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BMW 635 CSI J.M. Ponce, El Corte Ingles Rally 1985 1:24 scale Reji Model Jose Maria Ponce has become a familiar face among fans of the Spanish Rally Championship. Born in 1955, he entered his first event, the Rally El Corte Ingles in 1977, driving a Toyota Levin and finished in a respectable 8th position. He would become a regular attendee of this event. In 1985, piloting his BMW 635 CSI, he won the Rally Isla de Gran Canaria. The following event, was the El Corte Ingles, which he entered alongside his co-driver, Isabel Fernandez, once again in the 635. Unfortunately, their rally was ended prematurely when engine trouble forced them to retire. Over the years he has driven a wide variety of machinery, from the likes of Toyota (Corolla Coupe and Celica GT4), Ford (Escort Cosworth), Volkswagen (Golf Gti , Golf IV Kit Car and Polo S1600) and Peugeot (P306 Maxi and P206 WRC).He his best known for his long association with BMW, though. Driving a number of different models, from the old 2002, several 323i and 325i’s, M3’s and of course, his 635 CSI. He has competed in national Spanish national events each year, since 1977, as well as a number of WRC and ERC rounds. In 2013, he was once again at the wheel of his trusty E30 M3 and finished 3rd in the Rally Villa de Santa Brigida. It would appear that for Jose Maria, rallying really is in the blood. The decals The lovely people at Reji have once again supplied us with a review sample of one of their latest decal sets. Sheet no 193 provides us the opportunity to replicate the BMW 635 CSI, as driven by Jose Maria Ponce and co-driver Isabel Fernandez at the 1985 Rally El Corte Ingles. Inside the clear zip-lock bag, we find one colour printed, 4-view paint and decal guide and 2 sheets of decals. The markings are for use with either the Tamiya BMW 635 (kit nos 24061 & 24322), or Fujimi’s version ( kit nos 082455 & 082608). The paint work on this one couldn’t be much simpler. The body shell is gloss white overall, except for the bonnet, which is finished in black. I found some old footage online, which appears to show this black as being either glossy or semi gloss, but there is a definite sheen apparent. Aside from the trim, the only other pieces which are going to need some careful masking, are the wheels. These are the distinctive BMW cross-wire alloys and they have a chrome outer rim, with the centre lattice work painted gold. With paintwork complete, decaling can begin. Reji Model supply all the main sponsor logos, entry numbers, licence plates and placards on the larger sheet. The smaller decal sheet contains things such as the sunshade sponsor strip, competitor names, some smaller sponsor markings and the BMW Motorsport stripes, which appear at the forward end of the shark nose. Quality is on par with the other sets that I have seen from Reji and that, is excellent. The printing is very sharp and registry is very accurate. The bonnet Texaco star emblem with the fine white surround, being a good example of this. Colours are nice and bold and each marking is printed on extremely fine carrier film, with the absolute minimum of excess film around the edges. They look like they will be a pleasure to use. Conclusion Another superb quality release from Reji Model. This is a great choice of subject, being a little out of the ordinary, with an older car from surely one of the sport’s longest serving pilots. I can’t recommend them highly enough. Review sample from

Citroen C4 WRC, P.Solberg & P.Mills, Catalunya Rally 2009 1:24 scale Reji Models Like his older brother Henning, Petter Solberg began his motorsport career by competing in Rallycross. The day after he passed his driving test in 1992 (which was 3 days past his 18th birthday), he entered his first event. He would go on to become the Norwegian champion in both Rallycross and Hillclimbing, in 1995, winning an impressive 19 out of 21 events. He repeated this success the following year, being victorious in 15 from 19 events. He made his stage rally debut in the 1995 Norwegian Rally Bjørkelangen, piloting a Volvo 240. He would go on to become Norwegian Rally champion in 1998, bringing himself to the attention of several World Rally Championship (WRC) teams. He signed as a junior driver for Ford, in 1999, but was unexpectedly thrust into the limelight when Fords No2 driver, Thomas Radstrom, was unable to compete in the Safari Rally due to injury. Solberg was entered into the event in his place, as a nominated points scorer for Ford. Despite being one of the most challenging rallies on the calendar, Solberg not only completed the event, but finished in an impressive 5th place. Of course, he is best known for his association with Subaru. He joined the Prodrive Subaru World Rally Team (WRT) in 2000 and became the first Norwegian WRC champion, when he took the drivers title in 2003. He would also finish as runner up in 2002, 2004 and 2005. When Subaru withdrew from the WRC in December 2008, Solberg was left without a drive for the 2009 season. After weighing up his options, he decided to enter the championship as a privateer and acquired a 2006 spec Citroen Xsara WRC and formed the Petter Solberg WRT. Along with regular co-driver, Phil Mills, the team made their debut at the Norwegian rally, finishing in 6th place. The following round, in Cyprus, Solberg and Mills would finish in 3rd place, the first time since 1993 that a privateer team had finished in a podium position. He would continue to battle for 3rd and 4th spots for every rally that followed, up until Rally Finland, where he was forced to retire. Feeling that he had taken the Xsara as far as he could, he began the search for a more competitive car. After sitting out the Australian Rally, he returned for the final 2 rounds of the season, with a Citroen C4 WRC, which had been upgraded to something near the spec of the Citroen factory cars. Piloting the C4, he would finish in 4th spot at both the Catalunya Rally and Rally GB, securing 5th spot in the drivers championship, come years end. He would better that result a year later, by finishing 3rd in the drivers championship, once again piloting a privately entered Citroen C4. He would switch to the Citroen DS3 WRC for the 2011 championship (finishing 5th in the title), while 2012 would see him return to the Ford factory team, driving a Fiesta RS WRC (once again finishing 5th). Unfortunately, with Fords withdrawal from the WRC, he once again found himself without a seat for the 2013 championship, but he can now be seen in the European Rallycross Championship. One of the latest decal releases from Reji Model, set No 199 features the privateer Citroen C4 WRC, which Petter and co-driver Phil Mills drove to 4th spot in the 2009 Spanish Catalunya Rally. The clear Zip-Lock bag contains 2 sheets of decals and one colour, 4-view paint and decal guide. The decals are designed for use with the Heller 1:24 Citroen C4 WRC (kit no 80756). After applying a gloss white basecoat, some careful masking is going to be required in order to paint the curvy black markings on the body shell and to get them looking symmetrical. The rear spoiler is finished in black, as is the front edge of the bonnet. A yellow band is required around the lower edge of the front valance, which extends around and behind the wheel arches, on to the forward end of the doors. This should be quite a simple task, as it is all straight edges. Once painted up, your attention can turn to applying the multitude of sponsor decals and placards, etc. As with previous releases, Reji have done their research very thoroughly. The markings all appear very accurate and authentic. The decal sheets are fantastic quality, featuring pin-sharp images, printed on extremely thin and glossy carrier film. The colours (and the blacks and whites, for that matter) are nice and bold. I cant forsee any issue with their use at all. Conclusion Another fantastic quality product from our friends at Reji Model. I have no hesitation in recommending them to fellow Rally fans, as they offer a welcome alternative scheme for the Heller C4 model. Review sample from

