Salvinos JR 1/20 Coulton Herta Dallara DW12, previewed by Scott Van Aken

The Dallara DW12 (formally named the Dallara IR-12) is an open-wheel formula racing car developed and produced by Italian manufacturer Dallara for use by the teams in the IndyCar Series. The DW12 was first used in the 2012 IndyCar Series season, replacing the nine-year-old Dallara IR-05 chassis. It is to be replaced by the planned Dallara IR-27, whose arrival has been pushed from 2027 to 2028 by engine-production delays, supply chain delays and money problems.

Under a deal negotiated by the IndyCar organization, each chassis costs $349,000. Since 2015, Honda and Chevrolet have offered alternatives to the Dallara aerodynamic kit. No IndyCar chassis has been used for a longer period of time.

The DW12 added safety features such as a partial enclosure around the rear wheels and a redesigned front section intended to prevent single-seater crashes such as the one that killed Dan Wheldon, the chassis' test driver and namesake. Wheldon was killed at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on October 16, 2011, the final race of the previous IR-05.

Colton Thomas Herta (born March 30, 2000) is an American racing driver who competes in the NTT IndyCar Series, for Andretti Global with Curb Agajanian. He is the youngest person to ever win an IndyCar Series race, a task accomplished in his rookie season (2019). As of this writing he has 9 victories in the series

THE KIT

Salvinos JR released their first Indy Car kit in 2024 with Josef Newgardens 2023 Indy 500 winning car. Since then several other modern Indy Car kits have been released, each kit apparently differing only by the decals included. This is a 2025 release featuring Colton Herta's car from 2024. The kits all feature cars that ran in the Indy 500 and as such only come with the UAK18 universal aero kit, which is the speedway set up used since 2018. I personally would like to see other wing types included, but that is up to the manufacturer to decide.

The kit is molded in black, which is a color I personally dislike for any kit as it makes it difficult to see how the bits are fitting. I am fairly sure it was done to minimize painting as much of the chassis on the real deal is this color. Engine parts and the wheels are molded in grey and there is a clear windscreen. Four rubber tires are provided.

Based on my few Tamiya 1/20 F1 builds, this kit seems to follow a similar build sequence. There is a full lower chassis while the upper body is in sections and the rear bodywork pieces are 'no glue' parts so you can remove them to show the engine and suspension when the kit is finished.

Instructions are generic for all their Indy Car kits, which at this writing exceeds a half dozen. In the instructions are construction sequences for both the Chevy and Honda engines, though only one of the two can actually built with what comes in the kit. All paint info is provided with Tamiya paints. This is a kit that will need to be painted as construction moves along.

You are provided with two large decal sheets. One is for the myriad of carbon fiber parts that are the norm on modern race cars. I suspect that this sheet is common for all their Indy Car kits. All the decal numbers on this sheet match the kit part number. The other is the unique markings for Coulton Herta's car. You will have to do some painting on this to match the yellow of the decal sheet. I'm sure most will also paint the bare plastic with a gloss or semi-gloss black. An addendum sheet is included for the unique decal placement.

In the box, this looks like a very nice kit. I can only hope that the engineering is as good as a Tamiya kit, but only building it will really tell.

KIT #:
PRICE:	$64.00 Delivered
DECALS:	One Livery
REVIEWER:	Scott Van Aken
NOTES:	2025 release