Fujimi Model Kits

What Fujimi makes

Fujimi Model, or Fujimi Mokei, is a plastic model maker in Shizuoka City, Japan. Its company page gives a founding date of April 1, 1961, and says the company makes and sells plastic models in Japan and overseas. It names its main lines as car kits in the Inch Up series, aircraft, tanks in the WA and SWA series, ships and castles.

The home page lists more categories: cars, motorcycles, aircraft, trains and monorails, castles and buildings, anime and character kits, military, warships, working vehicles, a small-format line called Chibimaru and finished products.

On Amazon US, our data holds 88 live Fujimi listings:

• Ship kits: 39, mostly 1/700 and 1/350
• Car kits: 27, mostly 1/24
• Military kits: 13, mostly 1/72
• Aircraft kits: 6
• Chibimaru figures: 3, small stylized tanks

Two more Fujimi listings were unavailable at our last check.

One listing sits in the wrong type in our data. The STR16 Structure Kit No. 16 Sapporo 3300 Type 2 Car Set is filed as a car kit, though the name points to a rail car set. Read the title before the category.

Fujimi ship kits: Ship Next and the 1/350 big ones

Ships are Fujimi's largest group on Amazon US, and two scales do most of the work. Of the Fujimi ship kits that state a scale, 24 are 1/700 and 12 are 1/350.

The difference matters more than the numbers suggest. A 1/350 ship is twice as long as the same ship at 1/700, twice as wide and twice as tall. That's eight times the volume to find room for. A 1/700 battleship sits on a bookshelf. A 1/350 one needs its own shelf, and possibly its own wall.

Ship Next: 1/700 by series number

Ship Next is the series name on many Fujimi 1/700 warships. In the grid:

• Ship Next No.01 Battleship Yamato
• Ship Next No. 14 Battleship Yamato 1936
• Ship Next No. 13 Battleship Nagato
• Ship Next No.7 Battleship Kongo, ages 14+
• Ship Next No. 16 Akizuki Type Destroyer
• Ship Next No.4 Aircraft Carrier Akagi, the one carrier in this Ship Next list

The series number helps when you shop for extras. Detail parts sets are often made for one numbered kit, so the number on the box is the number you match.

There's also a 1/700 Battleship Super Yamato and a 1/700 Aircraft Carrier Hiryuu outside the Ship Next name.

1/350: the long projects

The 1/350 Fujimi ships in the grid include:

• IJN Aviation Battleship Ise, and an Ise Deluxe version
• IJN Battleship Fuso 1944
• IJN Aircraft Carrier Kaga
• SPOT Series Aircraft Carrier Hiryu Premium
• Ship Model Series No.1 Battleship Kongo, ages 14+
• IJN Aircraft Carrier Zuikaku Planes Set

That last one is a set of aircraft for a carrier, not a ship. A carrier deck with no planes on it looks like an airport on a holiday. A planes set fixes that.

Who 1/350 suits: a builder who has finished a few smaller ships and has the shelf for a long one. Who should skip it: anyone who hasn't built a 1/700 kit yet. Start small. The lessons scale up. The patience does too.

Fujimi car kits: Inch Up, ID and Grand Prix

Fujimi's car kits are mostly Japanese cars at 1/24. The titles sort them into named series.

Inch Up series

Fujimi's company page calls Inch Up its car kit series. In the grid:

• Inch Up No. 115 Nissan Skyline GT-R KPGC10 Hakoska GT-R DX, paint and glue required
• Inch Up No. 36 Mazda FD3S RX-7 Type RS, paint and glue required
• Inch Up No.27 Toyota Altezza RS200 Z Edition, paint and glue required

A series named for the inch, from a company that builds in millimeters. I let it go. The kits themselves are 1/24 like the rest.

ID numbered kits

Several titles start with ID and a number. The ID-264 Veil Side Silvia S14 C-I is the one Fujimi car in our data with a stated skill level: level 3, ages 14+, paint and glue required, decals included. The ID-15 Civic Type R (EK9) Early Model is also 1/24.

Other 1/24 cars

The grid also holds a 1/24 Sprinter Trueno (AE86) 1600GT APEX Early Version, a Civic TYPE R EP3, a Mazda RX-8 (ages 10+, paint and glue required), a Chaser (GX61) Avante Twincam 24, an RS-55 Ferrari F430 Scuderia, a Honda Integra Type R, a Car Next Series No.9 FJ Cruiser in white and the Real Sports Car Series No.72 Lotus Esprit S1.

The Mazda RX-8 is the only Fujimi car kit in our data with a 10+ age label. That makes it the one to look at first for a younger builder, if the paint and glue are handled with a grown-up.

