keefr22 Posted May 30, 2014 Share Posted May 30, 2014 That sounds a bit strange but not unheard of. I have a Tamiya kit in the stash that has one prop blade missing that isn't in the bag but to have 2 kits with the same part missing is odd. Duncan B Three..!! But the parts aren't missing Duncan, just part of the part! It's the port airbrake, first kit had half of the top actuating arm broken off, & not in the sealed bag, next two had all the arm missing & not in the bag. So they can't have broken off in transit.... Have to admit that it wouldn't be too difficult to repair (might even be preferable given the fit of the airbrakes), but i agree with the attitude of a previous poster - why should I? And if we don't keep telling them about these things they'll either miss or ignore them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
huvut76g7gbbui7 Posted May 30, 2014 Share Posted May 30, 2014 Got this from 'Airfix' today: "Will keep you up to speed with the clear parts hope to have these next week. we are trailing [typo?] the tool again" RG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tbolt Posted May 31, 2014 Share Posted May 31, 2014 (edited) Got this from 'Airfix' today: "Will keep you up to speed with the clear parts hope to have these next week. we are trailing [typo?] the tool again" RG I got the same email reference the Lightning, but haven't heard about any of the other kits I requested clear parts for, but at least if that can figure out what they are screwing up on the Lightning they can then sort out all the other kits. Edited May 31, 2014 by Tbolt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ray S Posted May 31, 2014 Share Posted May 31, 2014 Hello all. In his review on this site on 11th Feb, Paul AH commented on the flaw in the transparency, so it has been known about for a while. I cannot see the flaw in my canopy, so I am hoping I am one of the lucky ones. Then again, I may have had the wrong glasses on... Still a great kit, but the issue really does need sorting, and I hope you all get good quality replacements soon. All the best, Ray 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sten Ekedahl Posted June 1, 2014 Share Posted June 1, 2014 Checked both my kits. One has a near perfect canopy, the other has a more noticable error, but is fully usable. Both kis have perfect air brakes and actuators. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tbolt Posted June 6, 2014 Share Posted June 6, 2014 (edited) I just received replacement clear sprues for the Spit Mk.XII and XIX and both have the defects in the same places as the originals. Since Airfix don't seem to be able to get these canopies molded correctly, I think they really need to look at getting the molds adjusted to make them more idiot proof. Edited June 6, 2014 by Tbolt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MPaul Posted June 8, 2014 Share Posted June 8, 2014 After checking mine, realised the flaw is there too, hut also the tabs/hinges were both missing. Emailed through contact form on the website, with a link to this thread, and have heard nothing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tbolt Posted June 9, 2014 Share Posted June 9, 2014 After checking mine, realised the flaw is there too, hut also the tabs/hinges were both missing. Emailed through contact form on the website, with a link to this thread, and have heard nothing. It took a while before I heard anything, but I'm sure they will deal with it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tbolt Posted June 9, 2014 Share Posted June 9, 2014 (edited) So I checked a few more of the kits in my stash and this is what I found; Academy 1/72 Me 163 only one of the clear parts has two gates, the rear canopy, and this has the same molding defect. Academy's 1/72 P-38 again has only one clear part supplied by two gates, which is the main canopy and this also has quite an obvious flaw about half way between the gates (on both boxing's I have). No defects found in the other seven main clear parts supplied by one gate. Academy's 1/72 Il-2 has four clear parts supplied two gates, one of them is the gunsight, so is hard to tell, but the other three parts all have the molding defect in. No defects in the three clear parts supplied by one gate. Academy's 1/72 Helldiver has all five canopy parts supplied by two gates and all five of them have the molding flaw in. Academy's 1/72 Ju87G-1 has all five canopy parts supplied by two gates and all five of them have the molding flaw in. AM 1/48 P-51B has one clear part supplied by two gates which has the molding flaw and two parts which are supplied by two gates but one of the gates is from the other part, so the molding flaw only occurs in one of the parts. The other two parts which are supplied by two gates but one of the gates comes from the other part are both defect free, but that is probably because the plastic met in the sprue gate in between the parts (this is the same for both boxing's I have). The six parts supplied by one gate are defect free. AM 1/48 IL-2 has three clear parts supplied by two gates and all have the molding defect. (all three boxing's I have are the same). No defects found in the other five clear parts with one gate. Am 1/48 Yak-1 has six clear parts supplied by two gates and all have the molding defect ( the same in both boxing's I have). Tamiya 1/48 IL-2 has two clear part supplied by two gates and one of them shows the defect and in the other I can't find a problem, however I have found a very small version of this defect in one of the canopy parts which is supplied by only one gate. Tamiya 1/48 F-84 has the main canopy supplied by two gates and has the molding flaw (both copies I have). No defects noted in the parts supplied by one gate. Tamiya 1/48 Mosquito has the main canopy supplied by two gates and does not appear to have any flaws. Tamiya 1/48 Spitfire Mk.V has six clear parts