Ford Fiesta WRC Decals, 'Prokop' 2011, & 2012 decals from Reji in 1:24 The Ford Fiesta is a very popular hatchback car seen on streets worldwide, this innocent little hatch has also been transformed by Ford and m-Sport for the Ford World Rally team and it took to the rally in 2011 with a 1.6 litre engine and 6 speed sequential gearbox. Reji Model has released 2 sets of decals for the WRC Fiesta as raced by Martin Prokop in the 2011 Welsh Rally, and the 2012 Monte Carlo Rally and will suit the Belkit (BEL003) kit. Martin Prokop debuted on the WRC in 2005 after 4 years driving in the Czech Rally Championship he took part in the Junior WRC category, working his way through various cars he took to the wheel of the Fiesta WRC in late 2011. Prokop drives as part of the Jipocar Czech National team that was formed in 2010. Prokop Rallye Monte Carlo 2012 The Monte Carlo rally is organized by the Automobile Club de Monaco, the same group that organizes the Monaco F1 Gran-Prix, it first ran in 1911 and the 2012 event took place in early January 2012. Prokop completed the rally in his Fiesta and finished in 9th place overall. The decals come in a zip-lock bag as we have come to expect from Reji. The decals are the usual high quality and are very comprehensive; the printing is sharp and in register for the review sample. The kit will need painting in white, then masked for the red and black areas. The instructions are the usual Reji format, colour drawings showing the placement of all decals. A small bonus in this set is a small etched metal Monte Carlo rally plaque. The etch is a nice small detailed part that you could place the decal on with lashings of softener, or you could paint it red then white on the raised areas. Wales Rally GB, 2011 The 2011 Wales rally GB was the 67th outing of this event, and took place in early November. The event was biased in Cardiff but stages where held throughout Wales. The decals follow the usual format, they come in a zip lock bag with the decals and colour instructions. The decals are to the expected high quality and are a completely comprehensive set. You will need to paint the model white and again mask the red and black areas. Conclusion These are two nice sets for rally fans. Both sheets are different if you look to mirror the changes in decals and sponsors between the 2 events. Both come recommended due to the high quality of the sets! Review sample from

Subaru Impreza WRC 2003 Acropolis Rally 1:24 Decals from Reji The Subaru Impreza debuted on the rally stages in 1993; developed by the British company Prodrive with its flat 4 ‘Boxer’ engine coupled to a 4 wheel drive chassis using active differentials, a first on a rally car. The Prodrive WRC was shorter than the road going Impreza being 160mm shorter, giving a shorter wheelbase. This set of decals from Reji will let you build a 2003 model Impreza WRC, this year the Impreza had a face lifted body following the road car, and some improvements on the engine and turbo. Throughout this season there were 2 drivers, Solberg drove the #7 car, and Mäkinen drove the #8 car, this sheet will alow you to build either car used during the Acropolis Rally in 2003. Reji recommend you use a Tamiya Subaru Impreza (24276) as a base for this build along with their resin bumper conversion set SP/978. The decals come over 2 screen printed sheets and come in a zip lock bag with the instruction sheet. They look well printed, sharp and in register. They look very comprehensive and include the different registration plates for either car, and both 7 and 8 door numbers are included. They are very nice and the distinctive 555 sponsor logos look spot on. The instructions come on a colour sheet with 4 views of the car showing the decal placement. You will need to choose which drivers car you want to build and ensure you pick the correct door numbers, Solberg is 7, and Mäkinen is number 8. Conclusion This is a very nice set, well printed and high quality, of a popular rally car in a popular livery. Reji recommend using their resin bumper(Part number SP/978) on the Tamiya kit to produce an accurate model. Review sample from