The Monster began as a styling exercise in 1992. The concept for the Monster was one Galluzzi had been thinking about for some time and it took time to convince the management at Cagiva and Ducati to build it. It is a naked bike, characterized by an exposed engine and frame. The deliberate use of the trellis frame in the Ducati monster is an integral part of the motorcycle’s design allowing for both aesthetic appeal and for structural efficiency. The Monster 696 was announced in November 2007 and officially launched early April 2008 in Barcelona. Its 696 V-twin features the highest power output per cc of any Ducati air-cooled engine. Other updates includes shorter reach to bars, lower seat height, lower and more forward-positioned foot pegs, swappable tank colour panels, new engine cylinder heads etc.
Presented here is a 2011 model made by Maisto in 1:12 scale! The details are body scores a good number!! I kind of crazy about naked bikes would end up rating this brilliant model more that other fully fared bikes like the Multistrada or the Desmosedici!!
The package is conventionally Maisto’s, so unboxing is a straight away! No strings to untangle like NewRays or no unscrew like the AUTOart’s package. I kind of like this new package because it give more flexibility to play around and store it without much fuss!
This Ducati Monster imposes to(only) true blue Ducati aficionado!! Because it shows more toyish features like most other model in the same price bracket.The headlamp, over sized trellis frame, unrealistic turn indicator etc. adds up to this list. So lets see the brighter side…being a Monster it kind of gives whiplash to even hardcore collectors!! The model weights considerably more for its scale giving a feel of holding a premium model!!
If you observe it from a distance it poses absolutely normal and adds value to you Ducati Collection!! All the above drawbacks come into picture if you are a critic like me or a owner of bike models from AUTOart, Franklin Mint etc. So from here on I will consider this to be a budget model(which it is) and continue my review..
From the front it looks awesome the headlamp detailing is appreciably especially the dividers which hosts the park lamp is detailed. The rear view mirror looks good which also retains the original shape and the mirror itself is very nicely made! The tyre tread pattern is conventional and the scaling is nice too.
The trellis frame painted in the same shade as the body looks good from most angles and the scaling issue kind of obvious on certain angles. One word of advice for Maisto is to use smaller screws like they had in their older model, which will reduce this toyishness to a very extent.
I usually like the rear 3/4 angles of bikes but not this one because the under seat exhaust with the sealed end makes it heavy on eyes!! Maisto would have sticked onto painting the exhaust end black like the pre-production sample that they show off.. The license plate and the rear wheel are all top notch!! The turn indicator is something to reconsider though.
The decals though very few but are absolutely spot on!! The digital instrument cluster is nicely done and it sharp and clearly readable!! On closer inspect it does not match the original 698 but we can live with it!!
Finally the verdict:- This is a no frills kind of model and in my opinion it gets over 3.5 stars most of it goes to the value for money and paint quality… If smalls fixes like the exhaust and the mould smudge are corrected then we definitely have a winner.. I am planning a NewRay Ducati Monster 1100 so expect a compare soon.
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