ME262 - Good Stuff (1 Viewer)

[lancer]

One must now ask themselves why a stand was made for this aircraft if a balance problem wasn't anticipated. In retrospect of the reported balance problems, there would seem to have been a good reason for including it beyond it's possible use in a diorama. But maybe I am being ungenerous. -- Al

 

[The Military Workshop]

Hi Guys,

I or my collectors have checked 8 ME 262's and of those only Breslau's could not sit properly. Even his did sit first time I put it down and thereafter could not make up its mind what it wanted to do. It is now my shop display and I suspect that when I get to selling it (ie last one) I don't think I will be too worried about that affecting its saleability.

They are finely balanced. I am no aeronautical engineer but I suspect a slight difference of a few grammes of weight (of the mixture used to make it) nearer the front might be the cause of the problem with Breslau's original one.

If ordering by mail order I would suggest you ask your dealer to try it first before sending. Shop buyers can do the same. Since this was obviously a concern for Vezzolf I would have thought he would have had time to have his checked by his dealer before it was shipped to him.

Hope that helps.

Regards
Brett

 

[uksubs]

Hi Guys,

I or my collectors have checked 8 ME 262's and of those only Breslau's could not sit properly. Even his did sit first time I put it down and thereafter could not make up its mind what it wanted to do. It is now my shop display and I suspect that when I get to selling it (ie last one) I don't think I will be too worried about that affecting its saleability.

They are finely balanced. I am no aeronautical engineer but I suspect a slight difference of a few grammes of weight (of the mixture used to make it) nearer the front might be the cause of the problem with Breslau's original one.

If ordering by mail order I would suggest you ask your dealer to try it first before sending. Shop buyers can do the same. Since this was obviously a concern for Vezzolf I would have thought he would have had time to have his checked by his dealer before it was shipped to him.

Hope that helps.

Regards
Brett

Don't you think it would of been better to check the planes at the factory before shipping them in the first place ?

 

[Mitch]

its not what I have heard about them sadly. Why would a few grams of weight at the front cause it to tail sit?? do you mean at the rear. At the end of the day at the price point this should not even be an issue it should have been done properly.

With the greatest of respect other metal manufacturers of large 262's do not have this problem. even if its not all 600 its from discussion enough to cause it to have a ladder in the box and I know of several now that are tail sitters.

uksubs...
Excellent point
Mitch

 

[lancer]

I have talked to a dealer that told me 4 out of 9 Me-262's that he had sold were complained about as tail-sitters. The dealer then checked the rest of the order by opening them up and found almost half of them were tail-sitters. This is a distressingly high percentage. This problem should never have gotten out of the factory. Quality control problem on a grand scale. -- Al

 

[Mitch]

I don't know what it will do to sales I know a few people who have thought its not what they want because of this fault. I suppose if you are displaying it you could have the ladder supporting it but, as one chap said to me this morning he feels he was misled into ordering it as he was guaranteed it would be perfect.

Its hard to argue with his sentiments but, with war and famine I suppose its not the end of the world its an error and another for K&C who have, sadly, not really had a good few months
Mitch

 

[GJB22]

Including stands equals automatic guilt on KC's part. They must have known that the mixture of material could be off and that the weight distribution was very sensitive. You would think that the bombs would help weigh the front down, but I guess not. You would also think that quality control would catch this early on so that weight could be added to the nose. $239 is a lot of money for a plane that might tip over. However, I will still be purchasing one, but will also be testing it at my dealer.

 

[Vezzolf]

Since this was obviously a concern for Vezzolf I would have thought he would have had time to have his checked by his dealer before it was shipped to him.

Hope that helps.

Regards
Brett

We were assured by K/C on this forum that this plane was NOT a tail-sitter....Now we find that 40-50% are....#1)Poor quality control at factory..#2).Ladder provided......#3) Inaccurate and Misleading information.....E-NUFF said

 

[Rob]

Frank very happy to be proved wrong here (as my wife often does) but isn't it only two so far?

Rob

 

[Vezzolf]

Rob, That is not my understanding...this is not an isolated problem for this aircraft....4 out of 9 from one dealer alone....Is not a good.

 

[Mitch]

I think if you look at just here its a lot more. I know of a good few now so, its rather disturbing news right on the back of the broken flak. The model looks superb but, this should not even be an issue.

No defence really its not as if in the design process one would not have been aware of this as its obvious with the undercarriage of the 262 this would be the only problem in design
Mitch

 

[Rob]

Frank,So there have been nine sold to forum members and four are unbalanced?.My mistake I thought it only two.

