Interesting. Every time the topic of quality of the plastic comes up, the thread diverts to a discussion of the skill of the modeler. It’s happened a couple of times now. Maybe it says something about how we view ourselves in relation to our hobby. To me they are two separate issues. I think Daveash raises a legitimate point about quality that is independent of the status of the modeler as a veteran or newbie.
There are really two aspects of quality that bear on the issue. The first is the quality of the design. It’s obvious that designs have generally, though not universally, improved over the years in parallel with design improvements in other technologies - as rjkplasticmod pointed out. The other aspect of quality is the quality of the manufacturing process - flash, warping, shortshooting, etc. Daveash’s point is well taken - the range in quality between individual models is greater than for almost any other items I buy except tools. In modeling it’s definitely caveat emptor.
The simple response to Daveash’s comment is that poor quality kits will disappear when they no longer sell. There is a silver lining in the cloud - the diversity of quality supports a diversity of manufacturers, a diversity of price, and a diversity of subjects that doesn’t exist with the larger volume consumer products.
While coping with warped parts, flash, and ejector pin marks may build skills, once those skills are learned many of us modelers with only modest talents appreciate starting projects with the best quality for the price. Some like the challenge of making diamonds out of dog droppings. As long as they buy poor quality kits those kits will persist. That’s good, of course - if someone is willing to buy low quality, it’s good that level of quality is available.
The down side is that poor quality has a negative effect on newbies. The cheaper kits are exactly the ones that do require the most skills, so a newbie is more likely to buy one of the lesser quality offerings. My father bought my nephew a Warpogram kit. After a few hours my nephew gave up in frustration. One fewer hobbyist.
I don’t have answers, just observations. [soapbox] OFF
Good points, all.
I only “put up” with a poor quality kit when it is a subject I really want to build.
And I only “put up” with it after doing my homework to make sure there isn’t a better kit of that subject on the market.
I’m confident enough in my “skills” to contend with almost any kit, but I don’t feel compelled to challenge those skills by taking a crap kit and busting my butt just to bring it up to accceptable standards.
My point: do your homework and find the best kit available.
Or vice versa: if you do actually want to bust your butt just to bring a crap kit up to snuff, search out said clunker and knock yourself out!
We all have different goals in this hobby, and there are certainly a wide range of kits out there.
Well, as consumers, we are the ones with power. We chose to buy these kits. Do you honestly think a company will actually advertise the fact that they are selling inferior products? I think not, lest they be run by a very strange person [:)]
I couldn’t agree more. You know what J-Hulk, your input is always nothing short of insightful. There ARE a variety of kits available to us, and it is completely foolish to think that all of them should be first rate. Just like pretty much any single product you can buy, there are bad examples and there are good examples.
How come no one complains about aftermarket kits? They carry a VERY high price, yet the fit and finish of many of them is quite sub-par…
I see a bad kit as nothing more than a challenge. Personally, I don’t really mind them. I know that when I get one, I generally pay half as much as I would for a well-made kit, and that to me is great. I would not like it very much if every kit out there is a beauty, but a pricey, thus more than likely unatainable by myself.
Variety is the spice of life. If you don’t like it, complain, make your voice heard, then move on.
1:35 Maquette T34/85 with mine roller. The indys that came with the kit, totally suck. The plastic didn’t completely fill in all the details of the mold. But I liked the rest of the kit; the price was right, fit was good, and the subject was interesting.