Lancia automobiles have been involved in motorsports since the beginning but probably most notably in the World Rally Championship. Starting with the Fulvia and on through the legendary Stratos, the 037, and, ultimately, the Delta S4, Lancia race cars have won numerous events and championships.
As a follow-up to Beemax’s release in Martini markings (No. B24020), this NuNu’s 1/24 scale Lancia Delta S4 represents the 2nd-place Totip car from the 1986 San Remo rally. In addition to the new, beautifully printed decal sheet, the kit includes a set of night-stage rally lights, but it is otherwise identical to the previous release. The kit features a full front suspension, opening bonnet, and a complete engine, rear suspension, and removable rear deck lid. Molding is crisp with minimal flash and seam lines, and ejector-pin marks are discretely placed to speed cleanup.
The instruction’s first three steps cover the construction of the turbocharged and supercharged engine and all the associated plumbing for the intercoolers. Assembling the engine itself is straight forward, but the only the pipes support the intercoolers. The parts fit fairly well, but the play in the joints make careful alignment critical. I used various metallic colors to get slightly varying shades and textures to help add some visual interest. Pipe couplings were picked out in light blue; thin strips of Bare-Metal Foil make convincing clamps.
The tubular space-frame chassis and front and rear suspensions look good with plenty of detail. For ease, I gathered all the components and sprayed them Tamiya gloss aluminum (TS-17). Kevlar panels cover the bottom of the chassis; if you buy the optional detail-up set, you get templated decals for the task. I made my own using a picture I found on the internet as a pattern. NuNu provided a clear panel to cover the transmission tunnel, but there really isn’t much to see, so I covered it, too.
As always, it’s a good idea to test fit everything. I found several spots where the locator pin was larger than the mating hole or slot, but they weren’t difficult to fix.
Decals are provided for the instruments and rally gear for the dash and with a little Micro Sol settle into the details beautifully. There are several Kevlar panels in the interior that I made decals for too. I’m not a big fan of decals for seat belts, they’re just too two-dimensional. I cut them out as close to the image as possible, color the edges with a Sharpie to hide the “white” and then use white glue to attach them. It gives the belts at least a little more thickness and they drape more realistically. When attaching the door panels, be sure they sit all the way down flush at the bottom edge as this will determine how the body shell fits to the chassis.
The body shell is broken down into three main components: the front clip, main cabin, and rear clip. The front needs a little sanding to remove seam lines around the headlight area; otherwise, cleanup was minimal. Finished with the prep work, I sprayed on a couple coats of Tamiya pure white (TS-26) and waited a few days before placing decals. I don’t know who prints NuNu’s decals, but they are absolutely fabulous! Colors are vivid and cover well with crisp printing and perfect fits. When necessary, the decals responded well to Micro Sol and conformed to every bump, dip, and compound shape. NuNu even provides decals for the black window trim.
The transparent parts are thin and crystal clear. The borders have a ridge molded in to aid painting if you decide not to use the decals. When installing the lights, be sure to check that the two styles of lenses are properly placed.
The kit includes fine mesh for the grilles with templates printed in the instructions. The photo-etched metal parts from the detail up set may look a little more finished when viewing from the inside, but the supplied mesh looks fine. The kit’s molded antenna is a bit too thick, so I cut it off, drilled out the base, and replaced it with a piece of wire.
I think this is my fourth NuNu kit, and they have all been a pleasure to build. No, they’re not perfect, but I have seen improvement in each one and any obstacles have been very minor to overcome. NuNu has several new products slated for the coming months, and I’m excited to see what they’re like.
- Mike Klessig