JimD

I thought I'd share this one. If you follow me on Facebook you probably know that I've not particularly enjoyed this kit. The fact is it's just not a good kit. Lots of problems...especially on small parts and around the engine. That said, it's one I've absolutely wanted to do, so it was my choice when asked to build something for a Scale Modelling Now article. Because it's for the online mag, I can just share a couple here.

Note: The beaching gear are for photo purposes only: for support. If HPH comes through and does a catapult I will be building that. Otherwise it will be displayed without these. That's why that are just painted and not weathered. They are not present on any of the refs I used, and I did not plan to use them for display.

I would like to thank Geoff at Scale Modelling Now, and Mr. Paint for the color support. I love these paints. All weathering is with Ammo products.
 

 

Yup. That's exactly it. Promotion. As far as I know that's not against the rules. And I didn't see anything about a minimum on pictures to include. And I'm not the only one who does it here, or elsewhere. It's part of the game. Why would I run a website that costs me time and money to maintain and not want to promote it? Why would I invest myself into working for these publications if I didn't want to promote it?
 
You can easily just move on. Lots of other people have I'm sure. You could also follow my page and see the builds in full when I'm able to share more down the line.
 
I also plan to share more completion photos once articles are out a while. For example, the Dornier I posted a while back is currently in circulation in the September issue, so come December or so I'll post more here.
 
Of course, I'm happy to follow the rules, and if someone tells me to stop posting and promoting my work I will.

I thought I'd share this one. If you follow me on Facebook you probably know that I've not particularly enjoyed this kit. The fact is it's just not a good kit. Lots of problems...especially on small parts and around the engine. That said, it's one I've absolutely wanted to do, so it was my choice when asked to build something for a Scale Modelling Now article. Because it's for the online mag, I can just share a couple here.

Note: The beaching gear are for photo purposes only: for support. If HPH comes through and does a catapult I will be building that. Otherwise it will be displayed without these. That's why that are just painted and not weathered. They are not present on any of the refs I used, and I did not plan to use them for display.

I would like to thank Geoff at Scale Modelling Now, and Mr. Paint for the color support. I love these paints. All weathering is with Ammo products.
 

 

I thought I'd share this one. If you follow me on Facebook you probably know that I've not particularly enjoyed this kit. The fact is it's just not a good kit. Lots of problems...especially on small parts and around the engine. That said, it's one I've absolutely wanted to do, so it was my choice when asked to build something for a Scale Modelling Now article. Because it's for the online mag, I can just share a couple here.

Note: The beaching gear are for photo purposes only: for support. If HPH comes through and does a catapult I will be building that. Otherwise it will be displayed without these. That's why that are just painted and not weathered. They are not present on any of the refs I used, and I did not plan to use them for display.

I would like to thank Geoff at Scale Modelling Now, and Mr. Paint for the color support. I love these paints. All weathering is with Ammo products.
 

 

I thought I'd share this one. If you follow me on Facebook you probably know that I've not particularly enjoyed this kit. The fact is it's just not a good kit. Lots of problems...especially on small parts and around the engine. That said, it's one I've absolutely wanted to do, so it was my choice when asked to build something for a Scale Modelling Now article. Because it's for the online mag, I can just share a couple here.

Note: The beaching gear are for photo purposes only: for support. If HPH comes through and does a catapult I will be building that. Otherwise it will be displayed without these. That's why that are just painted and not weathered. They are not present on any of the refs I used, and I did not plan to use them for display.

I would like to thank Geoff at Scale Modelling Now, and Mr. Paint for the color support. I love these paints. All weathering is with Ammo products.
 

 

I thought I'd share this one. If you follow me on Facebook you probably know that I've not particularly enjoyed this kit. The fact is it's just not a good kit. Lots of problems...especially on small parts and around the engine. That said, it's one I've absolutely wanted to do, so it was my choice when asked to build something for a Scale Modelling Now article. Because it's for the online mag, I can just share a couple here.

Note: The beaching gear are for photo purposes only: for support. If HPH comes through and does a catapult I will be building that. Otherwise it will be displayed without these. That's why that are just painted and not weathered. They are not present on any of the refs I used, and I did not plan to use them for display.

