fumi

Entirely new tool. Not BTTF. Coming out in August. https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1YBzDgkX5SRySBWt/?mibextid=oFDknk

I have been waiting for this since I was a kid in the 80's. Completely new tool. Can't wait for it to come out.

It has created quite a sensation among Japanese modellers as the 2by2 widely outsold the 2-seater in Japan, and they can now recreate the car they or their relatives owned back then. I can already foresee standard version of zenki/chuki/zenki, and the Fuji Speedway safety car. Substituting the wheels in the chuki kit with the kouki BBS would yield the BBS edition. The Tochigi prefecture highway patrol car is also possible. Then there are the resin wing and front lip special editions, as well as the various decal special editions.

In Japanese publications and web sites they are defined as follow: 1989-1993 zenki: original model 1993-1998 chuki: new rear wing, HICAS changed from hydraulic to electric, brake calipers changed from aluminium to steel, boost gauge eliminated for the TT model, 2-seater model lost the T-bar roof 1998-2000 kouki: new bumper and aero, xenon headlights, return of the boost gauge, stiffened body, new sport suspension for the Version R

Nice, but I will probably wait for the kouki.

Hopefully Aoshima will retool a new chassis with proper wheelbase for the 180SX, I will still get a few even if they reuse the S15 chassis again. Can't wait for the Rover SD1 to go with the Volvo 240.

I am presently surprised that Hasegawa tooled up a new body for the Skyline GT-X instead of just providing inserts for the rear wheel openings. I guess we can see more Kenmary variations down the line. I also think we will see the prototype race car soon, probably early next year release.

The R30 will float a lot of boats, and I would be surprised if it is not already in their book. It is hugely popular in Japan and right off the bat I can already come up with 8 variations, zenki/kouki of RS and garden variaty grades, JTC of at least 4 liveries, and we are not even going into the various movie and TV drama cars yet. I guess Hasegawa is just saving it for later, when the R31 and R32 are completely played out. There are 2 more possible versions of the R31 not yet released, the Autech version and the Tommykaira, and that's it for the series. For the R32 I would expect at least one street custom version with non-projector halogen lamps and big muffler, the V-Spec and V-Spec II with Brembo brakes and BBS wheels, and many more Group A and N1 decal variations. The R33 is a dead end as far as the real car goes, but then I also never expected anyone would produce a new kit of the most unpopular Skyline aka the R31, let alone it was so well received that it already spawned 10 variations, so you never know.

The Twin Turbo 2.5 R kit with the regular front seats + seat cover decal instead of the Recaros, and Twin Turbo 2.0 decals.

Tamiya has announced they are developing the 1/24 new Z. lt will have separate parts for the roof panel, under panel, transmission and suspension, and the seats will be done in 4 parts to ease painting. It can be built as either Japanese or North American version. No release date yet. https://www.tamiya.com/japan/newstopics/info/2022/0617new.html

I guess it is a natural after their recent line of Nissan race cars. Finally it is getting kitted. Multiple rally versions guaranteed. http://www.hasegawa-model.co.jp/product/hc47/

There is also a 1/24 one from KA Models. http://ka-models.co.kr/?product=124-mazda-k360

Hasegawa has released test shot photos for the MR2. http://www.hasegawa-model.co.jp/hc45b/ The actual product page with completed model is here: http://www.hasegawa-model.co.jp/product/hc45/ The bumpers, door mirrors and side intake is on separate sprue so the early version is pretty much guaranteed. Whether there will be an export version remains to be seen.

Interesting that Hasegawa is giving away the solid roof and the NA engine cover as "gift parts" for the MR-2. That makes for at least 2 SP versions they are not going to sell. Other than the early model there aren't that many variations they can get out of the mold, they must be really confident on the sales potential of this kit. Hopefully they would see fit to kit the SW20 as well if the AW11 turns out to be a hit. As for the 117, they nailed the half polished/half burnished stainless window trims perfectly in their test builds. I wonder if that will make it to the production kits as well, that would be tricky to produce. I would expect the Bellett to follow down the road, the chassis is the same and there are a few notable racing liveries in addition to the numerous different grades that can be made. The Piazza would be nice, and fit their one basic mold, at least 5 variations philosophy perfectly. Just on top of my mind there are the pre-MC, post-MC, Nero, Irmscher and Handling by Lotus versions.

