Hasegawa Mazda Cosmo Sport L10B Police Car- Review
When talk turns to the Wankel "rotary" engine, talk almost immediately will turn to the one company that really embraced it... Mazda. The Cosmo was the first Mazda to use the twin-rotor engine, and was built from 1967 to 1972. By hand. A single Cosmo was completed each day, and fewer than 2,000 examples were ever built. The Cosmo was a rare sight when new, and an even rarer sight five decades removed. A mere handful of these quirky-but-still-somehow-beautiful little grand touers did manage to escape Japan- Jay Leno owns a 1970 model.
I have no idea if any Cosmos were actually used as police cars, but hey... if you're going with an offbeat, seldom-seen subject, why not up the ante and do it up as a law enforcement vehicle?
Enter Hasegawa's kit, a modified reissue from 2012.
It seems the Japanese have a similar policy with their police vehicles to the US... rather bland, rather than the eye-grabbing Day-Glo hues used on most European police cars.
The one piece body is well-molded... with just the faintest wisps of mold lines on the fender tops.
Chassis detail is minimal, but what's there is well done and convincing. I can't say I've ever been under a 1:1 Cosmo, so I won't vouch for its authenticity, but all the stuff you'd expect to see under there is there...
Two identical sprues, each bearing a pair of wheels, along with a spring, a control arm, and seat.
Engraved surface detail is light in spots, but more than adequate enough.
The chrome parts are very nice, and many of them are quite delicate. It does look like Hasegawa tried to hide the attachment points as best they could... that should save you some touch-up on the plating.
The clear pieces are just as well done as the rest of the kit- though the glass for the "greenhouse" is all one piece. That being said, it's thin and relatively free of distortion.
The tires have very faint lettering, and decent enough tread. The wheels attach via poly caps, as is common with most Japanese kits.
The kit comes with some very sharp metal transfers, mesh for the grille, and that gray piece in the middle? Those are die-cut floor mats! No, seriously. Cut them out using the pattern on the back and stick them in place.
Here are the police doodads... yes, you can leave them off to build a stock, civilian Cosmo.
The instruction booklet is the large-fold out type. Of course Japanese is the main language used, but the diagrams should make it trouble-free no matter which language you speak. Even Pig Latin. Or Esperanto!
Decals include markings for the basic car, plus two police schemes. One is for the Ministry of Transportation and Highway Traffic, Hiroshima Prefectural Police. Fitting, as Hiroshima is Mazda's home town. The second set is for the Metropolitan Police Department Riot Police Traffic Direction.... which I think may have been a mis-translation, unless the Japanese really are as organized and efficient as we think they are, to the point of assigning an officer to direct traffic during a riot. Whatever it's supposed to mean, both sets of graphics look good. And building it as the police version makes the painting choices easier... you're painting it white with black rockers, and you're going to like it!
I haven't had the chance to put this one together yet. I hate making blanket statements, but I've never had a Hasegawa curbside kit give me a hard time, and I'm expecting a similar experience with this one. In any event, I'll keep you posted.
