Infinity Models Aichi D3A Val

[Markjames1968]

10 hours ago, DeanKB said:

Infinity have discovered that the 1/32 resin & 1/32 injected plastic markets are very, very different. 

 

Their resin kits were sold to real enthusiasts, who expected the kits to need work, as that's just the nature of resin kits. The people who bought them, by and large, had above average skills and were prepared to put the extra work in, mainly because there was no IP version and the resin kit was the best available. It was very much a niche product, and as such HpH could charge a higher price, because their sales volumes were tiny. The general lack of competition in the subject matter they chose also helped. When competition did arise - Revell's excellent Ar-196A-3 springs to mind - it absolutely annihilated HpH's version. 

 

They've now realised - too late - that the IP market is far more demanding, mainly because you are selling to a far bigger niche. The likes of Special Hobby have shown that limited run IP kits can be made to a pretty good quality, and companies like ICM are knocking out high quality, well priced, accurate kits like fun, Roden as well.

 

But HpH have literally made a resin kit and then appear to have simply got the resin kit directly transferred to short-run injected plastic, obviously using the physical resin masters as the basis for the moulds. This has seriously impacted on quality & accuracy, and they know they've messed up. Instead of investing in injected plastic experts, they've decided to retreat back into the niche resin market. Probably a wise business decision, whereas choosing a post-war British jet as your initial subject was a poor decision, showing they were still thinking like resin manufacturers, as the Vampire was never going to sell in volume in 1/32. The Val should at least garner more interest and sales, as it's an absolutely iconic subject and WWII still sells.

I thought the hph Walrus was a great kit and really enjoyed it.

 

you are wrong about hph using the resin Fuselage transferred into injection moulding, and there lies the kits biggest issue..

 

Had they done that, it would, as an injected kit,  been much better and all the extras would have fitted well. The problem is, they used the totally stock resin parts from the resin kit to make up the ‘aftermarket’detail sets, the issue being, they fitted  the resin kit very well indeed, but werent even close to fitting the injected kit due to the differences in part thinckness

 

the vampire and Val wont have this issue as they didnt exist in resin so parts are bepoke

[Artful69]

3 minutes ago, Markjames1968 said:

I thought the hph Walrus was a great kit and really enjoyed it.

 

you are wrong about hph using the resin Fuselage transferred into injection moulding, and there lies the kits biggest issue..

 

Had they done that, it would, as an injected kit,  been much better and all the extras would have fitted well. The problem is, they used the totally stock resin parts from the resin kit to make up the ‘aftermarket’detail sets, the issue being, they fitted  the resin kit very well indeed, but werent even close to fitting the injected kit due to the differences in part thinckness

 

the vampire and Val wont have this issue as they didnt exist in resin so parts are bepoke

 

They would have used the data accumulated on their resin kit creation to assist with creating the designs for the moulds in IM ... I'd say it was probably one of the primary reasons for selecting the SB2C as their first IM release to begin with ... less front end investment. Unless of course you have heard otherwise directly from the company? - but any other direction would surprise me greatly (as it seems like a LOT of double handling).

 

The main issue with fit on the IM version that I've seen was that the IM clears didn't fit the IM kit ... The resin ones did however! (go figure?!) ...

That's canopy, not extras! ... and its the opposite - the IM clears were seven shades of inaccurate while the resin canopies weren't and fit the assembled IM fuse, just like they fit the resin one ...

I haven't heard too much in the way of the internal resin parts being difficult to fit the IM Fuselage ... even so - a fair amount of sanding and dry fitting is usually required when inserting resin upgrades anyway.

 

I'm sincerely glad you enjoyed the kit you had and suffered no ill fitting issues ... unfortunately from the build threads I've seen on various HPH kits - you are the exception to the rule. It's unfortunate as the HPH kits are detailed and for the best part, well presented ... but it is what it is and there's no hiding from it.

 

Rog

 

 

[DeanKB]

23 minutes ago, Markjames1968 said:

I thought the hph Walrus was a great kit and really enjoyed it.

 

you are wrong about hph using the resin Fuselage transferred into injection moulding, and there lies the kits biggest issue..

 

Had they done that, it would, as an injected kit,  been much better and all the extras would have fitted well. The problem is, they used the totally stock resin parts from the resin kit to make up the ‘aftermarket’detail sets, the issue being, they fitted  the resin kit very well indeed, but werent even close to fitting the injected kit due to the differences in part thinckness

 

the vampire and Val wont have this issue as they didnt exist in resin so parts are bepoke

I'm glad you actually enjoyed the Walrus kit, you must be in a very small minority - Literally every single Walrus build I've seen have not been enjoyable builds.

 

Have you actually looked at the Helldiver fuselage in the Infinity kit? It has all the classic hallmarks of a resin kit - uneven edges, varying panel line depths, scratches, edges don't match up and varying depth. What makes you say Infinity didn't use the resin fuselage when making the kit moulds?

