Imperial Shuttle Tydirium

[Skyjedi]

Michael,

I've ordered the kit from Richard in Jun 2009, promised to deliver the kit in 3 months period, after chasing finally received in end Dec 2009. Unfortunately found out some major parts missing, contacted him for the replacement. Unfortunately no reply for a long time. Until got really upset with him, he finally replied and told me he doesn't have the mold anymore, needs to find the mold to remake the missing parts. After waited and waited, no reply from him, I ask for advice on the forum, Neil suggested me to contact Steve for the missing parts. Steve replied and told me to send him my address, he will send me the missing parts, unfortunately after sending my address, he disappeared.

Another few months went by, before giving up, I noticed Richard is still very active on this forum and talks about his new build Snow Speeder. I send him another message stating that he's got so much time to build his snow speeder but why doesn't have time to help to get the missing parts. He finally replied and says he will use his own kit to cast the missing parts. (Why he told me he doesn't have the mold in the first place?)

Finally received the missing parts after a few months time which is end of Jan 2011. Imagine all the hassles that I need to went through to just get the complete kit.

I wish you all the luck with Richard and "May The Force Be With the folks who's still waiting for the missing kits from the irresponsible model builders....."

 

[Jedi Dade]

I find this whole turn of events hard to take. I have dealth with Rich and Steve numnerous times for things and ALWAYS had an awesome kit as a result. As with most things in this hobby delivery times were a little late, but I've leanred that is more often than not "normal" for garage kits. But I've NEVER had an issue wit hthe quality of the kit(s) they've delivered.

I seriously hope that these couple are anamolies and that everything is corrected.

Jedi Dade

 

[hugescale]

Skyjedi,
I would like to tell you what is going on with the kits I have ordered from Richard. Unfortunately I can not.
I have received changing information over the past years. A lot of them are contradictory. OK, there is one constant message saying "Hang in there, you will receive great kits".
The only thing I know for sure ist that I paid for 2 Tydirium kits in May 2009 and for 2 K´tingas kits in October 2007 and that I am still waiting.

Jedi Date,
Regarding quality, I have received several y-wing kits from Steve. Especially the bodies are absolutely super and the best resin parts I have received so far.
A long time ago, I have received 3 tie kits from Steve. Due to delays, I started pushing him to get moving and to sent me the kits. I have received soft castings from worn out molds with a lot of details missing. The wings were absolutely flat. So I thought that when using the details from two kits for the third one, I can build a nice model. About two years ago I had those parts in my hands again. I deceided, that is not worth putting that huge amount of time into the kits. The details would be replaced, but they still would be very very soft. Selling them was not an option, because I did not wanted to upset a potential buyer. Bottom line is, that they ended up in the garbage can. I have learned from that experience, that pushing can result in a bad result.

As for my experience with Richard regarding quality: I have received a concept x-wing kit in an absolutey fantastic quality from him. We agreed that I will pay for it once once the outstanding kits are ready to ship.

So there is still hope.

Michael

 

[CutThumb]

