discussion Model kits...poor fitting.

[eddiesolo]

As I have gotten older and more disabled so more cantankerous lol, I have noticed that many model kits from many different manufacturers still are a poor fit-I am talking about plastic kits here. I got to thinking why? Especially in this day and age with computer aided designs and 3D modelling, CNC machines for mould making etc etc. Okay, they have flashing on and ejector pin marks, but I am talking the actual fit, two surfaces that should fit snug against each other...but don't. Hence the filler, sanding etc, now I know that this is the joy for some, but for other OOB is an option as faffing with disability issues, poor eyes etc can cause a model to be abandoned...this in turn is a waste of money.

Maybe it is just me and maybe it is the manufacturing process with the model pieces being ejected not cool enough, so are pinched.

If your hobby is fishing you don't buy a rod that is covered in flashing and is so rough that you have to set too and sand it before you can use it.

Just an observation in various kits I have built or attempted to.

Si

 

[Guest]

Si think the problem is that a lot of kits are old and in the infancy of computerisation or before. Those that are later seem much better. The Airfix Merlin Helicopter that I am attempting at the moment is first class. It is a new type.

But where as to begin with I was annoyed at some of the ill fitting model I have grown, not to like, to enjoy using as much of my skill as possible to make something of the ill fit. When finished I can then say finished looks OK you would not know where the problems were. Think a poor fit model enhances your skills, makes you think, tests your ingenuity & imagination, enhances your determination & makes you feel that you have achieved something worthwhile as a model maker.

Laurie

 

[Alan 45]

It's not an issue for me and I've only ever abandoned one kit revells 1/225 HMS victory and that really was an awfull kit

If i do get a really bad one now I take a leaf out of si's book and crash it or sink it

Still it must be worse for people with disability problem so I can see where Simon is coming from

 

[stona]

I do sympathise Si.

The issue is that many 'new' kits are not new at all but are simply re-boxings or re-issues of kits which in some cases are more than thirty years old, so are the molds.

Laurie is right that newer kits, certainly those from the nineties onwards tend to be much better from a fit point of view.

Cheers

Steve

 

[eddiesolo]

What got me thinking was not only some aircraft kits but the accessory packs available, the 1/35 Tamiya oil barrel set is one, just made those up for a dio I am doing, sanded and trimmed and they looked okay until I sprayed them and found that they don't meet at the tops...very frustrating when a simple barrel should fit together-how hard can it be?!

Thanks guys for the comments.

Si

 

[Guest]

Agree with you Si on the simple extras. Just a fact that you have to come to terms with.

Although I said my Merlin was going ok there is one side had completely forgotten about.

That is the windows & canopies the clear plastic parts. They for a brand new model are diabolical. The have what looks like crack through every piece. They have sent, after complaining twice (with follow ups)good god about 8 total sprues as replacements. How close can you get to nearly saying they have failed as they all almost every piece 95% failures. If I can get two pieces out of 30 bits on the sprue I will be lucky

On a new model which costs in the region of £50 can you not say sorry not give compensation & not given any idea when new sprues will be available with out cracks. It really is unbelievable. When you spend hours producing a model for your own enjoyment you expect bits with out cracks through them 95% of them. The daft thing is the model is great nice detailing & so far fitting.

I bet the directors of the company would not be willing to put up with cracks in their basin or scratches on their new hob cooker.

Gee that was a very good rant. Think I will give myself "an informative" thingy. Need a new thingy John "a very annoyed one".

Laurie

 

[eddiesolo]

Agree with you Si on the simple extras. Just a fact that you have to come to terms with.Although I said my Merlin was going ok there is one side had completely forgotten about.

That is the windows & canopies the clear plastic parts. They for a brand new model are diabolical. The have what looks like crack through every piece. They have sent, after complaining twice (with follow ups)good god about 8 total sprues as replacements. How close can you get to nearly saying they have failed as they all almost every piece 95% failures. If I can get two pieces out of 30 bits on the sprue I will be lucky

On a new model which costs in the region of £50 can you not say sorry not give compensation & not given any idea when new sprues will be available with out cracks. It really is unbelievable. When you spend hours producing a model for your own enjoyment you expect bits with out cracks through them 95% of them. The daft thing is the model is great nice detailing & so far fitting.

I bet the directors of the company would not be willing to put up with cracks in their basin or scratches on their new hob cooker.

Gee that was a very good rant. Think I will give myself "an informative" thingy. Need a new thingy John "a very annoyed one".

Laurie

That is bad Laurie if you think about it. For a new kit and at that price you expect it to be right, price is all relative, you don't expect a £300 laptop to have warped keys or a cracked screen so why a £50 model to have crap windows...poor quality control. Hope you can make something of it.

Si

 

[flyjoe180]

Where's your senses of adventure? Half the fun of modelling is sorting out bad fits and flash etc.

 

[Ian M]

Another thing to take into account is how the models are stored. Plastic is a malleable material and reacts to both heat and cold. It could be that a shop has had the kit 'in the window' thus subjecting it to both sun and shade. Also hot lighting.

Also how they are stored at home. Mine sit on the top of a unit. Heat rises so probably not the best place. Fortunately the heating in the hobby room is on low, so not a big problem for me.

As injection moulded plastic warms, it can relax or warp making it a bit more challenging to fit together....

