Aires Cockpit Fit Issues???

[blackbetty]

if you want a better fitting pit that has lesser details, why did you not use the kit pit and send the Aires stuff back?

[Bill Cross]

2 hours ago, blackbetty said:

if you want a better fitting pit that has lesser details, why did you not use the kit pit and send the Aires stuff back?

The kit 'pit is primitive. But if I build another jet, I may go the Eduard PE and scratchbuilding route next time.

[ringleheim]

Man, airplane kits suck.  As someone who predominantly does armor, it's weird how noticeably bad most aircraft manufacturers are.  There's not a lot of great manufacturers out there.

 

Especially with the recent renaissance we've enjoyed on the armor side with many new, quality manufacturers entering the fray, you just don't have to screw around with companies like Aires.  

 

I've said it before and I'll say it again: the aircraft modeling community is really set back by Dragon's choice to not offer much in the way of aircraft kits.

 

If they, to name a single manufacturer, would suddenly go nuts with 1/32 aircraft kits, it's all anyone at this forum would be discussing...and buying...and building.  Maybe with the addition of WNW, and the latest Tamiya super kit, if and when we ever see one again!

 

 

 

 

[LSP_Ray]

True. I am really sad Dragon didn't go all the way into aircraft. Still hard to believe they never released a Bf110G kit. They really set the AFV crowd on its ear. And now we have RFM and Takom trying to upstage them. Really is a great time to be an armor modeler. Hopefully, aircraft modeling will see a similar renaissance. 

[petrov27]

I dunno - the Dragon 1/32 P-51D was a HUGE disappointment at the time. Their 110 is a good one though.

 

As far as great manufacturers I feel like there are so many aircraft releases already out or coming out in 1/32 from top companies that I cannot keep up.

 

I would also say that Aires has some really great stuff too - but I agree that they should be held accountable for their sets that do not fit. I'm probably a bit odd though in that hearing how bad the fit is makes me almost want to get the set and the kit to see if there is a way to make it work

[LSP_Ray]

The P-51D was their first kit. They learned a lot from that one. Remember Trumpeter's first kit, the Mig-15!

Even in AFV's, their first few kits, while better than what we had at the time, were not even close to their later releases. And they have released re-tooled versions more than once for several of them.

[petrov27]

True - but still even then Dragon was well regarded from their other kits so the hope was that P-51 was gonna be something great - at least that is how I recall thinking at the time - maybe that was unreasonable.

 

Sorta surprised they never retooled that kit - shoot if they had redone the surface detailing that would have been a pretty big improvement. Probably too much $$$

[LSP_Ray]

Probably by the time they might have floated the idea of re-tooling, Tamiya and ZM came out with theirs and they threw in the towel. Their 109's and 110's are really nice, though!

[LSP_K2]

1 hour ago, LSP_Ray said:

Probably by the time they might have floated the idea of re-tooling, Tamiya and ZM came out with theirs and they threw in the towel. Their 109's and 110's are really nice, though!

 

The '109E kit that I have (aside from the funky wheel well inserts), is outstanding in every way.

[Shoggz]

Dragon are a company I know zero about...

 

I've never built armour, so wouldn't have come across them from that angle.

[Bill Cross]

18 hours ago, ringleheim said:

Man, airplane kits suck.  As someone who predominantly does armor, it's weird how noticeably bad most aircraft manufacturers are.  There's not a lot of great manufacturers out there.

 

Especially with the recent renaissance we've enjoyed on the armor side with many new, quality manufacturers entering the fray, you just don't have to screw around with companies like Aires. 

 

If they, to name a single manufacturer, would suddenly go nuts with 1/32 aircraft kits, it's all anyone at this forum would be discussing...and buying...and building.  Maybe with the addition of WNW, and the latest Tamiya super kit, if and when we ever see one again!

I agree.

 

The love of Hasegawa kits here, for example, astonishes me. Their cockpits are often beyond primitive (I admit I may not be fully-qualified because I stopped buying them after a couple of Bf-109 builds). You need a 'pit and wheel wells AT MINIMUM, and forget things like fuel tanks and props.

 

WNW are in a class by themselves: you don't NEED anything else except rigging (which they sell, that EZ Line stuff is pretty alright). But they also don't seem to be worried about turning a profit, either, so their stuff is top-drawer and an exception from profit-driven manufacturers.

 

Tamiya's Corsair is perhaps the finest model kit I have ever built in any genre. Period. But Tamiya only puts out new kits in our scale 1-2x a year.

 

14 hours ago, LSP_Ray said:

True. I am really sad Dragon didn't go all the way into aircraft. Still hard to believe they never released a Bf110G kit. They really set the AFV crowd on its ear. And now we have RFM and Takom trying to upstage them. Really is a great time to be an armor modeler. Hopefully, aircraft modeling will see a similar renaissance. 

I had drinks with Raymond Chung of Luckymodel while I was in Hong Kong, and he says the armor model business isn't sustainable with all the competing releases (something like 13 different Panther tanks this year alone). So if there is something you like, I'd recommend buying it now.

