Fujimi Enthusiast Series Kits. Still the rabbit to chase.

[Rob Hall]

I have a few of them in my stash, mostly 911s and Ferraris...would like to see some of the 356s reissued..

[Greg Myers]

2 hours ago, WizPorsche944 said:

Guys lets keep this thread going, I love these kits !!

Don't let casey hear you say that?

[randyc]

I look occasionally to see if I can afford another one.   I almost have the skillz to build one again.  My son actually volunteered to take my 911 Rally to put on display in his first apartment.  I was honored.  

[niteowl7710]

KA Models was preparing a rather over-the-top P/E upgrade set for the 356s at one point in late 2018.  I had presumed that meant those were going to be reissued, because at that point - race car specific variants aside - Fujimi had reissued all of the base kits, and many of their spin-off versions (like the line of 911s, Countachs, etc) for all of the original Enthusiast Series.  Several were in the Circuit Wolf Series, and a number were reissued in rather plain jane (almost anti-box art) boxes with no mention of the fact they were the ES kits.

[Bugatti Fan]

I have jut the one, a Fujimi Enthusiast series Ferrari Daytona Coupe from a model shop closing down sale many years ago. It looks a fantastic kit with plenty of well moulded parts. I also have some Robustelli photo etched windscreen wipers for it and some other detail photo etched logos etc. Another thing I came across was a set of self adhesive scale car badges that were actually made in relief and look very realistic.

Keep looking in the box every now and again but getting no further as I have been doing some scratch builds over the last few years. Maybe one day I will get around to building it. I have a Fisher Bugatti Racing Aeroplane kit on the go at present. Very detailed resin kit.

[afx]

Used the engine from a Fujimi 911 kit (along with other bits and pieces) to upgrade the Revel 914/6 kit.  

Edited August 28, 2020 by afx

[afx]

You can swap parts between the various Porsche 911 kits to create variants that Fujimi never produced. 

Edited August 28, 2020 by afx

[356nut]

Hey everyone, I think this is my first post here. Sorry to bump this thread yet again, but I’m really interested in the conversation and just wanted to add to it and share my obsessive collection with you all. I found my first Fujimi EM when I was 11 in a toy store on clearance back in 1993, on clearance, for $5.99 after months of searching for a Porsche 356 Speedster model. however, this one was the Carrera 2 Cabriolet. Close, but not the Speedster. Regardless, it was a great find. I had no idea what I was getting into. I had built quite a few model cars but never one of this skill level and challenge. I picked up a few of these EM kits about 10 years later when I got back into the hobby for about a year or so. Well, here I am, 40 years old, and the model building bug has bit me full force again. My stash of Fujimi kits will probably take me until I’m old and retired before they’ll be completed. The first one I did recently took me about 10 months to complete with my life’s schedule. I love these kits and enjoy the challenge, however, there are definitely a few things that really annoy me. First, the hood and deck lid hinges. Has anyone been able to successfully build one of these 356 EMs using the out-of-the-box hinge system? The front hood ones, especially. They simply don’t fit in the holes provided. I have to cut the holes larger every time and even then, they still don’t fit just right. If anyone has figured out a trick here, would you please share it with me? The interior door panels never seem to fit right either. The bodies are never easy to fit to the completed chassis with the 356 kits. I haven’t really had an issue with the 911 body to chassis though. I’ve found that following the printed instructions, in order, causes many fit issues so I’ve resolved to build certain parts out of order. Lots of mold lines that have to be sanded down before painting but I don’t mind that. I guess I haven’t seen enough real Porsches up close to be bothered by the ride height issue that many have talked about. 

Anyway, as far as my collection/stash, I have every 356 in the series except one… the 356B hardtop cabriolet, #34. I know of one guy who has actually seen and held this kit. Have any of you seen it? I can’t even find anything about it online. It seems to be a unicorn kit. If anyone has it or has a picture of the box, would you be so kind to share it with me? And if anyone has it and would be willing to part with it, I’d pay good money for it. Here’s my collection… there also a blue ‘85 911 that’s currently going through a restoration process so it’s not photo worthy.I especially like my “black beauties”, one of which was a very custom job based on the Porsche 356C “Speedster” from Beverly Hills, 90210 - the car that sparked my Porsche obsession 30 years ago. ?

Edited September 5, 2022 by 356nut
Auto correct error found

[Ace-Garageguy]

1 hour ago, 356nut said:

...Anyway, as far as my collection/stash, I have every 356 in the series except one… the 356B hardtop cabriolet, #34. I know of one guy who has actually seen and held this kit. Have any of you seen it? I can’t even find anything about it online. It seems to be a unicorn kit. If anyone has it or has a picture of the box, would you be so kind to share it with me? 

Fujimi EM 34 is a Hartge BMW 6-series   

This one, which appears in your stash photo, EM 31 or 33, is essentially a cab kit with a clear roof that has to be worked in and painted.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/353513819084                  

 

   

Here's a Super 90 custom conversion built from a cabriolet:

https://www.modellversium.de/galerie/12-autos/8761-porsche-356-b-super-90-hardtop-coupe-fujimi.html

 

Edited November 21, 2021 by Ace-Garageguy
CLARITY and ACCURACY

[356nut]

Well, that is so, yes, probably when Fujimi reissued the EM series under different numbers, they changed #34 to the BMW, but if you look in the inside of the old EM boxes, #34 is, indeed, the 356B Hardtop Cabriolet - different than the 356B/C Hardtop Cabriolet (#33) which I have. 

