1/24 Tamiya Eggenberger Ford Sierra RS500 Gr.A

Gallery Article by Guido "Ecurie Maquette" Haesevoets on Jan 6 2012

The Ford Sierra RS500 Gr.a was a dominating car when it started it's touring car race career in 1987 when entering the WTCC championship mid-season, winning 5 out of the remaining 6 races.  Tamiya issued the RS.500 kit at the end of the '80s in the colors of the Eggenberger race team.  The version I've built, represents the car as driven by the Belgian/Italian duo Dieudonné/Brancatelli, while the decal option also exists to build the Ludwig/Soper version. The model was built as foreseen in the kit with the only extra's I added being: seatbelts and hood pins.

 

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Tamiya produced a very simplified version of the Sierra Cosworth, in a sense that there is no engine whatsoever (has become common nowadays), and only half of the rollcage being provided. The moulding is fine with no visible flash but details are sometimes soft. Although I had no really good reference pictures at hand, I thought that even the race seat was over simplified as well as the suspension parts. The interior tub comes as one pieces, so a bit of tricky masking is needed when spraying the side panels as the interior floor is black and the side panels grey. Again the afore mentioned simplicity that shows.

Simplification has also it advantages however, ease of building while at the same time offering a good platform for the scratchbuilders/super detailers amongst us. The bodywork was sprayed with a Tamiya rattle can as suggested by the instructions. Big was the disappointment when the decals were placed and it became that the black areas on the decals didn't really match with the color suggestion. However, this may as well have to do with the age of the decals being printed more then 2 decades ago. Another note of warning regarding the decals. Older Tamiya decals are prone to breaking-up while being removed from their carrier. This is easy to avoid by applying MicroScale Decal Film liquid prior to getting the decals from the paper. I found out the harder way, but still managed to get them all on as they are supposed to be...

I enjoyed building this one and at the end, and despite the simplifications and decal  adventures, we're looking at a model that looks pretty much like the RS500 GrA Sierra racer as seen on the various European race tracks in 1988. This is to me the essence of scale modeling: having fun while building something you like. Makes sure you build yours!  

Guido "Ecurie Maquette" Haesevoets

      

Photos and text © by Guido "Ecurie Maquette" Haesevoets