Let's review Modeler's 1/20 MCS8 /March 88 GC Mugen

"Wait...is that a DFV? Well, they all have 8 cylinders!"

Before introducing the actual kit, I'd like to share some history lessons I learned from researching this car's story. To start, let's talk about the brand: Modeler's. For a long time, I had the impression that Modeler belonged to Tamiya or it was a sub-branch of Tamiya (similar to the Toyota-Lexus relationship), probably due to their various collaboration products (e.g., the Kenwood Kremer 962C, which was basically a Tamiya 956). Modeler's also released several more advanced resin kits, which can be found frequently at auctions and are worth quite a bit of pennies. Not until today did I find a blog written by a Japanese scale model enthusiast, "RC200t," who wrote extensively in one of his blogs about Modeler's. 

According to RC200t (2009), the brand Modeler's belonged to the once-popular Mr. Craft of Japan, once located at:

Aha! This is a stamp I found in Advan's (or Fujimi?) 1/20 Toleman TG-280 Hart 420R, and it has the exact address of the already-gone Mr. Craft store on the top. Such a shame that I did not know this store existed when I visited Japan in 2015. This store had five levels, and each level was filled with goodies, ultimately making the entire building a paradise for die-hard car fans. As they say, good things usually don't last forever; Mr. Craft closed its doors in September 2008 and later declared bankruptcy in early 2009. Well, this makes me feel much better! It was long closed before my 2015 trip.

Modeler's is an original brand of Mr. Craft (RC200t, 2009). If you do a quick search on Scalemates, you'll find that it is nowadays part of a hobby company called InterAllied. It is a pleasure to see that the brand has found its new home, although it seems that they only make small-scale finished models now. Well, at least it did not die...

The main reference article - モデラーズ～恵比寿の残光（伊太利屋マーチ８８ＧＣ無限）by RC200t - answered two questions for me. The first one was about the downfall of Modeler's, which we have already discussed above; the second question was about our actual topic of the day: MCS8.

Gotta say first: I love the squarish box! The box is also fairly tall:

Box art is straightforward at its best. The theme colour, pink, matches the actual livery of Team Le Mans. Two other versions of Modeler's offers - the red Cabin #19 and the aquamarine blue Leyton House #16 - all have similar box designs, forming a series of machines that raced for the 1988 Fuji Grand Champion Series. #25, the Team Le Mans MCS 8, driven by the British Geoff Lees, won three out of six races and became the series champion. Hey, another champion's vehicle!

But the question is...not much information is available online about MCS (Mooncraft Special 8). During its participation in the 1988 races, the car was marked March 88GC. It is here where RC200t's (2009) post answered my second question, as he wrote:

"グランチャン崩壊の前年１９８８年のチャンピオンマシン、マーチ８８ＧＣ無限。商品名は「ＭＣＳ８無限」でそれはそれで間違いじゃないんだろうけど、ここはエントリー名を優先することとする。ちなみにＭＣＳはムーンクラフトスペシャルの略であり、この時代のグランチャンマシンはオープンホイールフォーミュラであるＦ３０００のシャシーに、これをすっぽりと覆い隠すスポーツカータイプのカウルを被せてあり、そのカウル部分を主に作っていたのがムーンクラフト。"

Basically, MCS, or MoonCraft, was the manufacturer who produced the cowling of the car that covers the F3000 Chassis made by March underneath. Hence, this car can be either referred to as MCS 8, MoonCraft Special 8, or March 88 GC Mugen. For unknown reasons, there is no information about this car on MoonCraft's website at the moment (Maybe it is because the car entered the race as March 88 GC?). Kudos to Modeler's, who highlighted the efforts of the Japanese manufacturer MoonCraft.

Out of the box, I was shocked by how big the cowling is! Take a look:

Here's a comparison of the cowling to Tamiya's 1/20 Lotus 102D. So wide!

Probably will remove all the rivets and plant after-market ones after polishing. 

Sprue B. The size of the nose looks much more like a 1/20 model that I am more familiar with. It will be hidden underneath the large cowling. 

Some details here: with some aftermarket parts this should look interesting. Lots of potential here and there! Just very little references available, though. 

Sprue C covers a lot of mechanical parts. Just my 2 cents, the design of parts here looks fairly "Tamiya" (I have nothing against it).

This C-15 part looks very detailed! I swear I've seen similar parts moulded like this in many Tamiya kits. Then again, how can it be designed differently, eh? Of course, you can have those rods moulded separately, but this looks good enough for me; plus, you can always use some aftermarket rivets here.

Wheels look good. They have such a muscular look... like something you would find on a Dodge challenge, quite nice!

The heart of MCS 8, or the March 88 GC, is a Mugen MF308. All three teams here, Cabin, Team Le Mans, and Leyton House used this engine in 1988. No wonder you see the Honda emblems here and the Mugen Kanji decal on the box art...but...

But you eventually find a sprue of Tamiya's classic 1/20 DFV in the box. This is the exact same sprue you would find in a Tamiya 1/20 1976/1977 P34. Haha!

No kidding at all! To be fair, the two engines have some close specifications, and they look similar. In addition, the Mugen MF308 did compete with the DFV F3000 engine in the actual race. So...not too bad? Yeah, you might have already found out that the DFV cam covers are also included in the kit. :D 

The tires are in great condition, very, very hard rubber, I must say.

I think I'll paint the white part instead of using the decal that comes with the kit. The difficulty is one thing, and the other is that the white decal on the front of the body already has some mouldy spots on it. It is, however, surprisingly still white, considering the age of the kit.

Overall, a rather interesting racer that would be easily forgotten if Modeler's had not released these three variants. The kit itself looks very promising and presentable, again, it is up to the modeler who will be making it to decide what to add to the kit's offer. An out-of-box build? Not a problem at all! I just can't wait to recreate the beautiful streamlined design of the MoonCraft-made cowling!

Photo Credit: Hiro [8gatsuno HIKARI] 8月のひかり(as indicated on racingsportscars.com, although this photo is from Pinterest)

Reference

RC200t. (2009). モデラーズ～恵比寿の残光（伊太利屋マーチ８８ＧＣ無限）. https://plaza.rakuten.co.jp/pinesquare/diary/200909190000/