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Airfix Spit F.22 - not what it seems, it seems


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I will definitely concede that all of Edgar's points are well-made.

I agree that I likely came on too strong, but it isn't helped by the lack of face-to-face and intonation-driven communication.

My main point has always been, at it's core, that this kit was not was I was expecting based on the glowing reviews of it. I didn't hear anyone voicing any kind of negative opinion (except that the panel lines were too big), so when I found the issues I did, I was thrust back to the days of my Trimotor and He-177.

While I'm sorry that this has caused quite the dust storm is has, I still think that this kit is not what I've heard it reported to be. I can see how painting an entire company as making bad kits isn't fair, but the fact is we often hear the opposite, where kits are immediately assumed to be good due to their origins. This was just a reaction to that.

I do brook counter arguments, and as I've said a lot, I'm glad that no one else is having the kind of fit problems I encountered. I do applaud Airfix for bringing out new and interesting kits and replacing the dogs of yore (the Gnat comes to mind)! I am being (not unfairly) accused of being unbalanced, but I would argue that the overwhelmingly positive reviews this kit has gotten were equally so, unless they were based on actual experience with building the kit, of which we've seen some fine examples. However, my opinions (and they are just that) are ALSO based on MY actual experiences, and I don't think that can be discounted either.

I personally like a lively and interesting discussion, and I think that opinions counter to the norm are always fun to have bandied around.

What I don't like is when people say things like "It looks like a three-year-old built it" or "And I must add, from your pictures of your progress, it does not even look like you're trying to do a good job building the kit, so you're not helping your case."

Really? This is mature how?

The fact of the matter is that these are IN PROCESS shots. If you look at any model under build it will generally look pretty rough. To so blatantly attack my abilities and deride my methods without seeing a final product is rather in poor taste, I would say.

And to the last quote, what kind of a moron buys a kit to build it poorly on purpose? Come on now, does that even make sense? Why would I waste my time and money like that. I'm busy, and I DO like to enjoy my hobby, so I'm not going to squander time and resources like that.

Now that the Spit is in primer, it looks good. I'm just surprised it took so much work to get it there. To me, that's the mark of a mediocre kit, and that's one of my points: it's a good kit, but I don't feel it's as good as I was led to believe.

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It is all about timing

" From what I’ve read, most people are very happy with the new kits, and the reviews I’ve seen are largely positive.

All I can assume is that no one has actually tried to BUILD one of these things."

Here is what is/was running at the time of your first post in the locked thread, and before you cross posted it on here

http://www.modelingmadness.com/contests/newairfix/newairfixpix.htm

it was only at 41 entries at the start of this, and is 51 entries as of right now,,,,,maybe more will be finished before the deadline

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You're right, it is all about timing!

I wrote the out of box review a few weeks before I posted it here (which is why I'm now into the primer stage - I haven't been getting a lot of modelling time) and it was based on my experience with the kit right at that point. However, I bought the kit based on the generally very positive "first look" reviews I'd seen around when the mould first came out. One of the guys at my club brought one in and was raving about it being awesome. Well, when I looked in the box, it looked it for sure! I then checked out the reviews at the time, and they were all good, so I thought "Hmmm... must be awesome."

Well, we all know how that story went, right?

I'll have to check out that other build thread at home. I can't get to that site from here at work! (Amazed I can get here, actually!)

Like I said last post, now that I've got it primed, it looks nice. Also, I never try to build a kit badly, so I'm quite motivated to finish this little guy and see how he looks all painted up.

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  • 1 month later...

Here's mine...excellent kit and a joy to build. I replaced the poorly detailed wheels...also replaced the exhausts gun barrels with SBS resin parts and opened up the entry hatch. Decals are from Xtradecal.

DSC06075_zps5b40f489.jpg

DSC06081_zpsfd163d9d.jpg

DSC06084_zps0466fbed.jpg

Joe

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I agree, it is largely a nice kit, but the issues I had with mine were just so startling that I can't say it was a joy to build.

Once I got the wing issues out of the way, though, I agree, it is a nice kit to work on. I like the open door on yours, it looks good!

The whole kit looks, good, actually! I found that drilling out the exhausts really helped, but resin cannons are definitely a nice addition!

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