These are not as rare as you may think. Every single Porsche sold in here is RHD, and they sell 70-100 cars per month.

This version will actually come with the alloy wheels and not the steelies. The real car Hasegawa took this picture for happened to have steelies, and they specifically said in the same pic that "the kit contents may differ from this particular car".

There are indents for the pedals on both left and right side of the interior tub. LHD is a given, just not sure if it would be street or race or both.

Hasegawa's next new kit will be the SA22C RX-7 early version. Target to be released in October. Hobby Search is taking pre-order for it now. https://www.1999.co.jp/eng/m/10805330

Probably no chance, the body mold was supposed to be permanently altered for the RS500.

Or swap the engine with the excellent Cosworth YB by USCP. https://uscp-ua.com/index.php?route=product/category&path=69

Well technically I am looking from outside across the border, but my car loving friends and coworkers in the Mainland, as well as the Internet forums both in here and across the border, give me some insight about the happenings over there. Some background on modelling in China: it started to become popular in the early 90's as the middle class grown and people were looking for new hobbies. It was around that time when Dragon put up a branch in Shanghai, while in the south Trumpeter had started to put out cheap, toy like military kits and Lee began doing Tamiya knock offs. AutoArt also started a new factory to make diecast cars. That was how it started and it had come a long way, with Trumpeter releasing some of the best military kits in the market and new companies popping up almost every year. I would say most car modellers nowadays are in their 30's and 40's growing up building Tamiya kits and reading translated car magazines about Porsches, Ferraris and Lamborghinis during the 90's, so naturally super cars are the hottest subject matters. I have heard the McLaren Senna sold very well and the genre is also what Hobby Design is mainly focused in. JDM subjects are also popular, again these are what people see in magazines and videos, kits are abundant and there is a huge aftermarket for them. Motorcycles round out the rest of the market. American cars are an extremely niche market, there is simply no connection to them for most people, other than from the Transformers movies. Just like the rest of the modelling world car modellers are in the minority around here, with Gundam having the biggest market share and growth followed by military. The post-2000 generation are also not into cars as much as the earlier generations, though car related video games do have an impact on them, which again drives interest in super cars and JDM kits. Kit price is in the range of US $20-25 for Japanese re-release and $30 around for new kits here. I have been increasingly buying kit from TaoBao (sort of a Chinese version of Amazon), it saves from the hassle of going to the shop only to have the kit sold out or not in stock yet, and with Hasegawa kits it is usually cheaper even with shipping factored in. While we can get the Revell Germany version of American car kits here, I have never seen a Round2 kit for sale even when they are molded right in the same province I buy my kits from. They are probably all for export.

There is a very healthy car culture in China, it just has nothing to do with American cars. I also don't think Trumpeter charged an outrageous price for their car kits, I got my Nova and Bonneville for less than US $20 each and the Falcon for less than $30, and I still saw the Falcons on clearance at $20 just last month. How they cost so much in foreign market is beyond me. It is very simple why Trumpeter got out of the car kit market. When they make their umpteenth T-80 variant with 1000 parts and selling for over $50 (could be way over that on your side of the world) armour modellers just thank them and snap them up. When they make a car kit and sell for half that car modellers ridiculed them and not buying any. Coupled with their choice of American cars that no one outside of the US buys and it is easy to see they were doomed from the start, and there is just no point for them to make any more, new or reissue.

Looking at several build pics, holes are already tooled for the grab handles for the Safari version, and the ZG specific parts like the bumper, headlights, fender flares and wheels are on their own sprues that can be switched out. Safari versions is pretty much guaranteed now, just need to see what other combinations would Tamiya come up with further down the road.

No mention of the colour of engine sprue so I'd expect curbside. It would however have separate chromed parts for the window frame.

Highlight Model Studio also makes photo etch ones in 2 styles, with or without holes. https://www.highlightmodelstudio.com/en/product/11872852 https://www.highlightmodelstudio.com/en/product/11872852