We go to China to "cut costs" but really what they're doing is increasing profits by getting "western" suckers to pay PVP (perceived value pricing). Crappy kits can only be discouraged by NOT buying them. Appropriately priced kits for such low labo(u)r costs will only be had by not paying HIGH prices for what is at best a mediocre effort. The Trumpeter shills are not doing the modelling community any favo(u)rs. Nice 1/32 kits are not being created by Trumpeter, whether you won't to pay $120-$150 for them is your business.
Actually I can sort of see it for the 1/350 carriers, I still don't hink I'll be putting one on my stash anytime soon. Hell I have representatives of most of the players on the the 3rd and 5th Fleets in 1/700and I don't know where I'll display those!
I agree the Carriers are excellent and the pricing does seem cheap compared to Tamiya at the original release time of the Tamiya BBs. However I think we may be missing something here. All the original reviews on the carriers compared them to Mike Bishop's Blue Water Navy releases in resin. Things like the bow has the same error as the BWN kit.The imediate conclusion is they used the BWN kits as their model to copy - big savings in original design , and and absence of any significant mistakes like on the wildcat. Compare these to the inconsistensies (within a single kit like nobody talks to each other and they don't hold design reviews) in Trumpeter's 1/32 aircraft. Also ask yourself the following:
The photoetch hinges add nothing but cost and cokmplications - why are they included???
The K5 is in 1/35th, the rail wheels are in 1/32nd - why?? now I can't put it on a track with all the other 1/35th rail stuff.
Have they ever actually built one of their kits and wondered why the whole landing gear bay wasn't included???
Seems to me if they had some good 1/32 aircraft to copy from those kits would be a lot better too.
Can you provide specifics (gauge, diameter?) about this (or a source)? All I have seen rates the Trumpeter K5 as slightly better overall than the DML version.
It was in several reviews and RMS posts. I selected the Trumpeter kit since overall it got better comments/review and I still only had the positve experiences with the Carriers at that point. I'll probably show it alone - so no big deal. The review speculated that there's a standard railroad scale that comes out to be 1/32 and thus they selected to make the wheel spacing
1/32 to make it also marketable in that arena. Some folks posted they wanted to show the units being moved as part of a train or being moved by a diesel engine. Apparently getting the wheels spaced for 1/35th isn't trivial. Ironsides is marketing part of their original K5 as a fix. The Ironworks units are in resins - so Trumpeter has essentially priced their unit off the market and they're grabbing what they can.
I guess I have the same feeling with the photo etched control surface hinges. If you want sacle and detail and end up seezing the surfaces in place with the fixed control rods - why go thru the bother. Unless they also have some idea that you can leave out the rods and have a "toy" with moving parts. Not that I'm sure they're structurally sound as a "play with it toy".
Hearsay, in other words. Have you measured the track on your kit?
I wonder. I'll bet half the people don't even know what the correct European gauge is, or how it is measured. Given the correct gauge as a reference, why are people looking at the wheel sets anyway - these can vary depending on wheel diameter, rating, and so forth. Finally, my experience has been that most people can't measure model parts accurately closer than about 1/8 inch. . .
i don't know how true the inelasticity thing is--in my case, the price I'm willing to pay varies upon perceived kit quality and desirability of subject. Even so, I am very reluctant to go over $50--the Mach 2 DC-4 is a case in point. Yes, it will probably be pretty primitive, but I might be willing to pay $50 even so, having dealt with Mach 2's material before. $85 is way too much, even for a very desirable subject in 1/72. Would I pay $85 for anyting in 1/72, even assuming it was offered by Tamiya? A Sunderland, probably, but that's about it.
PolyTech Forum website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here.
All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.