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Not every review has to be one that solely focuses on how inaccurate the kit is
Isn't that kinda critical in a "/review"?
Yes, but so is ease of assembly, and not having to make corrections of said inaccuracies that shouldn't need to be corrected, especially in these days of "super-accuracy", multitudinous reference material, slide-mold technology, CAD-design, and above all, ACCESS to the real thing. SOME of the errors in the DRAGON -A2 kit are just plain STUPID, and THAT, Gentlemen, is not Matt's fault, but DRAGON's Engineering and R&D departments...
Agreed 100% but in that case, just call it a build log. A review typically passes judgement on the accuracy of the kit. I for one am very interested in how easily a kit goes together but am just as interested in whether the kit is accurate or not.
Too many "/reviews" out there (not pointing fingers directly at this one) simply consist of pics of the sprues and some babbling on about what's in the box.
If you want to see how a real review is done (IMO) go over to PMMS and read some of Terry's stuff.
I for one, have visited PMMS innumerable times! Sadly, Terry Ashley hasn't been able to do much on PMMS since May of this year, due to illness. I also like to visit the "CYBERMODELER", "MODELING MADNESS", "HYPERSCALE" and "MISSING LYNX" hobby sites- A lot of info can be gleaned from these sites, as well...
I DO miss PMMS, and Terry was very good at picking up the latest info of new kit releases, publishing initial "in-box reviews", and build articles by various authors and modellers...
I wish Terry luck in getting his health-issues resolved...
Please don't take this the wrong way-
The "/reviews" of kits with just photos of sprues that you mentioned, are generally referred to as "in-box reviews" in their by-lines; these generally entail a "what's in the box"-type of description, and not much more. They are only meant for us all to become initially acquainted with the kit in question. Sometimes, mistakes and omissions occur in these types of reviews, basically because they are meant to be simple, and not as involved as "in-depth reviews", or "build logs"...
There IS a difference between "in-box reviews", and "in-depth reviews", which take it a step(s) further, where the reviewer ACTUALLY removes parts from their sprues and dry-fits them, and then possibly even goes so far as starting to put said parts together.
Conversely, a "build log" generally entails a modeller assembling, detailing, painting, and weathering a model to completion, and this can run any number of pages full of text and photography, along with other modellers' commentary and/or advice. This is a much more involved process than an "in-box review", which sometimes even serves as an initial announcement of the kit itself, on hobby sites such as ARMORAMA and others, as well...