[Ace-Garageguy]

17 minutes ago, 356nut said:

Well, that is so, yes, probably when Fujimi reissued the EM series under different numbers, they changed #34 to the BMW, but if you look in the inside of the old EM boxes, #34 is, indeed, the 356B Hardtop Cabriolet - different than the 356B/C Hardtop Cabriolet (#33) which I have. 

Is it supposedly a one-piece body, and how old are we talking about?

As an aside, back in the '70s I had a gorgeous rust-free Karmann B hardtop shell (T5), acquired with no engine or gearbox. The plan was to swap all the pristine SC guts from a "restored" but structurally ruined SC cab, but the SC burned to the ground when a moron was working on it, and I lost the hardtop body due to the machinations of an unscrupulous business partner.

The T5 started life as a cabriolet, with the rounded hood of the 356A and B series cars, while the T6 was built on a dedicated line, and used the slightly squared off hood like the C series.

I'd kinda like to build a model of what might have been...so if there's a true T5 kit floating around out there, I'm quite interested.

 

Edited November 21, 2021 by Ace-Garageguy

[356nut]

Man! What a tragic loss that was!!! I’m sorry to hear that! Here’s a photo of the inside of one of my kits from 1989…

[WizPorsche944]

356Nut those builds look outstanding ! I have 3 of those kits myself to build.

Edited November 22, 2021 by WizPorsche944

[WizPorsche944]

My favorite line of models ever !  Dont forget you can get some as reboxed Testors versions too.  I have most of these except I have never seen the Ferrari 365GTB Racing kit.

Edited November 22, 2021 by WizPorsche944

[afx]

2 hours ago, WizPorsche944 said:

My favorite line of models ever !  Dont forget you can get some as reboxed Testors versions too.  I have most of these except I have never seen the Ferrari 365GTB Racing kit.

The 365GTB Racing was never issued to the best of my knowledge, only the street going version.

Information I complied on the EM kits and variations:

https://race-car-models.proboards.com/thread/1173/fujimi-enthusiast-kits

Edited November 22, 2021 by afx

[WizPorsche944]

27 minutes ago, afx said:

The 365GTB Racing was never issued to the best of my knowledge, only the street going version.

Information I complied on the EM kits and variations:

https://race-car-models.proboards.com/thread/1173/fujimi-enthusiast-kits

They did issue a Ferrari 288GTO race version. I think Pioneer sponsor.

Edited November 22, 2021 by WizPorsche944

[Keavdog]

I built one of the 356 convertibles (don't recall which one) way back for my girlfriends step father.  He owned 3 of them.  He was 6'4" and looked hilarious driving them.  Primarily an airplane builder back then, I was amazed at the included parts and details - I didn't know what I had but really enjoyed building it.  I would surely build another in this line if I came across one.

[356nut]

7 hours ago, afx said:

The 365GTB Racing was never issued to the best of my knowledge, only the street going version.

Information I complied on the EM kits and variations:

https://race-car-models.proboards.com/thread/1173/fujimi-enthusiast-kits

That’s awesome, thanks for compiling that list with the photos! There’s also the 911 turbo Targa that was number 37 but never shown on the inside of the boxes.

[356nut]

On 11/22/2021 at 9:18 AM, WizPorsche944 said:

356Nut those builds look outstanding ! I have 3 of those kits myself to build.

Thanks a lot! There are definitely numerous imperfections but, overall, I’m happy with the way they turned out. I have been doing some restorations on a couple other ones that I built about 18 years ago or so. I thought they looked pretty good at the time but, now that I’m a little more detail savvy, I realize that I could’ve done much better so there’s some reworking in process.

I have had a couple of the testers box versions. Actually, I have my eye on one right now. if only I wasn’t so OCD about collecting all of the Fujimi versions! Something about the box art just gets me.

Edited September 5, 2022 by 356nut
Autocorrect error

[Ace-Garageguy]

14 hours ago, 356nut said:

...if only I wasn’t so OCD about collecting all of the Fujimi versions! Something about the box art just gets me.

I know what you mean. You've got me on the hunt for the elusive B hardtop now.    

Thanks for the shot of the catalog list inside the box, too. Apparently the unicorn is a real animal after all.  

Your models do look great, by the way. Certainly an inspiration to me to build a few when I have more time.

[afx]

[Exotics_Builder]

I've gotten a bunch of these over the years, especially early on.  Never liked the style of the Countach, so never got any.  Sold a few off but still have some to build (more than one of a kit in a few cases).

[Rob Hall]

I have a few of the reissues of 911 versions, Dinos and Ferraris in my stash, never had any of the 356s.

[afx]

On 11/22/2021 at 12:26 PM, WizPorsche944 said:

They did issue a Ferrari 288GTO race version. I think Pioneer sponsor.

I believe only the race decals are included, the rest of the kit being stock.

[1959scudetto]

The same goes for the EM Lancia Stratos kit: box stock with rally decals (Chardonnet in my case) - I wanted to apply these decals onto a Hasegawa rally Stratos and found out, that Fujimi's body is much wider than Hasegawa's: I had to trim the decals and had big troubles placing them on the Hasegawa body.