OOC Model Review
OM46002 Volvo Wright Urban Eclipse Singe Deck Bus
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OM46002 Whitelaws Volvo Wright Urban Eclipse

        The new Urban Eclipse single deck bus becomes the third Wright vehicle to appear in the OOC model range, it follows the Gemini double deck and Solar Fusion articulated bendibus. Like the existing models the new Urban Eclipse shares the same frontal design with it's distinctively shaped windscreen.
The first release of the model was a very limited run of 250 First shots, these were undecorated and only available from Corgi Platinum dealers. The first two standard releases have now also been released and depict a silver liveried Whitelaws Coaches vehicle which is reviewed here and a Lothian example with a striking Royal Yacht Britannia offside advertisement.

Volvo Wright Urban Eclipse roof
Volvo Wright Urban Eclipse nearside
Volvo Wright Urban Eclipse base
Volvo Wright Urban Eclipse front Volvo Wright Urban Eclipse rear
Volvo Wright Urban Eclipse offside

        The model appears to capture the shape and looks of the real bus extremely well, the panel joints aren't over emphasized while the various lights and grille details are crisp and well defined. The engine cooling grille on the nearside is produced with tampo printing however this is perfectly acceptable and produces a realistic effect. The window detailing is also produced using black tampo printing which will allow variations in the glazing layout on future releases, the window pillars and vents do however look just a little on the thick side on this model.

        The front and side destinations, rear route number and registration plate are all set back behind the glazing, the actual destinations are rather faint and the front one in particular doesn't stand out very well.
All the lights are reproduced using paint but as these are all fairly small anyway this is perfectly acceptable. Detailed etched wiper blades are present and these even include the hoses supplying the screen washers. The black plastic wing mirrors are well proportioned and have a mirrored effect applied on their rearward facing sides.
It should be noted that this casting doesn't have any opening features or poseable wheels, this may slightly disappoint some who like these additions.

Volvo Wright Urban Eclipse nearside front
Volvo Wright Urban Eclipse offside rear

        The interior seating on the model is produced using a single colour plastic moulding, on the review model this is a pinkish purple colour. The area from of the front wheel arches forward is produced using a second light grey plastic moulding that includes a fairly detailed drivers area and luggage racks over the wheel arches. The model also has grab poles however looking though the front windscreen at these reveals that they bow in across the gangway, in fact it appears they are slightly too long for the interior, you'd certainly have to be a thin passenger to squeeze down the gangway on this model!

        The model has a large roof mounted air conditioning unit this has featured on both of the first two releases, however neither of the buses portrayed actually carry units of this design. Considering this a separate plastic component it seems strange that Corgi have opted to include them on these releases.

The rather bowed interior grab poles
The rather bowed interior grab poles

Volvo Wright Urban Eclipse offside front
Volvo Wright Urban Eclipse nearside rear
the real Whitelaws bus
the real Whitelaws bus
the real Whitelaws bus

        Apart from the strange interior grab rails and the incorrect air conditioning units the only other fault I can find on my model is a slightly poor fit between the offside lower panels and the front dash panel.
All in all this is a very pleasing model which will complement the other Wright bodied buses already in the range and offer plenty of livery options for future releases.

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