The Ship Model Forum

Have you shelled out hundreds of dollars in detail sets for your 1/200 Arizona, Bismarck, Hornet or Missouri only to find yourself totally frustrated and confused because your instructions are incomprehensible, riddled with errors and omissions?

Have you been wowed by lovely online pictures and whipped out your credit card only to find you have maybe bit off more than you can chew and now have a huge, insanely complicated 2000-4000 piece model ship to build?

Well, this is the place to get tips, advice, a shoulder to cry on and someone to yell at, 100% free (remember, you get what you pay for! ). They say experience is the best teacher so lets share what we've learned for everyone's benefit.

I've got the following kits and sets, have worked with most of them and will help where I can:

USS Arizona + KA Models

Bismarck + KA Models, Eduard, Pontos

Missouri + Pontos, Veteran Models

Anyone else?

It is somewhat strange that the companies that are capable of the really deep and solid research that needs to go into producing these outstanding sets from KA-Models, Pontos, and Tetra Modells are not capable of producing decent manuals. I think that every potential customer would be glad to pay $ 10.- more for that important little "feature."

I might be able to help with:
KA , Eduard, and Pontos Bismarck
Pontos and Veteran USS Missouri

I have bought the USS Hornet set from Tetra Modells but have not started yet. I always try to finish one project before I start the next.

Dietrich

I have the Pontos Missouri set. I am taking lots of pictures as I go but I have to admit I am a recent returnee to modeling so am a novice with these detail sets. I am having a blast trying to figure it out though.

Take care,

Chris

An interesting thread to say the least.

Dietrich wrote:

It is somewhat strange that the companies that are capable of the really deep and solid research that needs to go into producing these outstanding sets from KA-Models, Pontos, and Tetra Modells are not capable of producing decent manuals. I think that every potential customer would be glad to pay $ 10.- more for that important little "feature."

I would surmise that those detail kit manufacturers 1) never took English as a Second Language and 2) it's an added expense that they can't rationalize. If it were my company, would think it almost a necessity to hire someone local (local as in being a native in the actual market you are trying to sell to) to do the translations and locally produce the kit instructions for that particular country. These kits go thru distributors anyway before they reach the retail sales level. Those distributors could actually be contracted for that phase and to do the final packing with "correct" instructions included. Just an idea...

Since this is my first plastic kit in a very long time, I don't know how much I can help except to interject pertinent info and so forth while reading other modeler's build logs.

My project is somewhat different than those currently being discussed on SMF (with the exception of Steve Gallaci's IOWA) - I am bashing the MISSOURI kit into a 1967-69 NEW JERSEY model, so this is not an out of the box construction; lots of scratchbuilt/modification involved. One thing I am able to do is produce CAD drawings for my own use on this model as needed and that's a big help in construction.

WOW! that's a very ambitious project for your first kit in years. Good luck with her. Please post pictures I would love to see your progress on this Big ship.

Chris

Chris,

Thanks for the positive comment - Yea, it's a real challenge!

It's under the "Works in Progress" section of this forum. I'm posting this morning, actually. Look for Trumpeter MISSOURI bash into NEW JERSEY...

Hank

Many years ago even very sophisticate products from Japan had this issue of fractured English. In China this is still common, one escalator in the Shanghai airport is placarded " Do not experience your body outside escalator".... Or a restaurant proudly proclaiming "our nosh will make you slobber".

Cheers. Tom