Well, my Aoshima 'Kirishima' arrived, which allowed me to compare it with the Fujimi 'Kongo' kit that I purchased last Summer. I have heard a number of people complaining about the Fujimi kit, but as far as i have been able to determine, it is significantly superior to the Aoshima kit in just about every feature but one. As has been mentioned elsewhere, the Fujimi kit has the secondary armament casemate embrasures wrong (trapeziodal), while the Aoshima kit has it right (rectangular), and here is the photo to demonstrate, with the Aoshima kit hull above, and the Fujimi kit hull below:
However, The Aoshima kit has the anti-torpedo bulge all wrong, by blending it smoothly into the hull, while the Fujimi kit shows the definite points of attachment to this 'add-on' feature that was installed in the 1930's as part of a general upgrade of these ships (and a similar feature is found on the 'Takao' class cruisers). Have a look at this photo, and again, the Aoshima kit is above, and the Fujimi kit is below:
The next big issue involves the main guns, which are quite crudely molded in the Aoshima kit, but are quite well done in the Fujimi kit. It appears the Aoshima main guns are scaled too large by a pretty fair margin! Have a look at the photo, and note, the guns on the sprue are from the Aoshima kit, the guns on the turret to the left are the plastic guns that came with the Fujimi kit, and the guns on the turret above are turned brass guns that were also included with the Fujimi kit:
Other issues... In general, the Fujimi kit appears to be molded to a much finer standard, with things like plateline welds on the hull done very subtly, and in sum, if you can get past the casemate issue, the Fujimi kit appears to be the superior model in every other respect.