Review: 75886 Ferrari 488 GT3 Scuderia Corsa
Posted by iso3200,
The new Speed Champions wave has certainly shown some diversity with the classic 75884 1968 Ford Mustang Fastback and 75885 Ford Fiesta M-Sport WRC and this has made me take more notice of the theme than usual. Unfortunately, Huw has beaten me to the punch by reviewing those two already, so I'll be looking at a pair of endurance racers instead, starting with this, the 75886 Ferrari 488 GT3 "Scuderia Corsa"
At a first glance it appears to be more of the usual formula but that doesn't necessarily make it a bad thing. There's a lot of love for Speed Champions and I'm quite looking forward to building it. The price (I believe at time of writing) is £12.99 / €14.99 / $14.99 and there's 179 pieces for your money. Let's motor on and investigate further.
It's a small one at 190 x 140 x 60mm – the usual size for these sets. Here's some front and back shots of it.
The bottom right on the rear shows a depiction of the real car. The box also has an official Ferrari merchandise sticker on the top.
Inside there are 4 bags, chassis, instructions and a large sheet of stickers.
25 of them in fact...
A quick rummage through the bags reveals these pieces of interest – 3x3 plates recoloured in red and two pairs of left and right 6181713 (1X2, W/ Bow, 45 Deg. Cut) in red which have only appeared twice before.
The Minifigure
The minifigure, for once, stands out for several reasons. Firstly it's great to see a female driver – I think there's only been one before back in 75874 Chevrolet Camaro Drag Race. Secondly, the figure appears to be a representation of Christina Nielsen, who drove the GT3 for the 2016/2017 seasons – and to top it all off with a LEGO connection for good measure, Christina is Danish.
Both front and back have some nice torso printing, but alas, nothing on the legs.
Christina is accessorised with a massive trophy and a spanner, plus she has the long blonde wig when for when she's not wearing her helmet.
The Build
If you've built Speed Champions before, don't expect anything different – it's a car after all. There's the usual mix of plates and smalls. Here's the bodywork up to the point where it all started to slow up.
Stickers for me, are a big turnoff, and placing 25 of them makes the build a tad annoying. They are fiddly to get right and slow the pace of it right down. I find it really sucks some of the enjoyment out of it.
However I very much appreciate that these sets are built to a price and therefore printing all the pieces is never going to happen. The car really needs the livery on it to look complete so it's just one of things we'll have to live with.
Here's the final model. The diagonal white lines are very effective though, despite my sticker hatred.
Here's a slightly steeper angle that just about shows the large sticker on the rear window depicting the engine bay.
It's a smart package overall and I have to say that I like it very much, despite it being yet another vehicle of this style. Being the seventh Speed Champions with a Ferrari IP I'm guessing people love these red cars a lot.
Looking at it from some other angles the rear holds up very well, with lights that are unmistakeably Ferrari in shape. The spoiler can be angled back and forth if you wish and the tailpipes and chunky looking diffuser are all there.
The green highlights for the door mirrors and spoiler trims look great. The front splitter is fitted SNOT and a couple of 32828 (Plate 1X1 Round W/ Horizontal 3.2 Shaft) adorn each side to complete the look – albeit appearing considerably thicker than the wire braces do on the real thing.
No opening doors of course but the canopy comes off in the usual fashion.
And while a team would normally prepare the car, if this is your first Speed Champions set, well I suggest you work the supplied spanner for all it's worth.
Overall
It's always going to be hard to recreate such a lowdown curvy car at this scale with the limitations of LEGO but they've done a decent job here. It's got a lot of detailing correct, helped along by those wretched stickers of course, and I think there's enough difference from previous builds in the range to warrant picking it up. The minifigure tribute is extremely cool and if you're a collector, it's a natural successor to the 75908 458 Italia GT2 – you'll be wanting the latest Ferrari surely?
It's not a lot of money to commit, and most buyers probably have some of the previous sets. On that basis this will complement them perfectly. Stickers aside, I've very much enjoyed it, so I'll be recommending this one to all the petrol-heads out there.
