Think I wasted $5 on a 1/72 HobbyCraft Apache kit

QUOTE: Originally posted by stram8777 ...the pilots look like lumps of poorly melted plastic.

Geez, Hobby Craft can't even melt the pilots correctly!!


Perhaps a redeeming feature of this kit might be the opportunity you now have to polish your modelling skills by tackling a crap kit and turning it into a gem.

However, if you want a magnificent Apache right out of the box, go get the recent 1/48 Hasegawa kit.

It ain't gonna be five bucks, though!

Sorry to hear about that stram8777

I have been bit twice by them and NO WAY! no more! ...nope! aint gonna do it!

Good you only paid 5.00 bucks!

sorry to hear ya got pooped on , but to tell the truth , while Hobby Craft may be at the bottom of the barrel , if you want a challenge there kits will give it to you , I try and stay away from them but with the local Hobby Lobby doing there 50% off sale I'll scoop them up , if for no other reason as parts for scratch build . On the other hand I have done probably about 6 of there kits to completion and while it was frustrating I ended up with a rather good looking model , BTW I never use there so called piolts as they often do look like lumps of melted plastic , those usally go in the trash . So if your up to the challenge and want to hone your modeling skills do the kit or buy a better kit and put it in the parts pile , you only paid $5 , it could've been worse .

Yep, I got burned on that turkey too. It's gotta be THE crappiest Apache kit on the market. The decal sheet offers interesting markings, so IF they survive the application process on a different kit, the $5 you spent isn't a total loss.

your comlaining about $5?!!!!!!!!!! it cost me more than that for lunch. i have build a few hobby craft kits and they all turned out fine except for 1: uh-60 night hawk, i lost the rotor driveshaft so now the rotors are too low. maybe the kit was on sale because it was left in the display window or next to a furnace and melted.

you could always use it in a diorama as a crashed helicoptor. As for the pilots: maybe they were in the desert too long and turned into raisens

Just be glad that you didn't spend nine bucks on a Snap-Tite with sticker decals!

If you want another go at a 1/72 Apache that is a reasonable price for a first time helicopter modeler, I'd recommend Academy's kit.

I've got it waiting to be built, it cost me about 12 dollars Canadian and I'd say by looking at the moldings that's a fair price. Nice crisp panel lines and well defined other details.

The only real drawback, and its a small one is that the decal sheet only has one marking option, so if you don't go for Israeli machinery, your decals will have to come from somewhere else.

It sounds to me, by your description, that your Apache comes from pre 1990 Hobbycraft stock. They were pretty bad before 90, but happily they have cleaned up their act since then, don't write them off completely.

Sorry to hear about your luck. I recently bought Hasegawa's AH-64D Apache Longbow but have yet to start it. (I got a little sidetracked with a sherman). Straight out of the box it is an absolutely beautiful kit. I'm waiting for Eduard's PE set to arrive from Squadron before I get rolling on it. Definitely a much more expensive proposition than $5. I think in total the kit and the PE set added up to about CAN $ 75 (about US $50). I guess I try to justify paying big bucks since I don't smoke or really drink and I need some vice to spend my money on. Besides, between job, family, and kids, I might finish 3 kits in a year so I want as little frustration as possible.

I haven't built any Hobby Craft kits but from what I hear in the forums, they are generally very disappointing.

Anyway, I highly recommend Hasegawa's Apache. The only other copter I've tried I am working on right now - Italeri's Pavehawk. Not bad for a first attempt at an aircraft (those jeezly seams!) but a little shy on detail.

Jim