Mitsubishi Lancer Evo V Group A 'Australian Rally Winner' 1998

by Tony Paton

History

This is the car that won the Australian round of the 1998 World Rally championship driven by Finnish driver Tommy Makinen, who ultimately won the championship. This version is special as it depicts the 'Winfield' scheme that only appeared a few times. This was due to many of the countries that the car visited prohibiting tobacco sponsorship to be shown. Most of the time a very bland white and red scheme was adopted for these countries, as is the case with Hasegawa's version of this car.

Materials

The car is based on Hasegawa's 'Rally Argentina Winner' (CR-23) in 1/24. It has the non-tobacco decals so a set of Winfield decals was needed. These were provided by Renaissance (Dec24) decals that also came with a few extra resin parts. These included a spare tire and turbo charger to place in the rear of the interior and two fire extinguishers. These were purchased from Grand Prix Models

I also ordered from Japan a photo-etched set for the Evo V by M&A from Rainbow Ten. This included mesh grills, mud flaps, window vents, numberplate and a nice set of Mitsubishi emblems.

Hasegawa also provide two photo-etched sprues in their kit as well. Mainly for the seatbelt buckles, windscreen wipers and bonnet latch pins.

Construction

The wing was fitted to the body shell then whole thing sanded and primed in Matt white. Two coats of Tamiya 'Bright Red' spray paint was applied. As this dried the M&A PE set arrived. To my surprise it had grills that in order to fit I had to cut holes in the all ready painted body! The grills were for the three on top of the hood and the upper front opening that has the emblem on it. I find it quite strange that Hasegawa would release a more detailed model kit but mold these grills in solid plastic. So when the paint dried I carefully cut out the plastic grills. I did well not to destroy any paintwork.

The decals were next. No major dramas here as the decals by Renaissance were of a very high quality. As they dried, work started on the chassis. Most of the work went into the seatbelts. Hasegawa supply red vinyl to simulate the belt material. This had to be cut into strips that feed into the tiny buckles. A lot of swearing and hours of squinting were required to complete four sets of lap and shoulder restraints. These were than fed through the seats and connected to the various parts around the body. As the decals dried, I sprayed the body with testors gloss coat.

The resin spare tire, turbo and extinguishers were painted and connected to the body. Then the roll cage and dash board assembly. Looking at my photo sources, connected to the roll cage above the spare tire was some mesh netting, obviously to stop articles flying about the cabin. I used the mesh supplied by Hasegawa that was intended to be use on the lower grill on the body.

Work on detailing the body commenced. Photo-etched grills were painted and attached. The result is a vast improvement that should have been included in the first place. At least there could have been opening for these inlets. The best had to be the inclusion of the emblem, this gave the model a bit more realism than otherwise could be achieved by plastic.

Problems

I then started getting into problem territory. The first was huge scratches on the clear windows. This is due to Hasegawa bundling most sprues all together in one plastic bag. As the kit is transported from place to place, all the parts rub against each other. After polishing with cutting compound they disappeared.

The second problem was a major one. Time had come to fit the chassis to the body shell. There are two clips on each end of the shell for the chassis to fit in. When I did this as instructed, there was a large gap between the dashboard and windscreen, same for the rear window. The wheel arches of the chassis could be seen and the tires were too far away from the wheel arch. It didn't look right. I decided to place the chassis on top of these clips. This cured the problem but glue was needed to stop the shell in place.

Final detailing took place. Mudguards were attached from the M&A set. Hasegawa supplies what appears to be a flat piece of rubber to simulate the mudguards. It has to be cut into shape and it is far too thick. The PE guards are already to shape and are the right thickness. Headlights and taillights were attached, along with the bonnet pins and finally the wheels.

The final product is a very eye-catching. This scheme is much better than the bland non-sponsorship version. This is the way the car should be.

Some points of interest; the Renaissance set recommends which Evo V kit to purchase as both Hasegawa and Tamiya make versions. They state that the Hasegawa is more relevant as it has the correct wheels. As I'd rather buy a Tamiya kit (they are easier to build and fit together with fewer problems), resin wheels had to be purchased to make the car authentic. This would make the project more expensive & the Tamiya kit doesn't come with any of their own PE sets.

A great car to add to my growing collection of rally cars.