I would like to thank Geoff at Scale Modelling Now, and Mr. Paint for the color support. I love these paints. All weathering is with Ammo products.
 

 

I thought I'd share this one. If you follow me on Facebook you probably know that I've not particularly enjoyed this kit. The fact is it's just not a good kit. Lots of problems...especially on small parts and around the engine. That said, it's one I've absolutely wanted to do, so it was my choice when asked to build something for a Scale Modelling Now article. Because it's for the online mag, I can just share a couple here.

Note: The beaching gear are for photo purposes only: for support. If HPH comes through and does a catapult I will be building that. Otherwise it will be displayed without these. That's why that are just painted and not weathered. They are not present on any of the refs I used, and I did not plan to use them for display.

I would like to thank Geoff at Scale Modelling Now, and Mr. Paint for the color support. I love these paints. All weathering is with Ammo products.
 

 

That's just not the case at all. The main parts come together well enough, fair. Fuselage halves are quite clean. Wing join is great. The interior structure builds and aligns easy, and that's it.
 
1. The main float is stupidly designed. You get some tiny dang nipple...which I've had pimples bigger than...to slot it to the fuselage. The nipples are so short they don't even penetrate the full depth of the fuselage bottom plastic. Shame on me for not making the join better with some plugs because literally 20 minutes before these pictures were taken I snapped the whole dang float off sticking the beaching gear on...and that's after it was glued down with MEK for heavens sake.
 
2. Every locating pin on this model is 2x-10x bigger than it's aligning hole. It's just lazy engineering. It's the worst on the engine exhaust where the location pins are as thick as a dull pencil tip...the back of the engine's alignment holes had to be drilled out to 10x their size.
 
3. The cowl pieces are a disaster. 4 pieces that you just have to try to contort into place and glue if you want them closed. No location mechanisms whatsoever. The worst part of the kit for sure.
 
4. The whole engine is a mess actually. Fingered sized sprue gates on tiny delicate parts...again just lazy engineering and thought put into the kit. Lets not forget the engine rods that are too long, or the head covers with no alignment whatsoever. Just kinda wet the engine top and float them to where you hope they are right.
 
5. The instructions don't tell you that you should probably drill out the holes in the wings for the floats on the wings. They also give you some pathetic attachment points.
 
6. And my favorite...some dinky little PE parts that go on the float. They are numbered something like 21 and 22 on the PE fret, but it only goes to 21...so the other part for the opposite side isn't actually in the kit...unless I didn't get a PE fret. (I may be off a couple digits on the numbers, but one piece was not on the fret regardless).
 
It can be built, yes. I did it. In fact I'd probably do it again if someone did a resin engine and I could rig a better system for the main float. But this kit just has too many problems that should not be found on a kit at this price point, and really any kit period. Not in 2016.
 
I don't know why everyone so vehemently defends it. I really don't. I think it's post completion bias. I've caught myself writing "this kit was not that much of a challenge" or something along those lines in articles in the past about kits that just weren't that great. I think it's because we finish and we only remember the good. And the fun I had painting and weathering even made me glad to have suffered it, but I'm not going to sugar coat it.

I thought I'd share this one. If you follow me on Facebook you probably know that I've not particularly enjoyed this kit. The fact is it's just not a good kit. Lots of problems...especially on small parts and around the engine. That said, it's one I've absolutely wanted to do, so it was my choice when asked to build something for a Scale Modelling Now article. Because it's for the online mag, I can just share a couple here.

Note: The beaching gear are for photo purposes only: for support. If HPH comes through and does a catapult I will be building that. Otherwise it will be displayed without these. That's why that are just painted and not weathered. They are not present on any of the refs I used, and I did not plan to use them for display.

I would like to thank Geoff at Scale Modelling Now, and Mr. Paint for the color support. I love these paints. All weathering is with Ammo products.
 

 

I thought I'd share this one. If you follow me on Facebook you probably know that I've not particularly enjoyed this kit. The fact is it's just not a good kit. Lots of problems...especially on small parts and around the engine. That said, it's one I've absolutely wanted to do, so it was my choice when asked to build something for a Scale Modelling Now article. Because it's for the online mag, I can just share a couple here.

