I was snooping around on Hobblink Japan, and they are announcing some splendid new ships!! First is a 1/350 Kong, but this time by Aoshima, but not to be outdone, Fujimi is going to release not ONLY a 1/350 Haruna, but ALSO a 1/350 Ise, in her late-war AC guise!!! Here’s the link…
If Aoshima is releasing a Kongo ,It had better be great ! I recieved my 1/350th Kongo by Fujimi last thursday, and it has to be seen to be believed! I’ve never seen detailing so fine. Some of the pieces are so delicate I’m worried if I can get them off the sprue even with my razor saw! This one will even give the aftermarket guys fits trying to come up with something they can add. To me, it looks like I’ll only be needing railing and inclined ladders. I refuse to pay another eighty bucks for their brass after what I had to pay for the kit. Spares box here I come! Cheers!
Yup, I agree! I will snoop around on ebay and see if I can find some cheap railings, but that’s about it! Curious they decided to produce ‘Haruna’ as well, as i would have thought ‘Kirishima’ the more famous ship… As I already have the Fujimi ‘Kongo,’ I won’t be getting the one by Aoshima, but I might be thinking long and hard about that ‘Ise!’ Who knows what else will be coming up? It sure would be nice to see a few more cruisers, both Japanese and US…
Wow! Do I see a naval battle in the offing?
So where can I get the Fujimi Kongo?
Bill Morrison
HobbyLink Japan has it in-stock for $157.08 plus about $51 for shipping.
Greatmodels has it in-stock for $181.25 plus $7.95 for Fed-Ex or UPS Ground shipping.
Tachikawa
Thanks! I’ll check it out.
Bill Morrison
I will be very interested to see some sort of comparison between the Aoshima 1/350 Kongo, and the Fujimi 1/350 Kongo. I have the Fujimi version now, and I am so impressed that I would think it very hard for the Aoshima version to be appreciably better. The Fujimi Kongo can be had from Free Time Hobbies (in Georgia) for $169, which appears to be cheaper than prices quoted for the Aoshima version, and on Ebay you can get the Fujimi Kongo for $165, plus $15 shipping… It really is a superb kit!!! Frankly, I find it a bit surprising that Aoshima came out with this, when it is already available from Fujimi (along with a ‘Haruna’ now as well), and would have made more sense to produce a ‘Kirishima,’ or ‘Hiei.’ Apparently, these guys are all pretty secretive about what they have in design, and don’t talk to each other much (trying to get a ‘scoop’ on each other!).
Too bad! You know what might make a lot of sense? Instead of these guys working so hard to compete with one another, if they got together and ‘divyed up’ the market a bit (i.e. Fujimi concentrates on battleships, Hasegawa concentrates on aircraft carriers, Aoshima does cruisers, etc), they might ALL make a lot of money without stepping on each others toes!
I agree that it would be an interesting idea for the manufacturers to plan their products jointly in order to expand their offerings to us, the customers. Afterall, how many Bismarcks, Yamatos, etc. do we need? But, it will be interesting to see whether Fujimi and Aoshima produce the same variant of the Kongo, i.e. whether their releases represent the ship at the same point in her long career. It would be great if one of them represents the ship as built!
Bill Morrison
From what I understand, BOTH represent ‘Kongo’ in 1944…
I guess the only thing for it is to lament the manufacturer’s lack of imagination concerning the possibilities open to them. I love that they are expanding their product lines; I lament that they are duplicating their efforts.
Bill Morrison
And now they have a Kongo book to help make your creation more detailed.
Seeing as how there hasn’t been a book on the Kongo for a few years, this is a gosh-send.
The word on ther street is while Fujimi version of Kongo is somewhat better quality, Aoshima version is much more accurate. Notably Fujimi got the basic hull shape wrong, and it is clearly menifested in the wrong shape of the secondary gun embrasures on either side of the hull.
Yes, and Aoshima has also released a 1/350 Kirishima in 1942 fit. That ship didn’t make it to 1944. The only one of the 4 Kongos still missing would be Hiei. Hiei is probably being saved for last because she was substantially different from her 3 sisters.
Fujimi has also released testshot of a 1/350 Shukaku, ETA unknown, while persistent rumor swills around about a 1/350 Fuso to be expected from Aoshima in 2009. Tamiya has anounced a 1/350 Mogami hybrid cruiser for 03/2009, with pure cruiser versions to follow. Fine Mold has announced a new IJN Fubuki destroyer in 1/350. While Skywave has announced a new IJN LST, also in 1/350.
If you are an IJN modeler, this is a time of extraordinary plenty. If you are interested in 1/350 models of something else, it is time to clamor really hard for equal treatment.
Just curious, how is the Fujimi’s ‘basic hull shape wrong’ in comparison with the Aoshima version? And how could the Fujimi kit be of ‘better quality,’ while the Aoshima kit is ‘more accurate?’ Shouldn’t the two go hand in hand? Perhaps I will find out when the Aoshima Kirishima arrives (got on pre-order now).
“If you are interested in 1/350 models of something else, it is time to clamor really hard for equal treatment.”
Too bloody right!
I’m sick to death of Jap & USN stuff. None of these ships appeal to me in the slightest.
Everyone’s raving on about the $500 1/350 AKAGI - Me? I’d never bleedin’ 'eard of it before now!
Gimme some WW2 RN stuff instead.
Not sure what you are going on about, but there is a 1/350 Prince of Wales, King George V, HMS Hood, and the latest coming out very soon is a HMS Repulse, so it’s not like the RN has been completely ignored (though I would like to see an HMS Furious, a couple British cruisers, and maybe a destroyer or two). Trumpeter also released the French battleship ‘Richelieu’ this year as well! I think the only major navy that has so far been largely ignored is the Italian, and even there, you can get a 1/350 ‘Pola’ heavy cruiser… Plenty more coming, and it is likely to bring some more RN stuff too… You really SHOULD know about the Akagi, as this carrier, along with the rest of Admiral Nagumo’s group, not only blasted the US at Pearl Harbor, but swept the Indian Ocean clean of British warships and freighters, bombed the crap out of Trincomalee, and bombed Darwin, Australia as well!
Being a Royal Navy snob means never having to acknowledge any other ship as significant, even if it smacked a ship of her majesty around. [:D]
The cutback on the side of Fujimi’s hull is inclined, so the embrasures for the secondary gun casemates had to be trapazoidal in shape. In reality they were verticle, so the casemate embrasures were rectangular. Unfortunately this is a hard error for the average modeler to correct. Fujimi got it wrong in defiance of all photographic evidence, Aoshima got it right.
But the word on the street is all the details on the Fujimi model are more crisply molded, and were it not for the conspicuous error with the hull side cut back and embrasure shape, would have been a better model.
You are outnumbered.