Hasegawa 1/242 scale Ford Focus WRC 2000 Catalunya Rally Winner

Manufacturer: Hasegawa, distributed by Marco Polo Import, 532 South Coralridge Place, City of Industry, CA 91746, 626-333-2328,
www.marcopoloimport.com
Kit: No. 20211
Scale: 1/24
Price: $31.98
Comments: injection-molded, 158 parts (47 phototetched, 8 vinyl), decals
Pros: Fine detail and good fit, well-printed decals
Cons:"Curbside" treatment (no engine), decals difficult to apply

When an American thinks of a "major" auto racing series, the names that usually come up are NASCAR, CART, NHRA, or even Formula One. However a European would probably think of Formula One and the World Rally Championship. Rallies are held mostly on public roads or in the wilderness, creating the need for the most versatile of racing machines, as one part of a rally may be held in icy conditions on asphalt, the next may be on a muddy road winding through the forest. Spectators line these rally courses for miles just to see the drivers handle the conditions. The subject of this review is the winning car of the 2000 Catalunya rally in Spain.


Having never built a rally car before, I was excited to open the box when I got it home to see what I was in for. What I saw was very pleasing. The 158 white, clear, photoetched, and rubber parts were enclosed in sturdy plastic bags, with the only fault being that the clear parts were not packaged separately. The white parts are molded very well with no sink marks or flash and minimal mold lines. Every parts tree and part is clearly numbered, so finding the part you need is not a problem.


The kit is a "curbside" - no engine - however, the bottom pan is molded to the chassis. With no engine to worry about, the real star is the interior. It includes a full roll cage, seats, racing dash (with navigation equipment), and a 40-piece photoetched seat belt assembly. The belts take a lot of concentration to assemble, but the results are worth it. Other notables are decals for the instruments and fire-extinguisher details.


The Ford Focus body is a one-piece molding with separate year-2000-spec pieces for the front fascia and rear spoiler. I painted my model with Tamiya's Pure White spray over white primer. After getting the paint smooth, the next step was the most challenging of the whole build - the decals.


While the Cartograf decals are excellent, all of the blue sections are divided into only two parts per side, resulting in having to make a decal follow lots of curves and angles. After a lot of setting solution, they will settle down, but they have some annoying wrinkles that spoil the finish. I recommend masking and painting the blue sections of the design. Other than that, the decals went on nicely and are accurate, giving options of building the No. 5 or No. 6 car. There are even decals on the wheels and brake calipers.


Once all the parts are fully painted and decaled, final assembly is fairly straightforward. You may want to trim the edges of the side windows and headlight lenses a bit, as they fit awfully tight - so tight that I cracked a lens during installation. Also be careful when in-stalling parts No. J4 to the front suspension; I put one on upside-down.


I spent about 18 hours building my Focus rally car. It was a challenging, yet rewarding. While not for the novice, an experienced builder should have no problems assembling this kit.