Rant about Aires

[loftycomfort]

Am I the only one who feels that Aires has gotten sloppy with the packaging of their recent products? Case in point, I've bought these 3 products from them in the last couple of months:

1/32 AV-8B resin cockpit set

1/32 AV-8B Night Attach resin cockpit set

1/32 EE Lightning F1 resin cockpit set

The first two came in those cheap hang-on-the-wall packaging (the kind with the clear shell and card board back). The Lightning cockpit came in a thin cardboard box. All three of them had *ABSOLUTELY NO* padding added in the packaging to prevent the delicate resin parts from chipping. As a result, the AV-8B cockpits suffered from multiple chippings and the damages on the Lightning pit were so bad that I had to ask for a replacement set (kudos to spruebrothers for a quick turnaround).

Sure I can fix some of the chips with CA glue. But I paid almost $40 for each one of those sets, Aires didn't even bother to protect them during transit. Are a piece of sponge or some foam peanuts to protect my purchases too much to ask for?

In contrary, I paid $26 for a 1/48 Hornet cockpit set from Avionix and it came in a sturdy box, with plenty of foam peanuts. I was pleasantly surprised by the care they took. Other resin guys I bought from(Wolfpack, Zacto, Verlinden etc etc) all have good to excellent padding for their delicate products, why doesn't the top dog Aires?

Terry

Edited June 7, 2010 by loftycomfort

[Dave Williams]

I absolutely hate the stuff that comes in the blister packs from them. Broken parts are almost certain. However, I've usually had better luck with the stuff in the box because it usually has a sleeve of bubble wrap around it. I'm a little surprised that the 1/32 Lightning pit didn't have the bubble wrap.

[GGoheen]

I think your rant is quite valid Terry, as far too many times I've received 1/48 resin upgrades from Aires suffering from very poor packaging as well. However, when I've purchased MDC resin products out of the UK I've found these to be exquisitely packed carefully. Wake up Aires!

Greg

[loftycomfort]

I absolutely hate the stuff that comes in the blister packs from them. Broken parts are almost certain. However, I've usually had better luck with the stuff in the box because it usually has a sleeve of bubble wrap around it. I'm a little surprised that the 1/32 Lightning pit didn't have the bubble wrap.

Apparently the Lightning pit was too wide for Aires' standard box when a bubble wrap was used. Hence against their better judgement, they decided to ship it without the bubblewrap. When it arrived in my hands, every single bit in the set was broken. It was a lost cause so I asked for a replacement.

When the replacement came, it too came without bubblewrap. But this time Gordon inspected it before it was mailed out to ensure I won't get another lemon.

[I love airbrushing]

I recall from 2 years ago that their Fw 190D-9 Detail Set (#4019) was also wrapped in bubblewrap. Many of the pieces were broken off the resin block (some in the right spot, some not).

So, shame on you, Aires!

[Kalashnikov-47]

I haven't had a problem yet. I recently got their 1/32 F-100D cockpit by way of Hannants.

The throttle on the left console was broken off, but it looked to me that they were thinking

ahead to this possibility, because they provided a spare one just in case. In my case, I

blame poor part design - I would have made that throttle a seperate part to begin with -

rather than poor packaging.

[Rodney]

I dislike their packaging too. Especially for cockpit sets. I've received several cockpit sets that had ejection seat rails broken. I wish they'd go to a more sturdy box to protect these delicate sets from being crushed.

Rodney

[B-1 Nut]

It depends on the item.

I've had good success with both the cardboard boxes and the plastic see-thru things except for a 1/48 F-16D cockpit I bought a while back.

I went thru 2 before I gave up returning them....I kept the third one. EVERY one had at least one of the guide rails for the ejection seat sheared off and parts of the actual ejection seat cracked or broken. I kept thinking I would swap out the broken pieces and send back them back, but never could get enough complete pieces to do so.

Funny thing is.....that is the ONLY Aires project I've ever bought that I ever had any issue with.

That being said, I totally agree with you. For the premium we pay for their products (versus say Black Box or whatever), the least they could do is wrap everything with $0.25 of bubble wrap.

JED

[arnobiz]

I had the same problem with their 1/72 F-14A cockpit set, the box is shallower than the cockpit so it necessarily breaks the RIO's ejection seat rails... Quite a shame given the price of this stuff. But packaging is not their only issue: There is so much work involved to fit the resin parts in the kit's fuselage that I don't think I will do it too often.

To conclude, great details but very poor engineering, both on the parts and on the packaging. Not very user-friendly

[loftycomfort]

Some further updates on my love-hate relationship with Aires.

I bought their latest 1/32 Tornado exhaust set, which costs $38.99 from my favorite online hobby retailer. The box arrived today, the retailer packed it well with a sturdy box and foam peanuts.

Unfortunately Aires disappoints AGAIN with their packaging. It was shipped in their cheap clear plastic, and NO sponge for protection. As a result, the nice details are broken into a thousand pieces and impossible to fix. I feces you not, this is how it looks like straight from the shipping box:

See those little grey dots? Those are details broken from the exhausts. They are NOT resin flash.

It is appalling a manufacturing that produces such great detailed products can be this sloppy with their packaging. I am extremely disappointed with Aires.

Terry

Edited July 19, 2010 by loftycomfort

[RiderFan]

I can't remember the last ejection seat I purchased, from any company, that didn't have some part of it broken off. It's a bit strange though. Aires packs their really sturdy F-18 landing gear bays in a box with padding, but a cockpit with fiddly bits gets put into a bubble pack.

[Eli Raphael]

Ditto here.

Loath those cheap display cases.

For what the resin pcs. cost, a simple wrap around foam pad isn't much to ask for, is it?.

[jbrundt]

Some further updates on my love-hate relationship with Aires.

I bought their latest 1/32 Tornado exhaust set, which costs almost $38.99 from my favorite online hobby retailer. The box arrived today, the retailer packed it well with a sturdy box and foam peanuts.

Unfortunately Aires disappoints AGAIN with their packaging. It was shipped in their cheap clear plastic, and NO sponge for protection. As a result, the nice details are broken into a thousand pieces and impossible to fix. I feces you not, this is how it looks like straight from the shipping box:

It is appalling a manufacturing that produces such great detailed products can be this sloppy with their packaging. I am extremely disappointed with Aires.

Terry

So, you're the guy that got the LAST Aires Tornado nozzle set

I've had the same issues with Aires sets. Especially the 32nd stuff. My F-8 Crusader sets all had some sort of damage on every piece.

Their packaging is shoddy at best and allows for easy breakage due to even slight jostling in the mail.

Jeff

[ChernayaAkula]

<...> The Lightning cockpit came in a thin cardboard box. All three of them had *ABSOLUTELY NO* padding added in the packaging to prevent the delicate resin parts from chipping. <...>

I hear ya. :( Got an Apache cockpit where a lot of parts are damaged or have snapped off because the parts can move around in the box.

At the other end of the line is CMK. They pack their little cardboard boxes so tightly you'll run into real problems getting the parts back inside. :) So instead of crushing by momentum, these delicate parts can be damaged by the tightness of the packaging.

<...> For what the resin pcs. cost, a simple wrap around foam pad isn't much to ask for, is it?.

Or maybe a vac-formed plastic carrier, like Zacto's Su-27 intakes have:

Pic from THIS REVIEW.