I hate to be critical of Moebius models because for the most part I feel they have really filled a void left by Polar Lights when PL exited the figure kit market. I also think that the sculpts for Moebius' kits far surpass even the best Polar Light models, even rivaling the best resin and vinyl kits out there. With that said I am becoming increasingly frustrated with how poorly engineered these kits are. Having worked on 4 different Moebius kits so far, each one has had some massive issue with pieces not fitting right or fitting unevenly, requiring massive putty work to fix an issue that shouldn't exist in the first place.
My latest frustration- having just assembled the new Creature kit- the two body halves do not fit together properly, leaving a massive, ugly, uneven seam down the right side of the figures torso and leg. This is made worse buy the fact that I now have a huge gap under the figure's armpit, because one end of the body fits tightly leaving the other end agape. Again these kind of issues are not new to me with Moebius Models and are often made worse by Moebius' insistence to take even the most simplistic aspect of a figure (Ie: Dracula's cape or the Creature victim' hair) and requiring that they be assembled in an unnecessary amount of pieces. The issues with the Creature kit though really cross the line of what is acceptable or tolerable, especially given how much these kits cost us.
Am I just unlucky and hitting some bad batches or is everyone else experiencing these issues with Moebius kits as well? Again I hate complaining because I love the finished product when it comes to Moebius' kits, but with the problems my Creature kit has had, all enjoyment I would have putting something like this together is sucked away by the poor engineering and obvious product defects.
I have built the Mummy, Dracula, and Frankenstein and I have had little or no problem building them. I have the Bride but haven't got to it yet but I have heard about some warped pieces on the Creature that is giving some modelers problems. But when I do plastic models, I build them like I did when I did the Auroras originally. I don't do seam and putty work to a plastic model unless it is extreme. I do that only with resin and vinyl. All in all little or no problem with Moebus.
Quote from: Universal Steve on April 13, 2013, 08:38:51 AM
I have built the Mummy, Dracula, and Frankenstein and I have had little or no problem building them. I have the Bride but haven't got to it yet but I have heard about some warped pieces on the Creature that is giving some modelers problems. But when I do plastic models, I build them like I did when I did the Auroras originally. I don't do seam and putty work to a plastic model unless it is extreme. I do that only with resin and vinyl. All in all little or no problem with Moebus.
I should probably clarify- with past moebius kits, issues have come up where pieces don't fit quite right, more of an annoyance that is easily remedied with putty or a little persistence...just unusual to me because I haven't had similar issues with other styrene kits from PL or Revell. I also suspect the Moebius kits are broken down to a lot of pieces for a more detailed kit, which I can appreciate assuming the pieces fit correctly. That said the Creature kit is a mess - the two body halves simply do not fit together correctly, ruining what is otherwise a beautiful sculpt with ugly seams and gaps. I had a similar issue with the arms as well, glue the two halves together, press down on the wrist area and the shoulder area comes apart, press down on the shoulder area and the wrist area comes apart. Absolutely frustrating and unacceptable given the high price tag.
Has anyone had problems with The Bride of Frankenstein?
I had no problems with the Bride kit at all. I did find that molding both the Bride and the Monster's heads in 3 pieces was a bit overkill. But I did like how once you had the kit primarily glued together how the main body pieces were pinned some you could put the kit together to see how it looked before actually gluing all part together. Here's mine...........
(http://i697.photobucket.com/albums/vv340/propman1/SABERTOOTH%20TIGER/001.jpg)][URL=http://s697.photobucket.com/user/propman1/media/SABERTOOTH%20TIGER/001.jpg.html]
If you ever have a warped piece of plastic you can always try heating the piece up to bring it back to shape. That can be done with either simple hot water or a blow dryer/ heat gun. But again, I did not that any real kinds of problems with the Bride kit!!!
"D" ;) (http://[url=http://s697.photobucket.com/user/propman1/media/SABERTOOTH%20TIGER/001.jpg.html)
Propman, an absolute, silver screen masterpiece! How long did it take you to get this kind of perfection, if I may ask?
I would say between prep time and actual painting time there is about 15 to 20 hours labor time into it. Of course I didn't do it all in one day. But that would be my guess of actual hours of work.
"D"
BTW: Thanks for the kind words about the kit!!!! I'm glad you like the way it came out!!!! :)
Moebius Customer Service said my cape parts were warped during the molding process.
Moebius Customer Service sent 2 cape parts for my Broadway Dracula to me free of charge and they fit perfect.
So just contact 'em and have 'em send free replacement parts!
Ive done several Creature and Julie kits for my dad and some friends. I absolutely hate the assembly on it. Its the only time I have had to use hair scrunchies and rubber bands to hold the pieces together for the glue to set up.
Warpage definitely a problem.
I have built their Mummy, Bride and Frank, and Dracula---all of those were pretty easy. Mummy and BoF went together like a dream.
But Creechie was a ngihtmare. :angel:
I think I have built and painted just about every Moebius monster kit produced, and all have assembled just fine, I will say the Creature has been a bit more of a challenge, but nothing a few clamps, a little seam putty and some extra patience could not overcome.
ugly insect, if the parts are warped that badly, then you have a defective kit. Contact Moebius and request either replacement parts, or a replacement of the entire kit.
Yeah, make them do the work.
Quote from: Count_Zirock on April 13, 2013, 11:16:21 PM
ugly insect, if the parts are warped that badly, then you have a defective kit. Contact Moebius and request either replacement parts, or a replacement of the entire kit.
China probably just screwed the pooch. Because I have done about 4 of these...and the Creature body doesnt go together on any of them with the ease I have had building other Moebius kits. It's all China's fault.
Maybe one day, we will get sick of China and make things in the United States again. So folks can have jobs too. :angel:
I love the sentiment! God save the American worker.
He's done such an excellent job of it, so far. ::)
I agree with you Phibes!!! One thing I did hear is that the shipping costs for companies having things make oversea are going way up. I hear that companies are only profiting 10% more right now than having things made back here. Hopefully the increases will keep happening so companies will look at coming home with some of those jobs!!! At least, if the manufacturing was done here, they would oversee the production of things better!!!
"D" ;)
It sounds like all the Creature kits suffer from these issues. Not sure at this point if a replacement kit will correct the problem. I was really ticked off upon assembling my creature kit and making that post, but I should reiterate that I am a huge supporter of Moebius models and just really hope these issues get resolved down the line with future kits.
It sounds like most of you are not having major issues with the other kits. Most of my issues with the other kits were relatively small, just unusual to me compared to other styrene kits from other manufacturers. I will say I had a somewhat similar problem with the Mummy's sarcophagus (can't remember if it was the top piece or bottom) where the inner piece didn't fit in correctly and left gaps around the edges.
I wouldn't mind paying twice as much to have them made in the US and to fit together properly. I've tried heating kit pieces to get them to fit together better and it never really works out that great. Thank God for 'Squadron White Putty' to fill the seams - just started using it and I'm sorry I didn't use it on kits I had built previously.
I have built 3 of these (Bride of Frank, Mummy, & Dracula) and
although I had very little issues with fitting, I too am not a fan
of assembling certain pieces which I think could have easily
been made in one piece.
However, I am so thrilled with these extremely affordable kits,
I cannot really say a bad word!
Just my 2 cents 8)
Jeff
Quote from: FRANKEinstein on May 22, 2013, 02:15:57 AM
I have built 3 of these (Bride of Frank, Mummy, & Dracula) and
although I had very little issues with fitting, I too am not a fan
of assembling certain pieces which I think could have easily
been made in one piece.
But that would be defeating the rationale of a model
kit!
???