue and you getting 4 issues a month, it would be interesting to work out the final cost.

Anyone with half decent modeling skills could do a fine job of that model, and once it's sitting in a display case, I think it would look pretty impressive in your collection.

[Red Firecracker]

Hang on, nobody is laughing at the OP, I think there is general derision of the whole concept of the partwork model, including from the OP himself. We're all in agreement.

That is not going to make a nice model. I'll quantify that. As supplied to the average bloke/kid in the street that is not going to make a nice model built with just the bits supplied. It's going to make a large lump of badly painted ill-fitting plastic. To anyone with any type of modelling skills it's going to take a hell of a lot of effort and filler to get anything to be happy about.

The website has absolutely nothing to do with the finished product, you only have to take a look at the recent Flying Scotsman media to realise that. It looked great in the adverts and on the website. The reality is sadly rather different. The Scotsman adverts showed a model moving. They're now saying it's not designed to move, only as a static model. That's purely becasue of cost cutting in the parts has replaced metal with plastc meaning the motion will break if powered. The supplied bits are considerably cheaper quality than the model used to prototype the build.

This will be a partwork of over 60 editions (just look at the size of the magazine folder) and at 5.99 each, that's a hell of a lot of money for a (probably/possibly/potentialy) scaled up Airfix kit.

Let's not forget, Deagostini are the same people who brought the modelling world a part work of an R/C Spitfire, aimed at new comers to that hobby. The Spitfire, a wildly regarded worst case option as a first time trainer aircraft. Even Watchdog got on their case over that one as Deagostini were advised by the BMFA not to do it and point blank refused to endorse any part of it. It was published.

eBay is littered with the bleached bones of various Diagostini, Hatchette etc model partworks. That should set enough alarm bells ringing. Of course, they're also not adverse to canceling a title mid run if it's not selling well.

Edited by Red Firecracker on Saturday 18th April 09:22

[JTD]

The lure seems to be in falling for their hype, and being able to pay weekly rather than an all in one go outlay for such a model.

I can't say I've ever seen anything in Partworks that you would describe as being a 'quality' item let alone being accurate yet they describe their items as such, offering's seem to be re-hashed cheapo made versions but sold at a very high overall cost.

Its very much a case of horses for courses, some people love em, some people once sampled never go that route again, there's certainly plenty of bad vibes about them around the net, there's generally no smoke without fire and its very much a case of buyer beware

[Pauleyjh]

For anyone interested.....
I've been on the website and tried to decipher all the blurb !
To me it looks like the 'Part-work' is over 85 issues !
Part 1 is £1.99 (it caught me !)
Part 2 is £4.99
and the remaining 83 parts seem to be £7.99
So... that's a grand total of £670.15 and you have to wait for 21 months to complete your McLaren !!!
I think i'd rather do a few (several!) trackdays or buy some bits for my car !!!!

On paper and on TV it looks great and on this website where the guy is doing a 'build' it also looks amazingly detailed.
http://forum.model-space.co.uk/default.aspx?g=post...
I spoke to my local newsagent and he said he would be very surprised indeed if it went to all 85 issues !
Shame - it looks quite good
I'm already £1.99 down and I might splash out on part 2, though i'm not sure yet.

If it looks to good to be true.....

Edited by Pauleyjh on Monday 4th April 18:16

[perdu]

I can't remember seeing more than a few of any of these partworks in the local newsagent after the third or fourth month

I wonder if somewhere there's a kid/youth/old man desperately trying to put parts of a Konigstiger, Titanic, Junkers 87 and stegosaurus together so they can finally have a model from the magazine?

Or will it be a spinning jenny?

[fatboy69]

See the 'McLaren model as seen on TV' thread on here.

Its not a good model when you consider the overall cost - 85 issues at £6.99 each? Just doesnt make financial sense to me.

The Revell plastic kit at around £35.00 (i think) is far better value than this DeAgositini effort.

I have bought issue 1, & i will buy issue 2 as well, just so that i can build the front nose assembly & then display it perched on the tyre that comes with issue 2.

Apart from that i wont buy any more as it it just not worth the money.

[Old Merc]

As I said on the other thread about this firm,is there anyone out there who has actually seen it through to a completed model?? Its what £670? and you would have all your bits in time for xmas day 2012!! Its crazy.