1/48 - Grumman F-14A/B & D Tomcat by AvantGarde Model Kits (AMK) - F-14D released

[azzaob]

7 hours ago, pacificmustang said:

same here.

 

I assume the kit is right behind it.  I can only surmise they have done this as it was cheaper than packing the two items in the one box, although this could work out pricey for you guys in the UK with the P. O handling fees and customs charges

My kit and weapons kit arrived yesterday safe and sound from Hobbyeasy to New Zealand. Found them [Daniel] excellent to deal, and I know that they were as frustrated as we all were with the delays. Must say, looking beyond any accuracy issues, this kit is a far more detailed and generally 'finer' than the Tamiya kit I also have. A bit like the difference between the ZM and Academy 1/48 F-4 kits in terms of overall 'feel' of the kit.   Pleased I put up with the wait.

[hairystick]

On 10/11/2019 at 3:18 PM, pacificmustang said:

I assume the kit is right behind it. 

 

 

... for you guys in the UK 

I'm hoping to see the kit this week (not holding my breath though!)

 

 

I'm not in UK, so no worries with customs and extortion excise.

[ocatlub]

Had mine delivered yesterday with the missile set as separate parcels from Hobbyeasy .

They left HE on 7-8 and were delivered on the 12 by EMAILING

[Nocoolname]

On 10/12/2019 at 9:29 AM, ocatlub said:

Had mine delivered yesterday with the missile set as separate parcels from Hobbyeasy .

They left HE on 7-8 and were delivered on the 12 by EMAILING

Mine arrived yesterday. Both signed editions. Very happy with what I've seen so far of the kits.

[Muzz]

My weapons set arrived on Tuesday, got a text from RM saying it had passed customs on Sunday night. No sign of the actual kit though, starting to get concerned that it gone walkabout!🙄

[Uncle Uncool]

1 hour ago, Muzz said:

My weapons set arrived on Tuesday, got a text from RM saying it had passed customs on Sunday night. No sign of the actual kit though, starting to get concerned that it gone walkabout!🙄

Oh, ne'er mind, Muzz. Perhaps it's just those nosey blokes at Border Force snooping about the long-awaited AMK kit?  

[Muzz]

17 minutes ago, Uncle Uncool said:

Oh, ne'er mind, Muzz. Perhaps it's just those nosey blokes at Border Force snooping about the long-awaited AMK kit?  

I'm still hoping that's the case, hope they like it!😂

[Uncle Uncool]

Well, will ya please tell us as soon as the AMK Tomcat kit lands at yer doorstep, Muzz?

[Muzz]

The parcel tracker kicked back in to life yesterday about the same time I posted on the thread about it, spooky! Looks like I'll have the kit in my hands tomorrow!

[Masinissa]

Since it seems cool here that posting about getting the AMK F-14D here's an update about the Indiegogo folks.

 

I finally received a response from AMK about my Indiegogo order, after I sent numerous emails starting in August. I used the contact function on Indiegogo. In August I was told I'd have my kit by months end. The two emails I sent to AMK after that were met with silence.

 

Later I expressed my concerns that the kit was being sold at eDay, and that many others who ordered the kit just a few weeks ago were receiving the F-14D while the Indiegogo people still were left in the dark after paying for the kit way back in May/June 2017. There are 46 of us who paid for the kits.

 

I finally got a comm!

Quote:

"Those kits in eday, our distributor snet (sp) them there by air, without instruction books even. The kits to Telford didn’t send out yet. Your kits will be going out of our door earlier than that. Should be in a few days.

 

Packing single kits into small carton boxes is quite a work load for us.

 

Please be a bit more patient!"

 

I expect that the kit may arrive sometime in November, since it's not something that will be taken care of right away and "Should be in a few days" was two weeks ago. My journey with getting the AMK F-14D will (hopefully) soon be over. However they lost a future customer.

 

Years ago I pre-ordered the first release 1/48 F-4J direct from Zoukei-Mura,, which was scheduled for December. I got that kit right before X-mas and it included a very nice Christmas Greetings card that was signed by the Z-M Team! I was impressed with the packaging too. Looking forward to dealing with Z-M again.

 

There's other manufacturers and kits being pumped out as I type this. 

 

Consider this like a Yelp review. Never deal with AMK directly they aren't set up to ship kits to individual customers. 

 

This is my last post on this subject.

