Review: 10353 Williams Racing FW14B
Posted by Huw,
The Williams FW14B is one of Formula 1's most successful cars, driven by one of the sport's most exciting drivers in a era when races were fewer and more entertaining than nowadays.
It's therefore highly appropriate that, in a year when the motorsport is dominating LEGO's product range, that an Icons model of this triumphant vehicle has been produced.
Summary
10353 Williams Racing FW14B & Nigel Mansell, 799 pieces.
£69.99 / $79.99 / €79.99 | 8.8p/10.0c/10.0c per piece.
Buy at LEGO.com »
An excellent and realistic model of a classic Formula 1 car
- Correct width rear tyres
- Minifigure captures the driver's likeness well
- Accurate livery
- Fairly priced
- Some sponsors' logos missing
The set was provided for review by LEGO. All opinions expressed are those of the author.
Reference
Nigel Mansell's Williams FW14B won nine of the 16 races during the 1992 season, netting the Englishman the Formula 1 World Championship for the first and only time, after many years of bad luck.
Following his Formula 1 success he crossed the Atlantic to compete in IndyCar for the Newman/Haas team and won the 1993 championship, becoming the only driver in history to hold both titles simultaneously.
Two of the team sponsors are unsuitable for a LEGO model, so there are no references to Camel cigarettes or Labatt's beer on the stickers or minifigure torso. Perhaps there's an opportunity for a 3rd party printer to produce alternatives.
Parts and stickers
The sticker sheet is nevertheless extensive and where the problematic logos would have appeared, Williams logos have been used instead.
The general aesthetic of last year's 10330 McLaren MP4/4 & Ayrton Senna was ruined by the width of the rear tyres, which should have been much wider than those at the front. Thankfully, that major flaw has been addressed for this model: the front slicks are 20mm wide, the rears 28mm.
Additionally, unlike those on Mansell's arch-rival's car, the side walls are printed. If you have the Brazilian's vehicle, you may well be tempted to buy two of this set so you can replace the inaccurate ones on the McLaren.
Minifigure
Brummie Mansell has bushy eye brows and a distinctive moustache and both of these facial features have been faithfully replicated here. His overalls are less realistic, though, devoid of the problematic sponsor's logos, but otherwise look good front and back.
A generic hair piece and a decorated helmet are both included, as is a stand on which to display the world champion.
The helmet Mansell used in 1992 had a stylised Union Jack design which extended onto the back and sides. It was presumably not possible to print onto all surfaces of this miniature one so only the top part of it has been reproduced.
The completed model
The car measures 31cm in length and has a wheelbase of 20cm. The real car's is 2.9m, which equates to a scale of about 1:14.5.
Its distinctive and colourful livery has been faithfully replicated, albeit devoid of the aforementioned sponsor's logos. Stickers have been used to create the angled blue section on the sides of the nose, but that on the top of the side air intakes is a combination of 2x2 45 degree tiles and a printed 1x1 tile to fill a gap between then.
The display stand, which holds the vehicle at an angle, looks to be identical to that in 10330 McLaren MP4/4 & Ayrton Senna. I believe that the information plaque is devoid of errors.
When the car was revealed there was some criticism about the way the nose had been constructed, and from some angles it does look a bit gappy, but overall I am satisfied with it.
This is very much a display model, although it does have functional steering and the engine cowling can be removed to reveal the Renault V10 engine underneath.
I also like the red harness straps in the cockpit, and the red 5 on the nose. This is a reference to Luke's X-Wing in Star Wars, and also a way for the pit crew to differentiate Mansell's car from teammate Ricardo Patrese's, which had a white number 6, at a distance.
Verdict
Nigel Mansell is my favourite Formula 1 driver so I was delighted when this set was announced, and was particularly pleased when it became evident that the rear tyre issue that plagued Senna's vehicle had been addressed.
I am not disappointed with it: the minifigure is excellent, the car's styling, bodywork angles, and colourful livery have been replicated effectively without over-reliance on stickers, and overall it's a wonderful display model.
The 799-piece set will cost $79.99, £69.99, €79.99 when released next month, so even the price is not too bad.
Who's classic Forumula 1 car should be made next?
99 likes
52 comments on this article
Thanks for the review. I might get it.
It dates back from the time I was watching a lot of F1. I got Senna's MP4/4 and was extremely disappointed by the rear tires. I even thought of selling it, but when I saw that one, I decided to hold on to see if I'd get this one or now. I'm still not 100% convinced.
