Hello modelling friends.

I just read Dmitry Kyatkin's WIP about him buiding the Cyberhobby offering of the T34 / 76 mod 1942 .
He lost interest in building this kit becaus of the poor fit of it.
The upper hull does'nt fit the lower part of the hull.

This is unacceptable !

DML has made a lot of errors in the past, but this error is in my opinion the final drop !

Don't get me wrong, because i still have a soft spot for Dragon kits.
But what can the modelling community do to make DML understand that we want quality and not quantity.

Please, give us some feed back on howe we can help DML to overcome stupid mistakes like this.

Constructive comments please. Don't break DML down ! ( I still love them )

Frank.

not buy the "bad" models it offers
petros

I am in process of building a kit from them I am not going to say which one.
But I do not like the way it went together {upper and Lower Hull}.
Was a bear to put together.
Tamiya in my terms are the easiest to build but lack some of the finesse of the DML kits.
Wheels in this kit are off on how many bolts were used on them but a set of Resin ones would fix that problem,but at the added expense of extra $$$ which is also not good.
Also the frigging Upper hull is warped which is not a good thing.
In all of my Tamiya builds I can never remember of or had a warped hull upper or lower.
I guess I might be one of the lucky ones.
But out of 8 or 9 DML kits half were warped.
They make great models to a point but be prepared to "work" at building them.
Some I would not recommend to a first time builder reason slide molding which requires you to sand flat or gaps out the A-hole.
A lot of flash on new kits and on small parts can be a bear to clean up.
Well enough ,overall they fill in the subject matter that is not made by another company at least in Plastic.
So I give them 5 stars for subject matter and 3 stars for building ease,maybe if they fit better I could get more built quicker.

Anybody care to ask About Academy kits?????

My 0.2 cents which is about equal to=00000.1 cent in todays market.

04090
Hi well i got one of dragons later kits and that was warped so i went
on (dragon care) but i had no luck ,
dragons reply was there enginers say it could be glued but if i worked for dragon i
would say that .
but as you say some of the kits that dragon have made are great.
yours cyril

could you please show us,
any pics (or a link for them)
of the "so bad fit" of the kit you mention?
because sometimes, we modellers are axtremists in our opinions.
I recently built DML's "sister" kit of the T-34, the SU-100 and the hull's fit was very good.
Maybe your friend's bad kit was due to bad storage etc
and not DML's fault.

Stavros

Hi Stavros, Maybe bad fit is due to my bad skill, I do not know. but I think it is a kit issue too. I would await for someone else to build one, prior to really coming down on the maker on my behalf. Here is the link:

link

Dmitry

Hello,
concering the rear plate problem of the STZ here is a possible answer to the problem that originally came up!

http://www.network54.com/Forum/110741/message/1197124593/some+anwsers....

Best,
Nick

ThIs is not to denigrate CH, but It would appear the STZ '42 upper hull is longer than the STZ 1941 kit model. The lower hull being the same..................

There does seem to be an increasing number of complaints about Dragon at the moment.
Their output is prolific, and their claims of never-before-seen innovations and attention to detail are legion but quite often they fail to live up to the hype.
A good example of this is the recent 1/6th Kettenkrad which was hailed as a breakthrough in accuracy and fine detail. In fact it is simply the already available pre-made model albeit in disassembled form.
Not only that...the pre-made one has an engine wheras this one only supplies the gearbox which is a disappointment to put it mildly. Add to that parts which are all supplied loose in bags and poor instructions and you begin to wonder what you're paying for.
Many of the hobbyshops are now offloading this kit on eBay which is where I got mine(for £40...roughly half price).
I'm of the old school whereby if it's not in the kit I'll make it myself, but judging by the amount of these kits I saw being sold at the IPMS show in Telford I think there will be a lot of dissatisfied customers out there.
As to the fit problems I think it's totally unacceptable given the supposedly unrivalled technology at their disposal...if other companies can manage it then there's no excuse.
I think Dragon need to address these issues of hype versus reality and begin treating their customers with more respect.

STZ '42 kit is not horrible, just a LOT more work than originally thought. And the upper hull is indeed a dissappointment. Not a good INVESTMENT, but still a good model if for nothing than to practice your fixing skills on.

My worry is that all the model companies are hitting a fever pitch, like baseball cards and comic books from the past 2 decades, where there were huge numbers of new titles every month and speculators abounded. Then the industry goes belly up and the survivors put out quality product, but in a more reserved fashion. I fear this would lead back to a 4-release -a-year, 3 of them German WWII, from the survivors. At least let the fall out happen after Trunpeter gives us the New Russian kits...The MAZ, even if it is poor, would be better than PSP or scratchbuilding. Same with the BMP-3 and T-62.

This is all a bit off topic, kinda...

Personally, I haven't had too many horrible kit experiences in my years of building. I guess if it came right down to it, I'd rather have a hard-to-assemble kit of a vehicle I wanted to build versus nothing at all. But there is certainly a point where engineering and/or production issues can make a kit anything from "less enjoyable" to a "total nightmare" to build.

Also, FWIW, I share Jacques' worry that the manufacturers are overextending themselves at this point in the game. This is certainly a boom time, with some great new kits out there, but I'm not looking forward to the (inevitable?) slowdown after the frenzy subsides.

-YL

Step One: Don't get sucked in by the hype surrounding new releases, and avoid pre-ordering.

Step Two: Once the kit is available, read the reviews, and make an informed decision as to whether to buy it.

Step Three — and this is the hard part: Every time you choose to buy a DML or CH kit, and are pleased with it, send them an email and tell them, and tell us. Say why.

Every time you choose not to buy a DML or CyberHobby kit, send them an email and tell them why not, and say why. If enouigh people are unhappy, they will respond. The "why" is the most important — in the past, they have shown they will respond to feedback, but they need that feedback. Simply whining about a kit will accomplish nothing.

Cheers
Scott Fraser
Calgary, Alberta

Hello all. After reading all this and seeing the anger out there and on some other sites, I thought I'd give this beasty a try. Guess what? Mine fits fine. Almost glove like in it's fit. No special techinque, no shaving, filing, nothing. It just went together. Maybe years of building kits in the sixties to now has helped, but I don't think so. Yes,it is the kit being dumped on. I double checked. Heck, I can even follow the instructions. Mercy. (Instructions, I don't need no stinking instructions!).
Myself, I never rely on reviews. I've built Eastern Express, Alan, Revell, Airfix, Even Tamiya. All have had good and bad points. I've gotten them all together. It's only plasitc. Glueable, sandable, fillable, shimable plastic. I didn't need any of that stuff this time. This little T-34 is a doll. Those who have cancelled their orders have made more available for me. Thank you.
Got to go now and send an e-mail to Cyber telling them this is a wonderful kit.
Cheers!
Doug
Cyber Hobby T-34 STZ 1942 9.5 out of 10 Highly recommended
Gee, that felt good

I think DML is being a bit unjustly criticized. I am no master modeller, but I haven't had any major problems with my DML kits(there are nearly two dozen on my cabinet now). I find their variety of subject matter to be a big bonus, they're better detailed than most competitors, including Tamiya, and the fit and finish is better than most and nearly as good as Tamiya's. Besides, who else will give all those extra goodies in the box!

I have brought many Dragon kits over the years and most have been to a very high standard. There are however exceptions , one of which i got so frustrated with the warped hull that i just gave up on it

Hey man, you want warped? Just try a resin kit by anyone. That'll learn ya real fast.
Doug