Edited October 20, 2019 by Masinissa

[Nocoolname]

17 hours ago, Masinissa said:

Since it seems cool here that posting about getting the AMK F-14D here's an update about the Indiegogo folks.

 

I finally received a response from AMK about my Indiegogo order, after I sent numerous emails starting in August. I used the contact function on Indiegogo. In August I was told I'd have my kit by months end. The two emails I sent to AMK after that were met with silence.

 

Later I expressed my concerns that the kit was being sold at eDay, and that many others who ordered the kit just a few weeks ago were receiving the F-14D while the Indiegogo people still were left in the dark after paying for the kit way back in May/June 2017. There are 46 of us who paid for the kits.

 

I finally got a comm!

Quote:

"Those kits in eday, our distributor snet (sp) them there by air, without instruction books even. The kits to Telford didn’t send out yet. Your kits will be going out of our door earlier than that. Should be in a few days.

 

Packing single kits into small carton boxes is quite a work load for us.

 

Please be a bit more patient!"

 

I expect that the kit may arrive sometime in November, since it's not something that will be taken care of right away and "Should be in a few days" was two weeks ago. My journey with getting the AMK F-14D will (hopefully) soon be over. However they lost a future customer.

 

Years ago I pre-ordered the first release 1/48 F-4J direct from Zoukei-Mura,, which was scheduled for December. I got that kit right before X-mas and it included a very nice Christmas Greetings card that was signed by the Z-M Team! I was impressed with the packaging too. Looking forward to dealing with Z-M again.

 

There's other manufacturers and kits being pumped out as I type this. 

 

Consider this like a Yelp review. Never deal with AMK directly they aren't set up to ship kits to individual customers. 

 

This is my last post on this subject.

I'm genuinely sorry to hear that. I really do think you and those others have been treated poorly especially since the kits are now available. The risks around 'kick-starter' type programs have been well covered but I would have at least thought that as soon as the kits 'were' available then those that had made the early investment would have been given first dibs so I'm stunned that you and others are still waiting, while those of us who jumped on the band wagon late in the day received signed copies quick and fast. It would be nice if AMK could make up for some of the problems with a kind gesture of one form or another. 

[Masinissa]

On 10/21/2019 at 10:49 AM, Nocoolname said:

I'm genuinely sorry to hear that. I really do think you and those others have been treated poorly especially since the kits are now available. The risks around 'kick-starter' type programs have been well covered but I would have at least thought that as soon as the kits 'were' available then those that had made the early investment would have been given first dibs so I'm stunned that you and others are still waiting, while those of us who jumped on the band wagon late in the day received signed copies quick and fast. It would be nice if AMK could make up for some of the problems with a kind gesture of one form or another. 

Thank you for your empathy. I'm out the money. It's too late for an apology by AMK since that should have been the first order of business.

 

OFF TOPIC: (I know, but it's educational since the majority here don't use or create projects by crowdfunding.)

 

I have been using Kickstarter and Indiegogo since at least 2008. Kickstarter will ban creators for abusing the system. A Comic Book creator I met at San Diego Comic-Con in '08 had one of the first massively funded campaigns for her book. She raised over $100K! However she worked hard to ensure that the Kickstarter funders got what they paid for ASAP and she was diligent with her communications. Once that was done then any other books that were printed were sent out to the distributors for sale in the Comic Book Shops.

 

I had misplaced faith that AMK would behave like a normal crowdfunder. They have other priorities. They do know how to run a PR Campaign to create enthusiasm for their new product so they have the skillz.

 

 

In Hollywood when our product is weak we do what AMK has done. When the film tests poorly it's held back from being screened by real film critics, but there are press junkets for those 'reviewers" who are easily influenced by visits to the sets and meeting the cast and crew. You want those guys to help make the first weekend Box Office returns as strong as possible. If the film has good weekend numbers, but few reviews from critics you will still get more people to see your film because it looks like others did. You play with people's herd mentality.

 

I'm curious to see how they play with the release of the film Midway. Looks like it will stink . . . will it be screened before release by real film critics?

[Greg B]

Mine has just turned up from Sincere in HK. V nice, and a nice leap forward from the MiG-31. So it does exist

[Ka-Efka]

2 hours ago, Greg B said:

Mine has just turned up from Sincere in HK. V nice, and a nice leap forward from the MiG-31. So it does exist

Did your order status on their homepage tell you it is shipped? 

