It seemed people were quite excited about the coming of the Hornby Kits. The need in this industry for more 1:32 scale plastic model kits is growing with every new scratchbuilder. I, personally, was a bit less excited, considering the kits that Hornby would be releasing are actually of cars already in the Scalextric slot car line-up. I would not bother scratchbuilding a car that I could buy already in ready-to-run format, but that's just me.

This selfish attitude changed when Fantasy World surprised me by sending me one. As a model builder from long ago, I started wondering what I could do to this car, as a builder, to make this car a fine, static display piece. Putting the idea of scratch-building a slot car from this kit, I set out to build a piece of scenery for my slot car track.

The kit is packaged well, but the first thing I noticed was that all pieces, even those that are chrome on the slot car version, are molded in white. This reminds me of the Airfix cars, or JoHan. Personally, I've never been able to find a paint or foil that makes up for a good chrome job. I'd like to see this changed if Hornby continues to produce these kits.

As you can see, converting the chassis to slot car would not be an easy matter. The chassis provided is an all new, highly detailed chassis suitable only for the static kit. Most scratchbuilders would frown on someone using this chassis for a slot car anyway. For those of you that are wondering, the body is a direct replacement for the slot car body, and will mount right up to the Scalextric chassis. For this I commend Hornby, as many will buy these kits for this reason alone.

The instructions are easy to follow, and clearly drawn out. For those like me that are best at reading pictures instead of long, drawn-out descriptions, these instructions are the best. Construction is fairly easy, with one exception. I found that styrene cement does not work well on this kit. I found Super Glue to be the best adhesive, as the plastic is just too hard to allow standard model cement to work. I even tried the liquid styrene cement, and that didn't work. Super Glue is the only thing to use, in my opinion. Be careful around the clear pieces and the finish side of the body!

I found Testors spray model paint worked well on this kit, as does acrylic that I used on some of the details.

At first I thought the numbers and sponsors were stickers, but they are, in fact, decals with a plastic protective sheet over them. The decals are quite thin, so take care not to damage them in transfer. I opted not to use all but a few, as my finished model would be of a retired old street racer, though still in like new condition.

I would have liked to see a more stock interior option for this kit, as the car I modeled I envisioned on a used car lot. I opted not to install the roll bar, and I didn't bother with a clear coat. As you can see, my used car turned out ready to be placed on the car lot, next to the Pacers and the K-Cars. Still, a Mustang gets attention in any condition, and I'm sure one of the onlookers will snag up this "Like New" deal, and take it home for some badly needed TLC.

For $10, this car is not overly expensive, and provides some badly needed 1:32 scale kits to the market. These kits are usable in scenery, scratchbuilding, or replacement parts. They don't include drivers, but here's an interesting tid-bit... the tires are standard Scalextric rubber! So all-in-all, this is a great value. I'd ask Hornby to chrome the appropriate pieces, maybe add an extra seat to allow for a stock interior, but other than that, I thought this kit was well worth the cost.

Thank you to Fantasy World Toy & Hobbies for sending me this kit for review. I highly recommend you check out their site for these and other great slot car products and track.

If you have any questions or comments, feel free to eMail me at ken@slotcarillustrated.com

Ken