lambodiecast

So I finally managed to get hold of a 1/18 Lamborghini Aventador LP700-4 model from FX everybody is raving about these days, took nearly two weeks to arrive from China, and as expected I was presented with a nice tax invoice from the postman to be paid on the spot ... I'm not going into details here, but with a large shipping fee and tax this little model comes to a total of €92 before I could open the box.

I live in Europe, and FX just refuses to offer these models on my local market, same thing for all those collectors in the United States ... you're out of luck too guys (and girls), so all we can do is order one from China or Hong Kong, pay a ridiculous shipping fee and get an additional cost in customs tax onto the relatively low asking price of these 1/18 FX models.

There, I've had my little rant on it, now back to the model itself, as I said it is in fact a very nice model, it has a few downsides, but it easily turns itself into a great model because of all the extremely nice details on it ... so the balance does turn into a highly positive one, FX has done an amazing job on their Aventador model which puts it lightyears ahead of the 1/18 Mondo Motors version (who ever buys that I just don't understand), it is better than the Bburago model (which is 1/19 unfortunately) ... but it still isn't up there with FrontiArt nor MR.

Which isn't a bad thing considering the FrontiArt is about 5 times as expensive while the MR model easily goes for 8 times the price of this FX ... if the photos from the AutoArt Aventador are right it should be at a totally different level compared to this FX too, much higher ... to warrant a price tag about 3 to 4 times the one from FX ... so which model should you get in the end?

I'm actually a big fan of the Bburago made 1/18 Aventador, it is cheap and still looks decent, sure it has some faults, most importantly the scale they got wrong (careful measuring unveiled it is in fact more a 1/19 scale ... so it fits the standard Bburago box, can you believe it?), but I tend to keep all my 1/18 Bburago made Lamborghini models in one display, all together side by side it never shows these are actually too small.

On the other hand this new FX model takes the Aventador 1/18 scale model to the next level, just take a look at the details: the exhaust is simply stunning with those quad tips inside the outer shell, just like the real deal. There are windows on the doors ... they are only half open, which I really dislike, but at least they made an effort. Also keep in mind the AutoArt will come with full side windows ... so you'll probably need a small tipped tool to even open the doors ... it all has positive and negative effects, a choice has to be made in the end.

With the doors open we can check out the interior, and it is a nice surprise, the interior inside the FX Aventador looks really nice and detailed, the Raging Bull logo on the steering wheels is just the right size, the central console looks near perfect and if you go for the white exterior like I did you get a two tone interior too, on the central console the white section is a bit squared ... but that is also how it looks inside the real car ... so well done FX !

On the dashboard we get the Lamborghini script in front of the passenger, it is a painted version, just like at the rear of the car ... it would have lifted the model much higher if FX would have opted for a little metal decal ... in mass production this shouldn't have an influence on costs I think, but it would make the model look $10 better easily.

Just take a look at the dashboard cluster itself, those dials look like they could move any second, that's how realistic it looks ... amazing attention to detail from FX, I do think the gear levers behind the steering wheel are just a bit too large, but that could be my personal impression ... I haven't been sleeping too much lately, could be I'm too tired to really notice.

Back to the good part, FX has put Raging Bull crests on the headrests, really nice, the door sills are matte black, just like in real life, another great detail and the Aventador sill looks really, really good too ... so the interior is perfect inside this 1/18 Aventador from FX? Well not really, they made one capital error: they used the same paint inside as they did outside !

And I'm not only making a point out of it because it has a shiny finish ... on this pearl metallic white Aventador the white sections on the interior also show metallic flakes ! Come on guys, how difficult would it be to get a normal, flat white here ... even if I take the model apart and cover the leather sections in a satin matte top coat those flakes will remain visible ... I for one have a serious problem with this. I also learned the yellow FX Aventador has the same issue, so I guess the Orange model will have metallic flakes inside too ... perhaps the matte black would be the best to get from FX to avoid this.

In all honesty this issue with the interior paint FX used is about the only negative I could find on this model, take the wheels for instance, they look really close to the original ones, the tires are nicely proportioned, those disc brakes look real enough and even the brake calipers have the correct scripting on them ... including the 'carboceramica' script, which is very small, but FX has put it on the calipers.

The wheels have a spring suspension that actually works, so you press on the model and make it look lower, or take it apart and cut a ring from them and have a lowered suspension, which I might take a look at as it rides just a little bit high at the front ... not a major problem, just a minor detail ... the real car has adjustable suspension, so even the actual Bull can drive around like this.

The engine is another nice achievement from FX, all the details are there, it isn't detailed like an AutoArt model, but it does come very close, so for the price of the FX model this is a very, very good effort and only shows how much quality can be created for a reasonable price ... if you live in the right market.

Back to the outside now, I went for the white shade, which much to my surprise is a metallic shade I like very much, I'm a big fan of an Aventador in Bianco Canopus, the pearl metallic matte shade, but even in glossy white metallic this Bull looks beautiful. The paint finish from FX is on par with their pricing, there are some dust specs to be found, the paint isn't applied evenly all over the model and even straight from the box there are a few paint chips on the doors and hoods ... but all in all I think it is good, not great like the paint finish on FrontiArt or MR, but keeping the regular price in mind it is extremely good.

Sure the air intakes have closed grilles, something the FrontiArt has been commented about too, it would be nice to have see-through grilles, but I guess that would make production a lot more expensive, so to be honest I don't see it as a big flaw, from three feet away you hardly notice this anyway ... but there is one detail that bothered me on the spot.

Opening the doors unveils a big flaw on the FX Aventador ... they open upward like on a Murciélago, Diablo or Countach ... while on the Aventador the doors open ever so slightly outwards too. Bburago went over the top on their first production run with doors that went way to wide, on their second production run they rectified this ... but the doors on the FX don't open wide enough, too bad.

On the other hand, if you look at the doors they do show the small red light as seen on the real car, so you can't say FX didn't have attention to detail when they created this 1/18 scale model of the current Lamborghini V12 flagship.

Bottom line: this is a very, very nice model ... if it wouldn't more than double in price before it gets in Europe or the United States. At €92 all-in I'm a bit disappointed to be honest, it is definitely worth the $59 price these sell for, don't get me wrong here, but with all the extra costs it becomes rather expensive for this to be a viable addition to your collection ... so depending on where you live, and how much shipment comes to this 1/18 FX Aventador is a 'must have' ... or a 'nice to have' ... for me it falls into the second category.

If anybody from FX is reading this: import these into Europe and I'm getting the three other shades too, and I'm sure many fellow collectors will buy it ... while at this point collectors living outside of the market you sell them on are left in the cold ... as I said I really love this model, but when it more than doubles in price to import into my country I'm only getting this one.

UPDATE : we've just added the Arancio Argos shade 1/18 Lamborghini Aventador made by Welly, which is a lower end version of this FX Models Aventador ... but more importantly it is a lot cheaper and available in Europe, so no more high shipping costs and expensive import taxes ... I only hope they release a matte black Welly version too!

our RATING

Overall rating

8/10

Original price : € 92