Anigrand 1/144 C-5M

[kg4kpg]

I got an email from saying I had 10 days to complete my order from Nastalgic Plastic for the kit but want an opinion on Anigrand kits. The price runs about the same or less of what the Revell/Otaki/Entex boxings are fetching on ebay but I've never done an all-resin kit before. Do they go together well? Hold paint well? This kit also includes the parts to do a C-5B.

Thanks,

Chris

[loftycomfort]

Anigrand's quality control is non-existent. My advice is to stay away from them unless they are at a steep discount and you're prepared to fill many many many MANY pinholes and short shots in their resin.

Terry

[Wayne S]

Wish someone had good 3/ 4 views with cross sections, that is one plane I would love to try my hand at vacuforming.

[kg4kpg]

Anigrand's quality control is non-existent. My advice is to stay away from them unless they are at a steep discount and you're prepared to fill many many many MANY pinholes and short shots in their resin.

Terry

Hmm, thanks for the info. I think I'm going to pass since I've never built their kits and don't want to do a lot of extra work that may be above my skill level. Especially for $140.00 bucks. I'll keep holding out for a deal on a Revell/Otaki/Entex.

[JeskiM]

I've bought from them before.

I bought the 1/72 C-17 .... never finished it and eventually threw it away after I lost interest and the will to fix the errors.

I also bought their new 1/144 3MD Bison....I have to say that that is one fine kit. Not a single air bubble to be found, it assembled very well, everything fit perfectly, no shrinkage, great amount of detail....the best resin kit I've ever put together.

I am beginning to think that their newer stuff may be of higher quality. I plan to buy 2-3 more of their new 1/144th offerings.....if they come out well, then I may look at getting the 72nd scale C-5 (but I will still wait for built up reviews for that price!).

- Matt

[Jennings]

Newer doesn't mean better with Anigrand. His "new" C-140 Jetstar is awful from stem to stern. Poor research, poor execution, poor molding quality. It seems to vary considerably kit to kit. But I've been bitten three times in a row, so no more Anigrand for me.

J

[jbgarrity]

Hi Guys!

The first thing I'm going to say is that I realize that the dog in this fight is mine. But let me tell you a story...

At the recent IPMS show in Syracuse, a customer pulled out the Anigrand 1/72 scale KC-10 kit, opened it up and looked at it, and the first thing out of his mouth was "Where are all the pin holes I hear about?" Yep, there were none.

It seems we hear a lot about the "non-existent" quality of Anigrand's molding and the all the supposed pin holes. You know, I've bought a Monogram kit that was short shot once. Did I decide from that one kit that Monogram's entire line was crap? I've had a Tamiya decal sheet that was poorly registered. Would that lead me to believe that Tamiya was incapable of producing a nicely-registered decal?

If someone comes onto a forum and talks about how they've been "bitten" three times, and then goes on to declare that 90% of a company's kit line is not worth building, I would have to ask whether three kits are necessarily representative of a line of over 200 kits? How early were the kits the person built? Chances are, as time has progressed that the quality of the output has also improved. Just for chuckles, I pulled out some of the recent releases just to look for all the supposed problems. Frankly, the recent Anigrand releases are really nice. Clean, well-molded and I would put them up against any other resin kit manufacturer out there. And in terms of subject matter, you won't find a more diverse line anywhere.

Now, does that make anyone's previous bad experience better? No, it does not. If you got an Anigrand kit in the past that did not meet up to your expectations in the past, then I am sorry. The natural evolution of any company usually means that the quality of their output will get better and better. If it doesn't, then the company is likely not long for this world. And as Anigrand continues to discontinue some of their early kits, the chances are you will get less and less of a chance to buy an early release. (On the other hand, once they're gone, you might never get another chance to model a 1/72 XV-1 or Whirlaway or Missileer.) We've only been the US distributor for Anigrand since August, but we here at Rare-Plane Detective have always been about customer service. So let me declare flatly, if a customer ever gets an Anigrand kit from us that has a defect, we will replace the parts, replace the kit or refund the purchase. So, to Chris, at the beginning of this post, feel safe to place your order for the 1/144 C-5B/C-5M. If the kit does not match your expectations, feel free to let me know and Rare-Plane Detective will have your back.

We will be doing lots of model shows across the country. We're already scheduled to be in San Antonio, Seattle, Omaha, Long Island, New Jersey and California in 2011. Stop by our tables and check out the Anigrand line and see if what you've read on the "internets" matches what you see in your own hands. We sold a LOT of Anigrand kits at the IPMS Nats this past year, because when modelers got up close and personal with Anigrand, they bought Anigrand!!

As always, we look forward to being of service in the near future!

Jeff Garrity

Rare-Plane Detective/Nostalgic Plastic

www.rare-planedetective.com

www.nostalgicplastic.com

[Rhino53]

Just to say that the people who come down on these kits maybe should try buiding them. Sometime ago I built the largest resin kit I ever tried.

see here

While I would be the first to admit they were not the easiest builds, the important points are I enjoyed building them, and they stretched my model building abilities a lot more than a tamigawa kit ever would. I even learnt to mould resin myself.

