New Pics of Fujimi Ferrari 250GTO

[ZoomZoomMX-5]

I have one MFH Ferrari; and it's one that Hasegawa just made ('58 Testa Rossa). And you know what? I can guarantee I enjoyed building that Hasegawa kit right out of the box far more than fiddling with all that white metal "greatness" (in my most sarcastic tone... ) that MFH puts into every box. I honestly doubt I'll ever built that MFH kit.

Don't get me wrong; I enjoy seeing others make true masterpieces out of MFH kits. But I get my personal building enjoyment on another level; I have too short an attention span to work on just one project long enough to make a masterpiece that Alex makes look simple. For Alex, MFH scratches an itch that no other company can.

For me, the Fujimi solution to the 250 GTO is perfect. A great looking kit for a great price. A few aftermarket pieces and I'll be happy; I can build a spectacular model whether OOB or with a few extra details for far less $$ than any MFH kit, and I can do it in a fraction of the time. I won't feel weird if I want to personalize it in some way that's not "factory".

Each company has their respective place...it's kind of hard to compare, MFH needs to concentrate on the kind of things that the bigger mfg's aren't going to touch. For the most part, they have.

And Fujimi, if you follow the GTO with a Lusso, 250 SWB, 275 GTB you have my utmost admiration

[gionc]

I can guarantee () that I sold a good amount of my plastic stash, replaced when possible, with some MFH (and much other resin stuff from other great manufacturer), more than 20 hiros. And... yes I'M QUITE HAPPY

the thing about the subject: ok I agree with Alex, but it's only the first thing: than there's the passion: any MFH show certain care and passion: some more (last Alfas, the 312PB, some ex-Climax, the superb SWB) and some a little less since they're simply (@Zoomzoom: I got few MFH TR, the '58 and also the '61: they aren't the best Hiros: so would you call objective place side to side a good Fuji with a average or less Hiro?)

BTW: we're speaking of modeling, not of politics, environment or justice:

so?

we will take all the luxe of to be non-objective, anyone will have different ideas

All I know is that produce an artigianal kit with care like MFH cost a lot: 200 usd is a great price for what they offers: lot of versions,wide PE sets (well thought, not the shit we buy sometime as after market, with nothing more than the plastic details), special rims, a lot of kind materials like belts and stuff, fantastic turned parts.

Working as a designer I know how cost a mold for injected plastic, a printed plastic part: it cost simply nothing, if you think to sell just 20.000 boxes, so the 3-4K yen they cost at the shop isn't for sure cheap.

[gionc]

And at last this discussion make me ROFL:

there's a couple sofa, one is made in Italy, kind designer, superb material, and cost 10.000 usd
the other is ever good, well thought, good sweden design, decent materials, made in burundi, and cost 100 usd

what kind of comparo you'll do?

[Chuck Kourouklis]

Hey, gio, there are those for whom only the very finest will do. If that sofa is as exotic as a Ferrari Fiorano, then it won't matter that the swedish couch is just as comfortable or that a Nissan R35 GT-R is within a couple tenths, each at a fraction of the cost. Those final incremental distinctions are worth geometrically more cash to those inclined to acquire them.

And that's a perspective which holds up well when Model Factory Hiro is the only place in town to get your one-of-a-kind Aston DP214. This was never in dispute.

Sure, I'm using a relative scale in comparing the GTO's, and looking back at my first post, that wasn't as implicit as I thought. But the fact that Fujimi is offering a far more accessible plastic kit that an enterprising builder can bring up to MFH specs, with far less cash outlay - and likely less aggravation in the building - isn't something we're just gonna sweep under the rug.

The Fiorano doesn't just lap harder than the R35, it rides better, too. In this day and age, there's usually an extra degree of user-friendliness to justify a premium, aspirational purchase - and that's something MFH has been missing.

Not such a problem when we're talking a Maserati MC12 kit, and not really a problem with their 250 GTO's - until now.

[BVC500]

Originally Posted by ZoomZoomMX-5

And Fujimi, if you follow the GTO with a Lusso, 250 SWB, 275 GTB you have my utmost admiration

Don't forget a "correct and proper" 250 GT SWB California Spider! I know everyone thinks the Italeri/Revell ones are just fine, but the fenders and sides are just not right! They lack crisp yet subtle creases on the tops of the front fenders (like the 612) and body sides like the real car.

