New aquisitions: 1:24 Porsche 962 "FromA", by BRM Models

My early races in the slot car world were quite varied, since I didn't have the material to race with, I was always borrowing stuff from others. One of the the categories I tried was 1:24 Plafit models, with a Porsche 962 from IMSA, fitted with the required chassis. I kind of liked the racing feel of these cars: they were heavy, very stable but lacking power, so I needed to be on the limits all the time. This is the model I raced with:

Since then, I moved away from 1:24 but the memory remained. I searched for some Plafit chassis but the assembly seemed a bit too complicated for my skills... even 1:32 HRS chassis are troublesome to me, so I put my 1:24 plans on hold. Until one day, I found this car on Cric-Crac, with 40% discount:

Actually, there were two liveries available for the same price, this one and the black & red "Kenwood" 962... but I had to grab the yellow one, for the reason I started this post with.

I knew about the existence of the BRM Models range for some time. Reading some American foruns, it seems they found a place there, which is not strange since BRM produces IMSA-spec models. After seeing some photos, my conclusion was that this is the same chassis and body philosophy I'm used to in 1:32 models, so I thought it as a good and easy to start way into 1:24 scale. I was not disappointed. This model is as easy to assemble as it can be. It features the always useful instructions, but looking at the parts, the assembly is quite intuitive. In a few minutes, you'll get this:

The model is nicely painted and really looks awesome. I left it lying about in the track, and it was an eye-catcher for everyone. As I said before, assembling it was no significant issue, although fitting the tires to the rims was quite a fight! BRM recommends heating up the rubber with a hairdryer before fitting it, but I managed to do it without heating (I only warmed up the tires on my hands for a while).

Opening the model, this is how it looks like:

As I told, it's the same look on a 1:32 plastic chassis, only bigger! Here's a closer look at the chassis:

The mechanical side brought some good news, as all the axles, gear and rims are scaled to the 3 mm range. The motor is a standard "boxer" type (FK-130), so one can already start imagining the possibilities... The guide blade and braids are Plafit type, so not a real issue to find replacement parts here.

The black sheep on this car: First, the almost 180g of total weight. It may be useful on the stability side, but for running this car on 15 Volt tracks, I won't be much happy with that. Secondly, the front wheels hit the underside of the bodywork and the track, so it acts as a permanent front brake (when it's locked...). So far I'm already considering some replacement parts all around (tires, axles, bushings), but that will be stuff for another post.

Until next time...