Do get one of their smaller models first though, as that would give you some idea of how they go together. i have built some unique models not available elsewhere, including an F-88, F-90, F-93, B-46, YF-17, and more. all from Anigrand. So don't knock it till you've tried it.

(Sorry for preaching like this, but you get what you put into a model).

Ted

Edited November 3, 2010 by Rhino53

[JeskiM]

Just to say that the people who come down on these kits maybe should try buiding them. Sometime ago I built the largest resin kit I ever tried.

see here

While I would be the first to admit they were not the easiest builds, the important points are I enjoyed building them, and they stretched my model building abilities a lot more than a tamigawa kit ever would. I even learnt to mould resin myself.

Do get one of their smaller models first though, as that would give you some idea of how they go together. i have built some unique models not available elsewhere, including an F-88, F-90, F-93, B-46, YF-17, and more. all from Anigrand. So don't knock it till you've tried it.

(Sorry for preaching like this, but you get what you put into a model).

Ted

Ted,

How is that YF-17 kit ?

Your link added more fire to my internal argument of whether or I not to go for the 72nd scale -141 for the better (I actually like the -141 better than the C-5 honestly)

- Matt

[JeskiM]

Jeff,

Do you know if Anigrand has any plans for the following:

1/144 TU-22M3

1/72 and/or 1/144 AN-222

Given their desire to fill the niche of less common/obscure ac, I figured that this would be the company most likley to build them.

- Matt

Edited November 3, 2010 by JeskiM

[Rhino53]

Ted,

How is that YF-17 kit ?

Your link added more fire to my internal argument of whether or I not to go for the 72nd scale -141 for the better (I actually like the -141 better than the C-5 honestly)

- Matt

The YF-17 was simple enough to build, a bit basic. That was done in my earlier days as a diversion from many Phantoms. The main gear needs careful alignment but that was the only major comment I could make.

Ted

[kg4kpg]

I'd like to get the C-5M but I just don't think my budget will allow it. Maybe down the road, my An-124 will be waiting for his opposite.

[jbgarrity]

Jeff,

Do you know if Anigrand has any plans for the following:

1/144 TU-22M3

1/72 and/or 1/144 AN-222

Given their desire to fill the niche of less common/obscure ac, I figured that this would be the company most likley to build them.

- Matt

Hi Matt!

Thanks for the question!

You'd be surprised how often Anigrand pulls a rabbit out of its hat and announces out of the blue to us that so-and-so kit will be shipping next week... and it's the first that we've heard about it. I will forward your question to them and see if we get an answer.

Jeff

R-PD/NP

[spellbinder99]

I have several Anigrand kits, mostly from their 1/144 Space kit series. In particular the Energya booster, three Buran kits (two orbiters and the Buran Analogue test airframe) and the Polyus payload.

They are all pretty well cast with minimal to no bubbles in the resin. Issues I did have was the Energya main tank had one half with noticable length shrinkage and one of the Burans had very warped fuselage sides. An email to Anigrand (I ordered direct from them) had replacement parts sent out no questions asked.

With regards to accuracy, the kits certainly seem to match up with my references and "failures" in the details are more caused by trying to minimise the number of molds, in the case of the Polyus they simply cast one main body half twice but the several vents needed removing as the body is assymetric in vent placement.

Anigrand kits aren't perfect, but in a ratio of the 5-6 kits I have bought to I have not seen any reason to not buy their kits.

Cheers

Tony

[MiG31]

You'd be surprised how often Anigrand pulls a rabbit out of its hat and announces out of the blue to us that so-and-so kit will be shipping next week... and it's the first that we've heard about it. I will forward your question to them and see if we get an answer.

I've e-mailed Arnold once in the past inquiring about potential future releases, but never got a response. I'm curious to know if Anigrand plans to produce kits for the YC-14 and YC-15, as well as the what-if BAe P.1216. A 1:72 Sukhoi T10-1 Flanker-A would also be appropriate for Anigrand's line of work.

[Jay Chladek]

One thing that makes me curious is how much of this C-5M is all new and how much of it might be based on the Otaki kit. The engines should be different, but the rest of the plane is more or less the same externally. Was the C-17 done hollow to allow for a full cargo bay to be built?

[phasephantomphixer]

I have seen the Anigrand displays at the Nats, the usual scan of the built stuff (always in a hurry at the Nats!) to see if certain subjects are of interest. I was interested enough when the C-141 was announced, had the cash and got the newer long fuse. version. It has large pea sized bubbles in some areas but I am not concerned since I use resin all the time and will back tape and fill them when I build it. Overall, it is a good kit I think. Especially considering there is no other way I will have one otherwise. I will have to scratchbuild all new corrected cockpit windows for it though. Looking at getting the KC-10 next.

Good day, Erik.