If they did Jacques Villeneuve's Williams FW19 or better, his dad's Ferrari (which ever model), I'd buy it on day one.
Labatt's are Alcohol company, Camel are Tabacco. Lego sure removed those Sponsor Logo's
To be correct: It wasn't Mansell's FW14B which won 10 races during 1992. Mansell won 9 races and his teammate Patrese won 1.
I've ordered mine in the pre-sale last year December. And I guess that in a few weeks I can order a better stickersheet with the original tobacco & beer logos, just like the Marlboro stickersheet I have for Senna's McLaren.
I pre-ordered this during the double points period, and it's just arrived today!
I'm looking forward to building it and displaying it alongside the Senna MP4/4.
I'll be looking out for one on discount later to provide a set of tyres for the MP4/4, and to build a 'body-off' version like I have for the MP4/4.
"If you have the Brazilian's vehicle, you will may well be tempted to buy two of this set so you can replace the inaccurate ones on the McLaren."
I wonder if @Huw meant to write "you will be tempted" then realised it's pretty absurd to buy a 2nd set just to replace two tyres and tried to amend it to "you may well be tempted"?
I'm not buying either of these (although they look good) so I can't comment on how great the temptation might be, but it seems expensive...
Another sticker hell that is just ridiculous especially compared to the Senna one which was mostly printed. The complete front looks also wrong as it's way to steep and bulky compared to the original car. That the print of the helmet is completely wrong and has nothing to do with the original helmet (which is even shown in the manual) is then only a minor issue with this set. The only positive thing are the tires which are a big improvement.
The whole thing looks like a toy car and not like a display model.
I don't really agree. It still looks way off from the original.
Oh I loved Mansell and the Williams Renault, I might be tempted with this one!
I would have preferred a darker blue though
I wasn't too bothered about the incorrect tyre sizes on Senna's originally but these just look so much better! The whole car looks excellent. Definitely an early buy for me rather than a wait for a discount.
I'd love to see Andretti's 1978 John Player Special, but that would obviously need 3rd party slickers!
I would love to see a John Player Special or maybe some of the early ones like the Eagle Westlake, something from that era.
GIVE ME THAT FACE FOR PETER FROM DEADPOOL 2
Love it, even with the flaws. This is a series I would not have expected, the Lego deal with F1 is paying off in fun ways.
Jim Clark's Lotus 25 or 49 would be a delight.
Fangio's Maserati 250F
Niki Lauda's Ferrari 312T
Curves are hard in Lego, have at it!
@Khamsin said:
"Love it, even with the flaws. This is a series I would not have expected, the Lego deal with F1 is paying off in fun ways.
Jim Clark's Lotus 25 or 49 would be a delight.
Fangio's Maserati 250F
Niki Lauda's Ferrari 312T
Curves are hard in Lego, have at it!"
I have this car, plus The MP/4/4 at 1/8th scale built from Rosco PC's excellent instructions via Rebrickable, the larger scale enables the curves to be pretty well executed - also check out Jim Clark's and Niki Lauda's cars which he has also created - not cheap to source parts for but they are breath taking...
Another icon was Alain Prost. Next one?
I want Gilles Villeneuve's 70's Ferrari !
From a time when watching F1 was actually a fun and thrilling experience.
This is my era of F1, picked up the McLaren set at Christmas after this was announced.
@AustinPowers said:
"From a time when watching F1 was actually a fun and thrilling experience. "
The 1997 European Grand Prix is one of my favourite sport's memory ever, but I would understand if it were not yours ;)
I hope to see soon the 6 wheels - Tyrrell (P34), it's the most iconical car ever!
I've got one for as slot cars and it's my favourite!
@Ridgeheart said:
"Well, it certainly is a car."
Well, it certainly is a(n) *iconic* car.
Fixed it for you.
I kinda hate this set. Not so much for the set it self, but because it makes the McLaren from last year look even worse than it already was. If Lego had any dignity they would offer free replacement tires for anyone who bought that McLaren.....
While I did buy that McLaren (at RRP even....silly me!), I do still consider it very disappointing. And not just because of those stupid tires, but also the abysmal prints and some of the construction techniques used. And a Senna figure that was hardly recognizable as him, and with the poorly printed helmet.
This Williams at least seems like a step up in most regards. Obviously the tires are a major one, but I also think they captured the shape much, much better. And The Mansell minifig is pretty much perfect.....except again for that only partially printed helmet.
