POST JSI F-14 SPOT REPAIR IDEAS HERE

[tmanthegreat]

My F-14 is still holding up - amazingly - and I will report no defects at this time. No snapped gear yet and I fixed the broken airbreak pushrod. Of course, my F-14 sits on my display table and is rarely moved. I've also got no cats living indoors and my dog never seems to bother anything but his own toys and the cats outside. (I'm still too afraid to hang the plane both for my own safety and the plane's). Guess I got lucky this time around

The 25% defect rate TKO mentions is troubling and the accountability issues even moreso. The accountability and returnability is where the advantage of an American-owned company will come in, but even in its heyday, 21c was less than stellar on their QC issues with some releases, ever just as much as JSI is. Still, it was easier to return a defective $40 P-51 to Wal Mart than a $230 F-14 to China...

[tkjaer21]

Did I mention how happy I am going to be to see a new AMERICAN supported and managed company back into the ring!

.

What American company?
T

I was wondering this too. What does this mean? 21C rebooting?

[NWarty]

Read the "Scuttle Butt" thread in its entirety.

[abpiel]

tko, could you please repsond to my PM?

I would like to use your services on my F-14.

Or you can email me directly @ apiel@harrisonsteck.com.

Thanks,

Andrew

[glcanon]

Well TKO emailed me last and sounds like my F-14 was the worst of the 20 planes he'd seen. I spoke with Sally at Aiken's Airplanes today, she said they were going to try to get something done with Merit but she didnt sound hopeful that Merit would stand behind the product. She said they were embarrassed that for $200 so many customers are not getting what they paid for. As nice as the bulk of the F-14 model is, there are so many broken radars, failing landing gear, gear doors glued shut, etc... that it's not fair to buyers like myself to ask them to live with all those problems.
Aiken's will get back to me next wk with a couple proposals, prob whether to swap it for another or possibly a refund. She said it was busy time of year for them and they didnt hv manpower to open every box and inspect them before mailing them out, she said they still had a good number on hand so I'm guessing they would rather swap it out. At this stage I'd rather hv a refund though. Don't care to deal with the re-painting, gear eventually failing b/c JSI forgot to insert brass rod in the hollow shafts..etc..

[pcoughran]

Well TKO emailed me last and sounds like my F-14 was the worst of the 20 planes he'd seen. I spoke with Sally at Aiken's Airplanes today, she said they were going to try to get something done with Merit but she didnt sound hopeful that Merit would stand behind the product. She said they were embarrassed that for $200 so many customers are not getting what they paid for. As nice as the bulk of the F-14 model is, there are so many broken radars, failing landing gear, gear doors glued shut, etc... that it's not fair to buyers like myself to ask them to live with all those problems.
Aiken's will get back to me next wk with a couple proposals, prob whether to swap it for another or possibly a refund. She said it was busy time of year for them and they didnt hv manpower to open every box and inspect them before mailing them out, she said they still had a good number on hand so I'm guessing they would rather swap it out. At this stage I'd rather hv a refund though. Don't care to deal with the re-painting, gear eventually failing b/c JSI forgot to insert brass rod in the hollow shafts..etc..

AMEN Brother!

[deankleines]

Phil,

Again I say this is so sad!!! I am having such a blast with mine!!!

Hoping you reconsider and that Sally can replace yours.

Dean

[planenut]

You can also add my 2 tomvats to the list of brkn parts,one cat came through with a brkn main gear and my lighted one has a noise wheel that wont move ,will get fixed but still for the price of these tomcats I could of bought some more stuff for my R/c jets, yes jets with real turbins


Jon

[thatf14guy]

makes me glad i told jsi off! i didnt even have a radar with mine, the nose cone actually was warped a bit too.

[pcoughran]

Phil,

Again I say this is so sad!!! I am having such a blast with mine!!!

Hoping you reconsider and that Sally can replace yours.

Dean

Dean,
you must be talking about my twin brother "glcanon" he's the one that bought from Aikens and shipped directly to tko211 that has many many problems.
Mine "just" has the broken gear (both main and nose) and radome antenna. Mine was my son's Christmas present and he wants to keep it. If I wouldn't have repainted it already, I think I would be sending it back as well. The gear didn't break till after I painted and then displayed it the first time.
Glad you're having some success.
I got an acrylic stand from pizzaguy to display my son's and it looks real good now but the gear are all trashed. Not worth $250.