[ZoomZoomMX-5]

Originally Posted by BVC500

Don't forget a "correct and proper" 250 GT SWB California Spider! I know everyone thinks the Italeri/Revell ones are just fine, but the fenders and sides are just not right! They lack crisp yet subtle creases on the tops of the front fenders (like the 612) and body sides like the real car.

But I want a LWB version

I think Veyron might agree

[drunken monkey]

MFH kits may or may not be better than a manufacturers' plastic kit of the same car. The higher cost isn't because the kit is better; it is because it costs more to make the kit in resin and metal.

In some instances, it is quite possible that in relative costs of production, a MFH kits is better value than a plastic kit.

[jano11]

Originally Posted by Chuck Kourouklis

Now Jano, you've claimed that a comparison between these two is "far-fetched" and "not objective", but you've yet to offer any reason why. Your ball.

It's like comparing a 50 USD bike made of metallic materials with a 500 USD one made of carbon fiber and kevlar.

Both do the same thing, and the differences in performance depend mainly on the skills of the person using them.

Wouldn't it be far fetched to try comparing them, and how would you compare them objectively?! Each person will see it from his/her POV, both have their strengths and weaknesses, how do you decided which is the more important criteria?!

I think ZoomZoom put it in the right way, and I share his opinion on this matter.

[Chuck Kourouklis]

Originally Posted by jano11

It's like comparing a 50 USD bike made of metallic materials with a 500 USD one made of carbon fiber and kevlar.

Both do the same thing, and the differences in performance depend mainly on the skills of the person using them.

Wouldn't it be far fetched to try comparing them, and how would you compare them objectively?! Each person will see it from his/her POV, both have their strengths and weaknesses, how do you decided which is the more important criteria?!

I think ZoomZoom put it in the right way, and I share his opinion on this matter.

It's funny that you share ZoomZoom's opinion, because while he's being far more circumspect, he's making a point not entirely different from mine. Builders like him are in fact at the heart of my premise, and I'll get to that shortly.

Your bike analogy is a reasoned, valiant attempt; here's where it stops short in the MFH context: there's likely very little overlap in the target markets between a metal-content 500USD bike and a carbon-kevlar 5,000USD bike. For the hardcore distance biker, only the carbon frame will do; whereas more casual bikers would have a hard time justifying the price of a decent used car for a bicycle.

Connoisseurs of grain-fed Corinthian leather couches will likely never consider a more pragmatic Swedish sofa, and if your budget encompasses Maranello's finest, there's probably not much point in looking at the new GT-R.

But the overlap between potential consumers for the Fujimi and MFH kits is far greater, and ZoomZoom and I represent each pole of that group. I have just about the minimum skills necessary to pull something presentable out of an MFH or bring the Fujimi kit up to a similar detail level.

Bob, on the other hand - if you've seen any of his work, and considered the speed, efficiency and consistency with which he generates it, you quickly realize that a pretty fine finished MFH is well within his capability, all his modesty and protestations of ADD aside.

ZoomZoom's explained his choices. In my case, I just wanted a kit that really looked like a GTO. I thought an MFH would be inevitable - until the Fujimi kit came along (s'alright; I crave a DB4 Zagato beyond all reason, and there's only one place to get one of those).

Now it's all speculative till we wind up with the Fujimi kit in our hands, but the sense that the photos give you is that this is far and away the best plastic 250GTO ever. Its overall look is just as dead-on as the MFH, and here's the kicker: if you have the skills to finish the MFH to a high standard, you also likely have the skills to bring the Fujimi kit up to the same standard. There's NOTHING subjective about that observation, and if you're among the modelers who would consider the choice, WHY WOULDN'T you compare them?

The exigencies of producing kits in resin and metal are of pretty limited consequence in this end-user analysis. You can consider what the MFH kit offers for its price, you can consider what Fujimi offers for its price, and you can do it pretty damned objectively.

