Join us in a comprehensive "inbox style" review of Fujimi Models, 1/350 scale plastic injection mold kit, IJN Haruna, by Dade Bell (Karybdis)!

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Thanks Dade!
~Gunny

Impressive loking battelwagon. Thanks for the review Dade!

Better than the Kongo certainly makes this Fujimi kit a great one. Looking forward to it!

Good review as usual Dade!
It's strange how Fujimi made the same error twice (casemates shape), and how the hull and deck parts could use better mold engineering, so that the deck would be a single piece and the hull to have a different mold line... Todays technology can prevent these kind of flaws, just if the human part take care of them.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts!


Rui

Thanks for the kind words, guys. I was telling Mark in an email of how surprised I was when I opened the box to see that this wasn't just a basic re-boxing of the Kongo with some different parts, but in many cases a completely new engineering.

Still, as Rui says, and I agree, that hull... That hull.... The casemate shape (note how the box art is actually correct!), and that hard to fix mold seam. Fujimi makes some very high quality stuff from the 1980's without these issues (namely their Porsche 356 models), so I'm very surprised to see this sort of thing in a modern kit. Maybe a re-release fix sometime in the future... And a single piece deck would be wonderful- the piece isn't that big, after all, and they did fix the flight deck issue.

Still, despite all of this, the rest of the model has really tempted me to build it. Maybe sometime next year, taking time of course to also fix the casemates.

Dade: Uh, wow. Your review is so cool. So cool that in view of the immense amount of work involved in a good 1/350 build, I am now considering unloading my Fujimi Kongo (still all in box with full PE sets already purchased) in favor of the Haruna. From what you have seen, what is your opinion of whether the Kongo PE sets would apply to the Haruna? Am I crazy? Stephen

Great review Dade,

Good looking model, fantastic box art, with the 350th Kongo in hand, it's hard to justify getting two of these models,... now if Fujimi where to release the kit in her Battlecruiser configuration....

Frank

P.S. I completely agree with Fujimi's Porsche 356, 911 Enthusiast kits, possibly the finest models at the time, and still (IMO) the best car models out there.

Hi Stephen, you're not crazy to think about selling off the Kongo in place of the Haruna. I've done things like this myself when a better version of a kit came along.

Unfortunately, I'm unsure of how well the Kongo's PE would work with the Haruna. I think a lot of it would be usable, but many items would be close but not quite right (railing lengths, flight deck items, ladders, stairs, funnel rings, etc.). There is also the hopeful possibility that Fujimi did a better job with the Haruna's PE set, just as they did with the kit (the Kongo's PE isn't very good all told). So aside from difference issues, the PE may be better in the Haruna set.

If I ever get my hands on that Haruna set, I'll post a review. Otherwise, I think I may see what the aftermarket comes up with...


Frank, I agree that those kits are the best car models out there- at least in 1/24 (Protar's stuff was pretty hot too). The first time I opened a 356C kit way back when, I was astonished at the level of detail- crank case, and everything. Whew! Went together like a dream... (looks up at the 356B roadster kit sitting overhead) Gyah, temptation!