RDean58 Posted May 23, 2007 Share Posted May 23, 2007 What: Curbside Kit built between 4/18/2007 & 5/7/2007. After Market Items Used: Crazy Modeler emblems. Highs: Excellent Fit of parts. Ease of Assembly. Postive mounting tabs for windows. Pop together rear taillights. Photo-Etch Grille Emblem. Separate headliner. Lows: Some simplification of parts, some of the Decals, Cost Cost: $21.20 for the kit, 14.56 shipping = $35.76 Bottom Line: Very Highly recommended. This is a Must Have for all Ferrari and Sports car Fans. This was the kit I was waiting for! When I discovered that Fujimi was releasing a 599 kit, I decided to bypass the Revell of Germany release and wait for this one. I bought this kit directly from Japan at one of my favorite hobby shops and the price listed is what the exchange rate was at the time of purchase. It could be different by a few cents high or low today. Initial Impressions If you have built any of the late series Fujimi Ferrari kits (from the 550 on) then the parts layout should be familiar to you. The kit comes molded in a flat Red (interior), glossy red (body), black (running gear, frame, some miscellaneous components) shiny chrome (grill, headlights, exhaust tips, mufflers), mat chrome (wheels), red taillights, amber turn signals and side marker lights, and clear. Suspension/Frame Fujimi has redone the front suspension system a bit by removing the small screws that were used to attach the upper A arms to the lower A arms. A couple of drops of glue holds this assembly in place now. Two spindles, a tie rod, and 2 posive placement front disc brakes compose the complete front suspension. I call the front disc's positive placement because they are molded in such a way as to make it very obvious if you have the parts reversed. Rear suspension is very simple. The rear disc brake fits into a mounting tab on the wheel wells which in turn fit easily on the rear section by the use of 2 tabs. While I at first thought this was an iffy way of positioning the rear wheels, it works great with no slack after assembly. The chrome mufflers fit in recesses at the rear of the frame and are a bit snug to get positioned properly. After the mufflers are in place the 4 chrome exhaust tips are then glued on. The twin lights at the rear of the frame section were painted clear red then backed with BMF. I did not paint the exhaust tips black as they came dark enough from the factory. That is your basic rolling gear assembly. Very easy, very few parts, all postive placement and no slack in assembly. Interior Fujimi did an excellent job on the interior of this kit. There are decals (of course) for the instruments, center "Ferrari" emblem, and "599" dash insigna. The steering wheel, column, paddle shifters, emergency brake handle, door panels, and passenger grab bar are separate pieces. The kits instructions for painting the interior are very helpful and I used internet pics to fill out my knowledge of how the interior was supposed to look. Unfortunately I do not have any interior pics to show you. Just let me say that the interior was trama free in assembly. I used a Ferrari emblem from Crazy Modeler for the center dash emblem and flocked the floor in dark brown while painting the rest of the interior a combination of semi gloss black & Tamiya Wooden Deck Tan. Body The body is a work of art in my humble opinion. While I have not seen a real life 599, from all the pictures I have seen on the internet, Fujimi has captured the essence of this body in 1/24 scale form. All of the scoop openings are open and have plastic open grilles that fit from the inside. With my particular copy I misplaced the grilles for the lower rear quarter panel scoops so filled these in with black mesh from the Tamiya 360 kit. The body has raised placement sections for the side decals and the front & rear decal placements. I personally do not like the look of the silver "Ferrari" decals & emblem so I replaced them with chrome stick on emblems from Crazy Modeler. The rear "flying wings" that fit over the rear window are separate pieces and fit into slots cut along the top of the rear fenders. Cleanup of the body included removing some faint mold lines along the tops of the front & rear fenders and along the leading & trailing edges of the fenders. 15 to 20 minutes of light sanding got the body ready for painting. Color is Testors Auto Lacquer Italian Red & clear coat over native red plastic body. Assembly Kit just about fell together. Some places to look out for are the front wheel wells on the frame. These require the body to be slighly pulled away in order for the frame to slide easily inside. The instructions call for the seperate lower quarter panels to be assembled before the body is attached to the frame but I elected to put them on after. I felt it was easier to position the body without having to worry about those pieces coming loose. There are 2 tabs at the rear of the frame that fit inside corresponding holes in the body. The front section of the frame fits snugly and flush with the body. Closing Thoughts While the price is a bit high, especially for a curbside kit. What you get for the price are excellent tires/wheels, ease of assembly, and the right "look" to the finished piece. An exta special bonus is the photo-etched emblem for the front grille. I liked this kit so much I got another one just in case they get hard to come by. While I know that finding Fujimi kits in the States is difficult, if you want a 599 this is just about a must have kit. Bonus Picture! Thanks for Reading! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zoom Zoom Posted May 23, 2007 Share Posted May 23, 2007 Thanks for the builder's review! It's a nice kit, that's for sure. Yours is the first one I have seen finished. I have a Revell 599 and am pretty happy w/it, the Revell kit is better in some areas and the Fujimi in others (especially wheels, tires, brakes, headliner, headlight units). The Fujimi curbside kit will be easier for the casual builder to get a better looking model straight from the box (the plastic finish is amazing), the Revell kit needs a bit more TLC but it has a full engine, a much higher level of chassis detail, a better-designed dash that's easier to paint detail. I got the Revell kit because it was available first and for a lot less $ than the Fujimi kit, I paid under $20 for mine and it will probably end up in the Revell US lineup for less than that eventually, with the bonus of being molded in white. I'll get the Fujimi 599 if they do a proper set of the 20" BBS Challenge rims for it. I'm not a fan of the pentagram wheels that both Revell and Fujimi have included. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crispy Posted May 23, 2007 Share Posted May 23, 2007 Thanks for the review Robert. I also picked up the RoG kit and the Fujimi kit. I have yet to build them. Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
larrygre Posted May 24, 2007 Share Posted May 24, 2007 Bob, I've heard an "Option Parts" version of the 599 is forthcoming from Fujimi. Hopefully that will include those gorgeous BBS rims. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tonioseven Posted June 14, 2007 Share Posted June 14, 2007 It's another excellent build from you!! 8) You've convinced me to buy one for myself!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RDean58 Posted June 19, 2007 Author Share Posted June 19, 2007 Thank you I had a lot of fun building it and I'll say you didn't go wrong! Lets see some pics when it's done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.