MFH offers the heft of white metal, breathtaking detail, a rigorous challenge, and everything in one box. Fujimi offers history's first viable plastic alternative, with far less precision but nearly equal accuracy in a package one-tenth the price; and photoetch for this kit, either from the aftermarket or from Fujimi itself, is practically a foregone conclusion.

The subjectivity comes in how closely each matches your individual preference, but the list of features and advantages for each is absolutely concrete and objective, as is a comparison of those features.

Hell, I've just about talked myself into getting both.

[tonioseven]

I'm gonna buy it and it will go into my big pile of must-build kits that I have no inclination to build :

[MPWR]

Originally Posted by tonioseven

I'm gonna buy it and it will go into my big pile of must-build kits that I have no inclination to build :

At least you're honest and realistic about it.

[ZoomZoomMX-5]

Originally Posted by tonioseven

I'm gonna buy it and it will go into my big pile of must-build kits that I have no inclination to build :

The truth of the matter is that model companies exist because of people with your (our ) inclinations. I'll bet the percentage of model kits finished vs. produced is in the single-digit percentages. They'd have all gone OOB long ago if they were satisfying only people who actually built them!

And amongst my friends (and myself) that spend big $$ on aftermarket models, even spending that $$ is no guarantee that it will see the light of day on the workbench.

[klutz_100]

Originally Posted by Chuck Kourouklis

It's funny that you share ZoomZoom's opinion, because while he's being far more circumspect, he's making a point not entirely different from mine. Builders like him are in fact at the heart of my premise, and I'll get to that shortly.

Your bike analogy is a reasoned, valiant attempt; here's where it stops short in the MFH context: there's likely very little overlap in the target markets between a metal-content 500USD bike and a carbon-kevlar 5,000USD bike. For the hardcore distance biker, only the carbon frame will do; whereas more casual bikers would have a hard time justifying the price of a decent used car for a bicycle.

Connoisseurs of grain-fed Corinthian leather couches will likely never consider a more pragmatic Swedish sofa, and if your budget encompasses Maranello's finest, there's probably not much point in looking at the new GT-R.

But the overlap between potential consumers for the Fujimi and MFH kits is far greater, and ZoomZoom and I represent each pole of that group. I have just about the minimum skills necessary to pull something presentable out of an MFH or bring the Fujimi kit up to a similar detail level.

Bob, on the other hand - if you've seen any of his work, and considered the speed, efficiency and consistency with which he generates it, you quickly realize that a pretty fine finished MFH is well within his capability, all his modesty and protestations of ADD aside.

ZoomZoom's explained his choices. In my case, I just wanted a kit that really looked like a GTO. I thought an MFH would be inevitable - until the Fujimi kit came along (s'alright; I crave a DB4 Zagato beyond all reason, and there's only one place to get one of those).

Now it's all speculative till we wind up with the Fujimi kit in our hands, but the sense that the photos give you is that this is far and away the best plastic 250GTO ever. Its overall look is just as dead-on as the MFH, and here's the kicker: if you have the skills to finish the MFH to a high standard, you also likely have the skills to bring the Fujimi kit up to the same standard. There's NOTHING subjective about that observation, and if you're among the modelers who would consider the choice, WHY WOULDN'T you compare them?

The exigencies of producing kits in resin and metal are of pretty limited consequence in this end-user analysis. You can consider what the MFH kit offers for its price, you can consider what Fujimi offers for its price, and you can do it pretty damned objectively.

MFH offers the heft of white metal, breathtaking detail, a rigorous challenge, and everything in one box. Fujimi offers history's first viable plastic alternative, with far less precision but nearly equal accuracy in a package one-tenth the price; and photoetch for this kit, either from the aftermarket or from Fujimi itself, is practically a foregone conclusion.

The subjectivity comes in how closely each matches your individual preference, but the list of features and advantages for each is absolutely concrete and objective, as is a comparison of those features.

Hell, I've just about talked myself into getting both.

[BVC500]

Since we have - what 2/3?- of the MFH 166 builders on this thread, how are they coming along?

Not sure I see Fujimi producing any more vintage Ferraris. I bet their next is the new Ferrari California.

[drunken monkey]

Originally Posted by BVC500

I bet their next is the new Ferrari California.

does anyone actually like that one?