fumi
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Posts posted by fumi
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I think only Revell made the C5 Corvette in notchback form.
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On 28/5/2019 at 9:17 AM, oldnslow said:
I think they ( the model companies ) could learn a valuable lesson reviewing what happened to Franklin Mint .
Is there any concrete evidence that "Red China" seized Danbury Mint's tooling other than some vague statement in a mailing list and innuendos on some forum that are being regurgitated all the time?
The official statement from Danbury Mint was that their primary sub-contractor closed in 2012 and their secondary sub-contractor also closed in 2014, and they were no longer able to cost effectively produce diecast model cars. At the time the $200 diecast market had all but collapsed and the cheap labour in China who was willing to move all the way to the southern provinces to work for minimun wage had vanished. Pulling out of the diecast market was a logical move for Danbury Mint.
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On 18/5/2019 at 7:10 AM, xsthomas said:
About this time around the early 1980"s. Volvo wanted to race the 242 turbo in a sports class some where Im not sure.
That would be the Group A evolution model, exactly what this kit depicts.
The 500 cars were homologation special for all the neat parts you listed, over the 5000 "regular" model produced in a year.
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3 hours ago, Rusty92 said:
Price increases might not affect the old fellas with “enough for a lifetime” but it sure does affect the new guys. Keep that in mind. Without people buying the new issues the hobby would be in a worse state of affairs.
They can always buy Japanese kits from aboard.
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33 minutes ago, Tom Geiger said:
I believe the current rounds will have a similar effect. The Chinese have been taking advantage of the USA for too long! It's time.
The US economic growth after the oil shock rode on the cheap labour of offshore manufacturing, you cannot really say one is taking advantage of the other.
If you want other people to buy your goods, you actually need to export something desirable first.
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16 hours ago, unclescott58 said:
I've never seen the above before. Very cool. Any idea when they were produced? Scale? And how hard are they to find today?
1/24-ish, with a motorized chassis and half interior plate. First came out in the 70's.
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45 minutes ago, niteowl7710 said:
I've seen at least one shot of the Platz table that has a rapid prototype of the M8 GTE lurking in the background, so that's there, but nothing of either 911 or the Audi...as they say - more to come.
Those Beemax easy kits (280zx/M1/RX-7) seem to have shifted to Nunu now. I'm not sure if the Beemax 911 SC RS is a standard kit or easy kit.
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On 4/5/2019 at 10:47 AM, Dave Ambrose said:
Given the nature of the information on this site, it isn’t a serious problem unless you live someplace where building model cars is illegal.
Username/password will always be a problem, and let's not assume everyone will use a separate username password combo for every web site they sign in to.
Can't we just get a Let's Encrypt cert? It is free.
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Tamiya's "model to watch out for" turned out to be the R/C GR Supra. No word on 1/24 scaled kit as of this moment.
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It was available in hobby shop here 2 weeks ago, direct import from Japan. Sold out when I reached the shop after work.
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12 hours ago, niteowl7710 said:
Also there wouldn't be an announcement of a plastic kit at the show since that would have to go up for Pre-orders if it were less than 90 days away, if there's a Supra it'll probably wait until the Tokyo Model & Hobby Show in the fall.
This is the exact wording from Tamiya:
今回のホビーショーで発表する TOYOTA GAZOO Racing 車両のモデル化と合わせてご注目ください！
Literally, "please pay attention to (the Supra) together with the announcement of the modelization of TOYOTA GAZOO Racing vehicle to be made in this hobby show!"
We will know soon. The show is only 1.5 week away.
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Tamiya announced in their Facebook page that they will have the GR Supra in their booth and asked people to "keep an eye for it and the announcement of TOYOTA GAZOO Racing car kits".
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Speed City Resin makes some pretty good parts.
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12 hours ago, Chuck Kourouklis said:
Went looking at the Hase "'66" Impala to see if it had any medicine for what ails the Revell -
ummm, yeah... not sure about that greenhouse - although reshaping the drip moldings might help (and THIS kit is what James was talking about, btw). Certainly looks better at rocker panel level. Anybody remember if this is true 1/24, or might the scale be fudged a bit?
The American series started out as cloned bodies of period Johan and AMT kits for slot cars in the 60's and 70's, then got a generic chassis and interior in the 80's, so my guess is that they are closer to 1/25.
You can see the content of the original Impala kit here (site is in Japanese). Note that the original package states that the kit is 1/25.
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26 minutes ago, peteski said:
Thanks for the explanation, but I'm still a bit confused. So basically you want to see the passenger side mirror while still paying attention to the road directly in front of you, or is is just impolite to turn your head to the passenger side?
As far as the rides sharing (Uber, Lyft) go, isn't the liability covered by the companies themselves? And why there is no incentive? Is it because the public transportation is so well developed that it just as fast and convenient to take trolley, bus, or a train?
For the fender side mirror issue, both of your points apply. Before 1983, the Japanese traffic law stipulated that all outside mirrors must be mounted on the fender for locally produced car, but imported cars were exempted. The law was changed after years of protest from the Japanese manufacturers, but they remain popular choice for the taxis and company/official cars on the believe that the driver can keep the eyes on the road ahead, and more importantly avoid peeking at the passenger, when checking the mirrors.
Uber's insurance terms are quite murky. The driver's own insurance will be voided when they accept fare from the passenger. Uber promises to cover the injury or death insurance to the passenger or 3rd party only from the time when the ride is taken in the app to the time the passenger arrives at the destination. They specifically exclude damage to other vehicles or properties in an accident, and injury or death to the drivers.
Incentive-wise, the fare is simply not enough to cover fuel and maintenance cost. Keeping a car is a major chore in big cities like Tokyo or Osaka, parking spaces are at a premium and you cannot register a car without proof of it. It is also far more convenient to take public transit, most major cities have a very extensive subway and train network, the smaller ones have very good bus or tram service. Meanwhile in the countryside everyone has a car and the demand for hired driving service is very low.
And when the public transport stops running at night, taking a cab is actually a pleasant experience. The drivers are courteous and polite, they charge by the meter, and they don't deliberately take a longer route than necessary to drive up the fare.
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2 hours ago, peteski said:
I also don't get Japanese fascination for fender-mounted side mirrors. I rather have that mirror closer to my eyes than one mounted couple of feet away from me. It must be like peeking through a keyhole.
I also wonder if Uber and Lyft will eventually kill off the "real" taxis in Japan.
There is one major point with fender mirrors on taxis and particularly chauffeur driven cars: the driver does not need to look over the passenger side to check the mirror. You won't find them on regular cars any more.
Uber and Lyft will die in Japan before real taxis do. Even if we put away the legality and liability concerns, the incentive to drive for them is very low, especially in the cities. In here, unless you drive a Tesla you will not be able to breakeven.
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On 3/20/2019 at 3:18 AM, Chuck Kourouklis said:
Leaning on those 1/32 snappers with plastic tires and fold-up interior panels just as they're designed might be problematic, especially now that Fujimi has come out with some 1/24 snap kits that give up practically nothing to the standard Japanese kit sans engine that's otherwise fully detailed. Their FJ is pretty brilliant.
Aoshima is aiming their snappers to first time modellers, parents getting their kids something quick and easy to build and especially people who are getting back into the hobby after decades of hiatus. It seems to be working fine so far.
Fujimi's Car Next series cost more than a full detailed Tamiya kit while Aoshima's are selling for less than 1300 yen, roughly the same as two bowls of ramen. They are in entirely different markets.
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On 3/15/2019 at 1:56 PM, niteowl7710 said:
Aoshima has turned into the Round2 of Japan. They've only made two new tool kits in the past 2 years (ProBox and R34 Sedan) everything else has been reissues of existing tooling into new kit marketing lineups, for...2...years. The LB R35s are modified reissues which there are now 5 of pushing the limits of interest for pretty much everyone. The most recent Huracan and Pagani versions were kits planned several years ago.
You are discounting the line of six all new 1/32 snap kits they released since the end of 2017, which appears to be one of their upcoming focus.
Still, releasing 2-3 new 1/24 molds every 2-3 years is not bad for a 2nd tier manufacturer like Aoshima. And for many of the reissues, they are able to bundle new parts to make them interesting (like the front lip for the AE86 Trueno and the aero bumper for the upcoming Initial D S13 Silvia).
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19 hours ago, Scalper said:
Ok goal for this weekend is to have this completed.
Should I add a screaming chicken to the hood ?
If you ask me, the screaming chicken is too cheesy for anything other than the equally cheesy 2nd gen.
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On 4/3/2019 at 12:06 AM, niteowl7710 said:
Just checked my Ford GT and it says "Made in the Phillipines" on it, so obviously that outsourcing continues then.
I wouldn't call it outsourcing, it is their own facility that they started in 1994. Used to be that the newest kits were molded in Japan and after they became 2-3 years old they got shipped to the Philippines for periodic reissue. I guess their work is good enough that even new tools are molded there now.
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8 hours ago, Rob Hall said:
I'm not sure if Dragon is still around..
Dragon is alive and well in the military world, although they seem to be lost in their direction after the daughter took over the business a few years ago. Diversification into the miniature toy business did not work out and they have closed up all their local retail stores, leaving only one outlet shop. There was also a nasty fallout with their long term partner Hasegawa over cross wholesale distribution agreements.
The Dragon line of E36 M3, 318ti and touring cars were collaboration with Hasegawa. The main chassis sprues were from Hasegawa's sedan kit and the model specific parts were tooled by Dragon. As they have completely pulled out of the model car business in the early 2000's and the fact that they depend on Hasegawa for 1/2 of the kit's content, there is almost no chance for them to be re-issued.
Revell made their own 325i sedan street car with engine, which spawned the Alpina version. They have also reboxed Dragon's versions of the E36 which are curb side.
Tamiya reboxed Revell's 325i sedan street car in the early 90's for the Japanese market only to compete with Hasegawa. That and the 850i were pulled out of the catalog soon after.
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Right now I am far more excited by Beemax's announcement.
https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1318421358299394&id=139351649539710
Really looking forward to that A4.
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40 minutes ago, Chuck Kourouklis said:
'Fraid that's the way it's looking. No listing in the USA catalog section yet...
Am I the only one who hates the standard US model kit box where they guarantee the body would warp by cramming it with the sprues in a single plastic bag and stuffing the whole shebang into a box that is barely too small?
Glad they made the Cuda AAR. Even better it is released by ROG. That means I might actually be able to get one in my LHS without the ridiculous shipping charges.
Nissan Bluebird U12 SSS ATTESA Limited (U12)
in Car Kit News & Reviews
Posted
My guess for the next variation would be the rally homologation model SSS-R with hood scoop and grille mounted fog lights.