Related to another thread in this forum, about skill levels, I think mfgs need to improve instruction sheets. Experienced modelers know when to follow procedure given, when to deviate. But I know newcomers to the hobby tend to be bothered by the fact that the instructions in kits often cannot be followed literally. There are a few exceptions (Wingnut kits, Midwest ship models, for instance) but many popular mfgs need to work harder.
Biggest problem involves painting. I am convinced that although they give you colors for parts, they believe that few actually paint their models. Painting each part seperately before any assembly of course prevents filling and smoothing seams. Waiting till the kit is assembled before painting prevents painting interior parts that remain visible. These seeming dilemmas really throw some novices.
Another problem is that many manufacturers, especially from Asia, seem to resist having speakers native to some countries that they market heavily to actually write or edit the English versions of their instructions. Yeah, we all laugh at the pigeon english, but it still is not good customer relations. How much would it add to kit cost to have well translated instructions.
True…see most Dragon kit instructions
I think many instructions that supply painting guides are often geared towards those with limited amounts of paints (often the skill level 2 style kits) and then the skill level three types, who the manufacturers know will probably do extensive research on the kits and will paint based on their research and not the guide.
Yes, Dragon has some notoriously bad instructions that are often error filled. Even the photographed instructions they included with their initial 1/72 scale armor kits had pieces on backwards or unclear placement.
Tamiya probably has the best instructions for beginners.
Yea Yea, not so much a set of rules but more like a set of guidelines! (jack sparrow)
Tamiya and Monogram used to have the best instructions in the business. There was never any guessing where parts went or how. Another company I remember having superb instructions was Bandai. Their kits were a step above just about anyone else. Sad that they no longer make their superb armor and vehicle kits.
Bandai still makes some outstanding armor kits, it’s just that they are 1/35 sci-fi armor. They make a huge double barreled battle tank, hover tank/APC, futuristic HMMWV type jeep and of course Batman’s Tumbler.
Monogram’s Promodeler instructions were superb. They even had tips in there as when to paint,types of glue to use, typical wear, etc. plus reference photographs.
Tamiya still has top notch instructions and Revell has improved from the dark days of late 1970’s early 1980’s USMC style instructions (no words, arrows pointing only) 
to far better instructions today.
But yes, the companies from the Far East could almost all use better instrucion sheets for us in the Western Hemisphere.
I think what you are encountering here Don is that many Asian manufactures rely on computer translation (like Babble Fish) to convert what ever into English. Unfortunately, there are cultural barriers and quite simply, some things just fail to translate. So what you ultimately get is some really mind blowing rendition about “Happy ending with the achievement of your modeling daydream”. Translation: Congratulations with the completion of your model project.
Radarider