Note: The beaching gear are for photo purposes only: for support. If HPH comes through and does a catapult I will be building that. Otherwise it will be displayed without these. That's why that are just painted and not weathered. They are not present on any of the refs I used, and I did not plan to use them for display.

I would like to thank Geoff at Scale Modelling Now, and Mr. Paint for the color support. I love these paints. All weathering is with Ammo products.
 

 

I thought I'd share this one. If you follow me on Facebook you probably know that I've not particularly enjoyed this kit. The fact is it's just not a good kit. Lots of problems...especially on small parts and around the engine. That said, it's one I've absolutely wanted to do, so it was my choice when asked to build something for a Scale Modelling Now article. Because it's for the online mag, I can just share a couple here.

Note: The beaching gear are for photo purposes only: for support. If HPH comes through and does a catapult I will be building that. Otherwise it will be displayed without these. That's why that are just painted and not weathered. They are not present on any of the refs I used, and I did not plan to use them for display.

I would like to thank Geoff at Scale Modelling Now, and Mr. Paint for the color support. I love these paints. All weathering is with Ammo products.
 

 

I thought I'd share this one. If you follow me on Facebook you probably know that I've not particularly enjoyed this kit. The fact is it's just not a good kit. Lots of problems...especially on small parts and around the engine. That said, it's one I've absolutely wanted to do, so it was my choice when asked to build something for a Scale Modelling Now article. Because it's for the online mag, I can just share a couple here.

Note: The beaching gear are for photo purposes only: for support. If HPH comes through and does a catapult I will be building that. Otherwise it will be displayed without these. That's why that are just painted and not weathered. They are not present on any of the refs I used, and I did not plan to use them for display.

I would like to thank Geoff at Scale Modelling Now, and Mr. Paint for the color support. I love these paints. All weathering is with Ammo products.
 

 

I thought I'd share this one. If you follow me on Facebook you probably know that I've not particularly enjoyed this kit. The fact is it's just not a good kit. Lots of problems...especially on small parts and around the engine. That said, it's one I've absolutely wanted to do, so it was my choice when asked to build something for a Scale Modelling Now article. Because it's for the online mag, I can just share a couple here.

Note: The beaching gear are for photo purposes only: for support. If HPH comes through and does a catapult I will be building that. Otherwise it will be displayed without these. That's why that are just painted and not weathered. They are not present on any of the refs I used, and I did not plan to use them for display.

I would like to thank Geoff at Scale Modelling Now, and Mr. Paint for the color support. I love these paints. All weathering is with Ammo products.
 

 

I thought I'd share this one. If you follow me on Facebook you probably know that I've not particularly enjoyed this kit. The fact is it's just not a good kit. Lots of problems...especially on small parts and around the engine. That said, it's one I've absolutely wanted to do, so it was my choice when asked to build something for a Scale Modelling Now article. Because it's for the online mag, I can just share a couple here.

Note: The beaching gear are for photo purposes only: for support. If HPH comes through and does a catapult I will be building that. Otherwise it will be displayed without these. That's why that are just painted and not weathered. They are not present on any of the refs I used, and I did not plan to use them for display.

I would like to thank Geoff at Scale Modelling Now, and Mr. Paint for the color support. I love these paints. All weathering is with Ammo products.
 

 

I thought I'd share this one. If you follow me on Facebook you probably know that I've not particularly enjoyed this kit. The fact is it's just not a good kit. Lots of problems...especially on small parts and around the engine. That said, it's one I've absolutely wanted to do, so it was my choice when asked to build something for a Scale Modelling Now article. Because it's for the online mag, I can just share a couple here.

Note: The beaching gear are for photo purposes only: for support. If HPH comes through and does a catapult I will be building that. Otherwise it will be displayed without these. That's why that are just painted and not weathered. They are not present on any of the refs I used, and I did not plan to use them for display.

I would like to thank Geoff at Scale Modelling Now, and Mr. Paint for the color support. I love these paints. All weathering is with Ammo products.
 

 

Following this one with great interest. Looking like a nice kit so far.

