1/35 - Bell AH-1Z Viper by Academy - released - DEF Model gun metal barrel set

[Stalker6Recon]

4 hours ago, sonofjim said:

message from Academy Europe after my last comment

At least you finally got their attention, now maybe it will be corrected. It is a bit strange, when I first saw your post, I thought it important enough to share with everyone interested in ordering the kit online, as it becomes difficult to correct issues resulting from factors beyond the control of the buyer. Instead of being grateful for alerting people of the possible problem, I was sort of cold shouldered for even bringing the issue up. It is often difficult to read between the lines, but I will be less likely to pass on this information in the future. I explained that for new modelers that don't have contacts with the kit makers, this can be challenging to try to find replacement parts, as the kits often change hands several times before ending up on our table, nobody in the middle wants to deal with these issues.

 

Anyway, don't give up, you should be issued new parts as rapidly as possible. The kits cost good money, and we should have an expectation that the kit is undamaged when we buy them. If we muck it up during the build, that's on us, but the makers should at least give us the opportunity to build a kit into museum quality without having to cast replacement parts that were broken upon arrival.

 

Maybe it is just me, but I have a certain expectation of getting what I pay for, no more, no less. Keep us updated on how things go.

 

Anthony

[stakor]

Just checked. I have exactely the same issue with the canopy.

[Stalker6Recon]

13 hours ago, stakor said:

Just checked. I have exactely the same issue with the canopy.

You are the third person to confirm damage to the canopy. Another guy got lucky, the part broke off the tree, leaving it undamaged. I have a feeling this will not be the last of this issue. For me, since I live in the Philippines and support is spotty at best, I will refrain from buying this kit from an online dealer, I would want to check the kit first. Since there are no dealers locally, my option to buy is basically zero. Such a shame, she looks phenomenal, would love to have one. Looks like Kitty Hawk is making new 35th scale helicopters from their 48th line, which would include this type, I will likely wait for their kits, which may also come with resin figures, always a bonus, even when it adds to the total price of the kit.

 

Hope you get a replacement from Academy and don't have to jump through a lot of hoops to get it done.

 

Anthony

[Vandal]

There is a crack in the canopy on my kit as well

[sonofjim]

On 5/9/2019 at 11:11 PM, Dads203 said:

At least you got a reply, I bought a kit a few years (5+actually)  ago, it sat in the stash for a while (years)  and I decided to have a go at building last year, found that a major part was missing and emailed them several times ..

Nada, not a dicky bird back from them. emailed the UK agent and the same. Gave up and will find another way to sort the problem, the kit by the time I was going to build it was OOP but it would of been nice to get a response and 

its now back in the catalogue.

 

Good luck with getting the canopy sorted out, it really looks a cracking kit.

 

Dan 

Damn , its,so annoying they didn't even get back to you . This is the biggest bugbear in our hobby I think . 

[sonofjim]

On 5/10/2019 at 3:38 AM, Stalker6Recon said:

At least you finally got their attention, now maybe it will be corrected. It is a bit strange, when I first saw your post, I thought it important enough to share with everyone interested in ordering the kit online, as it becomes difficult to correct issues resulting from factors beyond the control of the buyer. Instead of being grateful for alerting people of the possible problem, I was sort of cold shouldered for even bringing the issue up. It is often difficult to read between the lines, but I will be less likely to pass on this information in the future. I explained that for new modelers that don't have contacts with the kit makers, this can be challenging to try to find replacement parts, as the kits often change hands several times before ending up on our table, nobody in the middle wants to deal with these issues.

 

Anyway, don't give up, you should be issued new parts as rapidly as possible. The kits cost good money, and we should have an expectation that the kit is undamaged when we buy them. If we muck it up during the build, that's on us, but the makers should at least give us the opportunity to build a kit into museum quality without having to cast replacement parts that were broken upon arrival.

 

Maybe it is just me, but I have a certain expectation of getting what I pay for, no more, no less. Keep us updated on how things go.

 

Anthony

I agree Anthony , I am quite the same with a new kit . You're supposed to get what you pay for . 

I'm sorry to hear you were given the cold shoulder . I have had the sane reaction and theres clearly politics at play here. 

I do the odd review for SMMI and so I will pass this info on through those channels too but sadly I fear to no avail . 

Sad when a company like Academy can just freeze out its customers . 

Thanks for the well wishes. And I won't drop this issue until I get some kind of personal response .

 

[sonofjim]

6 hours ago, Vandal said:

There is a crack in the canopy on my kit as well

That's sad to hear , I hope you can get yours fixed too . I have noticed slowly more and more are now showing up so i am hopeful Academy will have to sit up and take note .

 

[Stalker6Recon]

42 minutes ago, sonofjim said:

And I won't drop this issue until I get some kind of personal response .

  

Good, don't. I was more surprised that I was pretty well judged aside when my intentions were purely to help inform other modelers of a possible problem regarding the new kit. Not only were they cold, but they seemed almost angry that I would dare bring the issue up with questioning my integrity instantly. Very strange.

