I went to the annual Hobby Forum in Yokohama yesterday (Sunday November 9th, here in Japan). It was great hobnobbing with modellers much more skilled than myself, and a few important industry people for the day. I'll post some photos here, as time permits. But first a quick summary of some things I learnt.
I spoke with Ebbro CEO Mr Kiya for a few minutes. As he showed me his Lotus 88 demo builds on display, he said that:
The Ebbro Lotus 88 is coming early next year. It will actually be released as two separate kits, one for the black & beige livery, and one for the blue & silver Essex livery. Both kits will come with a chrome plated front wing, and "shark gill" radiator outlets on the sides, but you'll have to find a way to chrome-tape the Essex liveried car's rear wing and side skirts yourself - by using Hasegawa's Mirror Finish or another highly reflective decal or tape product. (Another modeller I spoke to said it would be easy with the Hasegawa product, as you can stretch it around parts and it "clings".) Car number decals for the Essex car, and for the black & beige car sides, however, will be a nice chrome silver.
The 88 side mirror stays are moulded in very thin plastic and easily breakable. A mirror on the black & beige liveried 88 displayed there was already broken off. I said that I'd probably replace my 88 mirror stays with wire or stainless steel pins, and Mr Kiya said "That's a good idea".
The 88 body top fits in-between the body sides very tightly, and has a built-in snap at the nose, so it won't float up. Mr Kiya was quite proud of that extra little snap feature, that he had built into his car. The body top fits so tight, however, that even Mr Kiya had trouble getting it back on. As he was trying to fit the top back on, he said "Oh no, I'm probably going to break the model", but eventually wiggled it on. People who build the 88 are going to have to be very careful of paint thickness tolerances. Too much paint on the body top's side edges, or on the inside rear brake ducts that the top sides touch, is going to cause fitment problems.
Mr Kiya says that moulds for a Lotus 91 are already being made. The 91 shares many similar parts with the 88, and many of us who've read magazine interviews with Mr Kiya were expecting this. He didn't say when to expect a Lotus 91 release, but eventually, we'll have a 91 to add to our stables.
Mr Kiya said that the (sports car nosed) Tyrrell 002 will be released after the 88s. So if (like me) you were waiting for a 002 release soon after the recent "hammer head" 003, don't hold your breath.
Mr Kiya also told me that his Lotus 49B and 49C are on the back burner now. Says that "I'm too busy with other projects to get around to them now". So.., no 49B or 49C release dates are even planned yet.
But boy, those 88s were sexy. I want both!
I also spoke with my acquaintance at Model Art Magazine, chief car models editor Mr Yamashita. He says to expect another special issue on F1 kits & builds from them (in Japanese) under the Auto Modeling name, in a few months. Content yet to be decided.
I spoke with the (only one) guy at the tiny little Aoshima table. He says to expect their MP4/2 early next year too. The white primered demo build was quite detailed for a plastic kit - beautiful to look at. (Photos coming)
I only had a quick chat with Mr Hiro. He never spends much time at his own MFH booth, preferring to run around and chat with expert modelers, retailers and wholesalers each year. He leaves sales to his lovely wife Kyoko and his workers, using his time at the annual Hobby Forums to catch up with old friends, and maintain his business network. But he did say, as we spoke over a cigarette in the smoking room, that "Things have changed so much from our 1/20 days! Now I'm just making 1/43s and big scale (1/12) stuff". And he added, "Too bad that Allan isn't here".
And Mr Kawaguchi of Finisher's! He's come out with a resin transkit to make a Sasol liveried Jordan 192 from a Tamiya 191! I didn't even know he was doing that kit! The quick demo (that he built in just two days for the Hobby Forum) looked very nice, and well proportioned. I wanted one - only 8000 yen! - but had already spent all my money on four sale priced MFH and S27 kits. Mr Kawaguchi had a resin Finisher's MP4/4 transkit for sale too. It's good to see him back into making resin F1 kits again.
All in all, it was a great day. I got to say hello to MFH's "Hong Kong Gang" (you know who you are). I got given some nice modelling hints from guys displaying great builds. I met world famous car photographer Yuji again, and others I've seen before at the Hobby Forum. And I saw the same tables with bored wives and girlfriends dragged there by their better halves, just sleeping, twiddling their thumbs or playing with their smartphones again. LOL I also purchased a MFH Lotus Type 43 and BRM P115 Italian GP, and a Studio 27 BAR 007 and Alpha Romeo 179 at one-third to half-off prices. Who knows when I'll ever get round to building them... But I'm already looking forward to next year's Hobby Forum.
I'll close with a few photos to whet your appetite.
Cheers,
Chris
- Hobby Forum entrance, at the Yokohama seaside. Everything takes place in that big hall way down there. Notice all the guys lining up on the left, just to get in and grab the best bargains first, when the Forum starts at 10:00.
- Finisher's Mr Kawaguchi and wife working hard, happy. Mr Kawaguchi sold a slew of old kits, and was well pleased. He and all the other vendors were there at 5:00 though, setting up, and were well-knackered by the end of the day.
- The annual Hobby Forum thronged with punters - again. This is early-on, before it got really crowded.
- Three famous modeller chatting on a small stage, talking and joking about modelling issues, and chumming it up for the crowd. The guy in center is a famous 1/43 scale modeller here, and writes a monthly magazine column. (Sorry, 1/43 isn't my cup of tea. Didn't catch his name or the magazine he writes regularly for.) Joe Honda was up on this stage last year, talking about his life experiences as a world travelling photographer.
- The early crowd gathering round to admire builds on the display tables, with the builders / displayers sitting in the center.
- My first stop, to see the 1/20 Lotus 88 demo builds at Ebbro's table. These are the cars I most wanted to see.
- The Ebbro kits come with a fair amount of moulded plastic piping - even an inside fire extinguisher. We have to find a way to re-create the chrome sliver rear wing and sides on this Essex car ourselves, though. Only the front wing and body-side "shark gills" will come chrome plated on either version. But don't they look cool?? The electric metallic silver on the Essex version looks specially nice to me - although Mr Kiya didn't know what paint his modeller had used for it.
