Thing is John, much the same thing was said back in the early 1980s when yourself and Tim Perry pretty much kick started the whole after market industry. There were even dark mutterings with some IPMS members who baulked at using “metal” bits on their kits and whether it was defiling the “Plastic” part of the IPMS! In fact go back further and people were saying exactly the same thing about plastic kits, that they took the skill out of modelling!
Yes, you’re right in what you say but so much of modern modelling is now created on a key board with wonderful modern but expensive technology, as opposed to dinosaurs like myself who are the last of the “hand and eye guys”.
However the modern kit is still prey to “GinGo” because of poor research or reliance on existing widely available (but flawed) drawings by staff who are excellent engineers but not anorack standard enthusiasts. Modern mainstream kit engineering should be of the highest standards but it’s usually the bean counters who insist on going for the lowest quote.
As I have mentioned on other forums the superb Airfix Lightning and last stand Spitfires were done in the same factory in South Korea that was producing Tamiya kits. Very high quality. Later Airfix/Humbrol quality dipped because they went to cheaper Chinese companies who had never produced model kits before.
The classic horror was the Concorde which was about the last fling of the Airfix Heller debacle with the French company getting the kit parts made in two different companies.
The large companies have also cottoned on to “filling the gaps”, in other words choosing subjects which with a few component changes will produce a family of Mks. Something I have done for years.
Now, there are very few real modellers out there. There are lots of very skilled assemblers with exotic airbrushes buying very expensive “shake the box” kits and the market (mainly american led) will go this way even more.
This is the changing nature of the game where the end product will only vary if the assembler got glue on his fingers. Glue! did someone say Glue? Where’s the Health and Safety people.
John
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