My first Hiro model Factory kit assembly

You make a good point, but this is the way it is, and these MFH kits are still light years ahead of some of the resin & white metal 1:12th kits from ABC Brianza, MG, and others.

 

I have some good friends who build 1/12 MFH kits and I've seen what they go through to make them right, make them fit. They are very finicky kits and not as super-detailed as one might imagine. Spend the right amount of time on them, however, and they're spectacular. The "average" builder is likely to be severely disappointed in or never finish a 1/12 MFH kit, perhaps that's why so few Pocher kits ever got finished. Same deal...they aren't even close to Tamiya-like quality. Dreams in a box, but when that box has boutique-level engineering and production, you have to have a level of talent and skill to overcome obstacles all along the way. So...I know my own limitations and generally stick to 1/24th scale

 

Business economics. The ROI for any major model kit manufacturer like Tamiya is not worth it on large 1:12th kits. They may occasionally produce something new or reissue previous runs, but that is only when they can justify and expect to sell high volume.....thousands, not 100 to 500 max.

With that said.....MFH certainly could and should put more effort into better engineering. It can be done, but requires much more time/effort and attention to detail than they are applying to their kits.

 

I completely agree, and am not a PR guy for MFH. But having been in the business as long as I have, and having seen the issues from all sides....collector/builder, manufacturer, and dealer.... I know at least some of their mind set, which is unfortunately not really in the best interest of the end user....the hobbyist builders. And as I wrote: "MFH certainly could and should put more effort into better engineering. It can be done, but requires much more time/effort and attention to detail than they are applying to their kits." I also wrote awhile ago about one of their 1:24 Ferrari 275 GTB kits that I recently completed - converted into a GTB/4 (two photos shown below), and to put it politely, that kit was a pig. There were numerous fit problems to the extent of showing thoughtless/bad engineering. Almost nothing in that kit fit as it was supposed to, and I had to extensively modify some major components to get it to go together. It almost seemed as if the kit was designed by 2 or 3 different groups, and nothing was fully checked before they put it into production. Adding to that was the fact that there were numerous inaccuracies. Some I fixed, and some I left as is, since there would have been far too much work involved to correct them. I also replaced the seats and many of the detail parts for better ones from.... of all things.... a Revell 275 GTB/4 kit! The wheels I used are not from either kit. Overall the model looks good, but I'm not completely happy with it, but it is ok.

 

Great collection. Hey, you win some, you lose some. Thank you for sharing your experience.

-F

 

Thank you! I love the color too; it's one of my favorites for '60s Ferrari road cars.