New multimedia kit from MFH: Lancia 037 Rally 1/24

[stratos75]

Just received this highly detailed kit. I want to show you the content.

[chris24]

Thanks for the review of this sensational kit...alas unaffordable for me

[stevenoble]

Thanks for the review, it's nice to see what's in the box, but I just don't understand this kit at all..?? To my eye it offers nothing above what the already perfectly acceptable offering from Hasegawa does. I feel that many parts in the Hasegawa kit are equal or better quality than this. With a similar amount of effort put into building the Hasegawa kit and a few extras I feel one could easily surpass what's on offer from MFH without spending a fortune. When you factor in the price, well wow, what can I say, £230 local to me in England, versus around £15 for the Hasegawa kit and it's a no brainer. There's no way on earth I'd need to spend £215 on detail stuff to improve the Hasegawa as it's already a great kit. That price difference alone makes the MFH kit seem way off price wise to me, I just don't get it, to produce this kit in multi media was a bit pointless in my honest opinion, they would have been better giving us a detailed and accurate Lancia Delta S4, just my ten cents..

[RonCla]

Originally Posted by stevenoble

Thanks for the review, it's nice to see what's in the box, but I just don't understand this kit at all..?? To my eye it offers nothing above what the already perfectly acceptable offering from Hasegawa does. I feel that many parts in the Hasegawa kit are equal or better quality than this. With a similar amount of effort put into building the Hasegawa kit and a few extras I feel one could easily surpass what's on offer from MFH without spending a fortune. When you factor in the price, well wow, what can I say, £230 local to me in England, versus around £15 for the Hasegawa kit and it's a no brainer. There's no way on earth I'd need to spend £215 on detail stuff to improve the Hasegawa as it's already a great kit. That price difference alone makes the MFH kit seem way off price wise to me, I just don't get it, to produce this kit in multi media was a bit pointless in my honest opinion, they would have been better giving us a detailed and accurate Lancia Delta S4, just my ten cents..

My sentiments exactly

[MPWR]

Originally Posted by stevenoble

To my eye it offers nothing above what the already perfectly acceptable offering from Hasegawa does.

Here too.

[stratos75]

Some more photos for the comparison with Hasegawa kit. MFH is on the right.








MFH kit is on the left.

[24billy]

Very disappointed that the doors cannot be opened.

[jayll]

I have both the MFH and Hasegawa and you're not going to get close to the detail of the MFH unless you're good and willing to do a lot of scratch building as the comparison pictures stratos75 posted show. I don't think you'll be able to buy enough after market to bring the Hasegawa kit up to par.

[chris24]

To Steve : the same for me !
MFH kits are collectors' items and they perfectly know that most (not all, the proof here on AF) of their customers are collectors, not builders. So there's no question about what's preferable to have in its collection between Hase and MFH...

I've seen amazing builds of the Hase 037 here, in Italy, in Russia, in Japan... They required serious work, but hey, MFH kits are not known as super-easy-to--build kits either...

[jochen kieslich]

Hey Mikhail,

thanks a lot for your review and presentation!! Very much appreciated!!
I'm VERY much interested in YOUR opinion thus you are one of the real accuracy-freaks and second i'm in love with the 037 also.......

SEEMS to me that the body works / coach is sharper and better defined at the Hasegawa kit. The grade of detailling is on everyone's own, may it be via tons of parts of partially questionable / averaged quality that come with the kit or by scratching them and have real fun and challenge thereby!

THANKS a lot for your personal evaluation.

yours
jochen

[stevenoble]

Originally Posted by jayll

I have both the MFH and Hasegawa and you're not going to get close to the detail of the MFH unless you're good and willing to do a lot of scratch building as the comparison pictures stratos75 posted show. I don't think you'll be able to buy enough after market to bring the Hasegawa kit up to par.

Have to disagree with you about the level of detail that the MFH kit offers. Maybe the engine and gearbox assemblies are better, but the body,and in particular the floor-pan/chassis are nowhere near as crisp or detailed as the Hasegawa kit. The second set of photographs posted by Stratos 75 clearly show that the MFH floor detail is 'soft' compared to the Hasegawa kit. The wheels too, don't, in my opinion offer anything above the Hasegawa kit. Once painted you won't see any difference between the two even though they have turned outers and white metal centres.
I'm certainly not pouring hate onto the MFH kit, far from it. I like their products/kits and own a few of them myself. I just think at this price point the Lancia 037 doesn't offer massive leaps in quality or part content than the much cheaper Hasagawa offering. I suppose comparing the two is pointless. There will always be some for, some against. Myself I would much rather work with a plastic kit than multi media. I have the necessary skills to build and paint multi media I just cringe at their high price for what's in the box, unless it offers a really high level of quality and detail, in which in this case I don't believe it does. Crikey, for the price of one MFH Lancia 037 I can have almost 17 Hasegawa kits.
I think a lot of people buy MFH and simply collect them, they are not builders. They amass many, many kits and then sell them to fund the next best thing. I've seen evidence of this on many forums where people are selling all their 1/20th kits to purchase 1/12th now. Then they sell an early 1/12 to buy a later one. But they never build anything. It isn't modelling...

[Kaj45rpm]

Couldn't agree more with you Steve. I think it's totally the wrong car to put into production. Modelling is not a cheap hobby now by any means and I couldn't justify spending this kind of money on the MFH kit.
It's fantastic to see Beemax and Belkits release some much desired rally cars and fill a great void abandoned by Tamiya. The new TA64 Celica is fantastic and hopefully the MKI RS1600 Escort will be equally good.
I know that Profil24 have some great kits but again they are very expensive for what you get, but I suppose low volume production is always going to come at a price.

[stratos75]

Steve, I think this kit is intended for those modellers who enjoys the building of detailed inwards. The outside of both kits is more or less equal, but the inwards of Hase are too rough and simplified. Just look closer to the MFH's engine - this one is the piece of art!




You have never get this engine from Hase, no matter how much you will doing a scratchbuilding. Even floor pan in MFH kit is closer to an original, because you will never see those sharp and right angled grooves in real parts.

[stevenoble]

Hi Mikhail, yes I agree about the engine in the MFH kit, it is better detailed than the Hasegawa kit.

[malscar]

The kit just looks to be a scaled down version of their 1/12th offering. The instructions look identical. Maybe that was all they did using the same CAD drawings.

I am with Steve. I can't justify the price point for something that has already been done in this scale and to what appears to my eye to be totally acceptable. I think if they had done the Mk2 Escort again they would have sold lots as the old Esci mold (used by Revell in their issue) whilst at the time it was released in 1980ish was good, it now is showing it's age. Lots of other cars that have not been done.