Next Hiro in 1/12th is an Alfa, and the logo looks more pre war but who knows with Hiro. Image Unavailable, Please Login
Very good. His models are a gift to us all. I hope everyone discovers his work as it is some of the best in the business for accuracy. A true artists.
Half a year ago, Tom mentioned the upcoming 1/24 Carrera slotracer: 1969 Lola T70 Mk IIIB – here it is in the Sunoco/Penske livery of the 24 h Daytona winning car from Mark Donohue/Chuck Parsons. Image Unavailable, Please Login Proportions and details look pretty good to me – the tampo-printed mesh on top of the front wings should sit a little bit further back and the stance is a little bit too low (compressed suspension on the Daytona banking, I suppose J) at least for a static model. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
The rims should be polished and not chromed, you will need 3 Goodyear decals to cover the “lookalikes” – is there a Champion sticker below the rear Goodyears in front of the rear tires? In the race, the Gurney flap is only used on the right side in the rear end (maybe for a little bit more downforce on the right rear wheels when on the high-speed banking?) Moreover, a plexi cover above the inlet trumpets could easily be made – or is it a fine mesh (I’m not sure when I look at racing pics of this one – does anyone know? I think it will be possible to pirate the baseplate from one of the old Fujimi’s Mk II – see pics: wheelbase is almost exactly the same, tire size will fit also: why not make a curbside model of this Lola and vice versa: a slotracer with Mk II body/Interior ? Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
T70 looks pretty good. The car started Daytona and Sebring with silver tape all over the headlights. Model Factory Hiro 1/12th Alfa Romeo 155V6TI kit looks pretty nice. Not my favorite Alfa racecar but they were amazing and sounded great. F1 cars under touring car bodies. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Hiro 1/43rd Bug T35 kits. The middle one is 1/20th wich really messes things up as the Type 35 ran as an open wheel and sportscar. I wish either 1/24th or 1/20th was the only scale in the mid range. 1/18th is for built ups I guess, but one constant mid range scale would be great. They don't have 1/38th, 1/43rd and 1/50th mainstream scales. I personally think 1/32nd scale would have been nice as a main mid range scale, but it's way to late for that, and I have zero 1/32nd models. 1/20th is annoying and I think it will be killed off by 1/18th in the long run as people stop building car models in 20 years along with all other car kit scales. Although Covid 19 has brought car model building back for the short term. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
1/20 seems to have become a major scale for kits of modern F1 cars - look at the selection from Fujimi, Hasegawa and Tamiya. The latter basically stopped 1/12 in favor of 1/20.
Yep, and it's Tamiya's fault that we have a split in the scales because they could not fit batteries in the Tyrell P34 kit they were trying to make in the 1970's, so they made a bigger scale that would allow the batteries to fit. That info came from the lead engineer that worked at Tamiya at the time. He later started his own model company. Tamiya also made the first 1/18th kits. Tamiya don't even make 1/20th F1 kits much anymore. Tamiya also tried to start 1/48th armor kits. One annoying company when it comes to scales. Not to worry, the Chinese companies will drive them out of business before long.
Now I guess we must add Ebbro as a maker of 1/20 kits of F1 cars. As for 1/48 armor, Bandai was a major player in that scale at one time, before they decided that there was more money to be made in sci-fi.
Ebbro is the company the engineer started after leaving Tamiya, and he said he had to follow Tamiya into 1/20th at that point. Hasegawa, Wave and Fujimi both made many 1/24th F1 cars before they followed Tamiya into 1/20th . Everybody builds sportscars in 1/24th but alot of people won't touch a 1/20th scale F1 kit including me. One of the dumbest ideas to come out of Japan. It will get killed off by 1/18th after car model builders all retire. They make diecast 1/43rd, 1/24th and 1/18th mainly along with other scales, but not 1/20th diecast(other than Revell USA . By the way, we can see how well Bandai did. Tamiya makes very nice kits and they have a following that worship them sort of like Hiro, but their playing with scales leaves alot to be desired.
More Hiro 1/12th Alfa Romeo DTM 1993 kit pictures. 78,000 YEN (pre sale price 72,000 YEN ) Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
I've enjoyed working in 1/20, specifically the Tamiya F1 kits. It's small like 1/24 so there can be a lot of detail but the slightly bigger scale makes it easier to work with and it results in a bigger presence on the shelf. Sometimes I feel like 1/24 is a little too finicky to get fine details right and the final size is a little underwhelming. 1/43 is so small everything is comes out fine. I understand 1/20 is an orphan scale that ended up being a dead end.
We talk about Tamiya starting 1/20 as a scale for F1 cars, but did they really? The Italian company Revival started selling kits of older Grand Prix cars as long ago as 1975, and as recently as ten years ago did a new series of kits of the 1964 Ferrari 158!
They may have helped but when they started they were not real kits, but pre painted diecasts partly assembled.
The variation of scale is annoying, but I've gotten used to the F1 1/20 scale. Frustrating that it does not compare properly with the sports car 1/24 models, but I like both scales, and always wind up with a better appreciation of the details after making one of their F1 kits. I shake my head every time I look at the size difference between that '65 Honda V-12 1.5L and the newer Red Bull kit by Tamiya. It hardly seems possible how large the F1 car footprint has become in recent years. They should switch to 1/24 just to make them look less colossal next to the older cars..! I also recall MPC making McLaren Can-Am kits in 1/20 before the Tamiya F1 series.
That is true, I guess it just never got big until Tamiya started doing them. So MPC maybe gets the blame or maybe someone else. I have built a few 1/20th kits for customers in the past, but I have so many F1 kits now in 1/24th and 1/12th scales I don't really need to get into 1/20th thank god. Don't have enough time!!!
By the way, I have the 1/12th Hiro Alfa DTM 155 already and it is very nice. Funny looking beast with amazing technology. The kit looks accurate and complicated in a good way. Hiro sent it yesterday from Tokyo and 24 hours later I have it in Chicago, during Christmas and Covid 19 no less. Impressive delivery time!!