Replicarz Fittipaldi Penske PC18 in 1/43

A worthy addition to your Indy-winner collection

The Replicarz Fittipaldi Penske PC18 that won the Indy 500 in 1989 is terrific. Replicarz continues the revival of Indy car models with this latest release. This 1/43 scale model has all the features we now look for in quality models.

A little background history first

Emerson Fittipaldi brought his Marlboro sponsorship with him when he joined Patrick Racing for 1989. Penske Racing was also sponsored by Marlboro. Thus Penske Racing agreed to sell one of their current PC18 cars to Patrick Racing for their former F1 World Champion driver. No doubt pressure from the cigarette maker came into play in order for Penske to supply a chassis to a formidable competitor.

This proved to be great for Marlboro but not so much for Penske. Fittipaldi would go on to win the 1989 Indy 500 for Patrick. Defeat for Penske with one of their own cars did not go down well with Roger Penske. To fix this, Penske hired Fittipaldi away from Pat Patrick for the 1990 season!

The Replicarz Fittipaldi Penske PC18 is a step ahead

The model comes in the usual blue Replicarz gift box. The Penske is mounted on a black base and a clear cover protects the miniature from dust. An engraved descriptive plate lies at the foot of the model.

The paint is the trademark Marlboro white and dayglo red. The dayglo paint is masked well and the decals for the numbers and logo chevrons match perfectly. A nice gloss clear coat protects paint and decals alike. Fasteners are picked out with tiny black dots. Side radiators are matte black mesh and the radiator inlets at the front are fine black mesh as well.

The suspension is made entirely of stainless steel photoetched pieces. Photoetch is also used for the wing supports and the fuel filler. The full wheel covers that were legal that year are crisp and cleanly applied. Rear halfshafts are finely done and attach to a representative gearbox.

Past Replicarz Indy models have come with thickish molded plastic windscreens which didn’t look quite right. It seems Replicarz has switched suppliers recently because that little niggle has been attended to. The clear windscreen on this Penske PC18 seems thinner and looks much better.

Finishing it off

The ciggy decals are not applied at the factory and are supplied separately with the model. I applied the decals in a few minutes. Accurate placement was helped with a quick Google search for images. Be sure to reference the race-day photos and not the restored car. Note that the decals seem to hold the soaking water under them when applied. A little careful dabbing with a clean tissue removed the water and the decals laid down just fine. After drying for a few minutes, I gave them a light shot of Solvaset decal setting solution to bond the decals to the body.

There is a black dot just behind the Marlboro decal on the nose. This forms the base for the small antenna which the car had. I drilled a tiny hole in the center of the black dot with a tiny pin vise drill bit and cut thin wire to form an antenna. A little 5 minute epoxy fixed it in place. “Detailing” was now finished.

Another terrific Replicarz Indy model!

Replicarz seems to be the only outlet for “diecast” Indy models these days, both in 1/43 and 1/18 scale. You can ensure the production of more great Indy cars by pre-ordering models on their site. These are limited production models and pre-ordering guarantees that you’ll receive your choices before they run out.

For more great models, click here.