FujimiModel 1/700 Ship Next Series No. 14 Japanese Navy Battleship Yamato, 1936, Color Coded Plastic Model Ship NX14

Over 4 years ago, I built a model of the Haruna, manufactured by Fujimi in 1/700 scale. At the time, I praised them for making a highly detailed kit. But I also said that I wished they would make one with the molds in various colors. (My review of that model is here: https://www.amazon.com/Battleship-Haruna-Model-Plastic-model/dp/B002P67BPY/ref=sr_1_5?keywords=fujimi+1%2F700+haruna&qid=1562687562&s=gateway&sr=8-5#customerReviews ) Well, they've done so, and here it is.In terms of build quality and attention to detail, the "Next" series is substantially better than the previous one I built. (I've built "Next" kits of the Yamato and now the Haruna, and they're both really good.) As with the last one, and maybe even more so, some of the pieces were so tiny that they were really hard to work with. But they all went together well. And I LOVE that the kit comes in molds of several colors, so I don't have to make a hash of things by attempting to paint it. In my opinion, the finished product looks much better than the "regular" kit produced by this same company.So why not 5 stars? For one, they left out the sprue that contained some of the gun barrels; they included 6 of them when there should have been 8. I cannibalized my previous Haruna kit (which is likely destined for Davy Jones' Locker before too long) for the missing 2 guns, and the result isn't too horrible. Also, while the pictorial instructions are easy to follow, all of the written verbiage is in Japanese only. OK, I get it, it's a kit of a Japanese ship made by a Japanese company. But English is the world's most popular second language; and also, I would imagine that the United States is the second-largest market (after Japan itself) for model kits of Imperial Japanese Navy ships. So it seems that they should have produced a bi-lingual instruction sheet.All in all, I'm very pleased with the quality and appearance of this kit. If they could bump up the quality control of making sure that ALL parts are included, and produce bi-lingual instructions, and maybe take a few of the especially tiny pieces and just mold them into whatever larger piece they attach to, this would easily be a 5-star kit. But even so, what I said last time (and didn't stick to) I'll say again: I think I'm done with 1/700 scale. I think I'll stick with 1/350 from now on.

Very fast delivery and it is professionally packaged. This is one of the best and unique 1:700 battleship models actually among the Fujimi next series by far(although next series has some other types of 1:700 ships, this one is almost the best among them, after all, Kongo class ships are special battleships, this Haruna 1:700 model has more details I believe), after all very liked it. The material of the model kits is high quality with detailed textures and finishes, especially I like the way of using the translucent plastic materials on the front windows for the battleship.There are many small items that can be assembled and you need to drill a large number of holes on the deck with professional tools (the small supplemental components include ammunition magazine, vent, telescope, antiaircraft machine gun). Enough details on the main guns, AA guns, and the main bridge, and the chimneys structures. I will follow the 3D battleship drawings online to finish the small components, there are more than several hundreds of very small items, while I believe that it really takes time and patient.I didn't find any mistake in the assembly instruction, and I very like the assembly instructions, the diagrams and drawings are very nice and well organized and drawn. No issue is found, great layout, accurate, detailed graphic drawings, and color printing. The only two issues for the model I present here are: first, the two flagpoles are a little bit thick based on their scale; second, the two fighters need some more details.In the meanwhile thank the seller for the gift too. I will look forward to furthering the model series of Fujimi Next series.