Search the Community
Showing results for tags 'Technic Review 8461'.
Found 1 result
-
[REVIEW] 8461 - Williams F1 Team Racer
Freekysch posted a topic in LEGO Technic, Mindstorms, Model Team and Scale Modeling
REVIEW 8461 - Williams F1 Team Racer INTRODUCTION Hello fellow Lego Technic enthusiasts ! A few days ago i managed to buy a copy of the 8461 - Williams F1 Racer and i thought I will make a review about it. From the beginning I must apologize for the quality of the pictures, I am not a pro at making photos and my DSLR camera is not with me at the moment. The models itself is not categorized under the Technic category, but we can find it at Racers. This is a thing that I do not understand because it is literally the same as the 8458 Silver Champion. This set does not have a B models, but as I already stated you can build the B model of its brother 8458. So, without any more chit-chat, lets get started ! SET INFORMATION Number: 8461 Title: Williams F1 Team Racer Theme: Racers Released: 2002 Part Count: 1484 Links: Brickset THE BOX and INSTRUCTIONS As I do not own the box or the instruction manual, will put some pictures that I found on Google. The instructions were pretty much clear all the way, but there were a few steps where i was a little puzzled. Nevertheless, it was a pleasure to view a different kind of instructions then the ones we find on today models, there are more pieces per step and that makes the build a little more intriguing. CONTENT OF THE BOX The box contains: - 1 instruction manual - 1 sticker sheet - 4 tires The only BIG problem that this set has, are the stickers. It is a known problem that back then the stickers were ... lets just say bad (bad being a nice word for their quality). When I got the set, almost all stickers were peeling off and they looked very bad. The previous owner tried to peel some of the off, and that resulted in some sticky panels that needed washing. I tried to salvage the rest of the stickers and didn't take them off, even tho they look bad. On the other hand, I have a new off market sticker sheet but the quality is not so good, so I am going to keep my model on display without them. THE PARTS This set contains over 1400 parts, and all of them were in very good condition. For a set almost 13 years old I did not find any cracks or bends nor in the beams or the pieces. This set contains a lot of studded beams and pieces, the chassis being all studded. The good thing about this set is that it has some special or rare pieces which I will talk about later. Here you can see all the pieces on the table - without the panels (I was washing them when I took the picture). As you can see the main colors are black, blue and white. I just LOVE the color scheme of this set. It is a immediate eye catcher. There are a lot of blue and grey tubing that makes the contour of the car, making it very very beautiful. Now lets talk about the rare/special parts. First of all I must admit I am not a Lego expert so maybe the pieces that I think are rare, are not so rare after all. But lets begin ! There are two types of panels in this set. In the left you can see the metallic grey panels which were on the 8458 Silver Champion too. The newer type is shown on the right, they come in blue and white in this set. I never seen this pieces in ant other set but then again I may be wrong. You can see the poor quality of the stickers, what you can see are some leftovers ... that I didn't take off. Once again, here are the shock absorbers for the suspension system and the main body of the set. I love the light blue color of those. Another nice thing is the motor cylinders. They are BLUE ! It is my first set that has this parts in blue and I must say that they look great with the translucent motor body. I was beginning to be bored with the same old yellow-gray motors. Another very nice parts are the 19L White Flex-Axels, but they are not so rare because they appeared this year on the 42039 - 24 Hours Racer. THE BUILD This is where things get interesting. As i said before all the chassis is made from studded beams and bricks. This is very nice, because I was used to studless nowadays. The build is straight foreword, you begin with the rear suspension and drivetrain. As you can see, there is a rear differential which drives the motor. This is a simple build, nothing to fancy here. Here you can see the finished rear suspension and the drivetrain all together. Also you can see the exhausts pipes. In this step you are in the half of the instruction manual, you can see the steering wheel - which is made from pieces not an actual steering wheel. The seat is blue with black. The nice thing is that the steering wheel actually works, so you can steer the car as in a normal F1 car. In the back you can see the engine place. The flex pipes are in the same number as the engine cylinders (not like the 42000). Here you can see some nice detains on the steering and the motor place. Also, you can see the front and rear suspension system. Of, the beauty and the joy ! You can see how nice this model is. The blue and white pieces really make this models outstanding. Never thought flex pipes would make the looks of a LEGO Technic model. Here the body is almost done. This beauty is the motor, very detailed and those little pipes are a very nice touch (I am not a mechanic so I have no idea what they are, but they are cool). This is the front part of the car, I have no idea how it is actually called. The problem is again the stickers. As you see, very very bad quality. I have a ton of models on display for a few years and the stickers are in tip top shape, so i think back then there was a problem with their quality overall. Sooo, this is the finished model - with some of the stickers. The model looks outstanding and I never the sheer size is overwhelming (over 60 cm long). The color scheme is fantastic, the only bad part are the stickers. Another thing that i didn't mention are the wheels and the tires. The hubs are metallic silver and the tires are big and they have painted on the the Michelin brand. Those look much better that the wheels on 42000 which were too small for the model. CONCLUSION After 7 hours of build time and a lot of frustration with the online pdf instructions, I find myself looking at a OUTSTANDING model. Truly I can't find anything wrong with this models. The body is beautiful, the colors are a joy to look at, the tires are nice. Again, if I had the brand new sticker sheet I would have been super glad - because on this model the sticker make it pop ! Should you buy it ? Hell yes, if you can get it at a decent price (got it for 100 euro), go for it. You will not regret it for sure. Again, this is truly a magnificent set. If I were to give it a grade, it would be 9.5 just because of the poor sticker quality, otherwise it would be a full 10. Hope you liked my review and thanks for reading it !