NEW MODEL KIT THREAD | Page 148 | FerrariChat

NEW MODEL KIT THREAD

Discussion in 'Collectables, Literature, & Models' started by F1tommy, Jan 3, 2008.

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  1. the_stig

    the_stig F1 Rookie

    Sep 19, 2005
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    I guess he decided to keep the business going for a while longer. He was shutting it down not that long ago!
     
  2. F1tommy

    F1tommy F1 World Champ
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    #3677 F1tommy, Apr 6, 2019
    Last edited: Apr 6, 2019
    Good to see he is doing this one. Maybe someone else is running the company??

    Here is the latest Hiro 1/12th Ferrari Daytona. First thing I noticed is the side profile of the tires is once again way to low. These cars did not run low profile P7's. They had big tall sided Michelin or Good Year slicks. Hiro needs to figure this out. They did the same thing on the Alfa T33 TT12. What do you think of the body?? I think the nose looks like it comes down to low but that could be right height due to small tires. Still maybe the best model we will ever get of a competition Daytona full detail in 1/12th scale. The roof looks ok, although the frame needs to be mounted better around the windshield.


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  3. furoni

    furoni F1 World Champ

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    Tires do look a bit ridiculous, i have next to me a 1/18 Kyosho and tires are a lot "fatter" and they look much better than these!
     
  4. Lusso123

    Lusso123 Formula 3
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    Yes the tires are wrong.

    The first thing I noticed when glancing at the first photos was that the front looked all wrong to me. So I double checked.... looked in my books, various photo reference, and then grabbed a quick internet side view photo of 12467 to demonstrate my next point.... the front end is all wrong! Another mess from MFH. Even with putting on correct sized tires, they won't fix the front end problem. And.....the rear looks to be a few mm too long, and the roof line also appears to be slightly wrong - specifically at the door window tops. I really wanted one of these kits, but have no interest in paying MFH just for the privilege of having to do a huge amount of fabrication and modifications.Very disappointed, but not surprised based on how bad/wrong their Daytona Spyder was.

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  5. F1tommy

    F1tommy F1 World Champ
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    I think the roof is ok, but that nose.. I guess I will have to chop it above the front wheel and lift it up. By the way that 12467 restored cars race modifications are also all wrong, even worse than the Hiro, but the basic shape is correct. The tires are starting to piss me off. It's a problem that's harder to fix as F1 tires from the same era don't fit.
     
  6. Lusso123

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    It's more the door window top that appears off - too flat on Hiro.

    I know about 12467 being so very wrong. Only used photo of it to demonstrate the overall body shape, which is fine.

    Tires are definitely a pain, and a mistake that never should have happened (again), but correct ones could be 3D printed, which is what I've done for a number of projects when needed. Time consuming and costly.
     
  7. furoni

    furoni F1 World Champ

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    To me it looks like the roof is too short on the Hiro and then i drops too abruptly on the rear, also the windshiedl doesn't look ok, should me more curved....i honestly think it looks as bad as some of those 1/12 models from Top Marques....
     
  8. EnzoNZ

    EnzoNZ F1 Rookie

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  9. F1tommy

    F1tommy F1 World Champ
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    I am so tempted to cancel my order for Daytona's. They messed up the nose and the tires are really wrong. They seem to keep making the same mistakes on their kits and don't listen when people point them out. I am sure someone like Top Marques will do this car curbside in 1/12th and we already have a kit with a master by AMR wich I am starting to think is better than the Hiro. Atleast Top Marques do pretty good wheels and bodies are now as good and sometimes better than Hiro but they do mess up markings wich I can have corrected with a new decal sheet.

    To MFH and all the KoolAid drinkers, for the prices they change now they need to do better on the BIG details like tires and body shape. Don't just build them out of the box wrong, complain to them when they mess up. $800.00+ dollars for a kit that is hard to build and wrong in a lot of areas is not a good deal.

    There are several pretty good resin pre made companies from Asia that do 1/12th pre built that will eat Hiro alive in a few years if they do not get their sh-t together. Not enough kit builder left to save them if they screw up the quality. The new resin pre built companies are getting better and have caught up to Hiro in some areas. The ball is in Hiro's court now.
     
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  10. Lusso123

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    +1
     
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  11. furoni

    furoni F1 World Champ

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    Yup, and above all the price, 1/12s from top marques and similars are around 300€.....thats less than half a Hiro, and if you put in the material and time to buid it!!! This if you do it yourself, because if you have to pay someone else to it the value just goes balistic!!!!! Unless the final result is vastly superior, it's just a no brainer!!!
     
  12. Lusso123

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    Now keep in mind I am not a fan of Hiro and Top Marques, but I do have a few Hiro 1:12 kits, and two 1:12 Top Marques models. So...... even though the Hiro kits have flaws we've all discussed..... they are also MUCH more detailed than anything from Top Marques. In my business I can't really say that it is fare to compare them to each other. The Hiro kits have opening panels, etc, etc, and most of the Top Marques models are completely static except for a few that have engines, which just look like toys. Many of the TM models are also filled with flaws.
     
