BRE Contessa (In pursuit of Team Samurai) by Mike Sells
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This
is a prequel of sorts to the BRE article dealing with one of
Pete Brock’s racers in Japan. Sedan
and GT racing has always been big in Japan and still is: they
even have their own series running Toyotas and Nissans against
Porsche and other European entries. The Nissan Skylines are especially colorful
and successful as witness the many decals available for the cars
from Studio 27 for the Tamiya kit.
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The
Hino 1300 Contessa was raced by Mr. Brock DBA Team Samurai against
the sea of Mini Coopers then dominating the small sedan class in
1966. The Hino was heavy and rather underpowered
but actually won one event outright. A
very different and yet somehow very Japanese sedan, despite being
designed by Micholotti, the Contessa is a brand new kit from ARII.
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ARII’s
kit is rather a disappointment as it follows the practice of their
earlier efforts: the chassis detailing is very sparse and designed
to house a pull back spring motor (not provided). While
the body is cast in red, the nose and tail parts are cast on the
black sprues with all of the other parts. Painting
white over either color can be a serious challenge. The
body itself is very well done but both front and rear bumpers must
be removed and the resulting slots filled. As
a production racer, modifications to the Contessa are largely a
matter of changing the wheels and tires, adding a racing seat,
roll cage and markings. Decals
were prepared by Mark Gussin and they look great. Chrome
trim is paint and bare metal foil.
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Wheels
and tires for this one were a poser because nothing I had really
looked right. I finally
chose the steel wheels for an ancient MPC Dodge Police car model
even though they have 5 bolts instead of the correct 4 because
the appearance otherwise was really pretty close to what I wanted. Tires
from the ARII ’72 Nissan Skyline are slightly larger in diameter
than the original kit units. The
roll bar assembly is 0.080” styrene rod and the racing seat is
left over from the ARII Datsun 240Z. Mark’s markings really make this one come
alive.
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