[Coreyeagle48]

Greetings:

Before I post this, please do not place any blame on this at Jack or Skyworks because it isn't his fault. Also, please know this situation is already being taken care of, I just find it quite amusing.

I bought a second F-14 from Jack at Skyworks already painted to remove the spots. I'm not the best painter and figured if I'd try it, it'd mean a bigger screwup for me. So I bought one all set and Jack got it here quickly. The paintwork is astounding and he did a wonderful job. Jack does fantastic work on the Tomcats, either completely new repaints or just removing the spots.

Anyway, as I am putting it together, I notice something goofy with the tails. Sure enough, the idoits at JSI painted the one tail reversed. They have the skulls and crossbones on the inside and the lettering on the outside. It's so sad it's hillarious! Fortunately, the gear on the model works great and is quite sturdy (I had Jack check on that). This gear fits much tighter than the one I had which ended up dying. I think this one will hold up well as long as it is taken care of. But the tail issue was hillarious and I had already sold my spare tail parts. Fortunately, that person was willing to swap me back my old one for the goof as they are doing a repaint with the parts. I also will note that Jack offered to make good on it as well but since I was already communicating with the person buying the parts, it all worked out. Not a major issue as this great forum has many people who would aid me if needed.

The amusing thing about this is JSI claims to be "the leader in 1/18 scale models". So far, what I've seen makes me want to think they should be called "the joke of 1/18 models". Their quality control is horrendous, the finished products are horrendous and their customer service is basically "you deal with it". If they seriously think ANYONE is going to put up with this they are totally wrong. They will be going to the light in the tunnel faster than 21st Century did. They should be totally ashamed of themselves and issue an apology through Meritt to all their customers along with a voucher for a free set of pilots when they are released.

As this model developed, most people know I was open minded and supported it, even with the spots. In many respects this model is awesome, but the company that produced it really needs to look at their business model and how they are going to handle customer service. You can't release something with stuff glued shut, broken and poor quality, let alone expect people to spend a lot of money on it.

And it has been from the beginning, I got a Stuka from them for Christmas and was amazed this company changed the wing tabs to something thinner and totally breakable. I broke the top tabs the minute I assembled it and resorted to super gluing the wings into the aircraft. Either that or the wing would have flopped like a bird. This company hasn't impressed me at all. Just too many problems to even give them credit and support at this point.

It's pretty sad when you can sell a parts plane for more money than a NIB one on ebay because people are buying the parts because theirs are broken. That truly shows your product is not up to the standards desired by collectors and buyers.

And how incompetent do you have to be to paint the tail part wrong? They aren't even interchangeable and you painted it wrong?

Corey

[vulgarvulture]

Got my F-14 from Zach this week. He did a great job on the paint, and carefully repacked and shipped the plane to me. I could not be happier.

My hat's off to a fellow board member who took on a big project for many people. Yes, he got paid, but in the end there was not much money to be made for all the time and effort. And with the Cat's quality issues he now has more than a few headaches to boot even though he's a middleman with no influence on the cause of or fix to the problems. He did not sign up for that.

Zach, thanks again. Guys like you are what makes this Board great!

[NWarty]

Junk Sold Internationally...

Gives me hope for a new 21C. Hopefully a company that gives a rat's ass about its customers.

CoreyEagle,
I didn't respond to a thread where I called JSI's Paint department morons after you mentioned it. It wasn't a direct attack, but for many months I saw you as an apologist for JSI. Maybe you've turned the corner, I know I have. JSI will be lucky to get my business in the future given this POS of a first model. Everytime I walk into my man-room, I see this leopard-spotted abortion of a model. I need to get it painted mos koshee, but everytime I move her, I have to ensure each piece in the landing gear is situated correctly so I don't break it.

The Tomcat that could have been....

JSI, IDF strike fighters and Chinese Sukhoi as first run's.....? Remove the bong from your lips as I certainly won't be buying those two models.

