SPA Modeler

speedgraflex wrote:Congrats!

What I’ve noticed the rear seat looks as you can move up to the front to the rear IP controls and move back to the rear to use the rear facing MGs.

There is a third seat in there. One for a guy between the pilot and rear gunner. He was usually a radio operator, or a radio & radar operator depending upon version.

Stikpusher wrote:There is a third seat in there. One for a guy between the pilot and rear gunner. He was usually a radio operator, or a radio & radar operator depending upon version.

***

And work continues.. I started yesterday evening to "assemble" the belts... took a break, as it was very tedious work. Got hardly anything done so decided to continue today. And now I have spent an hour (!) with the pilot seats belts.



Started almost to regret that I bought these.. And these are 1/32 belts, so they should not be too small... and you can also have them in 1/48 scale !
I can just say one thing, 1/48 no way jose!

Need to take a break, this is the result of in total more than an hour of struggle!


But what is most disappointing, the quality of the PE parts are very bad, alignment problems, cannot recall I had this with my previous HGW models belts. I could of course make a complaint to see what happens, if anything.
This is not a show stopper, but annoys of course.
Quality control at HGWmodels has not been awake..



- Kari

Your efforts are to be commended on those seat belts Kari. That had to be a lot of not only tedious work with your hands but also for your eyes.

Sorry to see that about the alignment issues with the buckles but I don't think it'll show up too noticeably in that scale.

Them belts still look beautiful despite the alignment issue. I got a few sets of them in 1/48 they look so good built up but I'm dreading threading them into the buckles.

Thanks Tom, and yeah, it is the eyes that get tired very quickly.

Thanks Clint, and uh, belts or actually the buckles / PE parts in 1/48 is tiny stuff !


- Kari

The more I study the PE parts, the more it annoys me. They are not good, they are terrible!
The hole where the belt needs to go through, is also a little bit too tight, due to the misalignment.

So, I took some close-up pictures and mailed HGW Models expressing my disappointment.
Especially as I have bought previously HGW products stuff without this error.

As a matter of fact, it is Eduard who has made these PE parts, not a small company without high experience in PE parts.
I think that justifies a complain, but in a polite way of course. Shouting and yelling has many times the opposite effect.





Interesting to see how (and if) their customer care handles my case and how.
I am fine with an answer, I will use these anyhow in my build.

- Kari

Oh man..... . That is definitely worth a complaint right there. Hopefully it will result in a change from them in regards to these seat belt buckles. Wow!

Wow... talk about testing one’s patience doing seat belts. I’d like to add PE belts myself just to challenge myself. With these tires old eyes of mine, I’m better off doing them in the morning when I’m alert and eyes rested.