[quang]

4 hours ago, Markjames1968 said:

I thought the hph Walrus was a great kit and really enjoyed it.

Have you got any pic of this rare bird?

[Markjames1968]

8 hours ago, DeanKB said:

I'm glad you actually enjoyed the Walrus kit, you must be in a very small minority - Literally every single Walrus build I've seen have not been enjoyable builds.

 

Have you actually looked at the Helldiver fuselage in the Infinity kit? It has all the classic hallmarks of a resin kit - uneven edges, varying panel line depths, scratches, edges don't match up and varying depth. What makes you say Infinity didn't use the resin fuselage when making the kit moulds?

I have both kits, the resin parts are too small for the injected kit, they are designed to fit the thicker resin fuselage, i find their etch poor being to thin and not structurally up to the task.

ive built everything hph and infinity have to offer and find them good fun, they are actually my favourite manufacturer 

[DeanKB]

2 hours ago, Markjames1968 said:

I have both kits, the resin parts are too small for the injected kit, they are designed to fit the thicker resin fuselage, i find their etch poor being to thin and not structurally up to the task.

ive built everything hph and infinity have to offer and find them good fun, they are actually my favourite manufacturer 

I built the Walrus, easily the most miserable, depressing build I've ever done. 

 

Your modelling skills are far superior to mine! I normally enjoy resin kits - I've done a few Lukgraph & Silver Wings - but the Walrus was, for me, hard work every single solitary, sanded-to-death, why-won't-that-fit, that-can't-be-right, where's-the-bloody-filler, step of the way.

[CRAZY IVAN5]

From what I've read and heard about [in this forum no less], their Tigercat isn't exactly a walk in the park either . I almost bought that ,now I'm glad I didn't , it would've been my first all resin kit and the cost was ,shall we say rather steep. I like Tigercats too!

[Rick Griewski]

I have the Walrus, the Me-410 and one other. Both are started with the pour stub/sheet removal and sanding almost done.  These have been worked on out doors (massive dust) on very nice days over three years. The clean up is miserable but while drinking wine and avoiding yard work it is not too bad. Obvious I pace myself.   I treat these kits as I would vacuum formed Kits. One has to shim spaces and make edges straight and smooth with styrene strips. Plastic structure added so the subassemblies can be taped together a show no big spaces-gaps.  Nothing allowed to wiggle. No filler!  Whimpering structure has to be traced onto styrene.  Both kits have details that no one will see so I will not stress over them.  Always be three steps ahead with the fit before gluing one.  Tack major things together with CA glue. Use a fixture.  Makes Me tired thinking about it.  You all get my point.

Edited April 26, 2023 by Rick Griewski

[CRAZY IVAN5]

Well, I've gone and done do'd it , ordered, well pre ordered one from M&Models, $174 USD including shipping. So it's on for better or worse, hey it's Japanese and it's ww2 so there it is!

[quang]

6 hours ago, CRAZY IVAN5 said:

So it's on for better or worse, hey it's Japanese and it's ww2 so there it is!

That’s what I’d call a brave kamikaze move.
Bravo and looking forward for your first impressions.

[CRAZY IVAN5]

21 minutes ago, quang said:

That’s what I’d call a brave kamikaze move.
Bravo and looking forward for your first impressions.

Well, I've done goofy things before but it's been awhile , so I'm overdue. You know what? It'll be ok though.

[Bill M.]

Well, after saying I would wait to order my Val from US retailers, I decided to order a Val and the accessories directly from Infinity or HPH. My thinking was that I wanted to show my support and encourage them to follow through with the Kate. 
By the way, when I went through their E-shop, it wanted to charge me VAT. When I inquired about having to pay the VAT, they said I should send an email ordering the Val kit and accessories, and they would send a PayPal invoice with the VAT excluded— saved quite a bit of money that way. 

Anyway, my Val kit is on its way…

[LSP_Ray]

I did the same, except I didn't do the VAT thing, though I should have. I tried e-mailing them with the Vampire and never got a reply. I figure they can use the extra dough.

[CRAZY IVAN5]

On 4/27/2023 at 12:37 AM, quang said:

That’s what I’d call a brave kamikaze move.
Bravo and looking forward for your first impressions.

Yeah, I've been told by many that I'm not quite right in the head, either brave or nuts. I 'll keep you posted on what I find right,  wrong , or indifferent. It might be a bit before I get my lunch hooks on it, still on preorder. I also ordered the wing fold too, it's a navy plane so in keeping with my custom of folding wings on naval aircraft.

[Jan_G]

Did  any of you who has ordered directly from Infinity get a shipping notification already pls? I have ordered almost 3 weeks ago and still nothing.

Meanwhile, even Artscale has it in stock for a better price than Infinity.

thanks a lot