Missing clear sprue in new 1/48 Airfix Sea Fury

[Scooby]

Did I read others are missing this sprue? All I can find is others had defective canopies.

 

Mine isn't in the kit. Was it in the sealed bag? My bag is still sealed. Do I have to return it to the retailer? I submitted a spare parts request through the Airfix website.

 

I don't have a short shot, but QA messed up my kit in a different way than what others are encountering. No sprue F.

 

Thanks in advance.

[Scooby]

Went back to the shop that I purchased this from, they had four kits in, the first four to arrive in this area. They opened the other three kits, only one had the clear sprue.

 

1 out of 4, that is terrible QA.

[Fredag]

Being a bit of a pedant...I think what you have (!) is a QC Quality Control issue not a QA Quality Assurance.

QA is that they have a process for placing the part in the box, QC is the process to check that is in the box,percentage wise.

One looks good on paper, the other looks good in the box!.

Either way though,looks like both have failed you this time.

[neilh]

Although Airfix may come through with a spare, you might be better off relying on your consumer rights and get the shop to replace the entire kit. Airfix are still pretty good replacing parts but only if they have returned kits to rob them from ( or so they told me when I was seeking a replacement windscreen for my Hurricane).  The shop has a direct route back through the distribution chain.

[neillbill]

Is not the clear sprue in its own bag? at least that's normal practice nowadays. I seem to have read that  kit QC is by weighing the complete boxed kit, to quite close tolerances, rather than having someone look and say looks ok to me. Not casting any nasturtiums but there was an article in the hobby press a while back called 'the dark side of the spares box' or something like that. one of the common ones was someone opening a kit box in the store or warehouse and pocketing useful bits.

I'm sure this is a genuine case but there are many reasons for parts not found other than manufacturer quality.

[tempestfan]

Revell told the story of weighing kits some 20 years ago and categorically denied the possibility of missing parts. How come that my factory sealed Victor than was missing its clear sprue ? Not to mention the abysmal quality of the decals. They only conceded the latter when I sent them 30+ sheets, upon receipt they confessed they only checked the first sheet of each batch... at least they sacked their local decal printer shortly afterwards and turned to Cartogaf and Zanchetti. I assume there are so many variables possibly affecting the box‘s weight that really close tolerances would give them a high „alarm“ rate when actually all is fine with the kits. If the tolerances were that exacting, certainly the mass of in some instances serious short shots on the Sea Furies would inevitably have been detected.

[Truro Model Builder]

3 hours ago, neilh said:

Although Airfix may come through with a spare, you might be better off relying on your consumer rights and get the shop to replace the entire kit. Airfix are still pretty good replacing parts but only if they have returned kits to rob them from ( or so they told me when I was seeking a replacement windscreen for my Hurricane).  The shop has a direct route back through the distribution chain.

But if the shop does not have any in stock either, then you will not get a replacement that way. Furthermore, some wholesale companies -which some shops rely on- are very poor on replacing/refunding its customers. Sadly, though consumer rights do rightly exist, the shop may end up taking a hit and paying for someone else's incompetence. Happened to me on more than one occasion.

2 hours ago, billneill said:

one of the common ones was someone opening a kit box in the store or warehouse and pocketing useful bits.

I'm sure this is a genuine case but there are many reasons for parts not found other than manufacturer quality.

This is why Airfix, Revell and some others seal their boxes.

Edited April 7, 2018 by Truro Model Builder

[Scooby]

9 hours ago, Fredag said:

Being a bit of a pedant...I think what you have (!) is a QC Quality Control issue not a QA Quality Assurance.

QA is that they have a process for placing the part in the box, QC is the process to check that is in the box,percentage wise.

One looks good on paper, the other looks good in the box!.

Either way though,looks like both have failed you this time.

 

I beg to differ, I work in the medical field in a GMP laboratory and I have a QA department. QA is making sure all the procedures are followed properly. QC is act of following out those guidelines. Top management in my team is QA.

 

Ironically my QA people are from India, and our recent audit wasn't great.

[Scooby]

6 hours ago, neilh said:

Although Airfix may come through with a spare, you might be better off relying on your consumer rights and get the shop to replace the entire kit. Airfix are still pretty good replacing parts but only if they have returned kits to rob them from ( or so they told me when I was seeking a replacement windscreen for my Hurricane).  The shop has a direct route back through the distribution chain.

 

I returned to the shop and obtained the kit with the canopy in it, only one of four had the clear sprue.

