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forthcoming Italeri ex Fujimi


Paul J

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Noticed on the Hannants site  future releases section  Mig 21 and Alpha jet to 1/72. Alpha priced at a penny short of £30..00. Both must be ex Fujimi.

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So that's where the 1/72 Italeri F-4K comes from, presumably also to be around £30 a box...

 

https://www.hannants.co.uk/search/index.php?adv=1&product_category_id=&product_division_id=&manufacturer_id=&product_type_id=all_aircraft_kits&code=&scale_id=956&keyword_search=Phantom+FG.1&setPerPage=25&sort=0&search_direction=asc&save_search_name=&save_search=

 

Is there any reason still to buy the Fujimi/Italeri instead of the Airfix?

 

Tony 

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1 hour ago, Paul J said:

Noticed on the Hannants site  future releases section  Mig 21 and Alpha jet to 1/72. Alpha priced at a penny short of £30..00. Both must be ex Fujimi.

 

The Alpha is 1/48th and is the old ESCI kit

 

5 minutes ago, tony.t said:

 

Is there any reason still to buy the Fujimi/Italeri instead of the Airfix?

 

Tony 

 

In some ways it's a better kit - the engineering is less fussy, the panel lines better and generally the plastic harder. The shapes of the lower rear fuselage as a little out and that means the exhausts are slighty too small, and it doesn't have the options of the AF, but if you don't like dropped control surfaces and folded wings I'd probably choose the Fujimi one

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2 hours ago, Dave Fleming said:

 

 

In some ways it's a better kit - the engineering is less fussy, the panel lines better and generally the plastic harder. The shapes of the lower rear fuselage as a little out and that means the exhausts are slighty too small, and it doesn't have the options of the AF, but if you don't like dropped control surfaces and folded wings I'd probably choose the Fujimi one

With the exception of the decal sheet I would use the word "every" rather than "some."

The later, modified, mouldings of the Fujimi kit allowed for open lower fuselage air intake doors, open air brakes and dropped flaps. I wonder if it will be the K or FG.1 mould: (without/with RWR on fin) and Italeri did their own decal sheet for the Esci C/J they reboxed so it'll be interesting to see what they choose - potentially 43/111 and RN markings.

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17 hours ago, tony.t said:

 

 

Is there any reason still to buy the Fujimi/Italeri instead of the Airfix?

 

Tony 

Not to me.Having built both, I'd definitely go for the Airfix kit every time. I can live with the panel lines and other trivial " issues ". 

Standard of general detail overall is, in my view anyway, better even if the kit engineering is complex.

However, to each their own😊

Allan

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It looks like the RRP for the Phantom FG.1 is £25, obviously priced to compete with Airfix.

 

One thing that maybe a consideration here, the original UK Fujimi early 1990s boxings were superb, especially the crisp panel lines and moldings (and this is where it makes the Airfix look like a toy), however the kit has been constantly reissued in Japan since, so it will be interesting to see how well the almost 30 year old molds have stood up.

Personally I will buy a few of these I think, just hoping the decals will be good, which I think the modern Italeri ones are.

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The Fujimi FG.1 was the subject of a BM review just a few years back. Not long thereafter, I purchased a Fujimi kit direct from Japan and can honestly say that the mould's finesse has not deteriorated over time.  I was tempted to buy the Airfix kit, however once I saw a few finished examples decided that (IMO) Fujimi's example still looked the better of the two. I would say the Airfix kit scores points when one considers the range of options and excellent decal sheet(s), whilst the Fujimi kit wins out in overall mould quality. Both have their small issues, however will result in great Phantoms once built so it's horses for courses between the two.  Now I find Italeri's pricing a little perplexing, however will probably get another one of these (my 4th) when they hit the local shelves. 

 

Cheers.. Dave   

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Sorry to divert the Italeri repop thread slightly with the FG.1.   I'll shut up after this post. 

 

Thanks for all the perspectives. I have an Airfix 1/72 FG.1 (the panel lines on which do look a little unrefined) so I will very likely get the 1/72 Italeri for direct comparison and then decide whether Phantom #3 will be Airfix or Italeri-Fujimi. 

In actual fact, that may be determined more by which is closer to the Airfix Buccaneer in terms of surface finish, as I very much want to build a gaggle of jets from Ark Royal. 

 

Tony 

 

 

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1 hour ago, 71chally said:

Having got all three I would say that the Airfix Bucc is closer to the Fujimi Phantom in finesse.

Being in the same boat, I'd agree with that assessment. I'd imagine some of the etch/resin etc recently produced for the Airfix Phantom could be adapted for the Fujimi without too much effort. Certainly something I'll be trying in the near future.

