The AE86 comparison! (56K = Uh oh)

[turbos86]

Welcome to the AE86 1/24 Fujimi VS Aoshima comparison.

The model kits featured in this thread are:

Fujimi 03657 Toyota Sprinter Trueno 1600GT APEX '83 3door with 4A-GEU engine (MSRP 2800yen)


Aoshima 036747 Toyota Sprinter Trueno AE86 '83 with engine (MSRP 2000yen)


In the following side by side comparison pictures, Fujimi is left/top and Aoshima is right/bottom.

Body


Fujimi's kit was tooled in the 80's and it was originally meant to be a motorized model. Body proportion and lines were hence sacrificed.

Compared with Fujimi's, Aoshima's body is more flat and sleek.



Here you can see Aoshima's body is longer, mainly in the front of the car, to create the longer look. Fujimi molded the front marker lights into the fender, but Aoshima has it as a seperate piece for a more realistic look.



Both companies took similar approach for the rear, with the top part of the tail light molded into the body. This makes is difficult to modify the lights into the later (Kouki) type.

One thing is different on the back is that Aoshima has included the holes for the rear tow hooks.



Side profile shows how Aoshima gave the car a more realistic and sleek look, while Fujimi's look a like toy.

Mud guards are molded on the Fujimi, while Aoshima does not provide them.

Rear water squirter nipple is present on the Aoshima body.

Aoshima has done very well for the side molding. Fujimi's however, felt like someone just slap on a strip of styrene on the side.

By the way, Aoshima's hood has frame details!

Chassis


No competition here, Aoshima wins hands down, even though the oil pan, transmission, exhaust downpipe, catalytic converter, resonator and rear exhaust pipes are molded onto the chassis, the amount of detail still easily suppress Fujimi's effort.



Notice how Aoshima gave depth to the underbody details.

*Missing in both, are the fuel lines.

Tires and Wheels


The only big different for the wheels are the offset; Aoshima's have more positive offset.

Also, Fujimi's rear wheels are wider, for the staggered, or in this case, oversized look.



On the other hand, Fujimi's tires look like it came out of a meseum.

Interior and chassis parts



Here's Fujimi's pieces. Very solid, but lacks fine details.



Aoshima made an effort to produce crisp small parts. Two sets of head rest are included to recreate the Zenki or Kouki seats.



The same with underbody parts, good details. Both power and manual side mirrors are included.

Drive shaft, rear differential and axels are molded as one piece, not on the body for a more real look.



Interior tub and panels are nicely detailed; even the air vents under the front seats are present.



However, there is one big problem. The plastic is very thin. Shown here, looking transparent.



Brakes is one critical component that's missing from the Fujimi kit (due to it originally being a motorized kit, the brakes would get in the way of the gears of the electric motor). Aoshima's brakes and exhaust are nicely chromed. The muffler tip is even angled, just like the real thing.

Decal


Aoshima included both GT-APEX and GT-V decals, as well as decals for digital and analog gauge cluster.

The Japanese licence plate is for the Gunma prefecture. Oh I wonder why



Even though Fujimi also include both digital and analog gauge cluster decals, Aoshima's are more accurate, in both color and design.

Engine

The highlight of both kits.

Fujimi's engine is made of resin, and comes pre-painted.
For pictures: http://www.fujimimokei.com/prod_syosai/86trueno.html
Only the engine and engine stand is supplied, no other engine bay detail is included.



Aoshima's engine is on its own seperate tree. It includes everything visible in the engine bay. The radiator fan is molded onto the back of the radiator, which indicate it as an electric fan. However, all AE86 came with a crank driven fan from the factory. This is a mistake on Aoshima's part.

(*Note: JDM AE86s did not came with OEM oil coolers from factory, therefore there isn't a oil cooler in this kit.)



Side by side comparison of the resin and plastic engine block. In terms of realism, Fujimi's resin engine win by miles.



Three different 4A-GE heads. The MR2 head is actually a supercharged unit, aka 4A-GZE head. Size wise, the resin engine biggest, with the MR2's second, and Aoshima's smallest. Never the less, Aoshima's engine head is the most detailed and in most proper proportion.

Final remark

Buy the Aoshima, unless you don't mind paying more just for the pretty engine.....which in my case, wasn't even painted properly.

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PS: Some of you might of wondered why it took me so long to write this review. Well, HLJ screwed up my shipment, and I had to wait longer than usual. But now, it's all here, and I'm one happy guy


Wahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha

That is all, thanks for reading

[D_LaMz]

dayum thats a lot!

[91p10nizmo]

Great comparison. Thanks for that.

[bhop73]

So you're the reason my LHS is taking so long to get them in stock!

Awesome review.. thanks. I will surely be buying one of these at the end of this month. Takumi will have a proper ride.. hah, hah..

I'm actually surprised about the wheels. Usually (in my opinion) Aoshimas are better. It looks like the Fujimi are more realistic in this case. (assuming the left is Fujimi)

[turbos86]

Agree, what was Aoshima thinking, putting high offset wheels on this car!

And yes, everything on the left belongs to Fujimi.

[Hash_man]

very good review, thanks for this. I was actually trying to decide which to get. And jeeez think you got enough of them?! hahahaha

[willimo]

Very nice comparison. It's really nice to see what's in the Aoshima box before I commit. The Aoshima kit looks just stellar. I hope I can get my hands on them before Aoshima decides to do something silly like stop production. Thanks for the info, and man, are you ever AE86 knowledgeable!

[willimo]

I love how Aoshima used that ugly brown plastic for the interior. It's so 80s Toyota!

[Honoturtle]

Awesome write up!! I will have to buy a few. Will end up making a Fujimi/Aoshima AE86 Coupe hybrid!! =)

[digitalbanzai]

So what are you going to do with 15 kits?

[hirofkd]

Here, I thought I was crazy enough to think of buying three kits, and there you have seven! I was thinking of a tofu delivery vehicle, my friends panda Trueno and a V8 conversion or something. What are you going to do with yours?

[turbos86]

Glad you guys found the information to be useful.

@ digitalbanzai and hirofkd,

I'm planning for a couple Initial D cars, a replica of my daily driver, and the rest will be demo cars of various AE86 tuners (J-blood, Techno Pro Spirits, Crystal Body Yokohama, Ueo style, etc)

[winstona]

Very detailed review, now I know for sure what to get. Thanks!

What are you going to do with so many kits!?

Winston

[Jay!]

*cough*HotStaff*cough*AE86withanF20C*cough*cough*cough*

Oh, jeez. Excuse me...

[7th_skyline]

Originally Posted by turbos86

Agree, what was Aoshima thinking, putting high offset wheels on this car!

My thoughts too - but are the wheels slightly bigger in diameter than the fujimi ones? My Aoshima Jenesis DR30 came with similar looking high offset RS Watanabes which I'm definitely not using, they look ridiculous on the older cars.

At least the stretchwall wheel/tyre sets are a bit easier to get hold of now to rectify the lameness in the wheel department. Fujimi's Watanabe wheels (all the different variants!) are exceptionally good really, compared to some of their other efforts.