1:18 Lamborghini Gallardo by Welly: Review

Introduction

This was a review I wrote back in 2014. I was, and still an incredible car nut. I used to have a majestic collection of model cars, but I don't now, not with me atleast. This review comes from a time when I still had time to make high quality, visually pleasing and beautifully structured writing. I had a blog on which I published these reviews, before Interest Concentrated was ever even thought of, and I had a fantastic time taking ages to get this stuff ready for like minded people.

Today, I had a wonderfully nostalgic time rereading this. And I looked at it and thought, hey, you would like this stuff too; after all, don't we advertise amazing and diverse articles?

So here we are. I hope you enjoy it as much I enjoyed writing it!

Thisath


So let'z zoom back to 2014.

Prologue

Let's get a good start on this! This is my first Diecast car review, and I hope to make a good impression. I've noticed that there aren't many written reviews on this particular car and some others that I have. I've always wished that someone would buy those cars and do proper written reviews of those. But nobody has. So now I have to get down to business.

NOTE: For non model car-nuts, there will be a glossary down below for all words market with *. It's only going to be model car terminology though. I expect you to know your car terminology.

The Review

So up there you see how the Gallardo looks like in a cinematic-view type photo. It looks quite nice up front and is the same all the way around.  Outside they worked hard to detail it like the real thing and I can say they've succeeded. Maybe it isn't the all-so-amazing AutoArt* quality but at $35 it's much better compared to the Miastos** that are the same price. The exterior lights look fabulous and have no eye-sore pegs. Those vents you can see in the picture above look nice, even if they are just textured plastic. The logos are nice, detailed, and quite clear.

In the front you get the two headlights, the opening trunk, and vents. Like this:

 Open the trunk and you get this:

It is also worth saying that the headlights look very complex and realistic. The trunk is tiny, just like the real thing (it's a bit hard to open, though).  But it seems as if the logo is a bit twisted around but that doesn't really matter.

            

Moving to the side, it looks like this:

You notice that this, too is a cinematic photo and I apologise for that. They were taken for my Youtube video and right now I am recycling them. (Check out the YT video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Djd1r4SXbdU ).

But anyways, let me describe it. On the side you see the really great wheels with nice disc brakes that DO TURN*** with the wheels, which have full suspension. On the brake pad you can see 'LAMBORGHINI' written in nice readable writing. There is the Lamborghini logo on the center of the wheel and at the rear, just behind the vent that runs with the door (as you can see on the picture given above) there is another piece of text that says 'LP560-4'.  And as for other details around the side, you can see a nice and sturdy rear-view mirror, two nice but simple textured plastic vents, and equally nice front set of tires with a small silver (painted) light. 

Now moving into the interior, you have to open the door outward NOT upwards**** (which I, stupidly nearly did), which has a strange half open window (which, it seems, is trademark of Welly and is present in nearly all of their cars). 

Now you can see what it looks like after you open the door. Quite nice actually. Below is the view from the other side: 

Inside the vehicle, Welly has painstakingly coloured everything in and gorgeously detailed the cabin. 

You can see the gauge cluster (which is very nicely put in), the flat bottomed steering wheel, the radio and center console (which is very detailed & multi-colored), and the A/C vents. That is all visible in one look. 

If you look closely, you will notice that the dashboard has a carbon-fibre texture and that the seats have a good looking dot-dot texture. There's more: there are silver pedals on the floor, the steering wheels have paddle shifters, there's a written Lamborghini badge on the dash, there's the carbon-fibre texture on the doors, you get a sat-nav on the center console, there are buttons on the roof of the car (with two sun visors as well) and there's a silvery Gallardo logo on the door entry sills. 

You have to look very closely to notice some of the things I've given above, so some of them are things you might never even notice, such as the buttons on the roof (and some of them are very easy to notice like the Lamborghini badge on the dash). Oh, and the steering wheels turns the wheels very smoothly.

Now let's move out of that gorgeous cabin and look at the V10 beast that makes the whole thing run; the engine. 

I found it quite hard to get picture of the engine with the rear hood open so I took two; one with it open and one with it closed. Just like the interior the engine is a beauty. It is not a huge block of plastic***** but a 3D replica, with depth and detail. If you push on the engine block it will move, like a real engine I think, as if suspended on springs. It is perfectly detailed and so is the area around it. You can see that white mesh, which is plastic window covered with mesh pattern, which they used because they didn't have a such a fine plastic mesh (so said by JMCporsche in his video on YT: http://www.youtube.com/user/JMCporsche?feature=watch ). 

Closing the rear hood you find yourself face to face (rear) with this:

I have to say the rear looks really good. The rear lights are very detailed, with nice depth:

(Note: This picture was taken with my webcam)

Then there are those 4 eye-catching chromium plated silencers. They are placed in a place that doesn't get touched by fingers so it doesn't go away. There's a very pleasant looking vent which you can see in the picture above. Like all the others it's textured plastic. Just at the bottom in the license plate section you get a plastic board that reads 'Gallardo'. All in all the rear looks great. Now I've taken you on a full walkaround tour of the Gallardo. All this time I've only been speaking about the uncountable amount of goods of the car. It's time to speak about the 'cons' of the car.

Cons

There aren't many cons to this car, but there are some in my particular car that made me put up a separate heading for it. First there's the paint quality. It's appalling! Everywhere on the exterior there are little bumps, and unwanted textures! In some places the black paint that goes around the windows have leaked around in manufacturing process. Look below, notice those little triangular like marks around the small triangle glass? That totally ruins the look of the otherwise beautiful window.

 And near the right side fuel tank opening the paint quality is unbelievably horrible! From the camera you won't notice it but up close it is so disgusting. On the two sides of the rear hood (look in second picture of the engine) the paint has so many bumps. In several places the paint has chipped like under the front hood. And another thing, the tires. On one of my tires (the right, rear) the is very ugly looking rubber defect which doesn't harm the way the car rolls or anything, but 'uglyfies' the car (meaning, 'it makes the car ugly').

But let's face it, these problems are drowned with all the good things in it.

Conclusion

The Lamborghini Gallardo in 1:18 scale by Welly is a very detailed car and for $35 dollars it is totally worth it. Just make sure that you go over it carefully as they have been known to have several defects and problems. It would make a very beautiful addition to your collection, and a recognisable one at that. And if you are a Lamborghini enthusiast I would also recommend looking into the Miasto Lamborghini Gallardo Spyder. If you liked this review, remember to share and comment!

Glossary:

* AutoArt is a very prestigious name among us car collectors. They make hugely expensive, very detailed models of vehicles. Usually cost $100+. Expensive.
**Miasto is model car maker that is more to the budget side. They don't have the high quality that AutoArt has, and they don't really go for the details. They make cars in the range of $20-$70.
***Do Turn. Turning wheels are a bit special as some model car manufacturers think it's okay to make a car with non turning wheels. Nope, nope.
****Not Upwards. Most Lamborghini's have doors that open upwards. This Gallardo is an exception.
*****Not a plastic block. Most model car makers put a flat mould of the engine into emulate it and to save costs. It's a rare car that doesn't have cheap non-block engines these days.