Kit manufacturers rating scale?

[rtibbs]

... just think for a moment, ratings are based on someone's opinion. Opinions are personal views on things and are subjective by default. The same kit can be reviewed by many different people, and they might have different opinions. The only 'unbiased would be the dimensions. Even the timber material could have different views: for one it will look dry, for another is too light...The worse is... they show off a model from a completely different kit as the photo on the box.

I guess you have to make your own opinion based on multiple reviews (if possible). We have seen a great model from a poorly developed kit, but...we also saw the opposite.

That’s your opinion Sorry Jimsky but I couldn’t resist that one.
What I was looking for is something other than the manufacturers review of their product. Haven’t seen a manufacturer saying “Our kit has lousy documentation, poor choice of wood etc.”
Reviewing several builders logs/reviews seem to be the best option. At least that’s what I have done in the past. Of course one has to take into account the year the kit was produced.
Ok, I’ll get back to building.

 

[Stuart Little]

Try these links from YouTube

Try to stay away from COREL. the instructions are horrible. OCCRE has great instructions with color pictures. Easy to follow.

I second -"Stay away from Corel". Their decorations are atrocious, made from 'regurgitated' MDF dust pressings mishaped & break as easily. I started Victory, got as far as the hull planked & gun ports, then found that the ports aft of midships didnot work out as planned, nor where the whales in their correct location. I removed what I could of the aft section then resanded I skinned over with decking planks, stood back & thought "That's crappy":- so she was placed in'ordinary' for maybe when nothing better to do! I bought Panart's 1:78 kit to do later then got out OcCre's Montanes,. What a difference, definitely a top quality model.

 

[Dave Stevens (Lumberyard)]

i have an old Model Shipways catalog from the 1960s what is interesting is how they sold the kits.
you can purchase the entire kit or just buy the plans, just the fittings as a set or one at a time, just the hull or rigging line and blocks.

back in the day when Euro kits were first introduced they were all tossed in the dumpster the scratch builders called them all trash. Out of scale ,poor fittings etc. This created the "kit bashing" where the rigging line and blocks were tossed out all the wood was replaced so kits became semi scratch building projects. This was a bit costly because adding to the price of the kit you now spent more on replacing stuff.

it is an interesting idea to buy kits in pieces and parts

 

[danielsje]

I tend to think that price is a starting point indicating quality in a ship model kit. Although the caution is that some kits are simply grossly overpriced. The scale and size of the model, how many detail parts are included, and the quality of the wood and rigging shapes the price point. I am not so sure that clarity of instructions can equate to quality of a kit because a quality kit may assume experience and expertise in the builder and therefore detailed instructions are not deemed necessary. Given the subjective nature of using any marker to indicate quality, I would still use price as a comparative starting point.

 

[Stuart Little]

i have an old Model Shipways catalog from the 1960s what is interesting is how they sold the kits.
you can purchase the entire kit or just buy the plans, just the fittings as a set or one at a time, just the hull or rigging line and blocks.

back in the day when Euro kits were first introduced they were all tossed in the dumpster the scratch builders called them all trash. Out of scale ,poor fittings etc. This created the "kit bashing" where the rigging line and blocks were tossed out all the wood was replaced so kits became semi scratch building projects. This was a bit costly because adding to the price of the kit you now spent more on replacing stuff.

it is an interesting idea to buy kits in pieces and parts

You still can, OcCre sell some kits in parts.

 

[Theo]

Is there an unbiased rating scale and listing of kit manufacturers regarding quality of kit materials, instructions/ documentation, customer service, complexity etc., etc

I have built several ships from manufactures such as : Amati, Ocre, Model Shipways, and Mamoli. Of the four, while they all have their good points, I think Amati is the best I have ever built. Of course, that does not mean that I would never buy the others. It all depends on the ship I want to build. Some historical ships are only available through certain companies. I hope this helps. If you would like to know which ships I built you can email me at tom@tdoranpc.com

Regards and Happy Thanksgiving!

 

[Kurt Konrath]

I have bought on Evil Bay some OLD kits from several manufactures, some still in business, some have gone by the wayside.

I have one Cannonade position where date on instructions said 1947! I decade ahead of me.

Kit casting are rude and crude by today's standards but wood look to still be good decades later.

I am just glad the castings have not suffered from rot that many old casting I have seen suffered.

 

[ShadyG]

I'll second what's been said about Corel kits, I am having a horrendous time with them about their kit of HMS Bellona. The box was opened when I got it and I immediately guessed that some dowels for masting were missing, I only had four lengths of dowel for a three-masted warship. I contacted the supplier, they passed me on to the manufacturer and then I got stonewalled.
I asked for a bill of materials of what should be in the box and was told "We don't supply that". I told them that there were bits missing, and they said, 'tell us what's missing and we'll send it to you.' I said, 'To do that I need a bill of materials, and they said 'We don't supply that". As I spent approx. $1000 NZ on this kit, I really am getting frustrated.
The only advice Corel would give me was to start building the kit, and if I found anything missing, then tell them and they would resupply me. As I live in New Zealand this would mean holding off on my build for a couple or three weeks. I told Corel about this and got no sympathy whatsoever. This is the last time I buy a Corel kit, and I wouldn't recommend them to anyone else.