 

I only just now realized it, but my activity on that site has dropped to near zero now, I spend most my time here. I had given the link to this thread and promised to attach photos when I got them, but that was before the strange reaction, and I haven't bothered to do so since. The negative response to my efforts has turned me off I guess. Oh well, there is nothing over there that I don't have access to over here anyway.

 

Keep us updated, as you know already, I like being informed about such issues. For some of us, we can't afford to buy a kit and have it arrive damaged. Not that I have the money to buy this kit, but if I did, I would pass this one over, it seems more and more kits are being discovered with damage, even on the other forum.

 

Cheers,

 

Anthony

[Flying Leathernecks Decals]

On 5/13/2019 at 9:47 PM, Stalker6Recon said:

Good, don't. I was more surprised that I was pretty well judged aside when my intentions were purely to help inform other modelers of a possible problem regarding the new kit. Not only were they cold, but they seemed almost angry that I would dare bring the issue up with questioning my integrity instantly. Very strange.

 

I only just now realized it, but my activity on that site has dropped to near zero now, I spend most my time here. I had given the link to this thread and promised to attach photos when I got them, but that was before the strange reaction, and I haven't bothered to do so since. The negative response to my efforts has turned me off I guess. Oh well, there is nothing over there that I don't have access to over here anyway.

 

Keep us updated, as you know already, I like being informed about such issues. For some of us, we can't afford to buy a kit and have it arrive damaged. Not that I have the money to buy this kit, but if I did, I would pass this one over, it seems more and more kits are being discovered with damage, even on the other forum.

 

Cheers,

 

Anthony

 

As someone that was part of that thread, let me clarify something. No one was angry with you, nor did anyone intend to be 'cold'. I certainly did not.

 

If I may be direct, your posts just came off a bit like the sky was falling. At the time, and to your knowledge, only one modeler had mentioned having a broken part. Are there others? Most certainly. Is it as widespread as you might believe? Probably not. I personally have ten, yes TEN of the kits. Not a single one has broken clear parts. My local shop got 8 kits and they were all purchased by fellow modelers that I know in the area. No broken parts. Several other modelers on a number of Facebook modeling groups have not had broken parts. I think I've read about two that have, and they're contacting who they need to contact to get replacement parts.

 

Regarding the offer to post photos of that modelers broken parts, it simply wasn't necessary. Choosing not to purchase a kit because it 'might' have a broken part is a bit overkill, but that is your choice to make. For what it's worth, two of my kits were purchased from an Ebay seller in Korea and one was a test shot sent from Korea. They all arrived in excellent condition.

 

Anyway, I just wanted to clear up what the 'issue' might have been. It wasn't so much your message, but the way it was delivered.

 

Respectfully,

 

Dave

[Stalker6Recon]

16 hours ago, Flying Leathernecks Decals said:

Dave

OK, I understand where you are coming from. Not everyone on there sites has the experience and contacts that some of the legacy guys have, and after reading about what you are doing for active duty Marines and the pile of kits you have, I was concerned directly for you. If you read the posts here, several more people have reported the exact same problem in the exact same way. So does this mean it is widespread? Don't know, but kits sent from the manufacturer to the retailers may be packed differently than those shipped retail to customers, maybe this is when they become vulnerable. What also concerned me was the way Academy apparently ignored his initial attempt for help, I found that to be very strange.

 

For those who can pick it up and verify before brining it home, I definitely would suggest they do so. For those who have to buy the kit online, they should at least be aware that this may be a problem, then make an informed decision.

 

You and I have talked before, and as the new guy, I tried to be helpful, mainly because so many have already helped me. My sky is falling was directly for you, I worried about that stack of kits you had in your photo, crossed my fingers that they were all OK, and apparently they are. For me specifically, I live in the Philippines, everything has to be ordered, mostly from outside the country. Shipping takes weeks, or even months. Some items never show up at all, and they packages are treated with something far from kid gloves. Getting a kit here that is damaged is a whole different ball game, returns are all but impossible, so having a kit with apparently a better than average probability of having broken clear parts, makes it an unwise buy for me. Others have to decide whether the risk is too high for their circumstances, informed decision in medical terms. Now that he has been contacted by Academy, and apparently the issue is being resolved, lowers the concern, but is still a hassle and disappointment if you are the unlucky one. It was the combination of multiple kits and getting nowhere with Academy that also struck me as "need to know" information.

 

Glad you cleared up where you were coming from though, to be honest, I was taken aback at how my post was treated. Good luck in your efforts to provide kits to the Marines, that is still awe inspiring.

 

Anthony

[Homebee]

DEF Model - ref. DM35089 - M197 gun metal barrel set

Sources: 

http://defmodel.com/catalog/htm/dm35089.html

https://www.facebook.com/pg/defmd/photos/?tab=album&album_id=2131524180277513

 

 

V.P.

Edited May 29, 2019 by Homebee

[sonofjim]

Well Gentlemen my apologies I haven't been around recently , I had a ton of work on . 

So the good news is I finally received a personal email response from Academy Korea themselves who I happy to add sent me two perfect replacement Canopies very well packed .

It was a struggle and its a shame I had to keep badgering them . But in the end they stepped up . So Kudos to them for that .

Jim.