Yeah the surface detail on this one is great, but it's not touching the Tamiya 1/32 Corsair. Sorry. That's not a bad thing though. Tamiya has carved themselves out as the gold standard for surface detail in 1/32. Just because this kit isn't there yet doesn't detract from it in any way. It's still very very good, and at least it's there.

Is anyone actually concerned with how it goes together instead of picking apart the accuracy issues? My decision to buy is going to hinge much more on fit that anything else, and I just find it humorous that these discussions never discuss the engineering and fit.

Is anyone actually concerned with how it goes together instead of picking apart the accuracy issues? My decision to buy is going to hinge much more on fit that anything else, and I just find it humorous that these discussions never discuss the engineering and fit.

Well it's clear to me that the SH kit is superior to the PCM. Surface detail is going to win over minor shape issues all day long.

Looking good, my friend. Really like the work on the cockpits.

I'm riding the fence on this one at the moment. On the one hand I've really had no desire to mess with a resin kit. However, WW2 Navy subjects are by far my favorite, and I've always had a soft spot for the Helldiver. This kit looks absolutely amazing though. I'm just not sure I'm ready for it yet.

I'm riding the fence on this one at the moment. On the one hand I've really had no desire to mess with a resin kit. However, WW2 Navy subjects are by far my favorite, and I've always had a soft spot for the Helldiver. This kit looks absolutely amazing though. I'm just not sure I'm ready for it yet.

Well, gentlemen it's been a pleasure to read this thread. Firstly, because I like to see these things being talked about. Second, I've taken a lot of heat from a certain sub-set of the population and gotten many a dismissal that I just don't have the skills to deal with the kit, or other personal attacks - not real debate on the subject. I am pleased to see none of that here. Funny thing is, you can actually disagree with people civilly, and it truly made my day to see that happen here instead of the other responses I've seen.
 
 
 
I will note that the tagline of my blog is "The Hyperbolic Scale Modeling Blog," so hopefully I don't need to explain that.
 
 
 
Let me just let you know where I'm coming from with the Kingfisher. When this kit was announced I was initially amazed that we'd see one in 1/32 plastic, but generally not too excited about actually owning it; it's not sexy like a Mustang.
 
 
 
Then Matt (Doogs') and I started looking at reference pics (he was way interested in it already) and the weathering patterns I saw inspired me, so I got really excited for the kit. I won't lie either...like Tamiya Corsair announcement excited.
 
 
 
I got asked my Geoff Coughlin of Scale Modeling Now to do an article on weathering, and he asked me what I'd like to build so I jumped at this kit. Then it got here, and the excitement waned. The engine is just head scratching. Alignment pin holes way too big, flimsy mounting points, confusing and less than precise instructions. I've written it all elsewhere already.
 
 
 
Basically what I'm getting at is my excitement was quickly cut short when the kit fell short of my expectations. I don't know what I expected honestly. I've not built a KH kit before, so I guess I just expected something matching one of the middle of the road guys like Trumpeter as far as fit; certainly not Tamiya level.
 
 
 
My beating the drum against the kit in places has largely been because some people have made it a joke to mock my thoughts on the kit, like I said, and always bringing it up annoys them and they've not figured out it annoys them more than their attacks directed at me, so I have some fun with them. I did see the thread asking about the price of the kit, and I did want to get in an say that, yeah I do think it was a good price. If I'd seen it before it was locked I wouldn't have taken my thoughts of the kit there, because like someone above said it's irrelevant to the topic, and the kit CAN be built nicely.
 
 
 
Finally, I'm glad KH released one. Otherwise we'd probably have never seen it. It's not more kit than I can handle. It may be more than I want to in places. I'm not one who get's off on the building. I'm on the other side of the primer divide; painting and weathering, that's what does it for me. But, I can build this kit. I have. I'm almost to the primer stage. It looks the part, I overcame the issues, and I think anyone who really wants to build one can do so also.

Fair enough. Maybe I just jumped to conclusions since this thread began with a link to one of my blog posts.
 
I'd certainly scoff at anyone who said the Kingfisher is un-buildable. It can certainly be built. That's an entirely separate issue though than having a discussion about the problems with the kit. And again, I've had my "skills" mercilessly attacked for taking issues with some aspects of the kit, so I'm a little touchy.
 
My apologies.