A noted aviation writer confirms an Italeri box art error; who's the USA distributor

I'm afraid F-100John may have an unrealistic expectation of the kit industry. The attention to detail in the kits themselves obviously varies from one kit to another, and the same goes for the box art.

I have the impression that the artists who paint the pictures for boxes work extremely fast, and that few if any of them work full-time producing pictures for model boxes. Most of them, I think, are commissioned, commercial artists who paint all sorts of paintings for all sorts of clients. (They have to work that way in order to make a living - and they don't get rich.) My guess is that the typical boxtop painting is cranked out in a day or two. I have enormous respect for people who can work like that.

Dr. Thomas Graham's book on the history of Revell talks at some length about one of my favorite box art painters. Steel's "studio" consisted of an easel he'd set up in his kitchen. He turned out a painting every few days. He did all sorts of paintings beyond model kit boxes - and he painted for several kit manufacturers. His pictures can be found on Revell, Aurora, and Monogram boxes (and probably others), and in lots of magazines.

Under those circumstances, it's just not reasonable to expect that every detail in a box art painting will be accurate in every detail. Those guys just don't have time to do research. Some of them undoubtedly are experts on some particular subjects. Some aren't. (Steel painted ships, aircraft, tanks, and probably quite a few other model subjects - and painted wildlife for nature magazines. I can't imagine that he was equally familiar with all those subjects.)

I've seen several box art errors that I did think were amusing. Steel himself did a beautiful painting for one of the boxings of the old Revell 1/40 Skyraider. It was a fine, lively action view of a Navy Skyraider landing on a carrier - carrying a full load of bombs, rockets, and drop tanks. (How often does one see that in real life? He obviously wanted to show all the underwing stores that came with the kit.)

I have two all-time plastic kit art howlers. One was an ancient, awful UPC kit that was supposed to represent a seventeenth-century English warship, H.M.S. Prince. The Japanese artist apparently was looking at a photo of the superb "Board Room" model of the ship. That model, which is quite famous, is built in the traditional "Board Room" style, with bare, unplanked frames below the wales/waterline. Here's a photo of it: http://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0CAcQjRw&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ssplprints.com%2Fimage%2F84526%2Fhms-prince-1670&ei=Ry2wVLW1FpH3yQSRyIDoAg&bvm=bv.83339334,d.aWw&psig=AFQjCNFiS08hSzBVT8EowKBSY-FTEqKp4w&ust=1420918413753535

The painting on the UPC box showed the Prince floating in a harbor, surrounded by other warships. The unplanked timbers projected above the water, with blue sky showing between them.

Then there was a painting that wasn't actually box art; it appeared in an ad for Revell in one of the British modeling magazines, I think in the late seventies. The kit in question was the old Revell Type VII U-boat, on 1/125 scale. The kit came with a stand, the sides of which were two flat plastic pieces shaped like torpedoes. The stand was almost half as long as the sub itself. Here's a photo: http://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0CAcQjRw&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.modelshipgallery.com%2Fgallery%2Fss%2Fdkm%2Fu99-125-gg%2Fu-99-index.html&ei=HC6wVPmlMtGbyATBqoDYBA&bvm=bv.83339334,d.aWw&psig=AFQjCNGLizDQ_D-_LZouLr8s0j1VQEddxQ&ust=1420918674931956

 The painting in the ad showed the U-boat, submerged, attacking a convoy - with two gigantic torpedoes hanging under it.

Box art painting is indeed a form of art; I couldn't begin to create such things. But let's not expect too much. And in the whole spectrum of things that can be good and bad about a kit, I'd have to say the box art doesn't rank high in my own personal evaluation of it.

I suspect that Itaeri and many other companies just give their in house graphic artist(s) some general directions and let them go forth. And since the box art is not what their main investment is on the kit, I seriously doubt they will make any changes to reflect accuracy. At least on the initial run. Now since most kits nowadays seem to be shorter production runs, there is the possbility that a later re boxing of the same kit may be more accurate... but I would not hold my breath or lose any sleep over this.

I actually got an answer from an Italeri mail order company/distributor for Italeri's e mail address; it is

www.italeri.com/contti.asp

The reply was in the standard fill in the empty boxes form w/ any comments/questions you have. Now let's see how long it takes to get an answer & what the corrective action(if any) will be.

F-100 John

I would guess the amount of attention they pay to that kind of research depends on the market for a specific kit, which depends a lot on the price range they are shooting for.  The simpler, cheaper kits are aimed at casual modelers who don't worry that much about exact configuration. If it is a multi-hundred buck kit like a 1:350 carrier, it is aimed at the critical enthusiast, and will probably be much better researched.

That is nothing new and will continue to happen. As jtilley said, they show no interest and if as much you will get a note saying the info will be forwarded to the "research" team, as this has been my experience..

Again, I'll be interested to see where this inquiry leads. I'll be surprised if Italeri does anything about it. My guess is that the company will reply (if it replies at all) with a form letter (or e-mail) that will say virtually nothing.

My perception is that the Powers that Be in the plastic model industry have little if any interest in this sort of thing. In some cases I question whether the people responsible for marketing the kits have any understanding whatever of the subject matter. (The worst examples I've seen are ship kits from Revell and Heller.)

But maybe Italeri will be different. I hope so.

The new USA distributor is the Hobbico/Tower Hobbies/Great Planes group. I don't think they are in charge of what the Italians put on the box covers, though. (and "impossible" box art has been around for a few decades now, anyway)

Rex