Grand Prix at 1/20

Two Formula 1 kits use 1/20: the Grand Prix Series No.58 Brabham BT46 1977 Prototype and the Ferrari 641/2 (Mexico GP/France GP), which states paint and glue required. A 1/20 car is about 20% longer than the same car at 1/24. Open-wheel race cars have exposed suspension and lots of small parts, so these are detailed builds.

Fujimi military kits

Fujimi's military kits in our data are mostly 1/72 Japanese vehicles in the Military Series, plus a 1:76 set of British Infantry Figures. In the grid:

• ML9 Military Series No. 9 JGSDF Type 87 Self-Propelled Machine Gun
• ML201 Military Series No. 201 Type 87 Self-Propelled Machine Gun with Etched Parts
• ML17 Military Series No.17 Light Armored Mobile Vehicle (2 Cars)

Etched parts are extra fine detail parts, named in the title. They need a sharp blade and some patience to cut free. If the ML201 and ML9 look alike, that's because the titles name the same vehicle; the ML201 adds the etched parts.

Two-car sets are a nice touch at 1/72. Two small vehicles side by side look like a scene instead of a single model.

Aircraft

Fujimi's aircraft in the grid include a 1/72 Vought A-7D Corsair II Flying Tiger, a 1/72 McDonnell Douglas RAF Phantom II F.3 F-4 Tiger, a 1/144 B-29 Super Fortress Dauntless Dotty and an F-16N Topgun Fighter Jet, whose title doesn't state a scale. At 1/144 a B-29 is a compact model of a big airplane. Check the box image for the F-16N's scale before you plan its spot.

Chibimaru: the small, round line

Fujimi's home page lists Chibimaru as its own category. In our data, three Chibimaru listings are filed as chibi figures, and all three are stylized tanks from the Chibimaru Military Series. They're stylized tanks rather than the scale models above, and their titles state no scale, so judge their size from the listing photos. If you're buying for someone who wants a quick, cute build next to the serious ones, look there.

Building a 1/700 ship: an order that saves evenings

Warship kits reward a plan. Here's the order I'd follow:

1. Read the manual front to back and mark the small parts you'll handle with tweezers
2. Build the hull and main deck first, and let the cement set
3. Paint the hull and deck before the small parts go on
4. Build the superstructure, turrets and masts as separate groups and paint them off the hull
5. Attach the groups from the middle of the ship outward
6. Add the finest parts last, railings and antennas, so nothing snaps while you work

Most of the time goes into steps 4 and 6. Plan your evenings that way.

How to pick within Fujimi

Ask three questions:

1. Ship, car or military vehicle? Ships are the biggest list. Cars are mostly 1/24.
2. What scale fits the shelf? 1/700 ships and 1/72 vehicles are small. 1/350 ships and 1/20 cars are big.
3. Is there a parts set for it? Etched parts and planes sets add detail and time.

For a first Fujimi kit, a 1/24 Inch Up car or a 1/700 Ship Next destroyer is a sensible start. Save the 1/350 carriers and the etched-parts versions for later.

Most Fujimi listings don't state an age. Where they do, it's 14+ on the ships and on the Veil Side Silvia, and 10+ on the RX-8. Use the label as the floor.

Where they'll live

In Bay Two, ships go on the top shelf, cars in the middle, and nobody puts coffee near either. A 1/700 battleship is light and easy to knock over. Give it a base or a case.

Tools and paint

Tamiya's modeling guide lists the basic toolkit: side cutters for the runners, a hobby knife, files and sanding sponges, cement, primer and paint. For Fujimi's 1/700 ships, add fine tweezers and a magnifier. For etched parts, add a fresh blade and a hard cutting surface. Most car listings that state it say paint and glue are required and not included.

Safety at the bench

Work with good ventilation and follow the paint or cement maker's label for masks and gloves. The U.S. EPA lists paints and hobby products among indoor sources of solvent fumes. Cut away from your body on a cutting mat, and keep blades away from kids. Handle small etched parts with tweezers, not fingers.

Who should skip Fujimi for now

If you want listings that state the age, piece count and skill level, most Fujimi listings won't. If your shelf is a row of 1/25 American cars, Fujimi's 1/24 Japanese cars will run slightly larger. And if you've never built a kit, skip the 1/350 carriers and the etched-parts versions for now. A 1/24 car or a 1/700 destroyer will teach you the same skills with fewer parts.

Related makers

For more 1/700 ships and 1/24 Japanese cars, see Aoshima and Hasegawa. Tamiya lists ships and cars at the same scales. The plastic model car kits page compares car kits across makers.

Pick the series first. The ship will wait.