fumi

Licensing issue with Adidas? Seems both Aoshima and Fujimi issued Reebok Skylines in 2004, one year before Adidas started the takeover process of Reebok.

I heard many Japanese modellers are holding their purchase for the Lancer until they see the Hasegawa release, even when Beemax released theirs one year ahead. I think this is going to hurt NuNu more. A lot of modellers will buy the rally kit and build it has street custom. It would be easier for them to get the Hasegawa kit and order sprue J from after service for the RHD dash board. That should also help them move their kits. The Calsonic and Taisan are a given. I'd also like to see the Reebok, Kyoseki and HKS livery from the JTC, as well as the Castrol from Macau Guia winner and Zexel from Spa. But whatever Hasegawa cannot do the aftermarket can easily fill the void, not only decal but also wheel and mirror sets.

Reaction from Japanese modellers is overwhelmingly positive. It's a proper Nismo version, it will have correct projector or halogen headlights for different teams and it will have detailed interior for both street and race versions. All the existing R32 kits have their fair share of problems. Tamiya's body is too muscular, the trunk area has some very nasty mold parting lines that are difficult to remove, the hood will not close with the wipers installed, and the A pillars are very prone to deform. Fujimi is supposed to be better proportioned but the interior leaves something to desire. Aoshima's body is too angular and it's quite clear the kit was designed in Aoshima's transition period with the awful shared chassis. All have badly defined headlight buckets for projector lights only, out of scale Nismo side steps and front ducts, a hole in the rear windshield and wiper motor in the package shelf which is wrong for the Nismo version and the race cars. Hasegawa knows their market well, I have not seen any of their car release flop so far. The R32 will be a home run for them.

I don't understand why people moan about the "new" Mustang. Sony actually bothered enough to model the 1971 Mustang Mach 1 as a premium car from Gran Turismo 5 onwards, with a detailed interior since GT6. The thing must have some global appeal across age groups.

In the same sense that stomping on the gas in a straight line is not racing.

This site has HTTPS. Just type https:// instead of http:// in front of the URL. https://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/

That Tamiya snap kit is a very nice kit. I think it was last reissued 10 years ago and it is fetching silly money now. All export version got the Levin tail lights and Trueno front end. North American version also got different 5 mph bumpers without the cornering lamps.

Oh well, those people would be getting into their 60's now.

By the look of it we will be getting the late type down the road, and possibly the GT-Z Supercharged with the intercooler hood scoop. While I also wish for a Trueno I think it is unlikely to happen. Race version is a given, the AE92 was very popular in JTC and even if they skip the one year only Minolta livery, they still have Biyo, Wedsport, Fujitsu Ten, FET and Trampio as the more successful teams to do. They are also not feared to go head to head with Beemax/Nunu, the Lancer Turbo is another car that would compete with them directly and it is obvious the kit is designed to have a rally variant in mind. While the Gemini and the Starlet were popular entries in rally, with the way the interior is designed race version seems not likely. The Bluebird, however, may spawn a rally version in the future.

I think Aoshima went too ambitious in the mid 2000's and overextended themselves with the exotic line. The Lambos probably sold well but not so much for the rest. I saw stacks of their McLaren F1 discounted to 1800 yen in Tokyo a few years ago, that is not a good sign. If not for all the sedan kits they keep milking since the 90's they would have been in serious trouble already. Their focus is now on 1/32 easy kits to lure back people who have been out of the hobby for 30 years. So far it is positive and you will see the majority of their new releases on that side for the time being, with the KPGC10 Skyline GT-R coming out soon. Fujimi's 23-series Jimny is originally scheduled for this summer and the 64/74 series are for this winter. Seems they have been pushed back now.

Fujimi's narrow body version has cut out lines on the inside of the body, and instruction for cutting the targa top. https://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10024294

For the R31 Skyline the market was actually non-existent until Hasegawa did theirs. Fujimi was the only game in town, the body is oversized, the mold is badly worn, and the kit became a mess when they tried to change the mold back and forth to create different versions. It is re-released once every few years because the demand is low and Hasegawa easily blows them out of the water. It's the R32 that is over-saturated, and it is wise for Hasegawa to not jump into it. The difference between the military realm and ours is that they will actually buy up all 10 variations of the same tank with rivets on the add-on armour arranged in different pattern, while we may buy one edition of the car and declare it is enough. Unless you are Tamiya you almost stand no chance of recovering your development cost when someone else clashes with you: Hasegawa found it out the hard way when they and Tamiya released the Lotus 79 almost at the same time. While Hasegawa supposedly came out with the better kit, it killed their foray into the 1/20 historical F1 market. When Aoshima got wind of Hasegawa's Sunny Truck project, they scrapped their own development entirely eventhough the short body was part of their design. They deemed it too risky. The A60 Supra is doable, it is far more popular than the R31 Skyline in Japan and I don't see anyone else retooling their ancient kits. Maybe after the market has digested all the recent Tamiya re-release and the A70 Supra turns out profitable first.

