Fujimi announcement and more Aoshima wheels

[crispy]

Fujimi announced a Ferrari 458 for pre-order at HWJ.com.

Aoshima has 4 new sets of wheels, although they all seem like re-paints of previous ones, but still must haves.

Aoshima is also releasing:

Lamborghini LP400 w/exclusive p.e. kit

C-West Lancer Evo X

ANd a few other kits.

Don't forget Tamiya's Lotus 79 (although HWJ lists it as Hasegawa)

Chris

[Greg Cullinan]

Chris,do you have any recommendation on where to purchase the Aoshima wheels?

[crispy]

Chris,do you have any recommendation on where to purchase the Aoshima wheels?

Greg, I always purchase my wheels from HWJ.com. The prices are a few yen cheaper than at HLJ. Some people feel the shipping is higher at HWJ, but I haven't seen that in my experience. I've never had a problem with HWJ and they always respond to questions in a timely manner. I've all but stopped buying at HLJ. Their prices aren't as good.

Chris

[camaroman]

I have had good sucess with this guy on Japanese stuff...

http://www.kenncer.com/index.php

[Peter Lombardo]

Chris, not that it is a big deal, but the Lotus 79 is a Hasegawa kit. Both Hasegawa and Tamiya are to be releasing kits of the same car, in the same scale (1/20)at about the same time.....very strange. I know there is not a lot of interest on this forum for these cars, but the F1M site I belong to has a lot of buzz about this kit. Most feel that Tamiya is not that interested in 1/20 scale F1 cars any more. The Hasegawa kit has more options and detail (they all think) than the Tamiya one. And based on the two Ferrari 312T and 312T2 releases, Hasegawa has their act together. I just pre ordered the Hasegawa kit for a July delivery. One more thing, there is a 15% discount if you pre order on HLJ.com now till 5/11/2010

Edited April 14, 2010 by Peter Lombardo

[Zoom Zoom]

Shizuoka show in May, here is a list of what is coming out kit-wise:

Aoshima

Mazda Autozam AZ-1　(all new)

Lamborghini Countach LP400 (all new)

C-West Evo-X street

C-West Evo-X racing

Fujimi

Lexus HS250h (all new)

Ferrari 458 (all new)

Abarth 695 Tributo Ferrari

Abarth 500 ESSEESSE

FW14B (British GP) (all new)

Hasegawa

Lotus 79 1978 German GP winner (all new)

Ferrari 312T 1976 Brazil GP winner

Tamiya

Lotus 79 (all new)

Nothing really earth shattering; the 458 will be nice but since Revell AG has one coming it will be interesting to see who gets theirs out first, and how they'll differ. The Revell kit should certainly undercut the Fujimi kit in price, and very likely be full-detail vs. simplified engine compartment in Fujimi.

Lexus? If you mush have one, wait for the 50% off sale. That thing will surely tank.

Lamborghini LP400? Haven't Tamiya & Fujimi already sold enough of these through the years? I love the car, but...

Autozam? I'm a dyed-in-the-wool Mazda fanatic and that one doesn't do anything for me. Especially when the Mazdaspeed3 has been ignored... Or perhaps the car that gave us the 13B, the Mazda RX4.

The only one I'm really interested in is the Abarth Ferrari tribute

[Jon Cole]

Mark (or anyone else who cares to answer), does that vintage Countach tooling from Tamiya seem smaller than 1/24 scale to you? In fact, it seems smaller than 1/25 scale to me. The remains of my first adult built Countach are now parts box fodder, the wheels seem too small to use on anything other than perhaps a Mini... hmmmm... now there's an idea!

[Rob Hall]

A couple items of interest for me, esp. the Lotus 79 and FW14B.

I'd love to see a Lotus 97T tooled up (the Model Factory Hiro version is way too $$$ for me).

[Zoom Zoom]

Mark (or anyone else who cares to answer), does that vintage Countach tooling from Tamiya seem smaller than 1/24 scale to you? In fact, it seems smaller than 1/25 scale to me. The remains of my first adult built Countach are now parts box fodder, the wheels seem too small to use on anything other than perhaps a Mini... hmmmm... now there's an idea!

Scale is fine; Countach is a very small car (aside from width). Wheels are tiny, something I find remarkable every time I see one in person.

There were a few off-brand Countach kits, perhaps one of those in the infamous 1/27 scale?

[Rob Hall]

As far as Countach kits, I have the two Tamiya kits (400, 500S), the two Monogram ones, and an AMT (ESCI rebox). That's enough for me..

[Gray Smith]

Scale is fine; Countach is a very small car (aside from width). Wheels are tiny, something I find remarkable every time I see one in person.

There were a few off-brand Countach kits, perhaps one of those in the infamous 1/27 scale?

After seeing 2 in person I can definitely agree with that...

[crispy]

Thanks Peter. I wasn't sure if it was a typo or not.

I already pre-ordered the Tamiya version. So, if anyone has the Hasegawa version on pre-order I think we'll have to do a parts break down and see which kit is it.

I've always enjoyed Hasegawa's rally car kits. I would rank them right up with a Tamiya kit, and as was brought up, the attention to details. I've only been familiar with Fujimi's 1/20 kits. This will be my first Tamiya in 1/20, but had I known for certain it wasn't a typo I probably would have ordered a Hasegawa kit. We'll have to wait and see.

Whatever the case, I know it's been an expensive year already.

Chris

[Peter Lombardo]

Thanks Peter. I wasn't sure if it was a typo or not.

I already pre-ordered the Tamiya version. So, if anyone has the Hasegawa version on pre-order I think we'll have to do a parts break down and see which kit is it.

I've always enjoyed Hasegawa's rally car kits. I would rank them right up with a Tamiya kit, and as was brought up, the attention to details. I've only been familiar with Fujimi's 1/20 kits. This will be my first Tamiya in 1/20, but had I known for certain it wasn't a typo I probably would have ordered a Hasegawa kit. We'll have to wait and see.

Whatever the case, I know it's been an expensive year already.

Chris

Ok Chris, I pre-ordered the Hasegawa kit, so we can do a comparison review when they arrive. I think in the end, I will also get the Tamiya kit. I have every 1/20 scale F1 kit made by Tamiya, I don't want to have a "hole" in the series now.

[oversteer]

Hi I'm looking for a supplier that offers a good selection of Fujimi and Aoshima wheel sets,does anyone have a link?Anycplaces IN America?

[935k3]

For anyone interested this page Lotus 79 has links to both of the Lotus 79 kits with pics of parts for comparison.

Edited May 16, 2010 by 935k3

[crispy]

Hi I'm looking for a supplier that offers a good selection of Fujimi and Aoshima wheel sets,does anyone have a link?Anycplaces IN America?

Not in my experience Richard.

HLJ and HWJ as well as Hobby Search are about the best places to get the wheels. Thing with Aoshima wheels is you have to order them the minute you see them as they sell out pretty quickly.

Chris

[fumi]

Since I drive a 2010 Mazdaspeed3, I agree with Bob that would have been a much better Mazda subject than that old miniroadster thing.

The Axela isn't doing all that great in Japan, don't hold your breath for a Mazda3 scale kit.

As for the AZ-1, I have a feeling Aoshima will have a whole line of Ita-Sha/Comic variations coming up soon.