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Thunder Valley F1


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I have recently dealt with Paul on some 1/8 Pocher F-40 parts and it did take a while to get the parts. I was pretty frustrated with the lack of communication though. He's not the best at returning emails and it took about a month to actually get my stuff but, I did eventually receive the parts.

What did you order from him? I know that he was waiting on supplies before he could cast more of what I needed.

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hi,

 

I waited eight years for the first part of an order to turn up, (..at least the $/£ exchange rate was better then - 2008).

Unfortunately some of the original order went out of their catalogue and I am still waiting for some sort of a refund or alternative choice of product.

 

Difficult to progress when the response to emails is hit and miss.

 

The stuff I did get was very nicely done indeed and well worth the outlay.

 

cheers

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21 hours ago, larchiefeng said:

I have recently dealt with Paul on some 1/8 Pocher F-40 parts and it did take a while to get the parts. I was pretty frustrated with the lack of communication though. He's not the best at returning emails and it took about a month to actually get my stuff but, I did eventually receive the parts.

What did you order from him? I know that he was waiting on supplies before he could cast more of what I needed.

I wanted his 1/12 cast metal DFV engine. As my HLJ order is now on its way with an E.Jan 1/12 DFV funnel and distributor set in it, I think I'll pass on his metal engine. I'm not thrilled regarding comments on the poor service either.

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I think that that's a good idea if you want to be sure to get what you want in a timely manner. When I ordered my stuff I had no idea that the communication would be almost nonexistent but, I can only say that, when I did receive the metal engine it was far and away much better quality than the Scale Details engine. I posted some side by comparison pictures on my Pocher F-40 thread so you can see the difference. For the price of the SD engine the quality was pretty poor. On the other hand, not knowing if you are going to get your order due to the lack of communication is worse. It's really too bad because he does make some good stuff.

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22 hours ago, larchiefeng said:

I think that that's a good idea if you want to be sure to get what you want in a timely manner. When I ordered my stuff I had no idea that the communication would be almost nonexistent but, I can only say that, when I did receive the metal engine it was far and away much better quality than the Scale Details engine. I posted some side by comparison pictures on my Pocher F-40 thread so you can see the difference. For the price of the SD engine the quality was pretty poor. On the other hand, not knowing if you are going to get your order due to the lack of communication is worse. It's really too bad because he does make some good stuff.

Checked out your in-progress F-40 thread - great comparison on kit engine parts versus aftermarket. TV's engine does indeed look very nice - metal replica of the kit plastic parts by the looks of it. Do you use a wire wheel in a dremel to clean up the metal engine parts?

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Usually I would use a brass wire brush to clean up and add a little shine to the metal parts. However, I've been going through a DVD that I have showing the reconstruction of a wrecked LM F-40 and the aluminum on the trans axle and other parts seem to be more dull in finish. The finish of the Thunder Valley engine and trans axle parts are very clean and the finish is kind of close to the real thing so, I may leave them as is but, as a rule nothing is usually that clean. You have seen that from the comparisons in which the Scale Details engine parts were extensively cleaned and worked on and the TV has not been touched; they are as I received them.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Buyer beware!!! Even the mention of TVM on F1M.com forum will get the thread blocked immediately! He has a really bad reputation for taking paid preorders (in the past at least) and not fulfilling the orders within even unreasonable time. There was some links appearing of him appearing under another name in a Ducati (expesive Italian motorcycle...) forum showing off his latest purchase---. There has been endless excuses of illness /death in family/ bad relationship with supplier ( I bet it has something to with a non payment but that may be sarcastic old me) in the past in his newsletters. But the Ducati story did nothing good for him

http://www.diavel-forum.com/index.php?/topic/286-hi-from-grand-rapids-mi/

When that is said it has to be mentioned that his products - when he aren't making WM castings of perfectly OK Tamiya parts - are very ok. I have way back bought some wheel nuts with axles for 312T series of 1:12 kits. And these are good! But I'm afraid that the 'big kits' with a lot of turned metal, etchings and so on probably are too much for a one man band?

 

Juts google 'Paul Raterink' and see a lot of 'satisfied' customers telling about it...

 

Flemming

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  • 1 month later...
 

Just FYI.  For those of you fellow builders that have ordered from Thunder Valley F1/Raterink Group, Inc.  The Company appears to have been dissolved.  I was looking to purchase various detail sets from Thunder Valley, and decided to look into customer reviews and comments when I came across you fine folks.  This prompted me to do further research that revealed he is selling all of his stuff on EBay under pratman001 (1199 ), and that his company has had to shut down because of poor management; "The company I worked for recently went out of business due to poor management and I lost my job, so my full collection of kits is going up for sale,” direct quote from his item description.  Additionally, in researching his business license in Grand Rapids, MI this is what was gleaned; note-automatic dissolution.  I hope you are all able to get your pre-paid items somehow.

Company Name:  

RATERINK GROUP, INC.

 

File Number:  

424547

 

 

FilingState:  

Michigan (MI)

 

 

Filing Status:  

Automatic Dissolution

 

 

Filing Date:  

October 10, 1996

 

 

Company Age:  

21 Years, 1 Month

 

 

Registered Agent:  

Paul Raterink
2500 Mcintosh Ave Ne
Grand Rapids, MI 49525

 
   
 
   
 
   
 
   
 
   
 
 
789-map-location-toolbar-selected@3x.png 1ptrans.gif  
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  • 1 month later...
On 11/16/2017 at 9:12 PM, modelbuilder101 said:
 

Just FYI.  For those of you fellow builders that have ordered from Thunder Valley F1/Raterink Group, Inc.  The Company appears to have been dissolved.  I was looking to purchase various detail sets from Thunder Valley, and decided to look into customer reviews and comments when I came across you fine folks.  This prompted me to do further research that revealed he is selling all of his stuff on EBay under pratman001 (1199 ), and that his company has had to shut down because of poor management; "The company I worked for recently went out of business due to poor management and I lost my job, so my full collection of kits is going up for sale,” direct quote from his item description.  Additionally, in researching his business license in Grand Rapids, MI this is what was gleaned; note-automatic dissolution.  I hope you are all able to get your pre-paid items somehow.

Company Name:  

 

RATERINK GROUP, INC.

 

File Number:  

 

424547

 

FilingState:  

 

Michigan (MI)

 

Filing Status:  

 

Automatic Dissolution

 

Filing Date:  

 

October 10, 1996

 

Company Age:  

 

21 Years, 1 Month

 

Registered Agent:  

 

 

 

 

 

Paul Raterink
2500 Mcintosh Ave Ne
Grand Rapids, MI 49525

Hello modelbuilder101,

We are, in fact, still in business, and have been for nearly 30 years (view our new website here: www.thundervalleyf1.com). The information you dug up pertaining to an automatic dissolution transpired when my father was ensuring a conflict-free transfer of assets from his corporation into my name at the advice of legal counsel. The information you found is irrelevant, and pertains to a 22-year-old transfer-of-ownership, and has no bearing on our current operation. As far as your statement from one of my personal eBay listings is concerned, I was employed by a company that I worked for (not owned) and it is no longer in business, and I was not referring to my own company. At that time, I was employed full-time by them and ran my company simultaneously, but I now focus solely on Thunder Valley F1 and decided to sell my personal kits that I was never going to build or make products for them.


We have taken care of many, many of our old customers, and are committed to fulfilling our obligations to every single one of them. Contact us at [email protected] if you have any additional concerns and we'd be happy to help.
-Paul Raterink

Edited by Thunder Valley® F1
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