We are very fortunate in this day and age that it's very rare than an online/magazine/YouTube review cannot be found for any given kit. After buying a couple of really dud kits, I would now never buy one without reading/watching a review. Handy information regarding panel lines (raised?) and the option to pose the canopy open or shut are never described on the box. With so much review info available, one shouldn't make the mistake of buying a kit that is beyond one's skill level or expectations.
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HI Murfie yes you are right to look at reviews but i must admit thats not my cup of tea on reveiws as ive never looked at them in 60 odd yrs of building kits but as i bought an exspensive kit in that jag i exspected it to be all buildable an have good decals as the outer box was made beautifull as was the colour chart inside very nice indeed when i looked inside the kit when i was in hannants an this was not beyond my build skill level as over the yrs ive built loads of kits but it was below my expectations. for such a nice lookin kit but as my dad always used to say all that gltters aint gold as i found out an yes i should have looked at a review but would it say bad kit ? an has anyone looked up this kit in a review ?
chrisComment
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You hit on a key important point here ‘all that glitters is indeed not gold’. This is why I rate Kitty Hawk at the bottom of the pile, nicely presented with a high end ‘feel’ and with a ‘high end’ price tag, but the kits do not live anywhere close to their promise. Worse than that, they never did learn the lessons from their mistakes as some other companies have done. This is ultimately why they went bust. Every kit disappoints.Comment
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I wonder if anyone has ever done a survey of the models that win gold in competition. Not that this is any real guideline but it would illustrate the importance of the builder as opposed to the original model, since I suspect that all manufacturers would be represented amongst the winning models. I know not everyone is interested in competitions and I am not suggesting that they should be. However I would be interested to see the range of manufacturers that can turn out award winning models; in the right hands.
JohnComment
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The problem sometimes is that some manufacturers don't listen to feedback or think that experienced modelers can solve the problem. This I heard when when an LHS owner asked the manufacturer why decals for ordnance not given and the reply was experienced modelers should already have spares from the previous other kits bought from the same brand or after-market alternatives. What an assumption! What if it's a first kit?
I don't often build modern jets so when I was asked to build a D version, I was lucky to have modelers who have built the A to C versions advise me on the bad instruction sheet and the bad labelling of the colors apart from the bad fit of the front of the canopy suffering a large step. Since it was a new Gold stamped box, they were eager to know if the bad fit had been corrected. Sorry to say no but some added parts for the D version were supplied. The grey and black stripes Tiger Meet and stencils were on a huge sheet that worked well but no ordnance markings or formation lights which should have been on a separate colored sheet. Missing also were the Tiger Meet markings for the outer fuel drop tanks.
Did a decent finish with the canopy correction that many thought it wasn't from that brand. The heads up from my colleagues certainly helped iron out the kinks including the PE HUD literally were squashed in their builds.
Safe to say other kits from their range fair better.
Cheers,
RichardComment
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Don't know too much about competition winners John, but you've only got to look around on here to find absolutely stunning models that have been built from both top of the range kits and total dogs. Whatever you start with, the final result is always down to the hands of the builder.Comment
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I have a feeling that competition winners will more often be the best-painted model rather than the best-built model. That is, if you build a 1970s model straight from the box and paint it fabulously, you’ll be more likely to win a prize in a competition than if you totally scratchbuild a model with fabulously fine detail, and paint it like was the norm in the 1970s.
(Excepting competitions for unpainted models, of course, which exist exactly because of that, I think.)Comment
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Not sure about that myself Jakko, but I have never entered a competition. From entries I’ve seen at the few exhibitions I’ve been to, it seems like the most artistically painted model that wins. This is not the most accurately painted model, but it is the one that visually “pops” on the table. Hence the over reliance on chipping and extreme weathering as artistic expression.Comment
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You could be right there on the scoring sheet Tim. For judging there is a portion of the entry form to fill in what was done to the kit whether was AM or scratch building. But better judges will consider the overdone element correctly on occasion. Judging is seldom done byva single judge but unfortunately manufacturers are unvited to judge which could be bias.
Cheers,
RichardComment
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Well not tryin to be big headed here at all but i love competition's in a model show as i enter for just a bit of fun an i dont take them seriously at all but to my amazement ive won several best in show trophys an plauge's an even thrown some away as they were clutering the room up but to me its all the fun of takin part but thats just me ps an what amazed me more than anything was a chap who i sold one of my ships to put it in as his own make an won first prize as best in show but i dint say anything as i dint want to ruin the day an cause an upset but this is true belevive it or not
chrisComment
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Nothing wrong with anyone taking part in competitions, I just don’t feel the need to turn my hobby into a competitive sport :tongue-out3:Comment
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I have read all the comments as well as the introduction to this thread.
As the saying goes you can put a blanket on a donkey and call it a race horse, but it is still a donkey.
This is a hobby, and it is up to the individual if they choose to pay out xyz amounts of money on what they perceive to be a 'great' kit. I have a neighbour whose grandson is 'into' modelmaking and I am sure that he could take the Tamiya 1.32 scale Spitfire and have it built painted and finished in a day - I am not saying that all the parts would be where they should be or put on in the correct order, but he would be happy with the kit.
Some people can take the worst model and turn it into a masterpiece, others can take the most expensive model and turn it into junk but that is not because of price, manufacturer or quality of mouldings, but the quality of the model maker. Personally I have paid out large amounts of money on kits from established manufacturers that come highly reccomended, and one in particular I can remember having to virtually scratchbuild the whole model through one fault or another, and yet I have built a model that others have scorned and it has turned out to be a gem! So it comes down to you pays your money - you takes your chance, I prefer subject over cost.Comment
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