Yankee Modelworks CL-89 USS Miami

YKM USS Miami update -

After contacting YKM re. the missing P/E and receiving a "work-around" via e-mail I was asked what I thought of the instructions. I responded by advising there were numerous errors of parts being misidentified and poor drawings of parts. In that e-mail I was advised that they had come out with a new set of instructions and was told that they were coming out with a new model (can't recall exactly which one) and hoped I would condsider purchasing it. I asked for the new instructions for the USS Miami, but never did get a response. The bottom line is that I have nearly given up on this project given the missing parts, poor instructions, and lack of support from YKM. It definitely has gone on the back burner and whether or not I ever complete it is at this point in time is doubtful. The devil of it is that once I got the hull together I went out and puchased a fairly expensive piece of exotic hardwood for the base. I cut it to fit and have spent countless hours putting down a "piano finish" with about 25 coats of hand rubbed varnish/mineral spirits mix. The problems I have encountered with this kit are not of my lack of expertise with working with resin nor with my lack of experience - I've got my 61 birthday coming up in a couple of months and have been building models since I was 8 or 9. I dislike bad mouthing anyone, but what I've done is chalk it up to experience and will avoid YKM in the future.

Dick McC

It was neither you, Jon, nor Ted with whom I was in contact.  It happened around 1997 and I do not recall the person.  Nor do I have the note or the kit any longer.  The hull was cast in a dark orangish brown and not a lighter cream resin.  It was also very brittle.  If the person was not part of ISW then you have my apology.  I shall contact you off line to explore this further.

Kevin

Well my only experience dealing with ISW for a problem was truely eyeopening to say the least. Called them about my USS Indianapolis hull being very warped and pitted. I also mentioned about some of the AA guns being a kind of broken up. No return, very few questions and I think it was about 2 weeks later got darn near a whole kit in the mail! They even threw in a couple of neat little tugboat kits! Now that is awesome service!

I have had occasion to request replacement parts from ISW and they were always responsive. In fact, they sent extras that I had not requested, but were much appreciated. I am building a couple of their kits now, and will do more in the future.

 

Steve

Winks, 

 

Winks wrote:

Then there was the USS Atlanta from ISW.  The castings, metal and resin, were so horrible with flash and incomplete pours that I sent the lot back saying please examine and replace.  I got the original lot back with a note telling me that a real modeler would not have a problem with fixing the castings.  Last time I bought one of their models.

 

When did this occur?  I'm asking because of two reasons.  First, neither Ted nor I would have ever made this sort of statement to you.  Further, you would have not had to send back the parts of the kit, since those parts that needed to be replaced would have been sent out without question.  Second, ISW has not released an Atlanta class kit.  We did do the casting for the Gulfstream kit, but the person who ran Gulfstream at the time was only associated with us through the casting, not the part replacement.   Could you please elaborate your problems to me by e-mail?  My address is the following:

ironship@vic.com

Thank you.

Jon Warneke 

Commander Models, Inc. 

I have no argument if a kit is long out of production, etc., and there are no spares around.  My problem is that (1) it happened in the first place and (2) corrective action was not taken when YMW was made aware of it (as they were by several modelers) and (3) because it is a very common part across all the ships of that class, why not send a spare cut from another sheet? 

 Steve Wiper, when he was producing kits, was absolutely fantastic when it came to missing parts or even parts a modeler might screw up or lose.  He replaced them with no hesitation.  On the other hand, ever deal with BlueWater Navy?  Mike Bishop was paranoid.  I had a BWN West Virginia that had a hull so badly warped and full of air holes, it looked like the real WeeVee on Dec. 8, 1941.  No matter what I did, including sending pictures of the hull, Mike Bishop refused to do anything and even accused me of trying to get a free hull out of him to build a second ship.  Yeah, right.

Then there was the USS Atlanta from ISW.  The castings, metal and resin, were so horrible with flash and incomplete pours that I sent the lot back saying please examine and replace.  I got the original lot back with a note telling me that a real modeler would not have a problem with fixing the castings.  Last time I bought one of their models.

So, when it comes to excuses for resin ship kit makers, I have litte sympathy when their customer service attitude is usually somewhere between an annoyed pit bull and a spitting cobra.  As I said, there are exceptions like Steve Wiper, but far too many have no customer relation skills whatsoever.

BTW, in case you wonder about my modeling ability and whether or not I can fix or replace a bad casting, if you take a look in Great Scale Models 2008, the E-boat is mine.   I also took a third at the IPMS Nats in Kansas City in scratchbuilt/conversion ships with a 1/350 USS Louisville.  I don't mention those ships to brag but to point out that I know how to model. The issue  for me is not whether I can replace a bad casting or a missing PE mount, but rather if I have spent my hard earned dollars on an expensive resin ship kit, why should I have to?

Perhaps this may be a reason for YMW falling on hard times in the first place?  All that said, doesn't YMW mostly produce their kits on a quite limited basis (i.e. only make so many before ceasing production)?  My guess is that given the vast prices they charge for their kits, it would be surprising if they sold very many of any particular model  ( a couple dozen), which of course means they get no profit benefit from volume production, and don't keep anything 'in stock'.  Point I am trying to get at is it may be possible that this particular kit is no longer in production, hasn't been in some time, and there simply ARE no spare parts available to ship?  Not trying to excuse YMW here, just trying to think of a possible issue involving stock parts (like trying to get spare parts from a defunct model company).  That said, isn't this particular part fairly common to a number of other ship-types?  Maybe they could pull one from a suitable kit that IS in production.... 

Why are you giving YMW kudos simply for offering a written response to a problem with one of their kits?  They should have sent another PE set with the proper parts to enable the modeler to build the kit properly.  He paid good money for a kit represented as complete.  It was not.  I, and certainly others, have run into the same problem time and again - incomplete PE, missing resin parts, and so forth.  Some companies go out of their way to fix the matter; others provide a written response; others ignore us.  While it may not have an effect, I not only make sure I boycott the latter two types of companies, but I make sure others in my IPMS group know about it also.  Offering the excuse that YMW has fallen on hard times is lame - we all have hard times.  They sell something as complete, they make sure it is.

mfsob wrote:

Hmmm, odd that they didn't include something in the instructions about that, an addendum or something.

YMW has fallen on hard times,  trying to continue their line from Blue Water Navy as well as consolidate the old Classic Warships line under the Midships Models label.  

The kit in question could have been an early production, before the problem was known.  YMW may not have known of the problem before Dick contacted them,  or had they known they may have chosen to handle the problem in a one-on-one manner when someone calls in.  

Regardless, it seems that YMW was responsive in handling the problem.  Kudos.

Cutting a new set of PE is an expensive proposition.  An errata sheet,  while nowhere as expensive as a new PE fret, is still an expense -- and somehow you have to get it into the boxes which have already been shipped to vendors & middlemen.

Hmmm, odd that they didn't include something in the instructions about that, an addendum or something.

Yesterday I received a response to the e-mail query I'd sent from Yankee Modelworks re. the problem I had run into. They admitted they had screwed up the photo etched sheet by only doing one set of #98 & #99 braces, but did give me a work around which will solve the problem...