Legal Notice

No material from Modeler Site any may be copied, reproduced, republished, uploaded, posted, transmitted, or distributed in any way, except that you may download one copy of the materials on any single computer for your personal, non-commercial home use only, provided you keep intact all copyright and other proprietary notices. Modification of the materials or use of the materials for any other purpose is a violation of copyright and other proprietary rights.

Read More here > Legal notice

My story with MFH’s 1/12 scale kits began when, at some point, several rare resin models were sold off and replaced with Hiro’s 1/12 kits. Later came the MFH Builds Facebook page, which provided a few kits as sponsorship, further expanding the collection. Although the Beta was the first model built from the Japanese brand in this scale, the 037 —my favorite rally car— was the very first one acquired.

This tutorial aimed to share the experience gained during the build of this beautiful yet challenging model, particularly for less experienced modelers. Unexpected issues were encountered along the way, and rather than concealing them, their solutions —at least the ones that worked here— were included. It was hoped that this account would prove useful to others.

The Kit

And so came the moment to begin the build. When the kit was purchased, a newly acquired ultrasonic cleaner was tested on some of the white metal parts. However, inexperience and the eagerness to start with the test fits led to two or three critical mistakes —drill holes made with the wrong diameter for the screws intended to be used— which meant that some corrections had to be made from the start.

Aside from that, the kit reflected the characteristics of the brand’s early releases in this scale: a high parts count and an emphasis on detail rather than ease of assembly. In more recent releases, Hiro had shifted toward a more user-friendly approach—though, of course, at the cost of some detailing and absolute fidelity of reproduction. In this kit, the metal components were far more numerous (Hiro now relies much more heavily on resin parts), as were the photo-etched ones.

Naturally, there were many details that had to be added—especially considering the endless amount of photographic reference available for this car. Because of that, the build turned out to be even more complex than that of the 33TT12, requiring quite a bit of research and, as a result, progressing at a slower pace.

Below is the kit’s content (the photos were taken at the time of purchase, so they are not studio shots).

Construction

Conclusion: Nothing replaces hands-on practice and real contact with the work itself. You don’t become a modeler by watching YouTube videos or reading magazines —only actual bench time helps you improve.

I was fortunate to have chosen the Beta (see my other tutorial) as my first attempt with this type of kit, since its difficulty increases gradually and doesn’t throw you into deep water from the very first step, as the 037 does. The lessons were learned the hard way. I know this may not be entirely relevant to this tutorial, but I mention it in case it helps someone else.

This tutorial is offered in PDF format to be read or printed using Acrobat reader, contact our webmaster > Here

Includes more than 430 pics, here we show only the text pages.

Esta Nota es ofrecida en formato PDF, el cual puede ser leído o impreso usando el Acrobat reader, contacte a nuestro webmaster > Aquí

Incluye más de 430 imágenes, aquí solo mostramos las paginas de texto.

Big size photos are only available in our PDF format.

Support us ordering our notes in PDF > Here