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Fujimi McLaren F1 GTR Le Mans short tail - how bad is it?


Ben Brown

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Since Aoshima never graced us with a short tail F1 GTR, how bad is the race version of the Fujimi kit? I’ve become infatuated with the dark blue Gulf car. 😎  I haven’t found much about the kit, other than a site where a builder lowered the ride height and extended the side panels downward a little. Is there anything else that needs to be fixed? I’m okay with the fact it’s a curbside kit, so I’m not concerned about a lack of engine detail.

 

Thanks!

 

Ben

Edited by Ben Brown
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I built it and the longtail version a while ago and to be honest I found them to be pretty good myself. Sure if you're a nit picker, maybe there are a few things you'd change. But for me, I didn't mind. The kits built very easily and made nice models. So to answer your question, in my opinion, they're not bad at all..

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46 minutes ago, Ben Brown said:

Thanks for the reply! I guess my limiting factor will be tracking down some Tabu Design decals for it. They’re as rare as the real car. 

 

Ben

Depends if you're set on the Gulf car? I have some beautiful Harrods decals for the short tail, would make for a stunning model...

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That Harrod's car is pretty! I appreciate your offer, but I've got my heart set on the blue and silver #24 Gulf car. Sticking to that might make it a little harder for me to add to my already-too-large stash. 😁

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1 hour ago, Ben Brown said:

That Harrod's car is pretty! I appreciate your offer, but I've got my heart set on the blue and silver #24 Gulf car. Sticking to that might make it a little harder for me to add to my already-too-large stash. 😁

Ok no problem. I'll keep an eye out for the Gulf decals for you 😀

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i have built both the Fujimi GT-R long tail and the Aoshima Long Tail. I can tell you that the fujimi was not only terrible but wrong with many aspects. To begin with the fact that the long tail is a mix of kits from the long tail, the short tail and the road version. It has the long tail, the front nose from the short tail and the rear view mirrors in the cockpit taken from the road version. The race version obviously doesn't have any rear view mirror in the cockpit simply because it has no rear window. And the height from the ground is ridicously high. Higher than a fiat Panda.

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3 hours ago, fet_thunderdome said:

i have built both the Fujimi GT-R long tail and the Aoshima Long Tail. I can tell you that the fujimi was not only terrible but wrong with many aspects. To begin with the fact that the long tail is a mix of kits from the long tail, the short tail and the road version. It has the long tail, the front nose from the short tail and the rear view mirrors in the cockpit taken from the road version. The race version obviously doesn't have any rear view mirror in the cockpit simply because it has no rear window. And the height from the ground is ridicously high. Higher than a fiat Panda.

It all depends what you want from the kit. It was perfectly good for what I wanted, certainly not terrible in my honest opinion. The fit was good and when finished it looked like a reasonable representation of the real thing to me...

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22 minutes ago, Steve Noble said:

It all depends what you want from the kit. It was perfectly good for what I wanted, certainly not terrible in my honest opinion. The fit was good and when finished it looked like a reasonable representation of the real thing to me...

the aoshima is way way better..

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This is the Fujimi Longtail. I built as the Loctite version. It was plenty good enough for me. Just something I wanted to build quickly and easily and put on the shelf. Sure, Aoshima kit is better, but for me it didn't matter so much..

 

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Edited by Steve Noble
Replace photos to remove photobucket logo..
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2 hours ago, Steve Noble said:

This is the Fujimi Longtail. I built as the Loctite version. It was plenty good enough for me. Just something I wanted to build quickly and easily and put on the shelf. Sure, Aoshima kit is better, but for me it didn't matter so much..

 

Steve, how did you apply the number and flag decals on the front fender louvers?

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1 minute ago, Codger said:

Steve, how did you apply the number and flag decals on the front fender louvers?

I applied the decals in the correct position with no decal solvents at all. Then I left them to dry for 24 hours. After this time they will be attached/stuck to the top points of the louvres but the decal will be skin tight and flat. Next take a brand new blade and cut the decal where the open part of the louvres are. Once you have cut the decal you can apply your chosen decal softener, I used Daco strong version, with a soft flat brush. Work the decal into the grooves and reapply more solvent if necessary. Repeat until the decal is fully folded into the louvres. If you do get any small areas that are not perfect you can use a fine brush and some white paint to simply touch in. That's basically how I did them, hope it helps..

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4 minutes ago, Ben Brown said:

That looks great, Steve! Thanks for the tip about applying the decal over the louvre.

 

Ben

Thanks, appreciate your comment. I really don't know why the Fujimi kit gets such a bad press. Sure, maybe it's not perfect and could use a few tweaks. But for me I was more than happy with the look, sit and general fit of parts and stuff..

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I have noticed that Fujimi kits get a bad press frequently.

In my opinion, a reasonable facsimile of the real thing can be built.

So many people seem to slate them for an unrealistically high ride height. Again, that's not been my experience.

 

Just my six-penn'th.

 

Cheers, Alan.

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The right height and the lower side sills are the only specifics I’ve seen, both of which are easily fixed. Every other mention of the kit is “it’s terrible,” without saying why. I’m looking forward to building it just to see what the fuss is about. 😁

 

Ben

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hi Carl,

 

Thanks for your kind offer, but I found one just last Sunday. I made the mistake of checking out BNA Model World’s web site and they had one on sale for almost 40% off. So much for reducing the size of my stash!

 

Ben

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Hi Carl,

 

Thanks for your kind offer, but I found one just last Sunday. I made the mistake of checking out BNA Model World’s web site and they had one on sale for almost 40% off. So much for reducing the size of my stash!

 

Ben

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Ben, no worries. BNA sure has a great collection of stuff. I order from them from time to time even though they're on the opposite side of the world from me. 

 

If you really want a great kit of the shorttail GTR though, check out the Model Factory Hiro versions. They're stunning in their detail. 

 

Carl

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