There are also some old kits that are just poor fitting. i would just say that if I have built 100 kits, of those, maybe five have had fit issues. I chalk it up to part of the game.

shake and bake is good but a good old mix it you self tastes a lot better. If you understand the compari

 

[The Migrant]

I'm with Joe on this, at least up to a point; if we wanted an easy result we'd buy pre-builts... OTOH I think it's fair to have a certain expectancy of quality when we're parting with our hard-earned cash. A few years ago I built the Marivox 1/72 Saab 105. It was horrific, and if it hadn't been a commissioned build would have ended up in the bin early on. I just can't believe the engineers of the kit could ever have actually test-built it, and I really did resent paying for the kit.

 

[stona]

As for a kit like the one from Marivox (which is a very small Swedish operation) and indeed other producers of limited run and specialist kits, I don't think it is sensible to expect the same sort of fit that you might expect from a modern kit from a major producer. You might be lucky, but I never have been It's basically a question of economics. The 'engineering' of such kits often needs a little ingenuity and adaptation to get the thing to stay together too. Even the plastic by Sword in the PCM kits sometimes leaves something to be desired.

Likewise resin kits. By the very nature of the casting process the fit is likely to be approximate, some are very approximate.

I don't think it is unreasonable to expect a decent fit from newer kits from Tamiya, Hasegawa, Revell, Airfix.etc. To be fair they usually deliver.

Cheers

Steve

 

[The Migrant]

Point taken Steve, but I've built lots of short-run kits that had reasonable fit; the Marivox kit was just downright poor. I certainly wasn't expecting a Tamiya/Eduard quality production.

 

[Guest]

All kits are moulded hot, and the plastic shrinks fractionally as it cools; manufacturers try to take this into account, and some get really good at it, but they are also in the hands of the operator removing the sprues from the mould. Do it a fraction too early, and there's a warped surface, but leave it too long, and the sprue doesn't want to release. The "cracks," on the clear parts are where the plastic flows in from opposite ends of the sprue gate, and meets in the middle of the item; if the temperature isn't exactly right, and the two flows have cooled slightly, before they meet...............

Edgar

 

[PaulTRose]

Where's your senses of adventure? Half the fun of modelling is sorting out bad fits and flash etc.

couldnt agree more

ive done tamiya kits that have just fallen together with no drama yet got even more enjoyment from cheap and nasty kits such as revell/airfix from 40+ year old moulds or stuff like PM kits, its the problem solving/fixing i enjoy

 

[Gern]

I think you have to consider what you pay.

Revell make a 1/32 Spitfire Mk IX for about £25

Tamiya make a 1/32 Spitfire Mk IX for about £125.

There may be differences in accuracy and level of detail between these two, but we're surely a bit naive if we expect the same quality of fit from both kits?

Gern

 

[stona]

Point taken Steve, but I've built lots of short-run kits that had reasonable fit; the Marivox kit was just downright poor. I certainly wasn't expecting a Tamiya/Eduard quality production.

Hi Mike, I've just been looking at your Avia by RS (they do some interesting Luftwaffe stuff too) so I know that you are a very experienced model builder who knows what to expect from these kits, whilst hoping for the best

I just wanted to explain to some who might never have attempted the sort of short run, limited production kits that you have mastered that they can be quite challenging.

Sometimes they can fit well as you say. I built a kit by Fly recently that fitted almost perfectly and was pleasantly surprised. Others are rather more vague, you know, the ones where it seems like the bloke who did the wings never spoke to the one who did the fuselage

Cheers

Steve

 

[yak face]

Hi Mike, I've just been looking at your Avia by RS (they do some interesting Luftwaffe stuff too) so I know that you are a very experienced model builder who knows what to expect from these kits, whilst hoping for the best I just wanted to explain to some who might never have attempted the sort of short run, limited production kits that you have mastered that they can be quite challenging.

Sometimes they can fit well as you say. I built a kit by Fly recently that fitted almost perfectly and was pleasantly surprised. Others are rather more vague, you know, the ones where it seems like the bloke who did the wings never spoke to the one who did the fuselage

Cheers

Steve

You should try something by Amodel , now THATS a vague fit!!

 

[eddiesolo]

Some good points and issues raised by some very talented model makers, superb input so thank you guys for that.

I suppose for me, as I have said, the sticking point is the fit for people with disability issues, my modelling has dropped off due to the time being taken to rectify fits and faff. I know it isn't a race and sometimes things will not always work out, but still a frustrating thing to happen, especially when cost involving certain models is involved.

Si

 

[Guest]

One of the problems with manufacturers is that they know they can get away with their kits not being so good. Each who buys a kit is an individualist & most just get on with it & put up with it.

If we all said this is not good enough then standards would improve. But how many of us take the trouble to moan ?

Very few I suspect & so things just carry on as before.

It is all who has got the cat by it's tail. Them or us. On the other side, being devil's advocate, we will all moan if the cost of models go up due to the extra effort of manufactures to make things more near perfect.

Can understand SI's predicament & the best there is to chose those models which are brand new as this seems to be the best way of getting something of the best fit.

Plus having read sometimes that somebody in producing the same model, as I have, has encountered a problem which I have not & vice-versa. So some of the problems I suspect are in the way we tackle a model & that a lot of forethought should be given to the planning of the construction & not to follow willy nilly the instruction sheets provided.

How many of us have said to ourselves wish I had thought that out better ?

Laurie

 

[stona]

Si I've always said that patience is the most important tool in the cupboard.

You just can't rush. The frustration of effing up all by myself by trying to rush was worse than just effing up anyway!

Cheers

Steve