Complaints and grievances with your models

[cobraman]

Amen Chip. Working with a Flintstone body now.

[Dennis Lacy]

This is why I believe that every employee, from the top CEO, down to the lowliest secretary and the lowest paid dock worker, should be required to build every kit that they manufacture and sell. Most importantly, all of the upper management and every last employee on the manufacturing lines, including the tool and die shop, should have to compete.

Each company that manufactures and/or distributes models should have a mandatory build time, totaling at least two hours a week.

To make things more interesting, each model should be judged by national standards, at a meet, and the employees with the worst model should be fired, on the spot.

If we had a scenario like this, they would stop building and selling the trash that they box up that they pawn off on us.

As I read this, I'm hearing the Twilight Zone theme music...

I honestly don't remember the last time I was legitimately disappointed with a model kit to the point it caused me distress and buyers remorse. After a lot of years in this hobby you just come to expect certain things from the typical Revell, Monogram, AMT kits. Flash, parting lines and ejector pin marks are par for the course. That's what #11 blades and sand paper are for.

[Mach1revo]

They reissue these worn out kits because so many people request them. Many ,if not all the Round 2 reissues are decades old by now. Same as many of the Revell reissues. Tamiya has a few rough molds out as well and even their newer kits suffer from too many ejection pin marks in hard to fix areas. Aoshimas newer releases are quite impressive so far but still have some small fitment and alignment issues.

If you want better kits than speak with your wallets and dont buy or request the worn out oldies. However be prepared to pay more for a better quality product. I know thats tough for many on a tight or fixed budget. On the military side kits from Meng and Trumpeter are amazing with very fine detail, minimal flash / mold lines ,slide molded complex parts , and much higher parts count. Also they may include brass photoetch and or aluminum parts. Those kits are typically 2/3 times what a car kit costs. But thats what the military modelers demand.

[Mach1revo]

Now i will add that Moebius has done a great job bringing high quality kits in at the same price point as revell/round 2. I have found the 2 i have built to be well engineered and great fitting kits. Are they without issue....no. But i was impressed overall with them.

[jbwelda]

edit: ehh...

I agree 100% that at least the CEOs and probably the engineers too should be required to actually assemble their products once in a while. if I owned the corporation, I would insist on it if only to get my employees to realize what we are selling and how far it comes from some ideal. after a few rounds of this I would expect that the product would improve dramatically.

jb

Edited November 25, 2014 by jbwelda

[62rebel]

go ahead, stop buying reissues. then start looking for another hobby, because that's where they make the bread-and-butter money. without those sales, there will be no new tools cut and that will be the death knell. my issue with re-issues is the several that have hit the shelves "de-contented", missing most or all of either the hot rod/custom parts or the parts to build a stock version... not that they've developed flash problems, or ejection pins that fail to line up, or sink marks that need filling. that's model building.

[Mach1revo]

I didnt say stop buying All reissues, but some tools are just worn out and not worth buying. I agree that fitting, filling , sanding , filing etc...are part of modeling. I feel they are essential basics that need to addressed on EVERY model. However when half the kit doesnt resemble what it is sold as or is unusable as sold then whos fooling who? Sorry but i will spend my money elsewhere. If a company doesnt want to change or advance then yeah they will most likely go under but i dont think that the hobby is going to die. In fact i feel the hobby is better than ever. Advances in mold technology and manufacturers willing to excell have contributed to us seeing some of the most incredible kits ever.......just it seems the car kit side seems to lag behind , again i feel because the car guys will continue to buy sub-standard kits. Til you force their hand have fun with the lack luster reissues....lol.

Edited November 24, 2014 by Mach1revo

[Tom Geiger]

People don't stop to think what a miracle it is that these 40-50 year old tools, that haven't seen the light of day since then, have survived! It's truly corporate incompetence, or at least how business was run during the second half of the last century. In today's Lean Manufacturing environment everything would be bar coded and inventoried. And anything that hadn't earned it's keep that year would be scrapped.

Opening up that box of the Fruit Wagon, an AMT '62 Buick or other old 1960s kit is opening up a vault showing the state of manufacturing technology at that time. It's no different than putting a 1:1 1962 Buick next to a 2014 Buick and comparing the advances in 50 years of progress. Miles is a young guy and can be taught that this Fruit Wagon kit was how models were done back when his dad was a kid (maybe earlier!).

And if you choose to not participate, so be it. Buy modern kits that have more parts and fit better... or maybe go to Walmart and buy puzzles instead.

Edited November 25, 2014 by Tom Geiger

[Mach1revo]

Did puzzles from the 60's not fit together either? Maybe Round 2 should switch to puzzles as well.

I get that there is a nostalgia feeling associated with some of these kits. But why not want or push for a NEW tooled kit of those vehicles done with todays technology? If its nostalgia you want find a mint sealed original.

[drball]

It was nice to hang with an Uptown Girl...

I hope not from the Uptown neighborhood-those people are just weird up there.

[Harry P.]

I hope not from the Uptown neighborhood-those people are just weird up there.

Depends on which city's uptown yer talkin' about.

Uptown Manhattan is pretty posh. Uptown Chicago is, well... not so posh!

[jbwelda]

I hope anyone reading my comments above realizes I am only half serious. I know what to expect and I expect that probably every other kit I buy I have no real intention on building...I am buying it in part to support the effort but also to get some parts that I can probably use or maybe even from nostalgia from when I first had the kit. but that doesn't mean the companies might not benefit from some looking at their line and maybe investing some money in upgrading the molds of their reissues. but if, from a corporate viewpoint, doesn't make sense, then basically I am happy to buy what I buy, and then consider that a license to put my two cents in when asked...or even if not asked.

jb

[drball]

Depends on which city's uptown yer talkin' about.