This brings back a lot of memory from the time I built the original set when I was still in primary school. It is interesting to compare this new set from the old one. - Eventhough the boxart still shows a university, instead of the brats from prestigious university districts you now get everyday folks that are equally at home in Shibuya. - Tennis is out, VAN branded paper bag is out, the preppy look is out. Tapioca milk tea is in, guitar is in, selfie is in. - Instead of 2 guys and 3 girls, you get one guy and 4 girls now. The facial expression is also far better in this new set, I wonder they were modeled from 3D scans like the figure in the Toyoda AA and the ND Miata.

Most likely for switching between the regular bumper and the Turbo A bumper with the huge intercooler duct.

Beemax (now Nunu) showed very preliminary mockups of race version for both subjects in 2018. With Nunu just getting around to release the 306 Maxi now I guess the Starlet and the Sunny will be at least 2 years from being released. The Hasegawa B110 was rumoured for as long as the Sunny truck was released, and they hinted about it in interviews back then. It will definitely be the coupe if they decide to make it, it was raced extensively in Japan and has a huge following.

I hope Hasegawa will include the LHD dash and side mirrors in the initial release to boost up sales instead of going the special edition route. Most modellers in Japan would want the Turbo A or the 2.5 Twin Turbo and they are a given for the special edition treatment. Having the LHD option in the regular 3.0 GT would allow them to do an export version that differentiates from the JDM special editions, providing more incentive to buy it. Not to mention the foreign market potential. The 2nd gen Celica XX/Supra is fairly popular in the Japanese old car circle and it can provide the minimum 3 variations Hasegawa is getting from their recent molds, plus the underpinning is shared with the 1st gen Soarer, another popular car in Japan. However that market is rather saturated right now, with Aoshima, Arii and Fujimi constantly pumping out their toy-like kits and Tamiya just re-released both their Celica and Supra. The 1st gen is unpopular so it would be a hard sell. Even the A70 Supra is a surprise to me, when most people expected the P60 Starlet or the B110 Sunny to be the next release from Hasegawa. I would also like to see the DR30 Skyline down the line, it is hugely popular in Japan and they can easily get 3 or 4 variation from the basic kit, and that's before we get into the "Western Police" TV series.

No metal axles, for one. It should also come with detailed platform style interior. Check out the Twitter post by Model Art. The seats even come with the seat belt retainers.

After their fairly successful R31 Skyline series, it is just natural for them to follow up with its rival the A70 Supra. https://twitter.com/ModelArtInc/status/1278239318557945856 It will be the 3.0 GT Turbo Limited for December. Following their practice, it will definitely spawn several variations. I expect the street version Turbo A and the related Group A racers to follow soon, with the 2.5 Twin Turbo down the road. Assuming they do all 3 liveries of Minolta, Fujitsu Ten and Biyo for the Group A cars, that would be at least six variations from the same basic mold.

Looking at photos on the web, the outermost section seems to be not lighted. GM probably just switched the turn signal and the brake light sections, and make the outermost section amber as well. I think it is ok to not have the turn signal wraparound the tail at least up to the 80's, but it must be in the outermost position in many European countries. Red side marker is also not legal; our Euro-spec Volvo during the Ford era still had them wired, but in amber instead.

Of course it does, afterall the C5 copied it. Love the red seats. Those will really pop with the blue exterior.

One popular mod was to use the one piece 1968-69 tail lights in place of the dual tail lights of the post 1970 Skyline. http://showa.blog.shinobi.jp/車両メンテナンス　大将商会/ハコスカ　前期４５テールに変更！

Star Models has a few on offer. http://resinrealm.net/Star/STAR Models/index.html

Gunze (now GSI Creos) last issued their own kits in the early 2000's. The Hi-Tech series is impressive. I have two of the bike kits, each come with white metal engine parts and a box of wire to lace the wheels. The Panzer IV sold for the ridiculous price of 22,000 yen back then (equivalent to 22 Tamiya kits) and is reputed to be unbuildable with all the little metal parts. It is believe that they still own the majority of their molds. They are still a major model kit importer and distributor in Japan, and not to mention their paint and tool lines, but they haven't molded anything since then.

The Gunze kit was their own design, all doors and panels open.

I remember those tail light decals when I built it 35 years old. When you are 8 those decals are a godsend.