If people expect to get repeat business for these kits from customers , which are both terribly time consuming to mold and produce, the bottom line is they must deliver the kits. There are a lot of new people joining this site who want to buy and build these models yet don't have a clue about who is providing them. Three years ago I didn't know , it took me six months to find out and I 'm still learning and I went entirely by word of mouth and was pretty happy from whom I bought from until recently.
There is little to no information about the vendors other than by whats posted up on these and other forums by those who have dealt with them, and I ask ,how can you build a strong business and reputation if you don't provide what you say you will ? Nobody is going to fork out any money to sellers who obviously don't deliver what they promise? There are about five kits that I still want for myself in the SW universe that are out there or being made . I had one near miss that was solved by another molder taking over.
And we are not talking small amounts of money here. Anyone reading Skyjedis and hugescales stories has got to feel for them and newbies will never take the risk based on a purchase based on what they've said. So sellers won't shift the kits and they won't make any money on the few they do. Its a vicious circle and the end result will be nobody benefits at all and the businesses are killed dead and this hobby will suffer for it. There are afterall only so many scale models out there in the starwars galaxy.
As a guide between shipping notification and reciept dates outside of the US, in the UK I've had most kits in under fifteen days (eight being the best so far). Anything over thirty I'd question.
And its becoming obvious that the longer this goes on the more likely it is people will keep bumping these threads up so they get read and more damage is done to the seller until the problems are solved. A single dispute from one buyer won't draw much attention but several?
I will happily promote anyone who deals fairly and squarely and be as fair as I can be with the product I recieve and hopefull,as a result, help them grow their business as well. I'm all for a win/win situation. But the problem will be that if a few continue not to met their obligations to customers then they will ruin the trade by simple association and the places they frequent. God knows why they don't get help from other experienced people on these boards who seem more than willing to step up to the mark and assist. In these times of unemployment and tight cash flows I'd have thought it better to keep your constant customers on your side rather than alienate them and risk sinking a business.
Happily it appears that people have taken action now and huge inroads are being made into the outstanding orders lists. This is in no small part to some of the very experienced guys in this forum who have stepped forward ,organised things and taken up the challenge. The results are very good to say the least , and its a credit to everyone involved that things have moved forward the way they have done.

 

[REL]

I have no excuses that I can give for this. It's obvious by now that I'm a horrible business man. I got way over my head in this business, at first not charging enough, getting behind, not being realistic with my time lines or costs on these projects, then having to make new projects to pay for old ones, then getting behind on those as well. I can't remember the last time I did a project and was able to invest the money in that project, instead of having to buy supplies for old ones.


People are upset that I sell new stuff when I owe old, I don't do that out of a sense of greed or dishonesty, but simply to buy more resin.

People ask for exact dates when I can ship their stuff, at this point I have no idea. I work on these things daily and send stuff out when I can, with the help of other casters and myself. I can understand how no one wants to hear that.

I'm in no way blaming the people that ordered from me, so please don't take it that way. I truly appreciate that you ordered from me, and very sorry that you're now waiting for something you paid for so long ago.

If it's any consolation, I'm no longer in the kit business and will not be making any new kits, or taking new orders on any of my existing kits. The orders that I have now will be the last ones. Once I'm caught up this will all become a hobby to me again, not for business, except to sell completed build ups for just one or two clients. The kit masters I have that are caught up are either destroyed, sold or given away so I won't be tempted to offer kits for sale again. Kit production is by far the most expensive and time consuming part, for me, of this business, by eliminating that I can now focus on my backlog and get everyone caught up, and satisfy everyone I owe.

I'm not going to leave, or bolt, or take your money and run. By getting out of the thing that has caused me to become so behind, kits, will be a big step in making sure that I can get caught up and not just add to my backlog.

 

[qcfoundry]

imo, its not to be unexpected.
its a left-brain & right-brain thing.
most artists aren't great at running a business. have to be creative AND organized...which aren't a common pairing.

ANYBODY who can do well at creating kits AND making a profit from their sale is a rare breed..i would think.

I have no excuses that I can give for this. It's obvious by now that I'm a horrible business man. I got way over my head in this business, at first not charging enough, getting behind, not being realistic with my time lines or costs on these projects, then having to make new projects to pay for old ones, then getting behind on those as well. I can't remember the last time I did a project and was able to invest the money in that project, instead of having to buy supplies for old ones.


People are upset that I sell new stuff when I owe old, I don't do that out of a sense of greed or dishonesty, but simply to buy more resin.

People ask for exact dates when I can ship their stuff, at this point I have no idea. I work on these things daily and send stuff out when I can, with the help of other casters and myself. I can understand how no one wants to hear that.

I'm in no way blaming the people that ordered from me, so please don't take it that way. I truly appreciate that you ordered from me, and very sorry that you're now waiting for something you paid for so long ago.

If it's any consolation, I'm no longer in the kit business and will not be making any new kits, or taking new orders on any of my existing kits. The orders that I have now will be the last ones. Once I'm caught up this will all become a hobby to me again, not for business, except to sell completed build ups for just one or two clients. The kit masters I have that are caught up are either destroyed, sold or given away so I won't be tempted to offer kits for sale again. Kit production is by far the most expensive and time consuming part, for me, of this business, by eliminating that I can now focus on my backlog and get everyone caught up, and satisfy everyone I owe.