supplied by two gates and all have the molding defect (same for both boxing I have). Eduard 1/48 Spitfire Mk.IX has all the clear parts supplied by one gate and no defects found (the same on the four boxing's I have). Tamiya 1/48 Bf109E has two parts supplied by two gates and only on of them shows this defect. The two parts supplied by one gate show no defects. Tamiya 1/48 Fw190 has the main canopies supplied by two gates and both have the molding defect, though it is in the rear part of the canopy which will be painted (same on all three boxing's I have). The parts supplied by one gate have no defect. Hasegawa 1/72 B-24 has four clear parts supplied by two gates and three parts supplied by three gates and all show the molding defect. Hasegawa 1/72 G4M has none of the parts supplied by two gates but the main canopy has the defect running through the left windscreen. Eduard 1/48 Fw190A/D has all the parts supplied by one gate and two of the four canopies show a small bit of the defect (the same in three boxing's I have and three boxing's has only one canopy with a defect). No defects in other clear parts. Eduard 1/72 Bf110 all clear parts supplied by one gate, the defect was noted on one canopy part. Obviously this defect can be occur when the part is only supplied by one gate as I guess it's the last part where the plastic meets, but usually only seem to be a small defect and doesn't seem to occur as often but the defects that are caused by the use of multiple gates run all the way through the part because that is were the plastic is meeting. Tamiya actually did better with the Fw190 canopy, because although the defect was worse than the Eduard kit, it's on the painted part of the canopy, whereas in the Eduard kit it extends onto the clear part. But Eduard one with the Spitfire canopy being supplied with one gate. Tamiya shows me that with the Mosquito it is possible to mold a clear part without flaws using two gates but it appear difficult to get just right. But all the time companies are using two or more gates to a clear part we are going to continue to have this problem. I don't know the in and out's of injection molding, so I don't know exactly why they use multiple gates for one part, but to me it should be avoided on clear parts unless it's going to cause a defect that's worse than what we are already getting. Edited June 9, 2014 by Tbolt 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keefr22 Posted June 9, 2014 Share Posted June 9, 2014 That's quite amazing - I have a lot of those kits & have never noticed the problem before. Neither had I noticed it in any of the other Airfix kits mentioned earlier in this thread! Does this defect therefore actually show in finished models? Or is it easily enough overlooked that you can see through it (sorry!) & it doesn't actually matter? All my built kits are now boxed & up the loft, so I can't actually have a look....!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Aero Posted June 9, 2014 Share Posted June 9, 2014 The multiple gates help remove the parts from the cavity (unless you prefer an ejector pin mark.). A single fine injection point will break easily. The flaws are caused by poor welding of multiple flows due to a degradation of temperature. The short answer is thicker transparencies or better operator inspection. Clear plastic will burn (a brown tinge) if the temperature is elevated, so it's the thinness of the transparencies demanded by the modern kit designers which has made this more prevalent. John 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tbolt Posted June 9, 2014 Share Posted June 9, 2014 The multiple gates help remove the parts from the cavity (unless you prefer an ejector pin mark.). A single fine injection point will break easily. The flaws are caused by poor welding of multiple flows due to a degradation of temperature. The short answer is thicker transparencies or better operator inspection. Clear plastic will burn (a brown tinge) if the temperature is elevated, so it's the thinness of the transparencies demanded by the modern kit designers which has made this more prevalent. John Yes I realise that flow marks are cause by the cooling of the plastic but I thought that the little 'overflow' points on the parts that are supplied by one gate are used to help remove the parts? Compare the Tamiya Spitfire to the Eduard one - Tamiya use two gates and have the molding flaw present in their canopies and Eduard use on one gate and their parts are free from this defect but they are just as thin. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tbolt Posted June 9, 2014 Share Posted June 9, 2014 (edited) That's quite amazing - I have a lot of those kits & have never noticed the problem before. Neither had I noticed it in any of the other Airfix kits mentioned earlier in this thread! Does this defect therefore actually show in finished models? Or is it easily enough overlooked that you can see through it (sorry!) & it doesn't actually matter? All my built kits are now boxed & up the loft, so I can't actually have a look....!! To be honest some of them are faint and look like a fine scratch, but will probably show up more in photo's, some of them show up more and are just in the wrong place so will be noticed more easily but the one in the Lightning kit is one of the worst I have seen (the original canopy that came with my kit, obviously the replacement one I had was just silly). I forgot to mention the Hasegawa 1/48 Hurricane canopy which was supplied with only one gate and was famous for having this defect across the windscreen which was quite noticeable. Edited June 9, 2014 by Tbolt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keefr22 Posted June 9, 2014 Share Posted June 9, 2014 I forgot to mention the Hasegawa 1/48 Hurricane canopy which was supplied with only one gate and was famous for having this defect across the windscreen which was quite noticeable. I've built that a couple of times & never noticed - & hadn't heard about it either!! So it's either just me (probably!), or all these may be like the Airfix kits with some having the defects & others not.