[gouchy]

[quote="NWarty"]Junk Sold Internationally...

quote]



Junk Sold Intentionally

Just Suck It

Jaguar Spot Infamy

[tkjaer21]

Coreyeagle,

JSI probably gave you two of the same tails. Someone else probably has the other two. You would have only needed to find that other person (good luck) and swap that one tail out with them.

[Coreyeagle48]

Greetings:

They did paint one of the tails reversed. The tail parts are the correct ones, it is just one is painted reverse. It's annoying but funny. I know with the number of folk doing repaints and things I would have been able to get the part. So this isn't a big deal. Just more amusing than anything.

The problem I had with the early discussion was that no one had seen the actual plane nor was it in their hands. Everyone was basing their complaints on pictures and information, not actually seeing a real piece. Granted, pictures tell us a lot, but the tone of the complaints and the way they were presented were what bothered me. It didn't sound constructive. If this hobby as a whole wants to be taken seriously, then the criticism must be constructive. For the most part, since people have gotten this plane, the complaints have been valid and extremely constructive. Many people on the board have come together to help each other out, that's a good thing and very constructive in this hobby. There are also people that will report "The model is fine" on one forum, but then go to another fourm and say "The model is junk". This delibrately misleading information to get personal satisfaction to stir the pot and create tension is not constructive either. If the model is junk or it is good, tell the truth, on every forum you belong to.

On both my F-14's, the landing gear stood up on it's own fine. Some people posted my gear cracked and collasped, that's not true. One of my gear was loose and the peg wouldn't stay in. In order to get it to stay put, I tried to make it thicker using super glue. It worked, but the glue wasn't dry and got stuck in the hole. Then when I needed to get it loose, I yanked too hard and broke the gear. My gear never collasped, I broke it and it is my fault. My first F-14 had a few small broken parts, which were easily repaired. This F-14 has the goofed tail.

The spots weren't the issue here nor the problems, it's the terrible customer service that IS the issue. If I go to the store and get something that is broken, I am annoyed yes, but I can easily go back and return it for another one or get my money back. In this case, to tell people they can't return a $250 model is completely ridculous! It's not the retailers fault, they are just covering their own butts after JSI screwed them. I don't care if the company is Chinese based or not, they should have a product return policy.

This was clearly a rush to get these completed in time for Christmas. As a result, they rushed the paint job and rushed assembly, resulting in a odd paint finish, missing parts, broken parts and goofed parts. This is unacceptable. The smart thing to do would have been to stop production when they noticed the problem, announce their was a delay and why there was, and then fix the problems. People would have understood that a lot better than the current situation. And people would have still bought it, it's a 1/18 F-14.

If JSI needs to do anything, it's improve their customer service and relations. Going to a hobby show and showing pretty pictures of your product is just one part of that. JSI has to be willing to listen to its customers, make adjustments to products when needed and if there is a problem, admit it and make changes. The F-14 is a classic example of a highly desirable product undermined by a company's unwillingness to listen to the consumer and make needed and important changes. Had they done this, they'd be getting letters demanding more get produced. And it doesn't seem they learned. Their answer to customer complaints was "We just won't make another run of F-14's because people complain too much"

The F-14 is a great piece, it has many cool features that go above and beyond of any 1/18 aircraft we've seen. If you get a good one it is a masterpiece. Unfortunately, with so many problems and issues, a good one is hard to come by. That shouldn't be the case. Everyone should have gotten an F-14 with no broken parts right out of the box.

Bottom line, JSI needs to improve themselves or they will be going into the sunset as "The What Could Have Been of 1/18 Scale Models".

Corey

[planenut]

what he said

[deankleines]

Corey,

Great post and very well said!!
I am thrilled that I received a perfect F-14. It still amazes me every time I look at it!!! Despotting it was a cinch and fun.

I am deeply saddened for the overall situation here and wish there was some way good could come out of this.

Is there any way we as a community could have a voice with JSI????

I would love to have a kit of the F-14 provided by them and would not think twice about a Phantom and an A10 of the same level of engineering that went into the F14.

Can anyone think of a way to make this a "happy ending"????

