Gunze Sangyo Messerschmitt

[bbowser]

Has anyone built this kit?  I don't much care about the goofy figures, just wonder if the car is anything close to accurate?  There is also a Fiat 500 in the series.

 

[Justin Porter]

The kit, if I'm not mistaken, dates back to the very well loved Gunze Sangyo High Tech series and while I doubt it has some of the white metal and photoetch parts that featured in those kits it ought to be a nice build all the same. 

 

Also, as an aside, the characters from that release are part of a very long running Japanese cartoon called Lupin the Third which is about a master thief and his accomplices who pull off daring heists across the globe. It's a VERY car heavy series including an episode where the titular Lupin enters the Monaco Gran Prix driving a privateer Tyrrell P34(!) in order to pull off a casino heist.

[bbowser]

Great info, thanks Justin.  I wasn't aware of the high-tech kit.

[Atmobil]

I once had the double kit with the Messerschmitt and the Isetta but I sold it. I remeber that it looked like a good kit and I regret selling it now.

[Rob Hall]

15 minutes ago, Atmobil said:

I once had the double kit with the Messerschmitt and the Isetta but I sold it. I remeber that it looked like a good kit and I regret selling it now.

I think I saw that in a hobby shop somewhere once I thought it looked neat.   Gunze-Sangyo hasn't released a model car kit in many years, I guess they are out of business (at least w/ car kits)> 

[Daddyfink]

That's funny, I bought the kits for the figures! 

I have the Messerschmitt and Isetta kit with no figures

[RancheroSteve]

12 hours ago, bbowser said:

Has anyone built this kit?  I don't much care about the goofy figures, just wonder if the car is anything close to accurate?  There is also a Fiat 500 in the series.

Yes, both of them in fact! Here's the Messerschmitt from the double kit, but it's the same as the one on your box, but without the figures:

I also have the High Tech version, but un-built yet.

And here's the Fiat with figures from the animated movie:

Of course they're tiny (as are the real things), so they're fiddly and Gunze does things a little differently, but with patience they build up nicely. Not overly detailed, but well-proportioned to my eyes, and kind of a lark to build. 

Watch the famous chase scene from "Castle of Caliostro" if you have three minutes to spare: https://vimeo.com/39790868

[Pete J.]

Ok, I still have the high tech versions of both of these kits but was unaware of the figures.  That is cool.  Learn something new everyday in the hobby!

[RancheroSteve]

There are also Gunze versions of the 2CV and Volkswagen Beetle with figures.

[samdiego]

I've built the Hi-tech version shown in Justin Porter's post. IMHO the metal parts complicate the build to the point of aggravation. I'd much rather have an all plastic kit.

[Daddyfink]

They made some really nice figures and I wish they would have sold them separately. I have the Fiat and missed out on the Volkswagen

 

[Justin Porter]

1 hour ago, Daddyfink said:

They made some really nice figures and I wish they would have sold them separately. I have the Fiat and missed out on the Volkswagen

 

If I remember right, the figures from that series were based on character designs done for GS by Kenichi Sonoda, whose most famous work was the insanely car heavy comic Gunsmith Cats, which featured a pair of lady bounty hunters from Chicago whose ride was a '67 Shelby GT500. lol

[Atmobil]

22 hours ago, Rob Hall said:

I think I saw that in a hobby shop somewhere once I thought it looked neat.   Gunze-Sangyo hasn't released a model car kit in many years, I guess they are out of business (at least w/ car kits)> 

They have re-released the 56 VW Beetle and the Karmann Ghia in later years but now under the Mr- Hobby name. I bought them quite cheap from Hobby Search (about a 1000Yen I think)
I found them under GSI Creos on Hobby Search now: https://www.1999.co.jp/eng/list/2304/0/1?Make=GSI+Creos
But it looks like they are sold out at the moment.

[forthlin]

On ‎12‎/‎13‎/‎2018 at 6:23 PM, Daddyfink said:

That's funny, I bought the kits for the figures! 

I have the Messerschmitt and Isetta kit with no figures

[II built this kit a while back. My Brother got it for me at Goodwill for $1.00. 

Edited December 15, 2018 by forthlin

[robertw]

I built both kits from the double set and while they don't come with the PE from the hi tec kits they are accurate, fit together well and are interesting models for your display shelf. Gunze did a whole set of small English sports cars in that same series and I've managed to hunt down most of them. I'd love to see that whole series out again and would buy and built them again. They are that much fun to build.

[dbostream]

Yeah that would be great, is there a list of all the cars they made in that series?

[robertw]

Here is a list of the ones I've found:

Austin Healy Mk I Bug Eye Sprite

TR-3

Lotus S3 Elan

'65 XKE cv

Mess KR 200 (3 wheel version)

BMW Isetta 300 (3wheel version)

Citroen 2CV

Karman Ghia (with cv & hdt)

Fiat 500 (1st Gen)

 

They also did some hi-tech Ferraris and some of the above may also have been issued in that series but they were above my pay grade. I've been quite happy building these basic kits and since I'm not into contest building I'm quite happy having the basic kits sitting on my display shelves.

[RancheroSteve]

The Triumph TR3 comes in both stock and racing versions, and there's a TR2 Le Mans. There's also an Alfa Romeo 1750 GTV (both High-Tech street version and a racing version) and several versions of the GTA.

Edited December 22, 2018 by RancheroSteve

[dbostream]

I have the Austin Healey Sprite and Triumph TR3, looking to buy at least the Elan if I can find a good deal on ebay.

[Mr.Zombie]

I built this kit! It was in fact my only finished model in 2018! 

It’s a very good representation of the actual car, beautiful proportions, crisp detail. In fact, I love it so much that I just recently purchased another one (high tech version this time around though). 

But be aware that it’s a demanding kit that requires a fair bit more patience than you might expect from the size and piece count.

[samdiego]

I started the High tech Messer Cabriolet years ago. It's a bit of a bear. Seems over-complicated to me. I'm betting the lower tech kit is easier to finish

[russosborne]

Personally I wouldn't mind just the figures of the women. 

Russ

[unclescott58]

17 minutes ago, russosborne said:

Personally I wouldn't mind just the figures of the women. 

Russ

My thinking exactly. Especially the girls from the Beetle kit. The trouble is I don't need or want another Beetle in my collection.