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duncan B Posted June 9, 2014 Author Share Posted June 9, 2014 interesting stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tbolt Posted June 9, 2014 Share Posted June 9, 2014 I've built that a couple of times & never noticed - & hadn't heard about it either!! So it's either just me (probably!), or all these may be like the Airfix kits with some having the defects & others not.... Yeah you may have been lucky, but I know a lot of guys were replacing the Hurricane's canopies with vac ones, my two samples have got the defect. Here's a shot of the kit canopy and you can see the line running across the top of the windscreen and down onto the left side, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keefr22 Posted June 9, 2014 Share Posted June 9, 2014 Have to put it down to a birdstrike...! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lasermonkey Posted June 10, 2014 Share Posted June 10, 2014 I bought a Lightning today and having followed this topic, decided to check the canopy. Using a loupe, I can *just* make out a faint flaw on one of the quarterlights. I would never have noticed it if I didn't know to look and on my example I think is perfectly acceptable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
huvut76g7gbbui7 Posted June 10, 2014 Share Posted June 10, 2014 Never thought I'd be discussing the quality of a flaw rather than the quality of a kit! To read about the variations experienced here is surprising. They seem to go from one extreme to the other. My first was bad,the replacement was worse,the replacement for the replacement even worse,some like that above hardly noticeable and others with no issues. Haven't had anything of late from Airfix so presume their latest tests on the machine are on-going. RG 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tempestfan Posted June 11, 2014 Share Posted June 11, 2014 Interesting observations, Tbolt. May this (also) have something to do with the pressure used ? I wouldn't bet without having checked, but I ***feel*** many of the larger Monogram kits had thin, crystal clear canopies and at least two gates, and I don't recall having noticed that phenomenon with them. The choice of material may also contribute, as Monogram's clear parts were from a very brittle plastic and cracked easily. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul J Posted June 11, 2014 Share Posted June 11, 2014 Surprised this thread has been going on for so long. I bought my first 3 Lightnings as soon as they came available so among the very first to be shipped out and some others too. But not one had the flaw in the clear parts. Guess one of the lucky ones. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keefr22 Posted June 11, 2014 Share Posted June 11, 2014 Guess one of the lucky ones. Very lucky Paul - my first two were also from the first lot in the country, shipped immediately after pre-orders, both have bad canopy flaws - & broken port airbrakes!! I've since heard nothing from Airfix since an e-mail acknowledgement on May 30th... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duncan B Posted June 11, 2014 Author Share Posted June 11, 2014 Surprised this thread has been going on for so long. I bought my first 3 Lightnings as soon as they came available so among the very first to be shipped out and some others too. But not one had the flaw in the clear parts. Guess one of the lucky ones. Mine were preorders too and I had them within days of delivery. I think I did say at the very start of this post that the distribution of the faulty parts seemed quite random so didn't appear to be time related. Some people were lucky, others not so, it is worrying that my replacements were actually worse though. I hope they get it sorted out for the F6 release however I will wait and see rather than preorder again. Duncan B Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keefr22 Posted June 11, 2014 Share Posted June 11, 2014 I hope they get it sorted out for the F6 release however I will wait and see rather than preorder again. Yep i'm doing the same, but after Tbolt's posts above and how long these problems have apparently existed across many manufacturers ranges I wonder if they will fix it, or are actually even bothering to try, as is often said on forums how many of the Lightning kit buyers actually will notice the flaws.... I don't particularly want to use (or spend money on!) replacement vac. canopies, but I'm surprised no-one's come out with one yet. Or have I missed it? Keith Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
huvut76g7gbbui7 Posted June 11, 2014 Share Posted June 11, 2014 Very lucky Paul - my first two were also from the first lot in the country, shipped immediately after pre-orders, both have bad canopy flaws - & broken port airbrakes!! I've since heard nothing from Airfix since an e-mail acknowledgement on May 30th... I'd give them a few days more then do as I did and raise a complaint about the complaint. I would have thought by now that Hornby would recognise and do something about their poor communication with customers. Given that, they have acknowledged the fault and are working to fix the issue. Surprised this thread has been going on for so long. I bought my first 3 Lightnings as soon as they came available so among the very first to be shipped out and some others too. But not one had the flaw in the clear parts. Guess one of the lucky ones. Guess it's because some of us can't build a Lightning yet because it would look daft without a canopy and windscreen RG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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