I'm not going to leave, or bolt, or take your money and run. By getting out of the thing that has caused me to become so behind, kits, will be a big step in making sure that I can get caught up and not just add to my backlog.

 

[Primetime21]

It's not hard at all. You have to investigate and understand the hobby. The first thing I wanted to do when I got into the GK business was to improve on that which seems to plague this industry. Poor customer service, not responding to emails and sending out a product which is sub-standard.

The one thing you have to understand as a GK'er is that the minute you took money from someone for a product you became a business. I've seen all of the excuses...life happens, it's just a hobby, thats all well and good but you still have peoples money. I have a system in place in case something were to happen to me people would still get their kits. Then again, I don't take money unless I have the kit in hand. If everybody would adopt a similar business practice these things could be avoided.

With that said, I commend Richard for coming on and beiing honest. Good job buddy!
My two cents.

 

[SSRN Seaview]

Sorry to see all this happening..... I went out on limb credit wise to buy these SS kits when available. I knew what I was getting into and always realized that these GK'ers have day jobs. You guys offered some great kits and I for one appreciate the effort.

 

[Scott Graham]

Steve: please email me or call me. I have tried email for the last two weeks, but get no response. Here's a rundown again of some issues...

The shuttle kit you sent me is missing two of the long cannons and all four of the shorter ones on the front. And the part that goes on top of the center wing is missing. And I wish I could change the angle of the cockpit, because it's glued at too sharp an angle, but it'll break if I try to pry it open. And the canopy situation: the plexiglas is a great idea but it has to be installed behind it, and therefore can't be used.

I also want to say that this is an incredibly ambitious kit to manufacture and it really is extremely well cast and mastered!

Richard: please respond to my emails requesting the McQuarrie x-wing kit that I bought from you which you have ready to ship.

Looking forward to the snowspeeder build that you're building and painting for me. I know it'll be great!

Mr. Tox or Vos: I noticed that these guns have a dark green part used on the longer guns which aren't in my kit - which I might have to scratchbuild. Can you tell me what kit they're from?

 

[erospawn]

I'm turning blue from holding my breath.

 

[MonsieurTox]

Scott G., you want the 1/35 Tamiya JGSDF Type 74 tank. Unfortunatly this kit is only used on the Shuttle.

 

[Scott Graham]

Ahh, thanks!

I wonder if this is also Eric's missing part for the sandcrawler - in the ceiling of that opening in the side of it there's a part that looked like this.

Richard: thanks for contacting me!

 

[Laser Brain]

Has anyone been sent what they were owed yet?

 

[Scott Graham]

Steve sent me the castings he made for wonderfest last year, minus what's missing as noted above. It was quite a lot of phone calls that it took to finally have it sent. Two months of being told it is shipping and it not shipping. I've tried email to ask about replacements but got no reply. I can't wait for the new process to kick in! Good luck to all those who are waiting yet.

 

[jedimaster]

Still waiting on my cockpit.

 

[Cylon02]

Neil, I have to say, this is one beautiful ship you've built, I mean can you tell the difference between this one and the original filming miniature. truly amazing work. being the owner of many original screen used miniatures. This is right up there. This has always been a fav of mine, great read!! thank you for sharing...

Much respect!
gary
BattleBuck Repository

 

[ABE]

excellent work:eek, my respect, I would like to have that talent

 

[jawsmodels]

Is Steve still producing this kit or is someone else taking over?

 

[jedimaster]

I'm pretty sure steve has said he will be doing an improved kit once his other stuff is done.

 

[swpropmaker]

Hey Simon,

Yeah.. model design not changed but material has. The resin switch has made a 100% improvement.. leaving the Poly Tek Easy flo series to Smooth on 300 series products. The wings are cast in Smooth on 310 and the other parts in Smooth On 300. Same products Mike Salzo uses.. I'm planning to have a couple shuttles poured and tested by Christmas.. hopefully the kit becomes stable and does not move around.. that would be a good thing!

Steve