 

Mark.

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Comparing Airfix to Fujimi pretty much sums what is wrong with Airfix today, to have 30 year old kit better new tooled one ( except one innacuracy) is astounding, as much as i love Airfix in my opion just shows how relatively low tooling standards can be easily surpassed.

Same goes for Buccaneer, best yet but will be easily surpassed by anyone deciding to tackle the subject properly.

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50 minutes ago, Thomas V. said:

Comparing Airfix to Fujimi pretty much sums what is wrong with Airfix today, to have 30 year old kit better new tooled one ( except one innacuracy) is astounding, as much as i love Airfix in my opion just shows how relatively low tooling standards can be easily surpassed.

Same goes for Buccaneer, best yet but will be easily surpassed by anyone deciding to tackle the subject properly.

Just wondering since I still have to buy Airfix Phantom, what's wrong with Fujimi kit ( I mean the updated tooling nor the first edition)

 

Luigi

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11 minutes ago, Silverkite said:

Just wondering since I still have to buy Airfix Phantom, what's wrong with Fujimi kit ( I mean the updated tooling nor the first edition)

 

Luigi

Very little. To me the Airfix kit has only 2 advantages. First is the decal sheet and secondly the all through intakes. However, the latter are poorly engineered and affect fit on the rest of the kit. The moulding of the windscreen is as fitting a front panel it and does not fit well.The worst part of the Airfix kit are the appallingly deep panel lines, literally deeper than the real thing.

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52 minutes ago, Silverkite said:

Just wondering since I still have to buy Airfix Phantom, what's wrong with Fujimi kit ( I mean the updated tooling nor the first edition)

 

Luigi

Lower part of the fuselage just before the burner cans should be flat, Fujimi molded it with slight curve towards the exhaust, cannot be fully remedied but with few swipes of sand paper it won't be noticable, other than that Fujimi ( in its last incarnation from 1991 ) is far superior  to Airfix.

Edited by Thomas V.
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1 hour ago, Thomas V. said:

Lower part of the fuselage just before the burner cans should be flat, Fujimi molded it with slight curve towards the exhaust, cannot be fully remedied but with few swipes of sand paper it won't be noticable, other than that Fujimi ( in its last incarnation from 1991 ) is far superior  to Airfix.

 

My theory behind that is because they moulded the original exhaust cans as parallel, they took the dimension from the outer end, which resulted in the engine outlets being too narrow, so they curved up the fuselage end to compensate

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40 minutes ago, Dave Fleming said:

 

My theory behind that is because they moulded the original exhaust cans as parallel, they took the dimension from the outer end, which resulted in the engine outlets being too narrow, so they curved up the fuselage end to compensate

Most likely, aside that they made big changes in cockpit from initial release, having both Airfix and Fujimi in my hands few minutes ago, still gobsmacked to see devolution of tooling benchmark Airfix decided to go for.

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6 hours ago, iainpeden said:

Very little. To me the Airfix kit has only 2 advantages. First is the decal sheet and secondly the all through intakes. However, the latter are poorly engineered and affect fit on the rest of the kit. The moulding of the windscreen is as fitting a front panel it and does not fit well.The worst part of the Airfix kit are the appallingly deep panel lines, literally deeper than the real thing.

 

So they pulled an Harrier FRS1 without its errors

 

5 hours ago, Thomas V. said:

Lower part of the fuselage just before the burner cans should be flat, Fujimi molded it with slight curve towards the exhaust, cannot be fully remedied but with few swipes of sand paper it won't be noticable, other than that Fujimi ( in its last incarnation from 1991 ) is far superior  to Airfix.

 

I just have box 72183 FGR2 I doubt they changed anything more during the years, so for lower fuselage part you mean part C40 or the two halves? Both halves are kinda flat and straight and the curvature it's only present on part C40 and starts straight at the beginning of Sparrow's well

 

Luigi

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 10/7/2019 at 10:39 PM, Silverkite said:

 

So they pulled an Harrier FRS1 without its errors

 

 

I just have box 72183 FGR2 I doubt they changed anything more during the years, so for lower fuselage part you mean part C40 or the two halves? Both halves are kinda flat and straight and the curvature it's only present on part C40 and starts straight at the beginning of Sparrow's well

 

Luigi

Sorry Luigi for the late answer, yes that is the part.

 

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1 hour ago, TEMPESTMK5 said:

Good afternoon

I hope that Italeri plans to rebox the Fujimi A4 Skyhawk family in the near future ..

 

Patrice  

I hope, but since they have both their own and ESCI toolings-very much doubt it. Cutlasses would be nice.

 

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