I bought this kit on Ebay, from a seller with 100% feedback. It was listed as “open, but complete.” When it arrived this afternoon, I opened it up to inventory the kit parts. All of the fuse halves and wing parts had been carefully removed from the sprues, and were present. The decal sheet looks good, and the instructions are present.
So, I proceed to leave positive feedback for the seller. A few hours later, I am playing with the parts to see how they are going to line up. Then, it hits me…
Like a bullet through the forehead…
The ENTIRE clear sprue is missing!
Can’t believe I didn’t even notice it the first time. Unfortunately, I have already left the feedback so I can’t hold out on that until the transaction is made right. I emailed the seller, to ask them if the parts are laying around there somewhere. Hopefully, they are and I can get them. The thought of trying to deal with Tamiya USA again for parts makes me shudder…
If the seller can’t come through for me, there’s the possibilty of getting Paypal involved. I hope it doesn’t come to that though. If the seller cannot (or will not) help me, then maybe Papal, then maybe Tamiya. If none of those work out, maybe somebody out there has an extra sprue of the clear parts.
The moral of the story is MAKE SURE ALL OF THE PARTS ARE IN THE KIT THE MOMENT YOU RECEIVE IT! Just thought I’d remind everyone out there to be careful. Thanks for listening!
Hi Frank. What is it with the Tamiya Migs. I finished one over the xmas period and when i came to doing the decals they litterally fell apart in the water. So i have a shiny russian bird who naked!!! Some might like the sound of that but not me. When i tried to replace them with AM stuff. Theyre out of stock DOH!!!.
I know you dont want to hear this but it is a cracker of a kit and goes together really well.
Seller probably messed up. Before you freak out, give him a chance. Not everyone on eBay is a crook.
Also, try Squadron, who probably has a vacform canopy available. Once you use one of these and see it completed, you probably wont care about styrene canopies again.
Thanks guys, I appreciate the help. I do not believe that the seller tried to take me, I think they either didn’t notice that the sprue was missing or maybe they took it out while doing the inventory of the kit. Hopefully, they have it there and can send it to me. With over 1300 feedback and a 100% rating, I am sure we’ll be able to figure it out. I looked at Squadron and Falcon, but don’t see any vacuform replacements available. [sigh]
Thanks, I was going to give them a call now that they’re open. I really didn’t want to ask them, as it took 11 months to get a clear part for one of their Spitfires from them. But, it looks like that is my only option at this point. Thanks for the tip!
!! months??!! Great support, huh? I see why you are reluctant.
Well, there are lots of forums, people suppliers and so on. I would call them a last resort. Shooot, you could build a vacforming set up and make your own in a week!
I received an email from the seller this afternoon saying they have the parts there, somehow they got separated from the kit and that they would put them in the mail right away. Looks like a happy ending is coming, I’ll post when they arrive! [tup]
Thanks Charles, not sure yet what scheme I am going to do. I ordered a couple of different sheets of decals for it, which come with Soviet, East German, Albanian, Polish, and a couple of choices for Czech markings so I will have quite a decision to make when the time comes! [8-]