It's still not all great though. The blue is clearly off, and pretty sure they have better shades of blue for this. The McLaren at least had a decent amounts of prints (which apart from the pink-on-red were perfectly fine), here it's almost all stickers. And while I am glad they have that printed 1x1 tile.....thse shade seems off and you still see that white edge. As much as I prefer prints over stickers, Lego print quality remains one of the worst in the business. As for the stickers, one thing I don't get is that while on every picture I can find of the FW14B the Elf-logo is above the name instead of next to it. Would have taken away the need for that W-sticker, which I don't think has ever been on the real car.
Probably not gonna get this set unless I see it at some massive discount. €80 is just too much for a set with still such glaring flaws. And besides, as much as I liked Mansell (and how good this fig is), I just never cared much for Williams in those days. Maybe next any car of Jean Alesi, preferrably the Tyrrell 019 he debuted in or the Ferrari 412T2 he got is only win with?
Marlboro
It’s kinda amazing hearing about fellow builders who bought the McLaren and still haven’t built it, waiting hopefully for this car.
Since we’re speculating on the future: I’m betting next up will be Schumacher’s F2004
I was curious to know why in the official pictures, one side featured grey axle bushes on the wheels, the other side blue ones.
I looked up some photos of the real thing, and it's not a weird mistake or design choice at all.
The right side of the FW14B had blue wheel nuts, the left side grey ones.
The problem is that on the actual car, it's an extremely minor detail that perhaps nobody realised until now, as it's small and is easily disguised with the black wheel rims.
But in LEGO form, that sticks out like a sore thumb, to the point where I really thought that they used different pre-production versions on the box.
Is this addressed in the instructions @Huw? Seems like a detail that would warrant further explanation.
I mean, now I'm curious to know why they used differently-coloured wheel nuts. :)
@Alemas said:
"I was curious to know why in the official pictures, one side featured grey axle bushes on the wheels, the other side blue ones.
I looked up some photos of the real thing, and it's not a weird mistake or design choice at all.
The right side of the FW14B had blue wheel nuts, the left side grey ones.
The problem is that on the actual car, it's an extremely minor detail that perhaps nobody realised until now, as it's small and is easily disguised with the black wheel rims.
But in LEGO form, that sticks out like a sore thumb, to the point where I really thought that they used different pre-production versions on the box.
Is this addressed in the instructions @Huw ? Seems like a detail that would warrant further explanation.
I mean, now I'm curious to know why they used differently-coloured wheel nuts. :)"
Lol, I think if the reason for it was properly explained in the instructions, Huw wouldn't have made this little mistake ;-)
All jokes aside, despite it being a bit too obvious on the Lego model, I still think it is a pretty neat little detail. And all the more surprising they reintroduced a piece in that color that apparently has only been used once before 15 years ago or so. What annoys me much more is the white axle pin used for the front wheels, while the rear ones are perfectly fine in black.
@Alemas said:
"I was curious to know why in the official pictures, one side featured grey axle bushes on the wheels, the other side blue ones.
I looked up some photos of the real thing, and it's not a weird mistake or design choice at all.
The right side of the FW14B had blue wheel nuts, the left side grey ones.
The problem is that on the actual car, it's an extremely minor detail that perhaps nobody realised until now, as it's small and is easily disguised with the black wheel rims.
But in LEGO form, that sticks out like a sore thumb, to the point where I really thought that they used different pre-production versions on the box.
Is this addressed in the instructions @Huw ? Seems like a detail that would warrant further explanation.
I mean, now I'm curious to know why they used differently-coloured wheel nuts. :)"
You are right -- I have put them on incorrectly. They should be grey on the left and blue on the right, not blue on the front pair.
I would never have thought that to be correct and obviously I didn't look at the instructions properly. I'll change them over now, but forgive me if I don't replace all the photos in the review :-)
Back in the day the wheel nuts had different threads on each side of the car. The colours helped prevent pit-stop mishaps. Pity the half-bush isn't produced in red, that would have been the proper colour.
Assuming the next car will be another world champion, a Schumacher Ferrari would be an obvious but boring choice. Niki Lauda's Ferrari 312T would be more interesting, or a Mario Andretti Lotus 79 (the black and gold one, although it would look odd without John Player Special), or maybe further back in time, a Jim Clark Lotus.
The wheel nuts are a different colour on each side because they are threaded in different directions. The motion of the car can loosen the wheel nuts on the right hand side, so race teams use opposite-handed threading from conventional to prevent wheels coming loose. It’s a very common practice.
