Colonial Fleets - I bought the 1:48 studio scale resin Viper from Federation Models

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I bought the 1:48 studio scale resin Viper from Federation Models

Here's what I ordered on Friday April 5th 2005:

Quote:

http://www.federationmodels.com/prod...%20Fighter%20M

(scroll down ot bottom)

Colonial Viper Fighter Mk1

This 1:48 scale kit contains 32 resin parts to build one fully detailed Viper Mk1 fighter model. It can be built either as a single or dual seat version and comes with a detailed cockpit, full landing gear and a pilot figure.
This model was previously produced by SMT.

Item #MMI-1024
$100.00

Quantity:

Ordering Information:
Learn more about ordering, payment options, and other policies.

COST SO FAR:

Model: $106.80

April 6th I recieved an e-mail from USPS regarding the shipment:

Quote:

**** This is a post-only message. Please do not respond. ****

Dear JAESON JRAKMAN,

This ship notification is being sent to you by the U.S. Postal Service® at the request of FEDERATION MODELS.

A package with a Click-N-Ship® label created on usps.com containing the following information is scheduled to be shipped on 05/06/2006.

Want photos when you get it ;)

Just got the package today and I must say, what a massive dissapointment so I won't bother putting up any pics.

I must have misunderstood the scale, I've never really fully understood the scale rating system much anyway so that's not a surprise, becuase when I opened up the tiny box, I discovered it was half the size of the revell/monogram kit.

but that aside, the detail was poor, and some of the parts were cracked.

I'll be returning this. Definitly not worth 100 bucks.

So my hunt for a decent MkI Viper model kit continues.

If anyone's interested, after sending back the product, I just today received a full refund.

All in all, even though I wasn't happy with the model, I am happy with Federation Models as a company, and would definitely consider trying some of their other products.

Go to this link and check out my article on building the Monogram Viper.....
I think you'll like it. Go to the Online Build page.

www.starshipmodeler.com

The HUGE number of really poor viper kits out there is astounding. I got a "Studio Scale" kit recently for a song, but I should have known that it wasn't going to be a good kit. I got it for less than half of what a well-done kit usually goes for, so I should have been suspicious to begin with.

The kit is horrendously molded. The parts look as though they were made from masters that had been torn apart (quite literally!). The connection points between the wings and the body were about as ugly as they can get... and when I dry fitted the pieces, the gravelly part on the wing actually matched the gravelly part on the body! So whoever made this kit just tore the original apart and dumped silicone over it without bothering to clean up ANYTHING. The nose of the viper was also wonky. It is bent to one side an not straight like it should be. Whether this is an artifact from the original that wasn't corrected or if it's a flaw in this particular casting, I cannot tell.

In all, its a really rotten hunk of resin. So I'll most likely attempt to turn it into a "Early Viper" like in The Long Patrol.

But there you have it... caveat emptor! Buyer beware!

In my case, it wouldn't even be worth the trouble to try to return it, so I'll attempt to salvage it into another ship. In your case, I think you were well served by returning the one you got. For $100 or more bucks, you should be getting a studio scale kit. If not a sweet one, at least one of the second or third gen recasts.

-Gordon