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WSC. World Sports Car. The vehicles Dan Gurney once called "...those ugly, open cars", began as a simple formula . Keep the top of the car open, the bottom flat, put the engine in the middle and keep the costs down. To this end the R&S MK III was introduced into competition. Designed by Bob Riley and Mark Scott of Riley and Scott, this American V-8 powered WSC contender focused most of it's innovation in the engine, chassis and aerodynamic department with most other development being off the shelf. The R&S chassis is a mix of tube and composite construction and can be fitted with either a Ford or Old's Aurora V-8.

The only large scale kits (read 1/24th) available are the Dyson Racing R&S MK III by Formula Canada. Kit #2401 will allow you to build car # 16 of James Weaver and Andy Wallace, winner of the 1995 Mosport 500k and car #20 of John Paul Jr. Kit #2402 allows you to build the 1996 Mosport 500k winning car #20 of Butch Leitzinger and John Paul Jr. This is Formula Canada's first foray into large scale and it shows. From now on this kit will be called the Beast.

The Beast consists of one cast resin body, cast chassis pan (including cast in cockpit detail), 4 cast black resin tires, resin wheels centers and rim insets, engine air scoop, transaxle, and rear suspension pieces including axles and brake scoops, rear oil catch can, dash insert, dash backing assembly, 4 disc brake assemblies, 2 exhaust pipe extensions, steering wheel, roll bar assembly, 2 mirrors, 2 rear wing pieces, a fret of cast resin upon which are located 10 wheels nuts, 4 cast headlight lenses, 4 light "backers", and last but not least, a shifter.

Almost all the resin pieces including the body and chassis pan are cast very poorly. The body has numerous pinholes and the scribed panel lines are shallow and not straight or symmetrical. The chassis pan is thick and the fit into the body is aggravating. The only molded open scoops are the two round front brake cooling inlets and the two radiator outlets located near the leading edge of the windshield. The louvers on the upper front fenders are rather soft, and the body latches are terrible, as are the louvers located vertically on the rear body panel. There is substantial cleanup to be done on the body, especially in the wheelwell area and the best that can be said of the tires is that they are ALMOST round. Don't let this be your first experience with a resin kit. You may never come back!

Photo etched brass pieces include rear wing endplates, rear wing supports and seat belts. Thin brass rod for mirror mounts. 2 Round styrene tubes used for the front axles and the steering wheel connector. 2 sheets of white styrene used to make the nose splitter, side skirts, windshield supports, flank deflector, headlight mount and rear wing support crossmember and one sheet of clear used to make the headlight covers and wedge shaped windscreen deflector. 2 vacuformed windshields and an excellent set of UMi Art Rain-X decals round out the kit. This kit is NOT for a beginner and I can't stress this enough but having said that, the price is very affordable and if you want an R&S MK III, it's the only game in town. Beast? to be sure, but isn't that why we build as opposed to buying diecasts? The trip's the thing?..no..the BUILD'S the thing!

On to the Beauty portion of our review. The Perry's Resin Ferrari 333 SP. If the R&S MK III is the everyman's answer to the WSC formula then the 333 SP is just what it claims to be. A Ferrari. Uncompromised in both form and function. This Tony Southgate designed carbon and aluminum honeycomb chassis houses a 4.0 liter V-12 under a carbon fiber shell and costs $1,000,000.00 (but it must be noted that you get a few spares with that price)! This is the car that finally brought the name Ferrari back to the winners circle at the 36 hours of Florida.

The kit, which from now on will be called the Beauty, is exactly what an aftermarket resin kit should be. The 333 and the R&S have 3 things in common. 1. They are both WSC's. 2. They are both multimedia. 3. They are both the only WSC's available in this scale. From there the 333 takes the road less traveled. Many industry magazines were questioning as to whether this kit was worth all the hype. The answer, YES! Randy Frost has taken a decidedly different approach with this kit in that it's a curbside plus. This means that unlike the R&S, the 333 has rear AND front suspension detail and a lift off body to show that detail. The kit consists of a thinly cast creme colored resin body, detailed chassis pan and detailed cockpit surround including cast in radiators, front suspension pick up points, ducting and suspension pieces. The inevitable pinholes are there with the bottom of the chassis pan the most plagued. The cockpit surround contains no visible pinholes, but the body contains one rather large hole, located on the right front fender area. Other cast resin pieces include the engine and transaxle assembly, 2 exhaust headers, 2 mufflers, enclosed rollbar, 2 cockpit sides, seat, dash, air scoop extension, 4 wheel nuts, 3 small oil coolers, 2 rear brake scoops and 2 attaching pieces, fuel filler and block off details, 2 shocks, 2 front suspension rocker assemblies, taillight assembly, 1 tubular windshield support, 2 rear wing elements, 2 rollbar downtubes, 2 headlight surrounds and last but not least, one rollbar crosstube cover and 4 wheel inserts. Clear resin parts include 3 rear taillight lenses, 2 front upper running lights.

Clear vacuformed pieces include a fret with 4 headlight lenses and one with the windshield and headlight covers.

Metal parts include cast and photoetched pieces in brass, stainless and white metal. There are 2 brass frets, the first holding 2 rear wing endplates and the second fret containing the front tow hookup and rear wing supports. 3 stainless frets hold the seatbelt hardware, a fret of 4 wheel rim rivet detail rings and a third fret containing 6 Dzus fasteners with 2 foldable air deflector fences.

Cast pieces include 4 disc brake assemblies, front and rear uprights, steering wheel, 2 mirrors, 2 headlight buckets, front and rear A-arms and tie rods, and 3 rollbar pieces, 2 vertical downtubes and one crossbrace.

Last but not least is the UMi Art Momo decal sheet. Here's where the one real flaw shows up. To make the front fender eyebrows for the Momo logos fit, it must be cut into 6 pieces with any uncovered areas needing Tamiya Lemon Yellow for touch up.

Randy has given us what has to be considered the best multimedia large scale model on the market today and the decal mistake aside, this is a must have. Perry's Resin has taken the road less traveled, and for us the builders, it has made all the difference.