The colours just help the mechanics pick the correct nuts for that side of the car! Sometimes a combination of red and blue is used.
@Alemas said:
"I mean, now I'm curious to know why they used differently-coloured wheel nuts. :)"
The hub nut screws on in the reverse direction to normal rotation, meaning that forward acceleration encourages tightening rather than loosening.
Same with Mini front hub nuts, one side being a reverse thread to prevent loosening (without the luxury of coloured nuts as a warning!)
@eiffel006 said:
" @AustinPowers said:
"From a time when watching F1 was actually a fun and thrilling experience. "
The 1997 European Grand Prix is one of my favourite sport's memory ever, but I would understand if it were not yours ;)"
2556 was released at that time. The only licensed Model Team.
Stickers on curved pieces is a proper no-no. It seems the cost of the extra bricks compared to Senna had to be offset by the lack of printed parts here. I'd rather have paid a bit more tbh.. Anyway would love to see the Ferrari 312 T4 next.. please.. I know they did one in that vintage Ferrari garage set which I own, but one at this scale would be awesome.
I love these new large scale F1 cars Lego are making
I really hope for a older model next, perhaps like the Lotus type 49, or type 72?
@IgelCampus said:
"The whole thing looks like a toy car and not like a display model."
What... What kind of company do you think LEGO is, exactly?
@Huw said:
" @Alemas said:
"I was curious to know why in the official pictures, one side featured grey axle bushes on the wheels, the other side blue ones.
I looked up some photos of the real thing, and it's not a weird mistake or design choice at all.
The right side of the FW14B had blue wheel nuts, the left side grey ones.
The problem is that on the actual car, it's an extremely minor detail that perhaps nobody realised until now, as it's small and is easily disguised with the black wheel rims.
But in LEGO form, that sticks out like a sore thumb, to the point where I really thought that they used different pre-production versions on the box.
Is this addressed in the instructions @Huw ? Seems like a detail that would warrant further explanation.
I mean, now I'm curious to know why they used differently-coloured wheel nuts. :)"
You are right -- I have put them on incorrectly. They should be grey on the left and blue on the right, not blue on the front pair.
I would never have thought that to be correct and obviously I didn't look at the instructions properly. I'll change them over now, but forgive me if I don't replace all the photos in the review :-)
"
Fun fact: That tiny part in blue was up til now only available in set 8415-1 from 2005, and therefore could sell for up to a few USD on Bricklink (for reference, the LBG version goes for about 1 cent). Knowing LEGO they probably also included this in blue as a nerdy nod to AFOL collectors.
Why do people keep complaining that Lego sets based on stuff aren't a perfect 1:1 replica?
If you want something that looks exactly as the original, buy die cast models for for pete sake
@Huw said:
" @Alemas said:
"I was curious to know why in the official pictures, one side featured grey axle bushes on the wheels, the other side blue ones.
I looked up some photos of the real thing, and it's not a weird mistake or design choice at all.
The right side of the FW14B had blue wheel nuts, the left side grey ones.
The problem is that on the actual car, it's an extremely minor detail that perhaps nobody realised until now, as it's small and is easily disguised with the black wheel rims.
But in LEGO form, that sticks out like a sore thumb, to the point where I really thought that they used different pre-production versions on the box.
Is this addressed in the instructions @Huw ? Seems like a detail that would warrant further explanation.
I mean, now I'm curious to know why they used differently-coloured wheel nuts. :)"
You are right -- I have put them on incorrectly. They should be grey on the left and blue on the right, not blue on the front pair.
I would never have thought that to be correct and obviously I didn't look at the instructions properly. I'll change them over now, but forgive me if I don't replace all the photos in the review :-)
"
Well it wouldn't be the first time a car had lost a wheel on exit from the pits due to a cross-threaded hub nut!
@sjr60 said:
"Well it wouldn't be the first time a car had lost a wheel on exit from the pits due to a cross-threaded hub nut!"
I wonder if Huw was part of his pit crew ;-)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fl1ZiNws7WE
Valtteri Bottas seems to have a fix for this though, his wheels never come off....
I see 30709 is now a GWP in Aus
With 42207, 77242, 60443, 76934 and 42143
Nice
That's at least 1 midnight purchase picked then!
@sjr60 said:
"I see 30709 is now a GWP in Aus"
That's actually pretty cool! hadn't seen it before. Reminds me of the Shell polybags from quite some years ago.
Sad it's another GWP....would love to have a whole range of such tiny WEC racers....
