Seems like that you know everything from talking with them once but unable to understand that:Bill Livingston wrote:I am actually getting quite annoyed with all the negative comments regarding Pontos on here.
I have met Kim and one or two others from Pontos at the UK Nationals a couple of years ago and have to say they are amongst the most polite, modest, engaging people you will ever meet.
They make wonderful products, clearly aimed at the more experienced builder, they listen to their customers and try their utmost to make the most accurate, best researched, beautifully finished and packaged detail sets.
Of course there will be small errors in the instructions from time to time and yes, I would expect to have to work a little more than buying a basic kit off the shelf and adding a simple PE set to it... And remember, they are even listening to modellers and adding updates, enhancing the basic sets and incorporating requests from people (some of whom may never even buy their sets...) because they see that these requests are what real MODELLERS want... That has to be applauded and it has to be respected. Of course this will mean things get delayed from time to time... But that's the price you pay for input during the development phase.
And when you leave it to the manufacturer to do the job of not just designing, developing, testing and then selling the items... when it gets to the end user, having to deal with all the customer service issues as well... well of course things get forgotten.
In the earlier, pre-internet world, you would go back to your retailer for help and support... Unfortunately, as people seem to want to spend the least amount they can on anything nowadays, ordering from the manufacturer or a huge international company means the personal service is sometimes less than we would have liked or even accepted a few years ago.
But that is the world we live in now.
If you want your local hobby shop to stock these sets and have several spares just in case you lost or damaged a bit, or it was missing, then you would need to pay a lot more. Spares cost... somewhere they have to be paid for, either in the initial cost of the kit or as spares. But people don't want to pay... which is why the local hobby store has closed... they cannot make their overheads and come away with a reasonable living because some, or most, of their customers are just not prepared to pay for the service they purport to want and need.
As far as instructions are concerned, I don't really understand. No-one would EVER build a model, particularly a large scale Bismarck, and expect to have no additional research material to support the build process. One of the best and most interesting parts of any building of models beyond the basic 'follow the instructions' level is working out how to best do something, scratch building improvements when necessary, adopting already great PE additions if required for an even better, more personal model.
I think Pontos are aiming at advanced modellers who are prepared to put a little extra work in, to think about how they are going about the job and then who ADD to the experience, with their own thoughts and input to make a truly individual model.
I remember the days when actually getting a new ship kit to build was enough of an event... now we have new ships released all the time, in a variety of scales, with numerous update sets for all levels of modeller from the very basic to the most advanced.
Pontos are supplying update sets to the most advanced, and the details and enhancements possible now are beyond the imagination of those of us who started modelling seriously, even ten or fifteen years ago... let alone the thirty or forty years that I have been modelling!
I have their HMS Warspite set. Of course there are areas I would have liked to have been more accurate or to have been upgraded, or some clarification in the instructions... The splinter shields around the 4" HA guns for example changed several times during the ships wartime refits and modifications. But I am a modeller first and foremost. Its part of the fun to research, compare the basic kit, the upgrade set and then a load of contemporary photos and work out whether to assemble as instructed, modify the part or to scratch build something entirely different for that little bit of additional accuracy or that little bit of extra individuality.
Interestingly, I don't see many actual modellers complaining too much on this thread...
I think Pontos and companies like them are a godsend to the hobby and long may they continue to produce products of this level. This is a small market. The returns cannot be high considering the amount of work and development and simple care that goes into these sets. They are a labour of love... I know... I met the people...
First and foremost, I for one, never ever complains about their product release delay and I don't really care about errors in their manual either.
You have got a Warsprite set and said that they are beautifully finished and packaged? I have their POW,Yamato and Iowa and all of them have missing parts and defects. Three lemons out of three is unacceptable. And to say that they are beautifully packaged is blatantly lied. They actually do it as cheaply as possible. All the set I received come with PE that loosely insert in plastic sleeve. No seal, No tape, no cardboard backing like almost every other manufacturer do to protect the PE from damage. One set I received has a few bent PEs. Another one come with a few PEs that coming loose from its plastic sleeve and the expos� area become corrode (discolored). Another one come with a PE that has some area not fully etched through. The resin parts are densely packed in as a few bags as possible without extra protection for dedicate items.
Too busy to forgot a customer that had been waiting 5 months for missing parts from their 3 sets? If that's what a decent company do in your opinion then you live on a different world than me. Please reminded that I had requested for missing parts/defects that are their fault, not mine.
I don't really want to hijack this thread but this seems to be the only reliable way to contact them and sharing some true experience might benefit someone else who actually planned to buy their sets. At least alarm them to throughly inspect the set they received and take some action sooner if they want to start their build in coming months.
. Hopefully that I can comeback to this thead to say thank you to you soon.
