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MI6 reviews the second 1:18th scale James Bond
car from RC2 - Zao's Jaguar XKR from the 2002 film
"Die Another Day"... |
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RC2 1:18th Jaguar XKR Review
4th May 2005
The second car in RC2 series is the
Jaguar XKR featured in the 2002 James Bond film "Die
Another Day". Driven by henchman Zao,
it was the first time Bond meet his match on the road. Stunt driver
George Cottle took control of the car during the elaborate chase
over the frozen vistas and into the Ice Palace - eventually resulting
in the death of Rick Yune's character. The heavily modified Jaguar
had all the trappings to make Q proud.
Above: The 1:18th scale Jaguar XKR
by RC2 |
Exterior
Finished in gloss British racing green, the metal body of
Zao's Jaguar XKR is finished in a metallic green with all
the additional detailing in grey plastic, detailed in silver.
The skirt is a mix of plastic and metal, detailed with
small painted silver studs. The five spoke wheels allow
a clear view through to the disc breaks, which have small
studded holes. The disc pads are stamped with Jaguar name
and logo. The number/licence plate has been affixed extremely
well, and sits under a silver Jaguar stamped lip. The taillights
are clear with lots of characteristic detailing, and the
headlights are made up of clear plastic and a chrome inlay.
The front grill is painted rather than textured, to allow
for the pop out rockets. There are two vents on the top
of the hood which are bonded directly on the metal.
The bar that hides the gattling gun does not fit properly,
due to the barrel not sinking far enough into the slot,
and stops the bar fitting. Both wing mirrors/sidemirrors
don't have any reflective material, and are unfinished.
Four raised badges in red can be seen on each side of the
car featuring the Jaguar logo. Finally, the underside of
the car features detailing of the front and rear suspension,
engine, gear box and full exhaust system. |
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Above: From (exploded) view
Above: Rear (exploded) view
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Interior
A stiff hood lifts up away from the car to reveal a supercharged
V8 engine, primarily finished in black plastic with silver detailing,
it is blocky and averagely formed and would have benefited from
a little extra detailing.
The passenger compartment is fashioned in hard black plastic
with silver and red detailing for the dashboard, and the simple
internal fixtures are well detailed for this scale. Tiny amounts
of flashing can be seen on the seat belt clips and steering column.
Two silver foot pedals add extra detail along with two stamps
on the seats. Two roll bars are made out of plastic finished in
silver.
The trunk/boot houses a mortar launcher see in the ice chase,
and it fills most of the space and leaves little free space for
any other detailing. Formed in hard plastic and finished in black,
the surround has the gun metal grey mortar launcher sitting in
the centre.
Above: The packaging displays all
of the XKR's special features. |
Packaging
RC2 have delivered clean collector friendly packaging, and the
box has windows on four faces. A small montage of clips of the
car is shown on the front and side faces. The rear face gives
pictorial details of the gadgets and a little information on the
car (see above). There are no instructions explaining how to work
any of the gadgets or documentation on the car and its famous
role in the movie. Even if included on the Q-CD, it would have
been a welcome addition.
The car comes taped up and screwed to a hard plastic base. Once
the tape has been removed some pieces will no longer stay attached
to the car. The plastic base fits snugly into the box and only
allows the flaps to be closed in a securing order. There is no
tape seal on the externals of the box which ensures your don't
damage it when removing the car.
Gadgets
- Fold out lower door panels to expose rockets - these side
pods are located in the lower half of the doors. The panels
are made out of plastic and the finish is so good that you can't
tell the difference until you touch them. The flaps are double
hinged so they can be pulled out and set into a horizontal position.
- Retractable front grille panels to expose rockets - individually
activated by two small switches on the underside of the car.
Once deployed the rockets appear from behind the left and right
grilles.
- Opening trunk and fold down rear body panel to expose mortars
- this two panel opening trunk gives a clear line of sight for
the mortars, which are well modelled.
- Pop up gattling gun in the rear deck behind front seats -
once the plastic tape has been removed the covering for the
gun it can't be clipped back into place, due to the gun protruding
too high.
- Simulated spiked tires - a good effort creating the look,
however they don't match in comparison to the movie car.
- Working front steering - with a little effort the stiff steering
wheel can be turned thus moving turn the front tires. However
the steering wheel is not attached to the steering column firmly
and can pop off.
Q-Card
With RC2's second attempt at this new business card size CD-ROM,
it features 2 wallpapers, an interactive gallery of stills and
a 360 degree view of the car with images of the cars gadgets.
The quality of the presentation and images are still poor, requiring
a re-think.
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Above: The XKR comes with a "Q
Card"
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Overall
Apart from the steering wheel, gattling gun cover and unfinished
side mirrors, this is a strong addition to the range. The
same high standard on the car as the DB5 is evident, however
this car just misses the mark. If given a choice between
the earlier DB5 and Jaguar, we strongly recommend the DB5.
With several other cars to come in the range with little
or no gadgets, the Jaguar will standout as one of the better
options.
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MI6 Rating
Other Models
Joyride Entertainment (part of the RC2 group) secured the James
Bond license in 2004 and plan to release twelve cars over the
two years. The range will visit a mixture of famous cars from
the 20 film canon. The models are expected to retail at £34.99
in the UK, and $39.99 in the USA (prices may vary). Updated release
dates are estimates and are subject to change. RC2 had a proposed
Bond 21 car for a 2005, but due to the film being moved to 2006
its unclear what will happen. Expect a further six cars to be
announced in the near future.
