Diecast Review: Minichamps Williams FW14B 1:18 World Champions Edition
With the Adrian Newey exit rumours currently going into overdrive, there’s no doubt at all he’s been the single most influential input into many of the dominant race cars in recent history including last season’s all conquering Red Bull Honda RB19, McLaren MP4/13 and the iconic Williams FW14B. Way back in 2012, I posted a detailed review of Exoto’s 1:18 rendition of the Williams FW14B compared at that time against the 1:18 Minichamps Williams FW14.
Over the last few years, Minichamps have been slowly re-releasing some of their highly sought after 1:18 scale World Champions Collection F1 diecast models including Lewis’ 2008 McLaren Mercedes MP4/23 and of course Nigel Mansell’s 1992 Williams Renault FW14B.
I dusted off Minichamps’ FW14B for a closer look and in similar fashion to my 2012 post, decided to compare it to Minichamps’ earlier FW14 model.
Underside of the plastic plinth has a black sealed pack taped
Camel logo decal sheet
Minichamps’ World Champions Collection (WCC) is essentially their standard 1:43 and 1:18 models of world championship cars with special cardboard inlays that display chassis details and wins during that championship year.
The FW14 marked the addition of Camel tobacco sponsorship for Williams and the camel logo was added to the engine cowling and nose. Despite Minichamps’ original 1:18 FW14 not including any Camel decals, the re-released FW14B has a decal sheet of full Camel logos (word + camel image) included in a sealed pack taped to the bottom of the mounting plinth.
In comparison to the FW14 model, the WCC FW14B’s shade of yellow livery is very noticeably lighter. The yellow livery on Exoto’s 1:18 FW14B is an even deeper yellow. I looked through the photos in 1992 Autocourse yearbook and Clear-View F1 book of Mansell’s FW14B to check and his racecar in the early GPs in 1992 (South African & Brazil) definitely had a lighter shade of yellow.
Both Minichamps’ 1:18 models of the FW14 and FW14B have removable bodywork to reveal the front suspension and engine. The FW14B car famously had active suspension and the surface components are re-created in Minichamps model (although the quality of the paintwork and detailing is a bit sketchy).
The FW14B model shows its octagonal valves and active suspension gold actuators
The FW14 model reveals early 90’s suspension components
WCC FW14B under the engine cowling – Renault V10. The rear suspension detailing and paintwork appears less than the real car
The FW14 model shows the rear suspension in more painted detail
If I’m being honest, the paint detailing on the underbody parts of the original Minichamps FW14 looks better than the newer FW14B. Other than the shade of the yellow livery mentioned above, the 1:18 diecasts appear almost identical.
There are some diecast collectors that prefer not to have removable cowling, particularly the front suspension access, with the criticism that the parts don’t sit tightly with a visible gap. That’s personal preference but as a general rule, diecasts that have removable parts and underbody detailing usually retain good collector and resale value. Even with Minichamps re-release to give newer collectors a chance to add to their collection, the values of the WCC FW14B has since shot back up over USD500 mark.