 

14 hours ago, petrov27 said:

I would also say that Aires has some really great stuff too - but I agree that they should be held accountable for their sets that do not fit. I'm probably a bit odd though in that hearing how bad the fit is makes me almost want to get the set and the kit to see if there is a way to make it work

I have a couple of sets I'd be glad to sell you....

 

14 hours ago, LSP_Ray said:

The P-51D was their first kit. They learned a lot from that one. Remember Trumpeter's first kit, the Mig-15!

Even in AFV's, their first few kits, while better than what we had at the time, were not even close to their later releases. And they have released re-tooled versions more than once for several of them.

Good point. Let's recall that Dragon (and before that, Imperial Dragon) has been releasing tanks for 20+ years.

 

4 hours ago, Shoggz said:

Dragon are a company I know zero about... I've never built armour, so wouldn't have come across them from that angle.

Dragon kits are very good; Meng's armor is even better. Their Bradley M2A3 is right up there with the Tamiya Corsair as among the best KITS (not just tank kits) I have ever built:

Edited November 9, 2018 by Bill Cross
clarity & punctuation

[cbk57]

I hope Bill that you post your efforts with the Aires pit.  I would like to see what happens with it.  I disagree a little as to best aircraft kit.  I firmly believe that the Tamiya 1/32 Spitfire is the best and most important Aircraft kit of the last 30 years.  The engine assembly and cowling were revelutionary and redefined what we could expect from a top tier model manufacturer.  

 

In the Armor world I think Dragon is the most important maker of modern times because they did some crazy stuff down to individual bolts on the Panzer IV Drivetrain.  They made their mistakes but I think they really opened the door for Meng, Takom, Rye Field and others.  

 

Tamiya in armor plays it’s own game and goes it’s own way but I think you really see a balance coming from where Dragon may have gone too far and Meng and Takom start coming in with lots of detail but good balance.  

 

For me Tamiya armor is all about refinement and simplicity.  Their kits never seem over complex.  However there is a group that always wants more than Tamiya brings to the table.  So now we see much more detailed Tiger’s and Panthers in the market.  Dragon really led that trend in my opionion.  

 

Above all the internet and research are revolutionizing our hobby as we learn more our expectations are driving the standards of model design into levels we never imagined 20 years ago.  I can remember when the whole idea of the Tiger Turret being asymmetrical was a new discovery and it was considered a big deal when Tamiya started introducing Tiger Turrets that were correct.

[Bill Cross]

1 hour ago, cbk57 said:

I hope Bill that you post your efforts with the Aires pit.  I would like to see what happens with it.  I disagree a little as to best aircraft kit.  I firmly believe that the Tamiya 1/32 Spitfire is the best and most important Aircraft kit of the last 30 years.  The engine assembly and cowling were revolutionary and redefined what we could expect from a top tier model manufacturer.  

I was actually planning on taking some photos to share here. As to that Spitfire, I could have picked it up for $60 in Tokyo but it was the start of a 3-week trip and I was already going to pick up the 104 kit in Hong Kong. Still, I would love to build that honey.

 

In the Armor world I think Dragon is the most important maker of modern times because they did some crazy stuff down to individual bolts on the Panzer IV Drivetrain.  They made their mistakes but I think they really opened the door for Meng, Takom, Rye Field and others.

Agreed. Dragon has also cycled back their complexity, ending the famous Deluxe kits with metal barrels, PE and wire cables. Meng however is my current fave since their kits are much like Tamiya's 1/32nd scale aircraft.

 

Tamiya in armor plays it’s own game and goes it’s own way but I think you really see a balance coming from where Dragon may have gone too far and Meng and Takom start coming in with lots of detail but good balance.  

Their kits "fall together" and many of my friends really like them. They don't make a lot of subjects that interest me, and many of their kits are too simple by today's standards. But I think it's preferable to have a kit that can be improved with AM stuff but still builds up with satisfaction. It is, after all, a hobby.

 

For me Tamiya armor is all about refinement and simplicity.  Their kits never seem over complex.  However there is a group that always wants more than Tamiya brings to the table.  So now we see much more detailed Tiger’s and Panthers in the market.  Dragon really led that trend in my opinion.  

Definitely.

 

Above all the internet and research are revolutionizing our hobby as we learn more our expectations are driving the standards of model design into levels we never imagined 20 years ago.  I can remember when the whole idea of the Tiger Turret being asymmetrical was a new discovery and it was considered a big deal when Tamiya started introducing Tiger Turrets that were correct. True. This place is part of what makes the hobby so great. There are so many people who are generous with their time & information, it's just amazing.

cbk,

 

Well-said. See my comments in red.

[LSP_K2]

So far so good with the little A6M2-N 'pit fit. It still remains to be seen if all of the other pieces will work out well, but here's hoping that they do.

 

[Bill Cross]

Some of you asked to see the shaving that was necessary to make the Aires cockpit fit.

Notice the places where the sanding broke through. Some Scotch clear tape worked well to cover them over underneath.

And the amount of filling from the poor fit has been a nightmare: