Background:

The French do make some very nice rally hatchbacks and I like the look of this WRC car a lot with its silver/red Total livery. Shame the road version of the 206 is so horrible. I bought this particular version of the kit as it included a driver and co-driver - slightly less faffing with seatbelts and buckles. I chose to make this as Marcus Gronholm's car, despite him not winning with this event or the championship that year. The car at least has a 1 on the door.

Pros:

Lots of quality mouldings, perfect fitments and detail as you'd expect from Tamiya. Decals were very easy to apply.

Cons:

It may be user error but I found the rear wing didn't locate very well, and the top part of the rollcage didn't sit well either. The painting instructions for the driver/co-driver helmets are incorrect if you choose Gronholm/Rautiainen. The steering wheel needed a little drilling before it'd fit over the shaft of the steering column.

Verdict:

Very very good. It builds into an excellent replica of the real thing.

Build notes:

I've added a P/E bonnet and boot catches, some seatbels and a few other details around the interior. Mostly it's built out-of-the-box as what's in the box is so good. Body is Tamiya TS-17 Gloss Aluminium and parts of the sills are sprayed red rather than decalled. The only red decal down there are the ones on each door. Clearcoated with Mr Hobby Premium Gloss. Built over the course of two months from Feb-April 2022.

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