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Ever wonder what those aftermarket folks are thinking?

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  • Member since
    December 2002
  • From: Canada / Czech Republic
Ever wonder what those aftermarket folks are thinking?
Posted by upnorth on Tuesday, August 17, 2004 3:01 AM
O.K. folks, this isn't really a complaint on my part, more an observation than anything.

I just bought a couple of Czechmasters aftermarket sets for my Eduard 1/72 L-39 Albatros and was rather surprized by some of the choices the company made of things to include.

The interior set includes a very nice cockpit with resin, photoetch and film parts, but it also includes a vac form canopy. There's nothing at all wrong with the injection molded canopy that comes with the kit, the only reason I can see for including the canopy in the aftermarket set is due to the way the cockpit is designed to be installed.

The exterior set includes separate flaps and ailerons and other control surfaces, but the horizontal stabilizers are provided along with the elevators. I can see the elevators being provided, but there's no difference between the kit supplied horizontal stabilizers and the resin aftermarket ones.

Like I say, its not meant to be a complaint, I am happy to have the aftermarket around and I bought these two sets for a fraction of what they would have cost me in Canada.

Anybody else ever bought an aftermarket set for anything and then wondered why something was included as an "improvement" when there was nothing wrong with the kit part it was meant to replace?
  • Member since
    February 2004
  • From: Green Lantern Corps HQ on Oa
Posted by LemonJello on Tuesday, August 17, 2004 5:52 AM
Not in my limited experience, though I do sometimes wonder how in the world are you supposed to get some of those tiny PE parts off the fret and on to the model without 1)losing it to the carpet monster or 2) losing your mind and eyesight trying to bend it to the correct shape! Maybe that's just me, though...
A day in the Corps is like a day on the farm; every meal is a banquet, every paycheck a fortune, every formation a parade... The Marine Corps is a department of the Navy? Yeah...The Men's Department.
  • Member since
    March 2003
  • From: Maine,USA
Posted by dubix88 on Tuesday, August 17, 2004 6:21 AM
HEY,
Ive never dealt with aftermarket stuff yet, but that does sound kinda stupid. O well, more spare parts for you.lol

Randy
THATS MY VOTE "If a woman has to choose between catching a fly ball and saving infant's life, she will choose to save the infant's life without even considering if there is a man on base." -Dave Barry In the words of the great Larry the Cable Guy, "GIT-R-DONE!!!"
  • Member since
    February 2003
  • From: Tochigi, Japan
Posted by J-Hulk on Tuesday, August 17, 2004 9:17 AM
QUOTE: Originally posted by upnorth
Anybody else ever bought an aftermarket set for anything and then wondered why something was included as an "improvement" when there was nothing wrong with the kit part it was meant to replace?


Yup, I wonder exactly that with about 50% of the parts in any given Aber PE set!

The 50% I do end up using still makes the set worth getting...but I just wonder WHY they include some of the nutty things they do?

Actually, in many cases, I feel that the AM part is WORSE than the original part it was supposed to improve! No problem...I just use the bits that I think will actually improve the model, and keep the other bits to use as raw material for scratchbuilding.
~Brian
  • Member since
    December 2002
  • From: Pominville, NY
Posted by BlackWolf3945 on Tuesday, August 17, 2004 2:18 PM
The logic seems quite simple; to me anyway. In the case of the vac canopy, many modelers want something thinner than the kit part. After all, most 72nd canopies, no matter how well molded, are entirely too thick to be in scale. The opposite could be said of a vac, but once any appropriate detail is added on the inside of the frames, that's a moot point.

The case of the horizontal stabs is even simpler logic than the canopy. Why should one cut the kit piece apart and then prepare the trailing edge of the stab to accept a resin piece when both pieces can be supplied, ready to go with little fuss? It's especially convenient for a modeler to be able to do that and quite easy for the manufacturer of the detail set to provide the modeler with that convenience, especially in such a small scale.


Fade to Black...
  • Member since
    March 2003
  • From: plopped down in front of this computer.
Posted by eagle334 on Tuesday, August 17, 2004 3:09 PM
Black wolf, you are a GEN-E-US !
Wayners Go Eagles! 334th Fighter Squadron Me and my F-4E <script language="javascript" src="http://www.airfighters.com/phgid_183.js" type="text/javascript"></script>
  • Member since
    July 2004
  • From: Texas
Posted by wbill76 on Tuesday, August 17, 2004 3:27 PM
I haven't worked with a lot of PE but the little exposure I've had so far has me sharing J-Hulk's reaction. I've adopted a frustration balanced with realism approach...if I have a kit part and the PE requires build ing a 3-D replacement using .5 mm interior supports, then the plastic part will do just fine in order to save my sanity. Big Smile [:D]
  • Member since
    February 2003
  • From: A Spartan in the Wolverine State
Posted by rjkplasticmod on Tuesday, August 17, 2004 7:17 PM
I seldom use everything included on PE frets, mainly cause I really don't like working with PE that much. But for every modeler like me theres sure to be one or more who use everything. I guess I'm shortchanging myself. Most resin accessories are pretty good, but there are a few where they obviously just copied the kit parts in resin. These irritate me a lot.

Regards, Rick
RICK At My Age, I've Seen It All, Done It All, But I Don't Remember It All...
  • Member since
    December 2002
  • From: Pominville, NY
Posted by BlackWolf3945 on Wednesday, August 18, 2004 2:47 AM
QUOTE: Originally posted by eagle334

Black wolf, you are a GEN-E-US !


No, I'm no genius.


THIS is a genius...

Super Genius, to be exact...




Fade to Black...
  • Member since
    July 2003
  • From: Bicester, England
Posted by KJ200 on Wednesday, August 18, 2004 7:34 AM
I got the CMK cockpit set for Revell's 1/72 Fw190.

Having used it, I'm not that sure that it was an improvement of the cockpit that revell supplied. One thing is for sure, it was a lot more delicate!!

I didn't even bother with the rudder pedals, after all who's going to see those buried in the bottom of the 190's cockpit?

It's like J-Hulk posted, you just got to take what you want.

Karl

Currently on the bench: AZ Models 1/72 Mig 17PF

  • Member since
    December 2003
  • From: 37deg 40.13' N 95deg 29.10'W
Posted by scottrc on Wednesday, August 18, 2004 10:50 AM
I take what I want, which a maybe 1% of the entire set, and I pay for it. Why on earth do I pay more for a set of seatbelts and a control panel than what I paid for the entire kit, including paint, I will never understand. Must be the exposure to too much paint thinner and clouded my sense of judgement.

  • Member since
    November 2005
Posted by Anonymous on Wednesday, August 18, 2004 12:51 PM
I HATE PE!!! I don't see why manufacturers have to include "30 different style of the malcolm hood" for the p51. 2 is enough. Resin landing gear is not the way to go, they snap so easily it's not funny. It's almost as easy to make some out of white metal. Kit decals usually suck. I just wish that manufacturers would get mike grant designs, cartograph, or other things. I would personally rather have vinyl masks than decals.
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