MB Slot's first complete car, the Pagani Zonda, was a bold choice and seems to have been well received. The choice for their second model seems a lot more conservative, even disappointing. The Ferrari F430 (and the visually similar F360) are already produced by Scalextric, SCX and Ninco. So what does the MB Slot model offer that the others don't?

The F430 is supplied as a kit and there's a little more work required than there was to assemble the Zonda!

The chassis is fairly simple because the motor, guide and suspension are pre-installed. All we have to do is install the axle bearings, axles, gear and wheels. The axles are hardened steel with snug-fitting bearings. The gear and spacer are separate and both are secured with grub screws. The wheels are push-on plastic with inserts, brake discs and callipers. They're a good tight fit on the axles and appear to be round and true. The rear axle bearings were a bit loose on my car so I secured them with a drop of superglue.

The motor is a long-can design but it isn't labelled so I'm not sure what it is! The Zonda had a 21,000rpm motor so presumably this is the same. The motor and rear axle are fitted into a sub-frame or 'pod'. The pod is attached to the main chassis with a sprung suspension system. Three screws are fitted to limit/adjust the pod's movement though I needed to open up the holes to allow the pod to move freely.

The front axle sits in an adjustable carrier. It's secured with four screws - slacken the screws the raise the axle. Again the holes needed to be opened up a little to allow freedom of movement.

The interior is made up from several pieces. There are no instructions or diagrams to work from so it's worth doing a couple of dry runs to make sure everything fits together neatly, especially the clear screen that fits at the rear of the roll cage.

The body is finished in white and appears to be clear coated rather than plain plastic. The quality of the moulding is first class - beautifully crisp and precise. Again it's worth doing a trial run when fitting the detail and interior parts but it's fairly straight forward to figure out what goes where (I managed!!). The mirrors are delicate though, so it may be wise not to fit them if you intend to race the car regularly.

I couldn't resist the temptation to paint mine. Although I haven't yet used them a small sheet of decals is included in the kit. At least one pre-painted car is available and more are planned.

The car has only had a couple of brief runs on plastic track so this is just a case of first impressions rather than real conclusions. The F430 feels very smooth and runs very quietly. The twin magnet set up gives the car plenty of grip but it still has enough power to break traction, especially going into or out of tighter bends. But treated with a little respect the Ferrari was smooth, predictable and very quick.

Of course it will misbehave if pushed too hard; a little twitch here and a slide there. But the car is very forgiving and almost sorts itself out if you make a mistake. The motor seems to play a big part in this, it's very responsive whether accelerating or braking and seems to have a good power and torque at any speed. The combination of responsive motor and forgiving chassis gives a car that reacts to even small inputs from the driver without feeling twitchy - or at least that's how it feels to me!

(On the routed track I've been running the car with the body, suspension and front axle screws loosened by about 1 turn.)

As you've probably gathered by now I am very pleased with this car! I think it looks great, low and wide as a Ferrari should be. Performance, on my routed track at least, is simply brilliant.

RRP in the UK is around £40 for the pre-painted kit so this isn't a cheap model. But everything - body, chassis, running gear - feels like high quality items, so to my way of thinking that represents good value for money. I'm certainly glad I bought it!!