Dean

[c44588]

'Happy Ending'....

I think JSI was the only one here with a happy ending; unfortunately it came at our collective expense...

I dont think I'll be able to sit down comfortably for several more weeks yet...

[dragon53]

DEANKLEINES:

Here are questions about F-14 spot removal:

1. Is the proper way to apply the paint to dab it on the spot only?.....If so, do you have to blend/smooth it in with the sponge to create a smooth texture which matches the original paint?

2. After the paint dries, is the new paint visible or does it blend in perfectly with the old paint? (looking at the photos, the new paint doesn't appear obvious).

3. What exactly are the two paints you recommend for the fuselage/wings and the yellow radome?

4. Are the sponges available at Wal-mart, Target, Walgreens, etc?

Thanks for your help on this.

[deankleines]

Here are questions about F-14 spot removal:

1. Is the proper way to apply the paint to dab it on the spot only?.....If so, do you have to blend/smooth it in with the sponge to create a smooth texture which matches the original paint?

The spots have overspray, so you cannot just dab it on the spot only.
The spots appear to be about .5" dia but will take up a full 1" of surface
When in doubt, do a whole panel using post-it notes to mask.


The sponges I am using are wedge shaped and about 1.875" long x .75" wide. The wide end is .75 x .75 and this is the end I used to dab the paint onto the surface with a light rapid tapping motion.

It is very important not to soak the end of the sponge, but to have just enough paint to allow the sponge surface to transfer the paint to the panel.

I have been using the paint bottle lid as my source for applying the paint to the end of the sponge. Put the lid on the bottle, shake the paint, remove the lid and you will have enough paint inside the cap to restock the sponge. This method ensures that you do not get too much paint on the sponge.

The secret of this method is that the very fine pores in the sponge duplicate the effect of spraying the paint onto the surface with an airbrush.


When I could, I would use post-notes to mask off the panel and paint up to the the post-it note edge. Otherwise you can blend by letting the paint run out in the non-spotted areas.[/color]

2. After the paint dries, is the new paint visible or does it blend in perfectly with the old paint? (looking at the photos, the new paint doesn't appear obvious).

When the paint dries, you will not see the blend except at a direct light angle. Hue and tone of the Flat Gull Grey is a direct match.


3. What exactly are the two paints you recommend for the fuselage/wings and the yellow radome?

I am using Model Master Flat Gull Grey Enamel which is FS36440
and I have tried Model Master Acrylic Flat Gull Grey #4673 also.

FS33613 is the Radome Tan I used on the nose cone.

The acrylic dries with a slight sheen to it and thus matches the factory finish a little closer.

If you can, try both to see which you like the best


4. Are the sponges available at Wal-mart, Target, Walgreens, etc?

I bought my bag of sponges at Drug Mart many years ago.They are a light cream color and are sold for appling and removing makeup. Never in my wildest dreams would I have imagined for this.

Please feel free to contact me if you need more help.

Spots Away!!!!!

Dean

deankleines@sbcglobal.net

[dragon53]

DEANKLEINES:

Thanks very much for the answers. I'll try to buy the supplies this week. I'll be back if I have more questions.
Thanks again for the help.

[deankleines]

You are most welcome!!!

It's fun watching them diasppear!!!!

Dean

[iflabs]

Wow! Major props to Dean for the make up method. I am liking the results I am getting so far.

The FS36440 flat gull grey Dean suggested is nearly a perfect match. I am using the acrylic version in place of the enamel. Initially it'll apply on with a lighter tone, but it blends in seamlessly after drying. You could probably even slather blobs of paint and still get away.

The only issue I have thus far is with dried crumble paint on the sponge that find its way onto the surface and gets applied. Yargh.

Painted surfaced is rough after drying, unlike the smooth gloss from factory. Not an issue with me though.

Bleh, inhaled too much paint fume. x.x

[deankleines]

Awesome job there!!!

With the acrylic, if you are going to use the same sponge for a while, rinse it out with water and squeeze it dry. This will eliminate the drying completely and eliminate the chance of having any debis in the finish.

The sponges are so cheap, you could throw them away after each use too.

Great job on the masking too!

Thanks!

Dean