[redcap]

The shop should put this right as you bought it from the shop who in turn had already bought it from Airfix/ Humbrol. If you have a problem with a car, you don't get referred back to where the thing is built to sort out the problem do you. Too many modellers seem quite willing to do the seller's work for them but that said, fortunately the vast maority of sellers are pretty good with aftersales in this respect when dealing with duff or missing kit parts.

 

Gary

[Scooby]

6 hours ago, billneill said:

Is not the clear sprue in its own bag? at least that's normal practice nowadays. I seem to have read that  kit QC is by weighing the complete boxed kit, to quite close tolerances, rather than having someone look and say looks ok to me. Not casting any nasturtiums but there was an article in the hobby press a while back called 'the dark side of the spares box' or something like that. one of the common ones was someone opening a kit box in the store or warehouse and pocketing useful bits.

I'm sure this is a genuine case but there are many reasons for parts not found other than manufacturer quality.

As I mentioned, I returned to the shop in question and swapped kits with one that had the sprue. If they do weigh it that method failed to detect that 3 of the 4 kits in this shop were missing their clear sprue.

 

I did notice the same inspector tag in the three kits missing the clear sprue. The one kit had a different inspector tag (these are the white tags with a number on it in the bag).

 

The box was sealed. The sprue bag was sealed. In the one kit with the clear sprue, that clear sprue was in a smaller sealed plastic bag within the larger sealed sprue bag. This is an Airfix problem. Cheap labor, you get what you pay for.

[Scooby]

2 minutes ago, redcap said:

The shop should put this right as you bought it from the shop who in turn had already bought it from Airfix/ Humbrol. If you have a problem with a car, you don't get referred back to where the thing is built to sort out the problem do you. Too many modellers seem quite willing to do the seller's work for them but that said, fortunately the vast maority of sellers are pretty good with aftersales in this respect when dealing with duff or missing kit parts.

 

Gary

In the end that is what I did. The seller packaged up the three faulty kits for return to Airfix. Being we are in Canada the kit now has to travel back across the pond.

 

What worries me is this shop is one of the only that stocks Airfix kits in my area and the stock them at an awesome price. I only paid $34.99 Canadian for the kit (19.42 British pound). The owner indicated to me he is getting fed up with Airfix kits that are being returned for missing parts. I hope I don't lose this source. Airfix USA sells this kit for $50 Canadian. And shipping from the States to Canada is the most expensive shipping in the world, it would be cheaper for me to fly to the moon.

 

What I didn't mention is I noticed the decals are smudged too, but I never use kit decals so I could care less. Nonetheless I did notice it. I was happy I didn't have a short shot.

 

As for the kit, I am impressed.

 

[bzn20]

8 hours ago, billneill said:

and pocketing useful bits

Do you mean like Radar (In M*A*S*H) sending home a dismantled Jeep and reassemble after the Korean War?

[Bruce Archer]

Hi All!

    I was doing research for a model train company when they found out about a problem with their packaging, a certain part was missing. They found out because the consumers wrote in and told them about the problem. It happened because the packaging manager had set guidelines for production, and when the part was in short supply, he said package the loco anyway, without the part. He was later canned (sacked as they say across the pond). And this issue did not happen again.

 

   If I come across any issue with a kit, I will always write a letter to the company, not ranting a raving, but a calm, cool letter , in proper business form, explaining clearly what the issue is. This type of letter will get you listened too.

 

  There are times when the right hand of a company does not know what the left hand is doing. By sending a proper letter, you can bridge the gap and help them issue a proper kit.

 

   I am not currently in the hobby industry.

 

Bruce

[Scooby]

I did email Airfix and we have communicated back and forth. I sent them the product and route code from the bottom of the box.

[janneman36]

On 7-4-2018 at 5:38 PM, Scooby said:

As I mentioned, I returned to the shop in question and swapped kits with one that had the sprue. If they do weigh it that method failed to detect that 3 of the 4 kits in this shop were missing their clear sprue.

 

I did notice the same inspector tag in the three kits missing the clear sprue. The one kit had a different inspector tag (these are the white tags with a number on it in the bag).

 

The box was sealed. The sprue bag was sealed. In the one kit with the clear sprue, that clear sprue was in a smaller sealed plastic bag within the larger sealed sprue bag. This is an Airfix problem. Cheap labor, you get what you pay for.

If you pay peanuts you get monkeys.......