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ZM Heinkel He 219 Uhu:5/26/17: BACK WITH A VENGEANCE


Guest Peterpools

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Guest Peterpools

Hi Tom

Thank yo so much for the compliments on the Owl. I read your comments on Zoukei Mura latest kits and all I wanted to do is shout out; Way to go! :frantic:

Not having purchased either of their newer kits, I really had no first hand knowledge of the improvements and strides they have made in addressing the short comings of their earlier kits. It is wonderful to read that ZM has listen to the builders of their kits and taken the criticism as constructive and then raised the bar. I tip my cap to ZM as such actions are not often seen.

I only wish you would have jumped in and brought this to my attention earlier, as now I feel rather foolish on some of my comments. Now that the issues have been addressed, it's back to the build with a new positive attitude and determination.

Peter

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JA

I like the idea of the basic kit but not too basic. I always prefer a detailed front office and engine(s) and it should be up to the builder for viewing but removable panels everywhere - not my style.

Bro

 

Bro,

 It's my understanding after reading a lot of the "Old Man's " blogs on the ZM site, that the basic class of kit will be just that. I got the general feeling that what would be cut down or even better eliminated, is all the internal not seen details. I would hope that it also means less to none of the access panels opened up. Those kind of differences from their top of the line would require completely new molds for most of the sprues, so we're talking basically a new kit offering.

 

  Still, the concept of the basic kit would be at a different price point, and appeal to a different type of modeler, so ZM would be now addressing a secondary market, which could very well become their main market for those that can't or don't want to spend north of $100, and/or spend many hours working on details that they prefer weren't part of the kits construction. 

 

Joel

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Lovely work Peter, very interesting reading your thoughts on the ZM offering. I have often wondered about buying one of there kits but always decided against as they seem way over complicated for my skill set.

 

Great work and coming along ral nice.

 

Regards. Andy

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Peter, I'm just catching up on your progress. The cockpit looks fantastic as does the cannon bay. It's one of the areas that I'm thinking of leaving open on my build so yours give me a good idea of what it'll look like.

 

With your comments about the heavy mould parting lines, I'm wondering if maybe there was a production issue? It's been a while since I looked at my copy but I don't recall them being that pronounced. I'll have to break it out and see.

 

ZM does seem to be a company that listens to feedback though. They've gone from their multi coloured plastic of their initial releases to a single colour and they supposedly even re-tooled their Ta152 a bit to improve the sharpness of the details.

 

Hopefully the building experience improves from here for you.

 

Carl

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I personally like the ZM kits and I don't mind having a few pitfalls here and there. Two considerations that I see has been overlooked in the comparison between "the Big T" and ZM, KH, etc. is length of time in business and sheer volume of production. Tamiya has a vast line of products of which plastic models is a minor part, and 1/32 an even smaller niche. They do a huge amount of injection molding (probably most if not all in-house) and I'm sure they have engineers on staff whose sole job is mold engineering. Having dabbled in that a few years ago I can attest to how incredibly hard it is to get right! A CAD plug-in module cannot come close. Almost all new manufacturers botch there first few kits, but most learn and their products improve over time. I have faith in the small guys that they will succeed if we recognize this. 

 

Small firms like ZM, KH and HK just don't have the volume or product line size to justify the specialized staff. As they grow those specialties come in house. Another issue is farming out the mold cutting and injection itself. It's darn hard to justify the expenditure of that type of equipment. Just like most other businesses there's a crossover point where they can be brought in-house but until that point is reached they are at the mercy of third party vendors.

 

The open panel/closed up argument is a personal choice. True, a less costly example like Hasegawa is a nice option (I chose the ZM Raiden over the Hasegawa - personal choice even though I will probably close it all up) but I am just jazzed that we are seeing the volume of new products being released in 1/32 (and 1/24).

 

All that having been said, nice build! I've got the Uhu in the stash too.

 

Cheers,

 

Mark

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Umm, Zoukei Mura are HUGE, just not in the way you think. ZM is owned by Volks, they started in resin kit manufacture, specifically around anime characters (heavily biased towards female subjects). In saying that, I have their resin kit of 1/6 Kaneda's bike from the movie Akira along with a few of their character kits.

 

If you dare, Google "Dollfie".

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Guest Peterpools

Thanks Tom

I'm quite glad ZM has listen and is raising the bar and I agree that my comments regarding the He219 are are accurate and what anyone will discover building the kit. I'm an average modeler, with average skills and just feel that when a injected molded kit reaches a certain price point, certain levels of quality and detail are to be expected.

Peter

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Guest Peterpools

Thank You Alan

I'm slowly making progress on the Owl and hopefully might have the fuselage portion of the build completed before the end of the week - see how it goes.

Peter

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Guest Peterpools

JA

I hope so but only time will tell. I have my doubts that the "basic" kit of the 190 would have a completely new fuselage and wings as that is almost a completely new kit compared to the SMS 190 and the costs would be astronomical. I'm just not a fan of removable panels that need to be installed but would rather have panels  molded in place and then the kit would allow those that want the interior details to be visible, be able to cleaning remove the panels. See what happens as the 190 from what I've been able to observe, isn't anywhere near the horizon yet.

Bro

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