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Worst model quality?


Neil.C

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I've just started a Revell Focke Wulf 190 A8/R11 and although I have been away for a good while the fit and quality of this model is just horrible.

 

Bits not joining up, bad alignment and the wings were twisted so I had to try and twist them back to level them out!  

 

Since being back I've made a couple of Airfix and an Academy kit, all fine but this thing.........

 

Anyone else have some rotters they want to share?

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That's a relatively modern moulding so that's a shame it's so poor. I once had the misfortune to buy the Pioneer Models Ta-154 which had a single piece wing that looked like it had been created by pouring molten plastic on the floor. I have a nasty feeling I passed it onto some poor unfortunate via EBay (hopefully no-one on here!). The Plastyk Models Lynx Helicopter was also very nasty. I just binned that one.

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49 minutes ago, Neil.C said:

I've just started a Revell Focke Wulf 190 A8/R11 and although I have been away for a good while the fit and quality of this model is just horrible.

 

Bits not joining up, bad alignment and the wings were twisted so I had to try and twist them back to level them out!  

 

Since being back I've made a couple of Airfix and an Academy kit, all fine but this thing.........

 

Anyone else have some rotters they want to share?

You have not been around the block too long then. There are many clunkers over the years. Ones that still remain forever etched (and scarred) in my psyche are  Beechnut Models, Merlin Models (you needed to be a wizard to build one of these)

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47 minutes ago, Neil.C said:

I've just started a Revell Focke Wulf 190 A8/R11 and although I have been away for a good while the fit and quality of this model is just horrible.

Anyone else have some rotters they want to share?

 

Not much rotters to share, since I often find myself chiseling through a short-run kit.

But I do find it odd that You had the problem with the entire kit, not just the canopy, which most people report as an appallingly bad part of an otherwise well cast and detailed kit.

IMHO, and from personal experience (I have built the same kit with no problems whatsoever apart the canopy), You might have just got a later batch of plastic, when molds got worn out.

 

Mine was crisp as Hasegawa offerings (probably an example from the start of production).

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4 minutes ago, warhawk said:

 

Not much rotters to share, since I often find myself chiseling through a short-run kit.

But I do find it odd that You had the problem with the entire kit, not just the canopy, which most people report as an appallingly bad part of an otherwise well cast and detailed kit.

IMHO, and from personal experience (I have built the same kit with no problems whatsoever apart the canopy), You might have just got a later batch of plastic, when molds got worn out.

 

Mine was crisp as Hasegawa offerings (probably an example from the start of production).

Oh Gawd, I haven't got to the canopy yet! 

 

I'll persevere. 

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I presume since you didn't mention the scale. You are talking about the 1/32nd mould ? I haven't built one yet probably wont. Its just to big for my storage/display space. But everything I’ve read about this kit is it is supposed to be very well engineered. Im thinking you either got one that slipped by quality control, or possibly one of the parts is misaligned. Not saying your at fault. I’ve built quite a few Revell kits, and the locating instruction’s can sometime’s be at best vague.

I can say that I hope it works out in the end.

 

Dennis

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Anything by Mach 2 might qualify. :owww: There are always a few that come out of the moulds a bit squiffy, usually because they're removed too soon, or get caught up on something while they finish cooling, but QC is supposed to sort those out.  When it doesn't, you need to get onto customer services and seek reparations  :)

 

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Is that the 1/32 or the 1/72 kit ? The former is a brand new kit, if you have twisted parts it may be worth contacting the shop you bought it from and return it in change for another box.

The 1/72 kit is 20 year old and has been in constant production, my example has none of these problems but it could be that more recent kits suffer from worn moulds.

 

Speaking of  bad quality kits, I always mention that quality must be seen in the right perspective... complaining today about the quality of a 40+ year old kit makes little sense as this may have been state of the art when it was first issued. Mould age can also affect fit and detail.

Short run kits are another different story: anyone comparing one of these to a mainstream kit is IMHO making a big mistake, short run kits are designed for experienced modellers and suffer from the limitations of their manufacturing technology. This same technology on the other hand is the same that allows these manufacturers to issue subjects that the likes of Airfix and Revell will never touch. Want that rare aircraft ? Then you have to live with a short run! Actually, we're lucky that there are short run kits around today, back a few years and vacforms would have been all that was available for this kind of subjects.

With the above points in mind, I'll stick to "mainstream" manufacturers products and I'll mention the Mastercraft 1/72 F-16, a rough ill-fitting copy of the Italeri kit. I may also mention almost all Plastyk kits and several other Mastercraft kits, actually all the ones that are not Heller moulds. They are generally cheaply made rough copies of kits from other companies, very cheap but also generally very bad.

