I am starting a Pearl Harbor project now that I am retired. I plan to do the ships in 1/700 scale waterline. for many there is only one maker, so there it is. I was shopping and saw there are two IJN Hiei BBs. One from Fujimi and one from Hasegawa. Which is concidered the better choice for quality? I like builds that are reasonably detailed but not overly fiddely.
You might get opinions here, IF folks have built the kits.Also utilize Google,you may find reviews as well as build logs,and videos on Youtube,depends on the subject.Steelnavy.net is a good resource if you need more info.
Hopefully between here and other resources you can get some answers.I myself are not familiar with the kits.
The ModelerJoe kit list indicates that the Fujimi Kongo-class kits are inferior to, and cheaper than the Hasegawa.
Your choice between the two kits is the Hasegawa
Always one of my first stops. Most reviews seem to be of the larger scale models. Although there is a lot of build info that is very helpful.
I’ve never heard of Modeler Joe. Will check it out.
EDIT: Oh I see it’s the same as Rajendra’s.
Bill
Please provide some info to the 2 kits you are comparing. It’s a bit of a minefield.
Hasegawa Kongo kits are old, 90’s old. There was an old Fujimi kit that’s even older but it’s rather rare nowadays. If you are searching kits by price, it could be that you stumbled upon 2 old tools, it’s unfortunately scraping at the bottom of an ancient barrel and neither are any good compared to current stardards.
Fujimi has since produced 2 versions of Hieis after 2000, one normal and one ‘snap together’ style newer tool.
Go with new Fujimi versions if you care about a kit that is modern standard. But modern ship kits are by definition fiddly with many parts. If you want something that sort of looks like a Hiei, Hasegawa might just do.
Refer to scalemates for the history of
Fujimi Hiei
https://www.scalemates.com/kits/fujimi-46007-japanese-navy-battleship-hiei--1023799
and Hasegawa Hiei
https://www.scalemates.com/kits/hasegawa-43110-ijn-hiei--264634
Check the box arts of the kits you are comparing against for indications of their vintage.