lambodiecast

This matte black Lamborghini Murciélago model has been on my wishlist for a long time, but most listings I find it is rather expensive, and from the photos I had seen it didn't look that good to be honest ... so I was a bit hesistant to pay up to €50 for it.

However as usual patience pays on the long run, and while being in Germany I found it on the shelve in a local shop ... it was on sale, and even better as I was able to pick it up I could avoid shipping costs, so I took a close look at it ... and initially decided it didn't look that good in real life either.

The next day I still went back into the shop, and this black Bull hadn't been sold yet, so I got it anyway, at this price I knew I would feel sorry about not getting it eventually, so another 1/18 scale model of the Murciélago joined the 53 other cars I already owned of this specific Lamborghini model in 1/18.

Sitting in the box I could already see the front was too high on this model, but I guess it would be due to the fact the wheels were 'floating' in thin air instead of sitting on the bottom of the box, after unscrewing the model for the photo shoot is became obvious this model just sits high ... period. Sure at the back there is a working suspension, but still it looks like an off-road model instead of a high power, low riding exotic.

This specific shade on the Welly made Lamborghini Murcielago doesn't come with the regular wheels but get massive, dual five spoke wheels finished in black ... and these are just too big, especially at the front these wheels 'touch' the bodywork. I have a few customized Murciélago models from Hotwheels and Maisto ... and both are way better than this Welly model, sorry.

Sure these latter also have oversized wheels mounted, but at least they also lowered the Bull to get the wheels really into the wheelarches ... looks overdone, but I prefer it to this 'monster truck' look on the matte black Welly made Murciélago.

The idea was very sound however, take the classic Murciélago 6.2 bodywork, finish it in a very fashionable matte black shade over a black interior ... looks ever so intimidating, and to make the Bull even better looking Welly installed custom wheels over nice, perforated look discs brakes and yellow brake calipers ... the entire concept sounds like a winner ... but it became a serious fail unfortunately.

As I already mentioned, the wheels are too large or the suspension is too high ... I've tried to lower it as far as possible ... and it looks a lot better, however at the front there is no room to lower the wheels into the bodywork because you touch parts inside the wheel arch, it can be solved by some cutting, but it should be right from the start.

On a more positive note the engine inside this Welly 1/18 Murciélago is nicely finished, there is a lot of detail to be seen, and if you open the engine cover you have a really good chance to have the air intakes staying up, so that's the good news ... sad to say the bad news isn't over yet.

I know this isn't a €125 AutoArt model, but still I would appreciate a little control before a model leaves for a customer, even at the price I paid the paint and finish should look decent ... and it doesn't. I know a matte black bodywork is a disaster to maintain, you can't put wax or polish on it to make it 'shine' ... being a matte finish you don't want it to shine, so you have to clean it with a microfiber cloth or with special products for matte finish.

I specifically didn't PhotoShop these photos too much to keep the blemishes in the paintwork visible, there are a lot of dust particles in the paint ... even spray painting in a make-shift garage should give you a better result. But that isn't even the worst part ... there are way too many paint chips on this model.

At the rear wing there is a large piece of paint missing, at the front lights they chipped the paint by inserting the plastic cover, both doors have paint chips on the sills ... and it goes on. Matte black is a very sensitive finish, and my guess is Welly painted it in matte black ... and sells it like that. In fact it should be painted in black and received a satin or matte top coat, that way you avoid all those paint chips (to a certain degree)

All in all I'm still happy I bought it, I really like the looks of this car ... I would love it a lot more if it would be riding a bit lower to the floor, I'm going to take it apart and see if I can shave some mm's from the suspension ... and as it will be apart anyway I will repaint it myself in black and put a satin top coat over it ... the idea behind this model was great, the execution let it down a bit, so I will be trying to lift it to the level it deserves.

our RATING

Overall rating

6/10

Original price : € 29