 

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My worst ever was a 1/48 Lindberg X-3. I found that there was a pretty good reason it was cheap.

Not done one myself, but the 'quality' of 'Starfix' kits is legendary. In the occasional masochistic moment, I'm half tempted to get one and see if it's possible to produce something that looks like an aircraft.

Feast your eyes on the one of their fabulous, top quality instructions:

https://www.scalemates.com/products/img/2/8/9/1031289-26-instructions.pdf

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Merlin TSR2; not even fit for a scrapping diorama.

Contrail TSR2: any resemblance to the real aeroplane was entirely accidental.

ACE Grumman Guardian; fitted where it touched, tissue-thin etched brass.

Maquette Vickers VC.1Viking: plastic of different types and hardness within one component, more flash than Gordon and entirely inappropriate donor kit parts.

 

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I remember the Roden He111B.........great care and painstakingly detailing of all those interior parts, just to find the fuselage halves didn't close....

bad words still echo through the ages....

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I'm still poking at a Merlin Models Vampire T.11 Been poking at it for 5 years, will probably toss it in another 5 years.

If you've not experienced Merlin Models, they have to be seen to be believed. Very early short-run models that don't fit even where they touch. Effectively you get a selection of vaguely airplane shaped lumps of plastic in a box with bad decals and some oddly nice white metal castings.

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1 hour ago, Gorby said:

My worst ever was a 1/48 Lindberg X-3. I found that there was a pretty good reason it was cheap.

Not done one myself, but the 'quality' of 'Starfix' kits is legendary. In the occasional masochistic moment, I'm half tempted to get one and see if it's possible to produce something that looks like an aircraft.

Feast your eyes on the one of their fabulous, top quality instructions:

https://www.scalemates.com/products/img/2/8/9/1031289-26-instructions.pdf

Pretty poor would be an understatement, but what I do like are the naming of the parts which helps a chap who is just not familiar with whats what.:blush:

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2 hours ago, Gorby said:

My worst ever was a 1/48 Lindberg X-3. I found that there was a pretty good reason it was cheap.

Not done one myself, but the 'quality' of 'Starfix' kits is legendary. In the occasional masochistic moment, I'm half tempted to get one and see if it's possible to produce something that looks like an aircraft.

Feast your eyes on the one of their fabulous, top quality instructions:

https://www.scalemates.com/products/img/2/8/9/1031289-26-instructions.pdf

I've been tempted by starfix.

locally from gumtree (advertised under airfix).....

 

still, there's always this year 😄

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2 hours ago, Giorgio N said:

With the above points in mind, I'll stick to "mainstream" manufacturers products and I'll mention the Mastercraft 1/72 F-16, a rough ill-fitting copy of the Italeri kit. I may also mention almost all Plastyk kits and several other Mastercraft kits, actually all the ones that are not Heller moulds. They are generally cheaply made rough copies of kits from other companies, very cheap but also generally very bad.

I general I agree about this, however there are some more exeptions (not only Heller). For example Aichi 99 is a Fujimi mould (but with new arragment on sprues)! 

Of others - Beechnut P51H was very challanging. The same with Contrail vacuforms...

One have to look into box before

Cheers

J-W

 

 

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3 hours ago, Gorby said:

My worst ever was a 1/48 Lindberg X-3. I found that there was a pretty good reason it was cheap.

Not done one myself, but the 'quality' of 'Starfix' kits is legendary. In the occasional masochistic moment, I'm half tempted to get one and see if it's possible to produce something that looks like an aircraft.

Feast your eyes on the one of their fabulous, top quality instructions:

https://www.scalemates.com/products/img/2/8/9/1031289-26-instructions.pdf

Built the x-3 lovely engine and no detail anywhere else. No bulkhead behind the pilot or instrument panel.

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3 hours ago, stever219 said:

Merlin TSR2; not even fit for a scrapping diorama.

Contrail TSR2: any resemblance to the real aeroplane was entirely accidental.

 

Had both. Scrapped the former, gifted the latter to Scratcher as spares for one he was fighting. Don't know what happened to it.

Yet people have the gall to slate the Airfix issues!

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My pick is the old Heller 1/72 P-47N. No single component falls within the 'acceptable' range, shape or detail-wise...but the wings are a 'masterpiece' of absurdly awful molding: flat on the upper surfaces, with the airfoil shape on the bottom.

A veritable 'symphony' of dreck.

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