What has been your experience with this manufacturer?
Welcome to he forums[:D]
Unfortunately I have built any of their stuff . But and its a big but I came across this the other day
http://www.accurate-armour.com/ShowProduct.cfm?CFID=3038098&CFTOKEN=94887846&manufacturer=0&category=1&subcategory=1&product=1
So if its true Id proceed with caution before buying anything from Maquette.
Just my 2 pennies worth.
We had thread on this very subject a few weeks ago, in a nutshell it was kind of agreed that the kits vary in quality from poor to okay. The only one I built was their T34/85 turret, which I dropped on a Tamiya hull. It was okay. The detail and the plastic was a little soft, but the fit was acceptable and the finished product looks just fine.
I have built a few Maquette kits and they turn out great.They have good to great detail on the hulls and turrets but you have to watch it.They are very deillicate details and some details you may want to scratch build to add on because some are non-ecisstant(bad spelling).Overall I would give them a B- as a grade in detail and build.You really have to take some time with these kits to get a real gem out of them.They also made there kits for Dragon too.Digger
I’ve got a few Maquette kits. My T-26-4 which is the nice Zvezda T-26 kit with a resin turret and white metal 76mm gun. I’ve also got a Pz 38t kit that is much better than the old Italeri kit. The detail is not as fine, but the kit is more accurate with detail on both sides of the road wheels.
I have three Maquette kits. I am currently building a T-34 1940 version. There are tons of extra parts…not cool parts like crates and boxes, but the set I am working on has two sets of wheels! Or, there are enough track links to do 4 sets of tracks! I think it is a packing error, but the sprue colors are different, so it seems they were all supposed to be in there. The kit is coming along nicely. The individual track links are somewhat of a pain, and the instructions are almost unreadable. You just gotta assume sometimes what piece goes where. They are really cheap too! I know pricewise you sometimes get what you pay for, but for a modeler like me the kits are worth it. Hope this helps.
Mike
I also have the Pz 38. It is a decent kit. the hull is not the “tub” that you get with Tamiya or Dragon, but flat panels that you glue together. Not terribly difficult, but you want to make sure the hull is square when you build it
I’ve just ordered a T-34 from them. It looks middle of the road for me. The wheels are the weak part of the kit.
Tamiya is better, but the offerings are better from Maquette for Russian vehicles.
The general quality of maquette kits would be from fair to good. Reminiscent of older Italeri kits, but with a little more work than you would put into a Tamiya kit, you’ll have a nice model on your hands.
I have the T-34-100 and the T-122, and I reckon they are very good. The resin parts especially.
Ah. I didn’t even know that the other colored sprues were resin. Very cool! I would say Maquette gives you a lot of bang for the buck! I looked in my other two Maquette kits…same thing. Tons of extra parts. It is no packing error.
Mike
I didn’t think the parts on sprues were resin. I think they are different colored plastic, aren’t they? I am used to seeing Resin with casting blocks, not sprue
Correct, the sprue parts are just different colored plastic. The experience I had was the Valentine the put out. It is the older Dragon kit and it too had extra this and that and different colored sprues. I truly am a Dragonaddict. taniya is OK, but , all in all, Dragon just woops a** when it comes to bang for buck and new offerings. Over and over, side by side I lik eDragon much more.
Anyway, the Maquette kits are ok, but I would prefer to use them ONLY when there is no other choice for that particular item.
My two cents.
Oh man i’ve been waiting for this thread.I got a Pz.38t and could’nt wait to get going cause I love the 38t variants, and the parts were either wrong or missing!! I’m still @#$^ ed off about it.And of course since I got it mail order all they would do is give me the manufacture’s info to get the parts!Screw it -I’ll make a destroyed 38t dio!!![soapbox] What parts were in there seemed about the same quality as Italeri. There, now I’m all better.
I have noticed that the Eastern European kits have a noticable lack of quality control. My ICM Luchs was missing the tracks completely and my PzII had an extra sprue. I also received a 1//48th Mustang from Alanger for a previous order problem and it had a broken canopy. Thats 3 of 4 European kits I got this year
I guess until I either run into problems with Maquette or become better at modeling, I will continue to buy Maquette. Don’t get me wrong, I buy all of the other brands also. But it’s very hard to pass up a 13 dollar kit. Very. Call me el cheapo!
Mike
I don’t blame you, I just had a real drag with that first one I bought. For the price they aren’t that bad of a kit ,I’ll give them another try but if it happens again I’m out!!!