Many thanks to the LEGO Group for providing Brickset with a review copy of the set. All opinions expressed in this review are my own.
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21 comments on this article
It's official, I need this set. Thanks for the review! For those who don't want the stickers across the pieces, do you think it'd look fine with less/no stickers on the pieces?
@chrismajor2124 It would look fine without the side door stickers or the bumper corner stickers. The spoiler and windshield stickers are debatable but unnecessary so those can go too.
I really like the model but I don’t like all the branding and number stickers, and usually the models don’t look right without them. I would love it if they made more like the 2016 Mustang GT or the 2015 McLaren P1.
It looks a nice set & the minifigure is good but it's those stickers again. Is there an exterior brick that doesn't have a sticker on it?
Has anyone built the range without stickers & do they lose much by not having them?
Looks like it stands up pretty well to the real car
The stickers are indeed a pain. I've found that using a pair of craft tweezers helps immensely when trying to apply them. Also a note, but in some instances they would be even more difficult to apply after the car is built than just placing it during construction.
I'm not a big Ferrari fan, but I own 75908 and I have a soft spot for any sort of endurance race cars. I particularly like the nod to Christina Nielson with the minifigure.
I'd love to see an Acura DPi as part of this range, as my favorite driver now races one, but I'm not sure that would actually happen.
I wasn't to buy this set because, well, it's just another Ferrari (with lots of stickers). But it does really look good on these photos, so I may have just changed my mind...
These cars haven's been half bad. I may try to pick a couple up. 15 dollars sounds pretty reasonable to me, so they might be kind of fun to brickfilm with.
Very nice set and great review. I love that trophy!
For the sticker free curious, here's a quick photoshop jobby without most of them. For some reason I couldn't embed it in the article.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/brickset/39830268814
I wish there was more of an "extra" creative part opposed to just the trophy. Even something as simple as the Mustang's Timing clock, but just a trophy is rather weak. Even having a set of cones is better than just a trophy...
I really like the color scheme of this set! Might have to pick it up!
I was only thinking about buying the Ford Fiesta set, but after the last reviews, I also liked the Mustang, but definitively,...I love the Ferrari!! Another Speed Champions set to the list!!
The stickers make me think twice about a lot of the Speed Champions sets. And as nice as this Ferrari is, 25 stickers is an instant pass.
Having seen @iso3200 's stickerless pic, I think it looks good enough without them to warrant getting it
Man, LEGO has just been getting better and better with the Speed Champions line. Not only do the new parts introduced since they started allow them to get a lot more accurate fine shaping and detailing, but they've also been getting the cars' originally overblown height toned down. The proportions are still slightly tall and chunky, but they aren't massively over-the-top like they used to be.
I use a pair of hobby tweezers to help apply stickers. They’re extremely useful and work really well. I posted a picture of them on my Flickr stream if anyone is curious.
The stickers make you feel like you're designing the car itself. Those that don't like stickers can just buy the set without putting them on. Would you rather go on ebay to buy custom stickers? I think the comments hating on stickers are absurd. Lego can't possibly print 24 pieces in every set. It can't get better than this and if you don't get it you will regret missing out on such a beautiful set. Even car hobby kits use stickers. EVEN REAL CARS USE STICKERS. I'm asking for MORE stickers than what they already have. Two sticker sheets to switch out different liveries. It's Lego with a super car brand - no need to say more. It's amazing they aren't limited to 5000 sets. Hats off to the amazing designers and their research.
Hey guys, just curious: is there a review on the way for the 75889 Ferrari Ultimate Garage? I'm very interested in that set.
Thanks!
^ Yes there is :-)
Things I like from this set:
-a female driver (cool)
-a practical-layout sticker sheet (reeeeally cool)
-good and even great parts and usages of said same.
Not digging:
-wish LUG would 'print' more parts than use stickers
-tiny 'nit', her helmet should've been green to match the car's 'third color'
Oh well, hopefully getting it...then maybe weaponing (hey what can I say: 'Death Race' was on the other night:))