How are Heller kits?

QUOTE: Originally posted by lito.sf To me airfix and heller are just a waste of time and money!

Really?

What a shame you believe that as both companies put out some marvellous kits that with a little effort build up to be excellent finished models that hold their own against newer offerings

cheers

Mike

Well, I've worked in the past with Heller kits.

One thing to say : it's not very good.

About eight years ago, I builded a 1/72 scale E-3 Awacs from Heller, and the wing was so warped that I had to heat it with a thermic paint stripper in order to have it straight.

Use a lot of glue, and add bits of plastic to add strenght to their kits. I'm currently building a 1/8 (yes 1/8) scale Traction avant from Heller, and with a huge amount of glue it's ok.

But their kits are interesting, as they are the only brand to produce kits of some aircrafts.

Hope this helps.
Thomas.

To me airfix and heller are just a waste of time and money!

It all depends on the mold they use. If it is one of the older molds, its not worth the effort to to even put a match to it. In their defense I have to say that once in a while they have something decent on the market.

Thanks for the info everyone!

I have built many WW2 a/c kits from them. As stated before they are hit and miss, but most bad kits can be made to look at least fairly decent with some basic work and good modeling skills. I use them for war gaming as they are cheap ( inexpensive) and quick to build. The P47-N kit in 1/72 was actualy a decent kit. Thanks for your time.

Thumperdtb.

Hit and miss really. Like Airfix (who they are affiliated with) their old stuff comes up to the surface frequently to fill out their catalog.

One thing I can say about Heller kits in my experia\ence is that their decals are consistently bad. More often than not, there isn't enough carrier film and the colour expends pat the carrier film edge so you end up with rough edged decals.

Normally this isn't an issue with the existance of aftermarket dedals, but Heller does a lot of off the beaten track subject matter for a mainstream manufacturer and aftermarket decals are not always an option for some of their stuff.

Constructionwise, I'd give the same advice as I do with Airfix, dry fit, dry fit, dry fit!

I recently ordered their 1/72 C-135FR to build as a USAF KC-135R. The initial detail looks good enough. Test fitting, however, revealed that there will be some gap and seam work. Also, my canopy came broken. The company I ordered it from, spruebros.com, was kind enough to get another clear sprue to send me. While this canopy was intact, the same area on the new piece looked quite thin, so it may have explained why the other one broke in transit.
Bottom line, I don't necessarily subscribe to the whole "this company's kits are horrible" or "this company's kits have no flaws." Some just assemble easy and others need a little more care (not to mention putty and sanding). I don't think Heller are good entry-level kits, but as with anything else, if you put enough effort into them, they turn out just fine.

I've built tons of them as a young boy because they were cheap but I remember them fondly.

Based on my experience of Heller kits, I will say in the words of Monty Python. "Run away, run away."

I have not built the Concorde but Heller is suppose to be good.