willja67 said:Just thought I'd weigh in on this from the designers POV. To design models a fairly good understanding of the skills and processes to build the model are needed and it is often taken for granted that those building the model might not know them or the desinger has been working on the model so long and is so intimately aquainted with it that he has dreams about.
I've been associated with various aspects of the hobby world for a long time and one thing is consistent. Those 'cottage industry' designers, who decide to try to make money with their designs, aren't automatically blessed with an understanding of product development and marketing saavy. Rather, they are genius designer types who have those things thrust upon them. Those who are successful spend more time than they'd like learning those things. Those who fail generally never see it as their responsibility to do so and rarely come to understand that this is why their businesses are failing. I haven't seen your kit, yet, Will, not because I haven't paid for it but because of marketing/merchandising problems.
That said, I didn't start this thread to make anyone feel bad or to point fingers at anyone. Rather, my goal was to get discussion going about how kits are produced, what concerns are or are not being addressed by their designers/manufacturers and to personally learn about differences between kits on the market. Frankly, I'd rather hear about the good than the bad as there are so many kits available that I couldn't possibly buy all the good ones anyway.
Cheers --- Larry