Arrow Slot Ford Escort Mk2 RS1800

Review by Phil Insull.

Colin McRae calls it his "Favourite Rally Car" in fact he likes them so much he recently brought one of the BDA engine machines for having a bit of fun in. The Escort Mk2 RS1800 was one of the all time classic rally machines, securing World Drivers titles for Bjorn Waldegard and Ari Vatanen as well as the Championship of makes for Ford. In total the Escort Mk2 RS1800 clocked up seventeen world championship rally wins, and numerous podium finishes at a time when Ford like so many other manufacturers did not enter every round of the championships. Victories came in a wide variety of events, the Safari, RAC, Acropolis, the 1000 Lakes, Swedish, Portuguese, New Zealand, Quebec, and Brazil. The only surface the Escort did not excel on was tarmac and as such its best performances were second place on the Monte Carlo and San Remo rallies. The Escort however became obsolete at the highest levels once the four wheel drive revolution got under way courtesy of Audi's Quattro, but at Regional, National and Club level the Escort continues to do well even to the present day. A rugged relatively inexpensive machine with classic handling characteristics they can be found still competing in events across the world.

One of my boyhood memories was of my dad taking me to Sutton Park to witness Hannu Mikkola and Arne Hertz win the rally in 1978, However we cheered "local" favourites Roger Clark, Russel Brookes, Tony Pond and Jimmy McRea who were the top British drivers of the day. One other great memory from that year was being taken to Andrews Heat for Hire's Wolverhampton outlet to see Russel Brookes Ford Escort Mk2 RS1800 which was on display there for a couple of weeks. So taken was I with the car resplendent in its multi-coloured livery that I nagged my dad into taking me to see it again before they moved it. Imagine then my delight when Sean asked me to build and review Arrow Slot's new resin kit version of the Escort complete with the Andrews Heat for Hire Decals. (Evolution Slot has done versions of this great car in the past but never in this particular livery).

Sean provided all the necessary parts comprising of the Arrow kit (Which includes body, resin chassis, resin interior, drivers heads, lexan windscreen, clear headlights, and white metal fog lights, mirrors, wipers, and interior roll bars.) Mabuchi motor, Ninco front and rear axles, GOM classic rally wheels, Ninco rally tyres, black Hornby guide, motor wires and a roll of soft racing braid all available at Pendle Slot Racing. Additional requirements were paints, and lacquer.

The chassis needed no painting as it comes in a very dark grey colour, although there was some flashing that needed cleaning up with a modelling knife and wet and dry paper. The engine and guide assembly fitted in without any problem but the axles while being the right lengths did cause a bit more work. The Ninco bearings on the rear axles were a slightly loose fit into the resin chassis, and when tested the torque of the motor popped them straight out the mountings, so these needed cementing in place. The front axle holder allows the axle to move from side to side beyond the wheel arches so two small spacers needed fitting to stop this lateral movement. Once this was done the chassis needed drilling carefully to line up with the body mounting posts. The next step was to prime and spray the body shell white with dark blue sills, black grille and bumpers. Next came the yellow/orange colour for the upper body, bonnet and boot, there was no suitable colour I could find off the shelf so I had to mix my own from Revell paints about 2/3^rd yellow to 1/3^rd orange. (Make sure you do enough for a couple of coats). The GOM wheels were painted silver, and the interior and drivers done to match the car with yellow/orange helmets. Pre-paint the mirrors and wipers, and the front fog lamps, but simply polish the roll cage parts with duraglit to give them a bit of shine. Now drill very small holes for the wipers, mirrors and fog lamps to go into, and if you desire drill through the small raised bump on the roof for an aerial mounting. (Create the aerial by melting a bit of old model plastic and gently stretching into shape). Once all this is done resin bond the windscreen, aerial, mirrors, wipers and lights into place, use some magic tape to hold the interior assembly in place (don't glue it in as you may need to remove it in the future). Then simply screw the chassis and body together. Use Decalfix and a hairdryer to apply the decals, remember to have a good pair of sharp scissors to hand to trim the decals with, and once dry apply a coat of clear acrylic lacquer. (Avoid cellulose type lacquer as this can dissolve some transfer types). Proportionally the finished car looks good with an overall length of 129mm, width of 57mm, height of 45mm (Not including Aerial) wheelbase is 75.75mm, and front and rear track is 54mm.

As you can see from the pictures the results look  good but there are a few problems with this kit. Firstly while the shell moulding contained no surface blemishes, there was a  bit of flashing to remove from both body and chassis. The main problem involves the transfers themselves while they are of excellent finish and quality the castrol body stripes quite simply are not big enough to fit round the front wheel arches, I had to do a lot of tweaking to get them anywhere near and they still don't look right to me.

To improve performance the Escort needed a lot of weight in front of the motor to stop it from going straight on at the corners, once this was sorted I could get it to lap consistently but it is no racer. Even with the back axle secured in place the car always feels nervous and twitchy compared to the World Classics BMW2002 it was around 4 seconds per lap off their pace. In truth this car is unlikely to ever become a club racers favourite due to the amount of work required to make it competitive. In essence however most resin bodied cars appeal more to the collector, and builder than the racer and certainly this makes a colourful addition to any collection, particularly as Arrows have had the foresight to offer a previously unavailable livery of one of the stars of the 1970's British rally scene, and one assumes that other liveries will follow in time.

In summary the Arrow Slot Escort offers you a chance to recreate one of the best loved rally cars of all time. With a bit of effort you can make it look and run to an acceptable standard. The white metal parts are a very nice touch and the windscreen and interior fit into the body shell perfectly which is not always the case with some resin kits, Overall impression is good but not one for the novice builder presentation wise the car comes in a card box similar to those used by Topslot with a picture of the car on the box end. A basic instruction sheet is also included with the kit

Post Script

Future liveries hopefully include the Roger Clark Cossack car

For those of you who have raced or owned your own Escort and want to re-create your car a decal making service can be offered for one off quantities. (for further details call Sean.)