Mike W wrote:
I've been eyeing up the Fujimi 1/700 kits of Kuma and Tama (new ones) on both HLJ and Hobby Search. Has anyone got any experience of them in the flesh? They look nice in pics but what about up close? Any accuracy issues? If you model them waterline is the split of the lower and upper hulls in the right place? Is it better to get the Tamiya kit and the expensive and extensive Five Star etch set or are the new Fujimi kits good enough to just enhance with things like etch catapults + railings etc? You can't get the kits in the UK, so I'm just after more info before I decide whether or not to order them
thanks
Mike
This is much belated.
I think that you are thinking of the Rainbow PE kits for either the Kuma or Tama.
I have both, but need to get another copy of the Tama set, as I am going to cannibalize the current one to create the appropriate aft deck at the #7 Gun position for a 1942 Nagara (in 1/700).
Five Star does only a Detailing/Upgrade set for the Sendai, Naka, and Tenryū as far as the IJN’s smaller Light Cruisers go (They also do excellent Oyodo, Yahagi, and Yūbari upgrade sets — the set for Yahagi can be used for the other Agano-class CLs with the addition of a few other PE Detailing parts. Five Star also does the Training Cruisers)
I was working on the Nagara when I last was able to build anything, and thanks to advanced in Medical Science, I have had the use of a paralyzed arm restored (still going through Physical Therapy, but I can at least now hold things with it, even if precise motion is difficult).
And I intended to build all of the IJN’s 5,500dt CLs in a 1942 Outfit, which took a bit of doing. I discovered that Tamiya does produce some kits for a “Not Military” line (Anime, for an Anime Titled
Arpeggio of Blue Steel), where they have actual Early-War outfits for many kits that have not previously been available (such as a supposed 1942 Chōkai and Maya, which I have seen the kits existing, but cannot find any for sale, given it was a very limited run of the models).
But getting PE for the 1942 Nagara was a challenge.
But for the other kits, like the Kuma and Tama in the 1942 outfit for the deployment of the ships to the Aleutians Campaign, the existing Tamiya and “Fujimi NEXT” kits are pretty good, especially if going with the PE Detailing Kits.
And the Rainbow PE Kits are for the Tamiya Kits, with the Tama in 1942 outfit, and the Kuma in 1939 outfit (which is an easy conversion to 1942 outfit).
They are worth every penny.
MB