Better in red
A recent pair of second-time-around releases from OttOmobile puts Stephen Paul Hardy back on the 1980s essentials trail.
There is no doubt in my mind that paint colour is of paramount importance when it comes to a car’s charisma. An opinion that applies just as much to scale models as it does to full-sized vehicles. The two OttOmobile offerings on road test this month really hit the spot because, although both were good first time around, they are even better this time thanks to new colours.
When it comes to scale models in 1/18, I feel that it is not just the paint colour that is important, but the combination of external and internal trim contrast. For me authenticity and fidelity to automobile manufacturers’ actual production colours are particularly important. Within that context, light colour internal trim and upholstery works so much better on scaled miniatures, because it makes interior detailing so much more accessible to the eye. Both of our road test models this month set external colour schemes of black-trimmed red paint off with grey interiors - the detailing of which, on both models, is a treat.
I have to admit that comparatively few Japanese cars appeal to my own particular automotive tastes, and even fewer of them ignite my levels of interest to more than a passing one. The Honda CR-X
Mk 2, produced between 1988 and 1992, ranks as one of the rare exceptions.
Whilst the ride and roadholding were not best suited to the average European road surface, it had an engine development pedigree well founded in sustained F1 involvement. It was however the styling of the CR-X that I was always drawn to, with its pleasing width/length/height proportions and pleasing lines, all combined with that clever two window rear hatch design that inspired several other manufacturers to follow suit.
HONDA CR-X SI MK 2 (OT855)
Resplendent in Rio Red, this version supplements the Blade silver metallic version (OT252) from OttOmobile, released back in November 2017. Two things are immediately noticeable - the fact that the model is RHD and that it is complete with the ‘Cyber Glass’ roof, which stretched from the top of the windscreen all the way back to the hatch opening. Examples of CR-X equipped with this option are now pretty rare. Such was the popularity of this and other contemporary and succeeding Honda models that many have become substantially modified by the tuning fraternity. As for OttOmobile representing a RHD version
of tint and partial obscuring in the glazing are similarly well-portrayed, as is the set of bodykit parts to the body side sills and front & rear bumpers. A body-kit set that on the real vehicles are, with time, a source of corrosion.
That shallow windscreen, glass roof and very fl at rear window all give ample opportunity to see the extent of interior detailing, complete with the fully detailed “CR-X”-emblazoned bucket seats. All in all a very nice model of a car that will very probably rate increasingly in the lists of modern classics.
FORD FIESTA XR2 MK 1 (OT848)
I never cease to be amazed just how some particular scale models have the emotional leverage to catapult me back in time. This fab little Sunburst Red Mk 1 XR2 is just such a model.
OttOmobile had previously released the casting in black (OT136) in November 2014 and, although colour preference is very much a matter of personal taste, I have to say that this second issue is far more evocative than the earlier one. Probably because the black paintwork of the former detracted from all the black accents of the XR2 décor that come alive set against red bodywork.
Like its big sister, the Escort Mk 4 RS Turbo that I reviewed in the December 2020 issue, the little Fiesta really is an amazingly evocative model that just looks as if a real car has been magically reduced in size. To my eyes everything looks just perfect.
The superbly finished, distinctive, alloy wheels, the spoilers, the trim decals, XR2 unique front lighting, the inset reversing light, and standard tail lights, are all there in exacting detail. And as on the Escort the factory glass sunroof is also so characteristic of an era. An era when, in 1981, the feisty XR2 version was released into a world of hungry, aspiring XR3/Golf GTi owners that needed a bottom rung of the ladder. Although production of the Mk 1 XR2 ceased in August 1983, with the introduction of the Mk 2 Fiesta, a generation – or several - of boy racers cut their teeth and ratcheted up points on their driving licence in the first generation XR2. An absolute gem of a model.