[Greg B]

1 hour ago, Ka-Efka said:

Did your order status on their homepage tell you it is shipped? 

No, couldn’t find an order status and resorted to email and PayPal receipt details.

[Ka-Efka]

5 hours ago, Greg B said:

No, couldn’t find an order status and resorted to email and PayPal receipt details.

That's not encouraging... I moved since placing (and paying) the order. The information on the order confirmation and PayPal invoice is wrong consequently. I did change the address in my profile, and emailed them to be on the safe side. But I so far received no reaction. If they now have sent out the order to the old address I don't even receive any information that they sent it... so far it is no great shopping experience with them... 

[Muzz]

Well pretty impressed with the kit, lots of lovely detail. Initial study of it reveals what appear to be out of register decals (Stars & Bars insignia for the Bounty Hunters scheme), cant work out if there supposed to be that way as rest of the decals seem fine!

 

My kit also has some strange rough plastic on the upper fuselage immediately behind where the canopy would be, will need to be sanded. 

 

Colour call outs for the different schemes are a pain for me, trying to compare similar shades of grey to work out what colour refers to what.

 

Was also very surprised at how small the box is after all the calls about "it's a big kit so p&p is costing more". Box is literally the size of a standard shoebox.🤔

[Jabba]

1 hour ago, Ka-Efka said:

That's not encouraging... I moved since placing (and paying) the order. The information on the order confirmation and PayPal invoice is wrong consequently. I did change the address in my profile, and emailed them to be on the safe side. But I so far received no reaction. If they now have sent out the order to the old address I don't even receive any information that they sent it... so far it is no great shopping experience with them... 

 

I do not know if this will hep your situation, but this is the e-mail address that I was finally able to get in contact with Sincere Hobby.:- [email protected].

[Ka-Efka]

Mail's on the way. Let's see if it works this time. Many thanks! 

[Nocoolname]

1 hour ago, Muzz said:

Well pretty impressed with the kit, lots of lovely detail. Initial study of it reveals what appear to be out of register decals (Stars & Bars insignia for the Bounty Hunters scheme), cant work out if there supposed to be that way as rest of the decals seem fine!

 

My kit also has some strange rough plastic on the upper fuselage immediately behind where the canopy would be, will need to be sanded. 

 

Colour call outs for the different schemes are a pain for me, trying to compare similar shades of grey to work out what colour refers to what.

 

Was also very surprised at how small the box is after all the calls about "it's a big kit so p&p is costing more". Box is literally the size of a standard shoebox.🤔

Glad you like the kit. I concur in terms of detail and was also surprised (and pleased) by the size of the box which will fit nicely alongside that of my Mig-31. I checked my kits but could not find any of the faults you mention so it might be worth checking with them to see if you got a duff boxing. There's huge scope for playing about with this kit and I intend to make the wings movable, add a radar and make the most of a spine panel being open by adding some detail. 

[Greg B]

1 hour ago, Ka-Efka said:

Mail's on the way. Let's see if it works this time. Many thanks! 

Same email address I used and had a response within 24 hours. I had also moved and they were happy enough to change the address. 

[Dudikoff]

Can any of you guys who got the kits compare the one-piece intakes?

 

I've seen pictures from two sources showing that the parts seem like they're from different production stages (or somebody forgot to send the updated CAD file for the top part when the molds were being made).

 

E.g. the hinges,  the panel lines at the back, the panel lines etc. at the front are more refined on the bottom part as shown here.

 

Edited October 27, 2019 by Dudikoff

[Nocoolname]

17 hours ago, Dudikoff said:

Can any of you guys who got the kits compare the one-piece intakes?

 

I've seen pictures from two sources showing that the parts seem like they're from different production stages (or somebody forgot to send the updated CAD file for the top part when the molds were being made).

 

E.g. the hinges,  the panel lines at the back, the panel lines etc. at the front are more refined on the bottom part as shown here.

 

Yea, mine look the same. Weird huh!

[Dudikoff]

7 hours ago, Nocoolname said:

Yea, mine look the same. Weird huh!

Yeah, it would be nice to hear a comment from AMK on what happened here and if it'll be corrected. The panel lines at the front of the intake are so obviously wrong compared to the other side that I'd probably try to fill and rescribe them myself when I get the kit.

[exdraken]

mine got stuck at custom it seems.....

💲💲

Edited October 28, 2019 by exdraken