Here’s a few shots I took of the Product Enterprise Supercar, along with a few photos of the limited run pre-cursor model which was sold through Comet Miniatures.
Product Enterprise Supercar:
I was very impressed with the incredible detailing on the Product Enterprise Supercar when I first saw it. It has a very slick paint job, finished off with some excellent chrome piping. The adjustable wings can move in and out, and there’s even a figure of Mike Mercury at the controls. All in all, a superb model, and a credit to Product Enterprise.
I should point out that as it’s a die-cast, it’s fairly heavy, and you have to take care picking the model up. The front aerial and the tiny prongs on the top of the headlight blisters could easily break, along with the delicate yellow cooling fins, which are prone to bending, or even coming loose.
For me though, I’m still not sure about the grinning Mike Mercury figure. Don’t get me wrong, there’s nothing technically wrong with the sculpt; apart from that wide grin, it does look like the Mike we see on screen. It’s just personally, that caricatured look jars with the precise lines of their Supercar model for me.
The Product Enterprise Supercar was released in 2005, and came in some lovely retro packaging, designed by Graham Humphreys. Credit also goes to model-maker, Phil Winslade, and sculptor Andrew Teal.
Comet Miniatures Supercar:
A passing glance at the Comet Miniatures Supercar looks pretty much the same as the Product Enterprise model. While it carries the Comet Miniatures name, I think it’s fair to surmise that the people behind the Product Enterprise company came up with this labour of love.
There’s no credits or copyright date. According to the card that comes with it, no more than 100 were produced. It comes in a simple cardboard box with a sticker on the front. The model is secured in polystyrene packaging.
The impression I get of the Comet Miniatures Supercar is it looks to be a very good pre-production model, just missing all the refinements and polish of the final product. The sharp metal nose aerial and light blister prongs would probably struggle to pass today’s O.T.T. health & safety rules. (The nose aerial on the one in the photos was removed and has been replaced with a ball-head pin needle)
Comparison photos - P.E. top/ C.M. bottom
I don’t know when the Comet Miniatures Supercar came out, obviously sometime before 2005, so it’s fair to say some of the issues I mention will be simply down to the model’s quality and age.
The paintwork on the model is pretty good, although the piping, on very close inspection looks to have a couple of joints, but nevertheless still looks fine.
The Mike Mercury figure, although still caricatured actually looks slightly more appealing to me with a simple smile rather than a grin, although it loses points with those bulging eyes!
One major difference is the wings are fixed in position unlike the adjustable ones on the P.E. version.
Most of the quality issues are with the cockpit cover. The clear plastic windscreen has yellowed over time, and the supporting frame looks to be quite fragile. The thin bars resting on Supercar’s body (these are missing completely from the P.E. version) came loose and had to be re-glued, and a couple of the thin corner joints have come apart.
Like the Product Enterprise Supercar there’s no shortage of detail in the cockpit. There’s a pair of joysticks, the clear-vu screen and several dashboard dials.
When comparing the Comet Miniatures Supercar, with the Product Enterprise example both versions are, unsurprisingly very similar bearing in mind Steve Walker, who created the Product Enterprise company, and is currently the man behind Sixteen 12 collectables, has used Comet Miniatures in the past as a sell through outlet.
Although it didn’t sell that well at the time, I’m still glad that Product Enterprise took a chance and created this excellent model, even going on to release a monochrome version.
My thanks to Derek McLean for the loan of his Comet Miniatures Supercar.
Nice. I've got the PE one (but not the monochrome version) but didn't know about the comet one.
ReplyDeleteI imagine the Comet version would have only turned up at the London shop, and possibly the odd trade fair. As it was effectively an assembled 'garage' build I doubt it would have been advertised.
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