Part ordering

Bronto

Why is everyone bashing trumpeter over this?
The part wasn't missing or defective. He damaged it. Why is it the responsibility of trumpeter to replace it?

I'm new to the forums, so hopefully this is the correct etiquette...

rather than starting a NEW thread.. I am going to jump in on this one. I've got a trumpeter 1/72 SU-27 and I need a replacement for the canopy. Anyone crack the code on getting replacements from them yet?

- My emails to Stevens International and Squadron remain unanswered.

- Looks like an outfit called 'Pavla' makes a vac-formed replacement which I would gladly buy provided i am sure it's the right one. The part is called:  Pavla 1/72 Sukhoi Su-27, Su-27UB Vacu-Formed Canopy for Italeri kit #V72-19 ...It LOOKS like it has the canopy for one seater AND two seater. I need the ONE. but a little leery of ordering before I have better info. I think I could make it work for my Trumpeter as long as its the right scale.

BTW - To the original poster.. I checked the Pavla site, and it looks like they do not sell canopy replacements for 1/32 scale. :(

Eric,

IF a piece is either missing or is somehow defective/damaged out of the box then the company should be willing to replace it free of charge (NOT even shipping charges).  IF on the other hand if a modeler loses or damages a part then yes they should expect to have to pay to get a replacement part.

And as far as I am concerned IF the part is damaged while the modeler is removing it from the sprue then the company should be willing to replace it free of charge (NOT even shipping charges) as it would be a sign of poor design if a part cannot be safely removed from a sprue prior to being used in/on a model.

As I've already asked, what happened to a company not only standing behind their products and their customer's but also servicing their products?  Customer service really sucks these days.

Nathan,

I have to agree with you.  It sounds as if it had been damaged in the box or just missing that it would have been difficult if not impossible to get a replacement.  Whatever happened to companies not only standing behind but supporting their products and customers?

Bronto,

True, up to a point.  Trumpeter (or any company) should have some sort of replacement policy.  Yes, the OP damaged the part and that's not on Trumpeter, but they should have some sort of way of providing replacement parts.

Glad to hear you got it repaired icit!

Since I wasn't able to get a replacment part without buying a whole new kit I decided to take matters into my own hands and attempt some surgery. I stripped all the future off the parts and then reapplied future to just where the damage was, after two days of drying I took some 1000 and 2000 sandpaper and polished it up. When I thought that was sufficent I went and dipped the whole thing in future again and let it dry and guess what, you would be hard pressed to really see it- its not 100% but I believe if you were not looking for it you wouldn't see it. Even the opaque part of the damaged plastic clearded up. Thanks to all who answered with suggestions.

Tamiya has good replacement part service.  You can't order parts online, but you can call customer service at 1-800-tamiyaa and they will look it up on their computer inventory system and you can purchase it, usually you have to buy the whole sprue.  And if it's not in stock in the USA, you'll have a bit of a wait while they get it from Japan,  but you usually get what you need.

What we need is a model version of the old " U - PULL - IT " type junkyard.

It is kinda silly that you cannot source replacement parts. Replacement parts are available for almost everything. Trumpeter surely has some kind of part replacement policy for damaged/defective parts from the manufacturer so offering these same parts to individuals that are willing to pay for them seems like a very logical next step. I havent read anywhere that they were expected to replace them free of cost.

Sounds like if it was missing or defective you wouldn't be able to get it replaced from Trumpeter anyway?? That could be a turn-off. Are aftermarket Vac canopies available for this kit?

I just put Trumpeter on my "S"-List.

thanks everyone, the Canadian distributor told me basically to forget it. I guess I will be reconsidering a future purchase.

ICIT

I got this info from Trumpeter. They never make extra sprue's for their kits. Thats why when someone has a problem they have a hard time finding replacements parts.....the distributors will some times get their hands on some but not very often.

Thad

There was thread on here maybe a month ago from a member enumerating the many problems he had with Trumpeter to obtain a part that was missing from the brand new sealed kit.  Seems the problem was that  he bought it a year earlier, and even though he didn't open it until now and discovered the part was missing (Trumpeter factory error) they refused to do anything about it.  Don't know how it finally came out, I hope he got his part.  His point was that customer service was unhelpful in this case.  Sorry I don't remember where the thread was, so I could point you to it.

I found you have to start with the distributor for North America.

They will want kit number and the sprue the parts were on.

I've only had to deal with Hasegawa. May be some one thats dealt with Trumpeter  will drop you a reply

Dave