Uptown Manhattan is pretty posh. Uptown Chicago is, well... not so posh!

Chicago of course, to many Aragon burnouts I think settled in the neighorhood.

[chunkypeanutbutter]

Sorry man, if it's based on 40 year old molds, you gotta expect that kind of quality. You can't compare the new Revell releases with the old stuff.

And frankly, if you are looking for an easy hobby, this ain't it.

I ain't lookin fer no easy hobby.

I been doin this he-ur hobby fer bout as long's I can amember.

But that being said, I'm not going to buy an old kit that's been re-released with old mistakes just for the point of it being a "time capsule" to a bygone era.

I guess I'll start buying online where I can get Tamiya kits, or builtups that need fixin'.

Edited November 25, 2014 by chunkypeanutbutter

[highway]

I ain't lookin fer no easy hobby.

I been doin this he-ur hobby fer bout as long's I can amember.

But that being said, I'm not going to buy an old kit that's been re-released with old mistakes just for the point of it being a "time capsule" to a bygone era.

I guess I'll start buying online where I can get Tamiya kits, or builtups that need fixin'.

Then it sounds you AREN'T truly cut out for this hobby or maybe once you get some years behind you, you'll change your outlook towards it! I've been building for twice as many years as you have been alive, and like many others have said, many of these reissues that haven't seen the light of day since you were born, and some before I was born, gives us ALL opportunities to build some early kits that otherwise may be unattainable. Flash is a part of building, and even older tools of the high end imports are going to have it!

[southpier]

thank you; saved me a bunch of typing

[Guest]

Ditto to what Matthew said. Seems kids today by and large want instant gratification with little to no effort.

[sjordan2]

In terms of general complaints and grievances... Most of my kits are in larger scales, and come with opening doors, hoods and trunks...that don't close or fit well at all.

[Ju Ju]

I think you should contact your union representative to file a complaint or grievance .

[Tom Geiger]

Guys! Enough! Leave the young kid alone. He is interested in building and likes Model Ts.

[slusher]

I am curious Tom, is most or all those T models old AMT and kind of hard? I have built the a Ford 29 Woody/ Pickup now that's a good AMT kit

[Longbox55]

Not Tom, but I find the AMT Model Ts to be a pretty straightforward kit to build, if you're doing it out of the box. Now, there are exceptions, the Panel Van and the C cab on the Fruit Wagon are a little fiddly, you do need to take time to get them square. It seems that Miles is wanting to build it in a manner that out of the box, it can't be built that way without alterations. That in and of itself really isn't a fault of the kit, it just requires a different pan of attack (this is merely an observation, not intended as a slam at Miles). I can definitely see the frustration of having to deal with a kit with heavy flash and other molding problems, which is a fault in the kit itself, though. It can be a crapshoot with older reissues like that. I've had them where one kit will be fine, no flash, the next one I get of the same issue will be flash central. I've also come across kits where an early issue (original Kiss van) has excessive flash, but the reissue of the same kit (Dirty Donny Vantasy) is more or less flash free. Both kits are from the same tool.

BTW, the AMT '29 Model A Woody/Pickup kit was originally an MPC tool, if memory serves me correctly. I have a couple of those myself (an '80s issue and the last reissue, both as AMT), it is a good kit. I will confess to preferring the old tool Revell, though.

Edited November 26, 2014 by Longbox55

[jbwelda]

>I've also come across kits where an early issue (original Kiss van) has excessive flash, but the reissue of the same kit

>(Dirty Donny Vantasy) is more or less flash free. Both kits are from the same tool.

so what could that mean? maybe in the earlier run the mold pieces had alignment problems or something and that created air layers where plastic flowed in, creating flash, but in subsequent runs the molds fit together better and a better product happened? that's the way I would think it might have happened. maybe they cleaned up the molds for the later run though?

jb

[Ridge Rider]

Guys! Enough! Leave the young kid alone. He is interested in building and likes Model Ts.

Agree.

FYI Miles, builtups usually have the the flash and visible seems as well, unless they were built by someone with some skill. I venture to say say most first run (now vintage) kits were not built with skill you will see on this forum. And Christy Brinkley- she's Always A Woman.

[slusher]

Not Tom, but I find the AMT Model Ts to be a pretty straightforward kit to build, if you're doing it out of the box. Now, there are exceptions, the Panel Van and the C cab on the Fruit Wagon are a little fiddly, you do need to take time to get them square. It seems that Miles is wanting to build it in a manner that out of the box, it can't be built that way without alterations. That in and of itself really isn't a fault of the kit, it just requires a different pan of attack (this is merely an observation, not intended as a slam at Miles). I can definitely see the frustration of having to deal with a kit with heavy flash and other molding problems, which is a fault in the kit itself, though. It can be a crapshoot with older reissues like that. I've had them where one kit will be fine, no flash, the next one I get of the same issue will be flash central. I've also come across kits where an early issue (original Kiss van) has excessive flash, but the reissue of the same kit (Dirty Donny Vantasy) is more or less flash free. Both kits are from the same tool.

BTW, the AMT '29 Model A Woody/Pickup kit was originally an MPC tool, if memory serves me correctly. I have a couple of those myself (an '80s issue and the last reissue, both as AMT), it is a good kit. I will confess to preferring the old tool Revell, though.

Thanks for all the info I am not a Model T builder. I have always considered flash just part of model building. Never really bothers me... Just don't see many Model T models posted..