Rob

 

[lancer]

Frank,So there have been nine sold to forum members and four are unbalanced?.My mistake I thought it only two.

Rob

Hi Rob. The figure of four unbalanced aircraft was taken from my talk with a dealer and has nothing to do with the forum members. The dealer told me that he had sold 9 aircraft and that 4 were complained about as being tail-sitters. The dealer then checked each plane of his remaining stock and found that those were unbalanced in the same percentage. Almost 50% of his total order sat on their tails. This is outside the planes complained about in the forum dicussions. -- Al

 

[Rob]

Hi Rob. The figure of four unbalanced aircraft was taken from my talk with a dealer and has nothing to do with the forum members. The dealer told me that he had sold 9 aircraft and that 4 were complained about as being tail-sitters. The dealer then checked each plane of his remaining stock and found that those were unbalanced in the same percentage. Almost 50% of his total order sat on their tails. This is outside the planes complained about in the forum dicussions. -- Al

Hi Al, thanks very much for that qualification. All the best

Rob

 

[Tony Neville]

the plane comes with a stand for the tail!!

Whats the issue we have sold loads and no returns!!


It is a static plane display as the crew that you can buy for it are on the body and wings etc..........would'nt like to be on that as it fired up!!

 

[lancer]

the plane comes with a stand for the tail!!

Whats the issue we have sold loads and no returns!!


It is a static plane display as the crew that you can buy for it are on the body and wings etc..........would'nt like to be on that as it fired up!!

What's the issue? The issue is that it is a model with a tricycle landing gear that does not sit up correctly, and for $239 or whatever, it should. Most importantly, KC came on this forum and stated there would be no such issue and that the plane would sit correctly. -- Al

 

[Tony Neville]

What's the issue? The issue is that it is a model with a tricycle landing gear that does not sit up correctly, and for $239 or whatever, it should. Most importantly, KC came on this forum and stated there would be no such issue and that the plane would sit correctly. -- Al

ooops did not see that. this forum s getting too long to read and catch up

i stand corrected aboutthe issue how ever there is a stand for it!!

 

[Mitch]

Can anyone who has it post a pic of the stand/ladder that comes with it. I am confused about why the stand is in the box as, there is a add on set of ground crew for sale with a stand. why the need for two stands??
Mitch

 

[The Military Workshop]

Mitch,
Regarding the stand and crew: LW37 is a three man ground crew. One of those figures is clearly designed to be pushing the step/stand which is included with the plane. The pushing figure has nothing in its own box to push. I would assume LW37 was designed at the same time the plane was planned.
Regards
Brett

 

[marksable]

With regret, I have to add my name to the list of those who received a "tail sitter". The only way mine stands up is with the ladder or a crew figure on the wing.

I say with regret because it's an otherwise beautiful warbird, a real achievement on Andy's part.

I'm unhappy for a number of reasons. One is the high price - I sold a number of retired K&C pieces at below market prices so I could afford and have room for this "limited edition".

Another is that we were told by representatives from K&C that this wasn't a problem when it clearly is.

And at the risk of fueling a conspiracy theory...why include the ladder if it wasn't a problem?

If you've read an of my other posts, I don't think I'm particularly a complainer and I've praised K&C much more than I've criticized them. I stayed out of the price increase and dealer discount debates, and given K&C the benefit of the doubt assuming that these decisions were made in the best interest of collectors as well as manufacturers.

I bought this at Treefrog, so I imagine that's who I have to contact first about this. Maybe someone could tell me who?

I imagine based on past experience that TF will handle this in as hassle-free a manner as is possible.

But to me it's not just a product defect but a customer relations problem. I don't expect Andy to respond to every thread here. He's a busy guy, and it's rare to be in a hobby where the CEO speaks directly to consumers in a friendly, entertaining way. And with all the negativity and second guessing, I wouldn't blame he or anyone else from K&C for wanting to take a break from here.

But the silence on this forum from K&C has been deafening on a number of these issue. Just a "hey, we goofed", most of them are ok, some of them have problems but our dealers will check before shipping would be easy enough.

I don't mean to pick on Andy. I've only had one problem on a K&C piece - a drooping barrel on a Firefly turret - and it was quickly replaced at no cost. As quality control goes, it's hard to think of a better manufacturer, and I've found Andy to be charmingly entertaining and warm, a great ambassador to the hobby for someone relatively new like myself.

I guess that's what makes what happened here so surprising and disappointing.