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  13. F1tommy

    F1tommy F1 World Champ
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    All good points and very accurate. I really don't like models with opening doors but do like engine detail and Hiro does it much better. That is all being ruined by poorly done bodies that rely on computer designed CAD to much and poorly researched and measured vintage TIRES. It really ruins the model and is very hard to fix. So sitting on the shelf the Top Marques/Otto..ect models although much simpler and not perfect sometimes but not always look better than the Hiro's.
     
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  14. furoni

    furoni F1 World Champ

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    Of course, because Top marques or other brands like GP replicas only do closed models (or mostly)...but again this is what's hapening in 1/18 scale, resin's came along and they were a huge success because they ande models nobody would ever do in die cast.
    Hiro are not for everyone, only a very few skilled modelers can build them properly, and even experienced ones have trouble making them...look at that 917 Tom built! It's unacceptable they way the parts fitted!. If you buy one, and give it to a professional builder, you'll probably end up paying north of 3000€!! i know some of these kits are spectacular, but for 1/10th 0f that, you sometimes get a model very similar and that will look great on the shelf..
     
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  15. Lusso123

    Lusso123 Formula 3
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    Completely agree, and that is why I still collect built models, but I do try to go for really good or great pieces, which in turn severely limits what I buy since the categories of "really good" or "great" is very limited these days!
     
  16. David C

    David C Karting

    Jul 29, 2014
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    If you buy one, and give it to a professional builder, you'll probably end up paying north of 3000€"--I was quoted 5000 for a complete build.
     
  17. Lusso123

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    If... the builder is very good or top flight, then that is a good price. In charge a lot more than that, but I also make improvements and add more detail.
     
  18. furoni

    furoni F1 World Champ

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    .IN that case, it makes even more sense to buy a built model! :) Obviously there are clients for every price range, but you have to justify the price diference, and that's hard to do with kits full of mistakes.
     
  19. F1tommy

    F1tommy F1 World Champ
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    Let's put it in a better way. If you want 1/12th full chassis detail Hiro is by far the best in the business. If you want 1/12th curbside then several newer companies are going to take market share away from Hiro I think no matter what Hiro does(maybe unless Hiro does more less expensive curbside kits). Just not enough people build models any more, and everyone is getting so used to Chinese diecast pricing they get sticker shock from pro built super high end models. You get what you pay for, and there is the problem with the latest Hiro kits. They are full of mistakes so you don't get what your paying for. When you talk to Hiro tell them about these problems. I am telling them but it takes more than 1 complaint to get it solved I guess due to their arrogance. It must be an Asian thing.
     
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  20. furoni

    furoni F1 World Champ

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    Lolo, not sure about that, i think most companys are like that, i've sent e-mails to BBr and nobody bothered to listen or even reply..same with acme...and take a look at tecnomel!! To be fair, i must confess that once upon a time i wrote to tecnomodel about a 365p2, because they presented the Maranello concessionaires 1966 lm version with silver wheels...i told them they should be blue and they sent me a picture of the model with them in blue....but didn't listen to the green stripes in the rear!
     
  21. F1tommy

    F1tommy F1 World Champ
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    I think a lot of that is if you get the secretary or the owner. Sometimes translation can also be a problem but Asian companies owners act like they are right, or maybe they just don't care enough to change production. If it's wrong on the restored car than its ok to be wrong on the model mentality??
     
  22. Kitbash

    Kitbash Karting

    Dec 13, 2012
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    Good points all...but I'll probably fork over for one of those Comp Daytonas....even if I spend a couple of years fixing all the screw-ups it's my favorite all-time racing GT and worth the effort. Those tires literally ruin the entire look! They make the car sit way lower than the real cars did, which I think probably contributes to the front end maladies as well; a good set of tires would probably go a long way towards improving the look of the entire piece. Let's be honest, a certain number of flaws we can roll our eyes at and sort of live with; but to my knowledge, Ferrari never produced lowriders......
     
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  23. Lusso123

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    Well said Tom, I agree. I'll also add that having personally dealt with a number of model companies.... USA, Asia, Europe, and UK..... seems most often the owners/powers that be (who I dealt with) are all the same, and not in a good way. Most don't listen, don't want to know, don't want to change or improve, don't want to put in any real effort into proper research, essentially they don't care, and think what they do is great. You can sum it up with the old saying of "you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink."
     
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  24. Dino Scuderia

    Dino Scuderia Formula Junior

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    MFH should be doing the best work because they have complete control of the process from beginning to end. A lot of the companies are at the mercy of engineers and manufacturers they farm work out to, and what they pay per hour in order to get the product close enough to be called decent. To get something perfect would be more time and money and not really their aim.
     
  25. Lusso123

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    Yes, MFH should most definitely be doing their best work possible because of their total control in house from start to finish, but someone there obviously dosesn't seem to know enough and also does not care. I've been in this industry for 35+ years......and have seen a lot from all sides. Most of these companies aim only to make money with no regard for anything than other with what they can get away with making for least amount of cost and effort. Many of them make outright false claims/statements about the models & kits they are producing/selling. The companies that "....are at the mercy of engineers and manufacturers they farm work out to...." are not completely at their mercy. It mainly depends on what they are willing to accept and pay for. Sometimes it takes zero extra time to get something right rather than wrong - I'm speaking from first hand experience. Granted that is not always the case, but also to get everything right doesn't always cost as much as some might think.
     

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