Fujimi F-18

[DutyCat]

I am hacking away at this thing and I have mixed feelings about it. It has some excellent features...finely engraved panel lines, PE set for the cockpit, weighted wheels, and radar. But, Jeesh, it has about a third more parts than it needs. Fujimi really went out of their way to give you your money's worth of build time. The fact that it has so many body sections means you have to be really on your toes as you assemble them to prevent misalignment. Not everything has a locater pin. The kit had to have huge tooling costs because of the parts number, and that is reflected in the kit price (I think about $38 retail, although you can get them cheaper as they don't move well at shops.) I have heard that there is a nose profile issue with this kit, but I will have to reserve judgment on that until it is finished. Fujimi obviously greenlighted a "whatever it takes' checkbook approach in an attempt to engineer the definitive 1/72 Hornet. They clearly wanted to blow the Hasegawa kit out of the water. Unfortunately, it costs twice what a Hase kit cost and the Hase kit, although the it has some shortcomings, supposedly has a more accurate profile and is good enough everywhere else. If Fujimi had a little more accurate shape, and had put their money into a dropped flaps and folding wing option instead of increasing the overall parts count, then it might have made a huge difference in the market history of this kit.

I have a Fujimi D model, a old Hase A model, and the new Academy C in my stash. The Academy appears to be the best kit of the bunch. It ought to be as it is brand new and they had their 32nd effort to base it on. However, they missed their chance to include the folding wing and dropped flaps option. Disappointing, as it is such an obvious thing at this point.

[phantom]

I think I might try building all 3 types at once, after I finish my current Phantom. Your right however, I also feel the Fujimi is way overdone in the parts count.

[thegoodsgt]

IIRC, the Fujimi kit features intacke trunking, right? I suspect one could graft them into a Hasegawa or, now, the Academy kit.

[Skull Leader]

I've been browsing through the hobbytown USA in Wichta, Kansas since august of 2004 and they've had the SAME Fujimi F-18 there ever since... the $40.00 price tag is starting to show it's wear....

[DutyCat]

IIRC, the Fujimi kit features intacke trunking, right? I suspect one could graft them into a Hasegawa or, now, the Academy kit.

Well, personally, I could do without the intake trunking as it is practically impossible to eliminate the seam in them. I didn't even try. I painted the insides first and then just put them together. Short of a "seamless suckers" type intake, I prefer, shallower, one piece intake trunks that you just paint the back wall black and be done with it. The action on a model jet is not in peering down an intake with a microscope. In fact, I am even thinking about ripping them back out before I put the front lips on. I do all of this work eliminating seams on the body, and then, 1/8 if an inch inside the intake lip, is a seam stretching back two inches.

[DutyCat]

I've been browsing through the hobbytown USA in Wichta, Kansas since august of 2004 and they've had the SAME Fujimi F-18 there ever since... the $40.00 price tag is starting to show it's wear....

Well, it was given to me by a buddy who started it, then decided it was too much of a bother and he would rather build 1/48. The D I mentioned I picked at a show for $20, and it included two resin seats...so I figured it to be a good deal. I think with the new Academy offering, the Fujimi kits will rot on the shelves at the price they are asking for them, unless some one has to have that radar. I am going to do mine in that VFA-86 camo job and pop the nose open, displaying the radar. I am also going to try to fold the wings (don't even ask). If you read the Scribe-N Cut thread, you know I at least have the dropped flaps problem licked.

Edited May 26, 2008 by DutyCat

[kenlilly106]

$38 MSRP for a 1/72 Hornet?

No wonder it doesn't sell well, that's close to what you'd pay for the stock Hasegawa 1/48 kit.

You mentioned the multiple body sections, how did they break it down exactly?

Ken

[MickeyThickey]

http://www.luckymodel.com/scale.aspx?item_no=FU%2072133 shows the breakdown.

And yes, the kit has *massive* and uncorrectable shape issues. It's really Starfixian in it's wrongness.

[habu2]

It's really Starfixian in it's wrongness.

That there is sig-line material...