This is the first of what will be a regular series of articles where items which were not necessarily intended for use with miniatures and wargames are sought out, purchased and evaluated in terms of how well they will work with miniatures and wargames.

My reasoning is two fold. First it will help to bring to light objects from different areas which will work well with wargames and miniature collectors that people may not be familiar with. Second, it will provide more information to collectors which is not usually available on the packaging or online. This will help to open new areas to collectors and will enable more options for game play.

First on the chopping block is Fast Lane 1:43 Scale Car Collection, distributed in the United States by Toys "R" Us.

For the fairly low price of $10.99, you get 6 reasonably detailed die cast models. They are better than many die cast toys, but not quite up to par with collectors quality vehicles. About half of them have doors which open and the all have interiors. One nice aspect about these is that they use screws to mount the top and bottom halves of the models together. This makes them very easy to disassemble and modify or change (expect to see something in the future for that).

The package which I picked up today contained 6 of the 35 total models in the series. These included a 2001 Ford Ranger, a 1998 Ford Mustang Convertible, a Toyota Supra, a Porsche Boxter, a BMW 328Ci and a Pagani Zonda C12.

2001 Ford Ranger

	Prototype Measurement	Actual Measurement	Actual Scale
Length	200.5"	4.380"	1:46
Width	70.3"	1.514"	1:46
Height	69.4"	1.470"	1:47

This model suffers from a common problem with die cast trucks, the bed is merely a dimple compared to what it should be.

1998 Ford Mustang Convertible

		Prototype Measurement	Actual Measurement	Actual Scale
	Length	183.2"	4.296"	1:43
	Width	73.1"	1.707"	1:43
	Height	53.2"	1.241"	1:43

Toyota Supra Mark IV

	Prototype Measurement	Actual Measurement	Actual Scale
Length	177.7"	4.210"	1:42
Width	71.3"	1.719"	1:41
Height	50.2"	1.241"	1:40

Porsche Boxter

		Prototype Measurement	Actual Measurement	Actual Scale
	Length	171.6"	4.224"	1:41
	Width	70.9"	1.767"	1:40
	Height	51.0"	1.240"	1:41

BMW 328Ci E46

	Prototype Measurement	Actual Measurement	Actual Scale
Length	176.0"	4.105"	1:43
Width	68.5"	1.596"	1:43
Height	55.7"	1.342"	1:42

Pagani Zonda C12

		Prototype Measurement	Actual Measurement	Actual Scale
	Length	174.6"	3.923"	1:45
	Width	80.9"	1.926"	1:42
	Height	44.9"	1.010"	1:44

This model is sold as the Pagani Zonda C12, more specifically though it is the Zonda C12 S version of the car. The interior is one of the more detailed of all the models in the package, and various details are picked out and painted in order to better accentuate them (as opposed to the rest of the vehicles which only have the bare plastic interiors). Like the rest of the cars, it uses two screws on the bottom in order to assemble the vehicle.

The Wrap Up

Overall, the vehicles are pretty good quality, and stayed fairly close to the stated scale - which is surprising considering that they are marketed as a toy. The biggest exception was with the Ford Ranger which was much closer to 1:48 scale than it was to 1:43. For me, this is a good thing since that is the scale that I prefer to work with.

In addition to these, there are 29 other models in the line. While some of these are quite obviously off scale (the Ford F-150 is about the same size as the Ranger - for that matter so are the Mini Coopers), most of them look to be similiar in quality and likely in accuracy as well (the pictures from the back of the box are pretty close to the relative size of the vehicles). If I end up picking up more of these I will update this article with their information as well.

The models themselves are detailed enough to use as scenic filler as is, and with a few modifications they can even take a more active role in road warrior styled games. All in all they are definitely worth the price. For about the same price as a package of 10 Hot Wheels cars, you get a half dozen vehicles which you can use to help flesh out urban scenes and landscapes for skirmish battles in present and near future games.