joberg
Legendary Member
To begin, I always wanted a UFO Interceptor (didn't have the time to build one) and one of our members on the RPF (steve48442) was selling a garage kit that he had showed us, fully built/painted.
The kit was $180 + $18 shipping. It arrived pretty fast and I confirmed that all the pieces were there for me to complete the kit.
After a closer look, I noticed that all of the resin parts were pitted, full of holes and that most of the details were "washed up" or missing (especially, the 3 landing gears).
The main body was vacu-formed and badly cut from its main plastic sheet.
As for the decal sheet, the lettering was poorly done and was printed on a white background. It didn't even stick to the model afterward, making it inaccurate to say the least (had to use Letraset sheet to do most of the text).
Now, to give this post some kind of constructive criticism for other builders, wanting to buy this kit, I'll give a few solutions/advice to achieve a 70% accurate model.
First the vacu-form. I would've preferred to cut the whole body from its sheet myself. Some webbing is expected (and it was mainly at the rear of the model) but nothing crazy (cut it, fill it, because Bondo will be your best friend with this build)...so next time, let's ship the entire sheets (top & bottom bodies)
The molds need to be replaced (all of them), they are tired...they're the open kind; pour the resin and put a piece of glass with a de-molder (that's what I do) to make the top surface flat. Please, either invest in a pressure tank or use Alumilite (coating your molds with baby powder is a way to avoid bubbles and holes).
I had to redo the entire nose-cone (holding the missile) Bondo/Putty/sand/adjust every single pieces in that kit!
Landing gears are in metal (is it lead, or an amalgam of metal?) Very poorly made as well: details missing (nuts/bolts, spring, shocks)...other molds need to be made for sure; I kept the main bodies and transformed/added the missing pieces.
Finally the decals...should be on a transparent background, since a few are on a grey colour (label: DANGER EXHAUST) and of better quality: sharper lettering/colour.
I hope that this is not sounding too negative; I knew it was a garage kit from the get go, but, for that price, I feel it could've been better.
Now the pics:
The kit was $180 + $18 shipping. It arrived pretty fast and I confirmed that all the pieces were there for me to complete the kit.
After a closer look, I noticed that all of the resin parts were pitted, full of holes and that most of the details were "washed up" or missing (especially, the 3 landing gears).
The main body was vacu-formed and badly cut from its main plastic sheet.
As for the decal sheet, the lettering was poorly done and was printed on a white background. It didn't even stick to the model afterward, making it inaccurate to say the least (had to use Letraset sheet to do most of the text).
Now, to give this post some kind of constructive criticism for other builders, wanting to buy this kit, I'll give a few solutions/advice to achieve a 70% accurate model.
First the vacu-form. I would've preferred to cut the whole body from its sheet myself. Some webbing is expected (and it was mainly at the rear of the model) but nothing crazy (cut it, fill it, because Bondo will be your best friend with this build)...so next time, let's ship the entire sheets (top & bottom bodies)
The molds need to be replaced (all of them), they are tired...they're the open kind; pour the resin and put a piece of glass with a de-molder (that's what I do) to make the top surface flat. Please, either invest in a pressure tank or use Alumilite (coating your molds with baby powder is a way to avoid bubbles and holes).
I had to redo the entire nose-cone (holding the missile) Bondo/Putty/sand/adjust every single pieces in that kit!
Landing gears are in metal (is it lead, or an amalgam of metal?) Very poorly made as well: details missing (nuts/bolts, spring, shocks)...other molds need to be made for sure; I kept the main bodies and transformed/added the missing pieces.
Finally the decals...should be on a transparent background, since a few are on a grey colour (label: DANGER EXHAUST) and of better quality: sharper lettering/colour.
I hope that this is not sounding too negative; I knew it was a garage kit from the get go, but, for that price, I feel it could've been better.
Now the pics: