AUTOart is showing off their upcoming classic 1:18 Aston Martin DB5 in Caribbean Pearl/Blue. The exterior colour is definitely unique and quite refreshing. As for accuracy, we’ll let the community chime in. Look for this colour and additional selections in early 2022.
Product# 70288
Important question (for me): diecast or composite?
Composite/Diecast elements. Cheers.
To me it’s also important. I may accept plastic exterior for today’s supercars with carbon panels (even though I don’t like it, I may accept it). But Aston Martin DB5 with plastic doors, plastic hood, plastic body?.. Definitely “no go” to me.
Colors are ok, but those wheels are still terrible…. really wrong. I don’t get it. Both Cult and Spark have been able to make decent and closer to correct wire wheels for their Aston models. So why is AA still so inept at this?
And they can make a decent spoke wheel! look at what the Jaguar E-type they made some years back!
Exactly. I didn’t make it past the wheels.
I’ve had a good look at the pictures of this new release by AUTOart and compared them with my own second release AUTOart DB5 below:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/23973738@N03/albums/72157720204799080
and against pictures of the real car here:
https://www.carmagazine.co.uk/car-reviews/aston-martin/db5/
The most critical error of the first AUTOart DB5 was the shallow roofline, which was repeated in their upgraded release (my model), I assume because they used the same diecast tool. I’m not sure they’ve got it exactly right here, but it looks right compared to the real thing to my eyes.
Injection moulded plastic bodies, whilst not as desirable in many ways are easier to retool and hence, this new third release appears to right the most glaring fault of one of AUTOarts first models – and for that I’m very very pleased.
Other improvements are the brightwork, particularly around the door frame, which is thinner on this new model. The grill seems more faithful and the head lights are gorgeous and definitively capture the look of the original DB5 better than anything else I’ve seen in this scale.
Some details could have been bettered. For instance, the bullet type wing mirrors would have been a lovely touch. The spoked wheels are still not right for me. AUTOart could have done better here.
And as for that colour, I love it. I’m so pleased AUTOart haven’t gone for their usual palette of vanilla colours and given collectors like me, who might have not wanted to buy yet another silver birch DB5 an excuse to try this model.
It’s on the shopping list, if I can afford and will do a side by side comparison of the two models to see the differences in the flesh.
The roofline is still incorrect. The profile view gives the model a strangely elongated look, whereas the real thing appeared much more upright.
I own an Autoart DB5 in its upgraded version with the nice door hinges, door windows etc, so given the ever rising prices of every new release from Autoart I don’t think I’ll ever own one of these newer, and to me, better looking DB5s. That said there was always something a bit off about the current DB5s by Autoart, which are still the best DB5s available in 1:18 anyway, in my opinion. Something about the proportions of the side windows and the windscreen mainly. As for the wheels, these look exactly like the ones on my model, and that’s not a good thing. I even considered the possibility to buy a Norev AC Cobra with its photoetched wire wheels and attempt a switch. They’re not great but they look more convincing to me than these full plastic ones. I’d say convincing enough to use them on the old signature E type mk1 by Autoart too. Anyways, since these are photos of a sample model, they may not be the finalized wheels for this model. I definitely hope so for those who are going to buy this model.
By the way, currently I have a few of Autoart composite models and honestly their construction doesn’t disturb me at all. What disturbes me are the stupid mistakes Autoart makes, and their cutting corner measures, The number of times I wished I had a partly assembled model instead of the fully assembled one just to have a go at fixing some of those stupid things without having to risk to damage a model in the process.
I have an older Autoart James Bond version from the early 2000’s and it never looked right to me. The newer version doesn’t look right either. I think the length from the front of the wheel well to the front of the car is too long. I also own the James Bond hot wheels db5 and a Chrono db5. I think both the Hot Wheels and Chrono versions have a better body shape than the autoart, but fit and finishis lacking. The Hot Wheels version has really bad looking wheels like the AA version. Plus they couldn’tbe bothered to chrome the bumpers. very cheap.
Looks like cheaper KK Scale can do better wheel spokes than AutoArt:
https://diecastsociety.com/kk-scale-new-ferrari-250gt-swb-berlinetta-1961/