Kit Part Numbering

[MikeC]

A small sign of how "user-friendly" some kits are becoming is that most modern kits - certainly the last few I've built in both 1:32 and 1:48 scales - have parts numbered within the sprue and identified as such: for example "A6", "G10", or "6A" and "10G".  And many now actually lay the numbers out in a logical order, with "D1" at the top left of sprue D, with "D2" next to it, "D3" after that, and so on.  You may also find sprues dedicated mainly to one section of the build, so for example all the parts for the engine on one or two sprues, all the weapons on another, cockpit parts on a third, and so on.

 

I had not appreciated just how easy that makes life until I came to what is a relatively recent kit, a 1:32 Revell Bf 109 G-10 Erla, which I started yesterday.  The part numbering starts at part 1, goes up to somewhere in the 180s, and the parts are not in any sequential order on the sprues.  Neither are they laid out in a logical order as described above, and the sprue each part is on is not identified in the instructions.

 

So (now we come to why this is not just in "General Discussion" as a grumble) after finding the cockpit floor, then hunting through the sprues to find the next few parts, I thought, "this is going to waste a lot of time", and hit upon the following idea.

 

I made a list of numbers from 1 to 200 (I thought that would be enough, and so it proved), then went through the sprue maps, sprue by sprue, starting with A and writing down "A" against each part number on that;  I then moved on to the next sprue on the diagram, until I'd done them all, so I ended up with a list something like:

1 A

2 C

3 D

etc.  (Part numbers for illustration, not necessarily correct)

 

It took about 15 minutes or perhaps more, doing it the old-fashioned way with a pen and paper, and if I'm honest was a little tedious, but I'm expecting it will save me a lot of time and more than a little frustration. Because sometimes you miss the part you want while looking through a sprue, and the part you want is always on the last sprue you look at.

 

Incidentally, I notice that Revell kits with the newer-style instructions now identify the sprue letter on said instructions, so that's some progress.

 

Hope this little tip is useful.

 

Edited April 4, 2021 by MikeC
As usual, typos.

[quang]

My main gripe is why can’t kit manufacturers identify each sprue with a BIG, BOLD letter conveniently located at one CORNER of the said sprue?

 

To add insult to injury, some brands also choose to put an injection dimple smack dab over the part number. Go figure 

Edited April 6, 2021 by quang

[Panzerwomble]

6 minutes ago, quang said:

My main gripe is why can’t kit manufacturers identify each sprue with a BIG, BOLD letter conveniently located at one CORNER of the said sprue?

 

To add insult to injury, some brands also choose to put an injection dimple smack dab over the part number. Go figure 

 

It's why I like Takom - they mould the letters on the sprues as cut outs , makes it really quick to see no matter what way up . Sadly for this forum the only "wingy" they do to my knowledge is a 1/35 V2  

 

 

 

[quang]

2 minutes ago, Panzerwomble said:

It's why I like Takom - they mould the letters on the sprues as cut outs

That’s the way to do it!

[John Stambaugh]

Yes I agree it is quite frustrating when time is short and too much is wasted hunting down those tiny parts. Still I try to remind myself that the manufacturers have given us a fantastic renaissance of high quality new tool kits. 

 I will give this excellent tip from MikeC a try. Thanks, John