@WizardOfOss said:
" @sjr60 said:
"I see 30709 is now a GWP in Aus"
That's actually pretty cool! hadn't seen it before. Reminds me of the Shell polybags from quite some years ago.
Sad it's another GWP....would love to have a whole range of such tiny WEC racers...."
Yes... best Speed Champ 'polybag' so far I think. Would prefer polybags to be more widely available, but I'm happier with GWPs than double/triple price from Amazon Marketplace!
I mean...
It's a cool car and all, but did we need an entire shelf of nearly identical formula one vehicles? Exactly how many F1 fans are Lego collectors?
@stevild3 said:
"I mean...
It's a cool car and all, but did we need an entire shelf of nearly identical formula one vehicles? Exactly how many F1 fans are Lego collectors?"
With hundreds of millions of F1 fans around the world, probably enough. Guess the sales numbers of the McLaren, despite all its flaws and its price tag, must have been pretty solid.
Exactly how many Star Wars fans are Lego collectors?
Exactly how many Harry Potter fans are Lego collectors?
Exactly how many Marvel fans are Lego collectors?
I'm not huge F1 fan but I do like this car beside one little (and yet big) flaw: nose of the car - area between front wheels and front bridge has awful construction.
Yes, I know sometimes some shapes are difficult to recreate but still, Lego can do better IMHO.
@Huw said:
" @Alemas said:
"I was curious to know why in the official pictures, one side featured grey axle bushes on the wheels, the other side blue ones.
I looked up some photos of the real thing, and it's not a weird mistake or design choice at all.
The right side of the FW14B had blue wheel nuts, the left side grey ones.
The problem is that on the actual car, it's an extremely minor detail that perhaps nobody realised until now, as it's small and is easily disguised with the black wheel rims.
But in LEGO form, that sticks out like a sore thumb, to the point where I really thought that they used different pre-production versions on the box.
Is this addressed in the instructions @Huw ? Seems like a detail that would warrant further explanation.
I mean, now I'm curious to know why they used differently-coloured wheel nuts. :)"
You are right -- I have put them on incorrectly. They should be grey on the left and blue on the right, not blue on the front pair.
I would never have thought that to be correct and obviously I didn't look at the instructions properly. I'll change them over now, but forgive me if I don't replace all the photos in the review :-)
"
Yeah no worries, I like symmetry anyway. ;)
I was more curious to know whether there's any mention of the colour of the wheel nuts in the pre-building instructions introduction (for want of a better term), with photos and factoids about the car and driver.
Can wait until the PDF's released though. :)
Y'know, Lego could combine the Formula One licensing with the Marvel licensing; just do a set of the race scene in Iron Man 2.
@TheOtherMike said:
"Y'know, Lego could combine the Formula One licensing with the Marvel licensing; just do a set of the race scene in Iron Man 2."
But then they'd have to make a Lego Elon, though
@maffyd said:
""If you have the Brazilian's vehicle, you will may well be tempted to buy two of this set so you can replace the inaccurate ones on the McLaren."
I wonder if @Huw meant to write "you will be tempted" then realised it's pretty absurd to buy a 2nd set just to replace two tyres and tried to amend it to "you may well be tempted"?"
It also says "Who's classic Forumula" instead of "Whose classic Formula" -- sorry not sorry from a journalism professor.
Lazy commentary to suggest that races from this car's contemporary era were more exciting than current racing. It's patently untrue. Those races were much less competitive and the winners often cruised to uncontested wins without any excitement at all. That kind of parroting of what people assume the 'good old days' were like is nonsense. Source: I've watched F1 for 40 years and I know that this is the most exciting and competitive the sport has ever been, on track.
Cool Lego model for sure. Nigel was a proper legend, and that car was an incredible technical achievement. Nicely done and would be a nice piece to display with the Senna MP4/4.
Very tempted by this. The flaws are far less jarring than the ‘88 McLaren’s skinny rear wheels, nose profile, coke bottle inaccuracy and (non-chevron) shape of the red (pink!) at the front.
The only subtle “ah, if only” for me this time is the width across the front wheels. Would be more accurate if the wheels sat approx 1/2 stud farther out both sides so similar to outside face of rears. Likely easily fixed :-)
I wish Williams was still a competitive F1 team
Just watched Jang's review of this set, and one thing that stood out to me is that while the color matching of the stickers here seems quite decent, on his it was pretty terrible....
too bad that the Camel logos were removed. they could have had some fun creating something that is similar, but not referencing the nicotine filled cilinders.