NEW MODEL KIT THREAD

Is this an old kit or new or reissue? Nice to see something different for a change.

-F

 

I just receive the confirmation of my order for the Espada, 10 models. I will keep 3 for me in order to make the 3 version of the Espada. So 7 are still for sell.

And i'm waiting the Montreal, it's on the way. I still have one for sell

 

I really do hope they make a 250 LM. It's one of the few I want.

 

Yippee! Looking forward to the 1/12 MFH 250 LM kits! Glad I did not buy any of the Profil kits.

 

Yes Tom, I completely agree with you. My exuberance for these 250 LM kits is a bit colored by my long time desire to have them in 1:12th with opening panels, etc. And yes, MFH is way too sloppy with details, mistakes and omissions on their kits. The GTO's I'll build at some point need a lot of various add on's and modifications. Maybe I'll make new tires for the LM's when I have the kits. The tire screw up is just stupid. Their kits certainly should be better for the prices they charge, and IMO, there is no excuse for careless and stupid mistakes. This is what happens when you have too many people working on any project and you rush things out.

 

Makes one feel sorry for Profil - this is the sort of bad timing that used to kill 1/43 manufacturers when they all used to make pot-boilers.

 

I totally agree. You've got figure anything Hiro's done in 1/20 or 1/24 is a possibility in 1/12. Profil24 would have been better off looking at any number of the Matra sports prototypes or maybe upscaling their Maserati 450S to 1/12th instead of the 250LM.

 

Completely agree with both. Exactly my thoughts.

 

Precisely what I meant.

 

To offer a counter view on Profil's release the 250 LM in 1/12, a few things to consider.

First, there are no versions of the 250 LM in 1/12 that are readily available. Hiro's release will represent just the second manufacturer to release it in that scale in recent times. If some boutique brand or scratch builder has offered a version in 1/12 in the past, so be it.

But even with the Hiro's versions, Profil's simpler, less expensive examples should be unique enough to exist.

Now perhaps Profil's release will be overshadowed by Hiro's release. Hiro has an established distribution network and all that detail and opening panels have a lot of appeal. But their examples will be around twice the price.

And sometimes some people just want a nicely built closed model and are fine without open panels showing the hidden details. I know as a builder, at this time, with this model, I want to focus more on finishing a nicely shaped body than building all the mechanicals at scale. Especially after reading Spiro's report on Hiro's 1/12 Ferrari 312 F1 car. So that's why I stepped up and purchased the Profil version.

We'll see how Profil's body shape looks. It appears the crease line on Hiro's models are a little more crisp and pronounced. Maybe that is more accurate, maybe not. Not sure.

And we'll see how Profil's wheels and tires look. I figured I would improve the wheels and tires from some other manufacture in the future.

So even though Hiro's 1/12 will be a splashier release, Profil's should do OK given the differences in the product. Profil sold out of their 312 P, I bet they'll sell out of this one, if over a longer period of time than they had anticipated.

Now, I wish I had bought the 312 P. If anyone knows of one for sale, let me know.

-F

 

I'm planning on making a separate thread but since you mentioned it, do you know of a good source of period photos of the 250 LM at the 1965 race?

-F

 

Tommy, the stig and Marshall, you are probably right about the 250LM of Profil 24 and the MFH one, you could talk about bad timing. Jean-Philippe and Alice of Profil 24 are a two-(wo-)man self employed small company. They provide collectors with interesting models at various scales for many years by now. It is not a very easy task, the financial risks involved are enormous for them as they have children to support. They are as we call in Europe "artisans". Is their 250LM coming not at the right time? In fact, I think no because the two kits are not comparable, and talking as you do about their release will do them harm because it could lead readers to think that their 250LM kit is of no interest compared to the MFH one. In fact the two kits are destined to different collectors, MFH will address the more experienced one, because you will need to be quite experienced to be able to build them, and the ones who collect kits meaning that a lot of those kits will not be built but kept in cupboards and then in attics for some years before coming back to the market. Profil's one will address the collectors who are just interested in having a model of the 250LM easier to build taking account of the fact that not all the collectors are expert builders. We should then be happy to have guys like Profil 24 to offer that kind of models. As a collector, I know that there are not a lot of chances that a big company like MFH or plastic kits companies like Tamiya, Fujimi or else will ever produce a 1/12th Maserati 151 or a 1/24th Lancia D20, only small model makers like Jean-Philippe would do it, so let's support them, we need them. Another point, I am in the model business and build models since the early eighties and to this day I am convinced that the perfect model does not exist and will never exist, you will always find little things that are not as they should have been done or have someone to challenge the model you think is perfect. So my idea about models is that even if you find something to critizise, try to balance it with the quality and the beauty of what you actually have in front of you. If you feel the " wow! " effect, do not try to find what's wrong with the model, as I am sure that you will find wrongs..

 

Furmano, I was typing my reply when you posted yours and I am pleased that we shared the same feeling. It is useless to oppose the two models as the purpose of the two kits is different Profil's one proposes a shape of the 250LM and MFH a technical vue of it.