If you have a set of Eduard’s 1/48th Multiple Ejector Racks and Mk.20 Rockeye IIs, you may know that they suffer from a little sizing issue. You may, but I didn’t.
As cast resin ordnance goes, both of these products are very good; but someone miscalculated and made the MER too short. Not the kind of short which prompts endless forum debates between rival rivet counters; so short that you can’t fit the Rockeyes in tandem and in the correct position.
Hey, I’m not fussed about a millimetre here or there which no-one will ever notice until it’s pointed out, but this is a bit of a cock-up!
I was a tad cheesed off by this discovery, not least because this was yet another hurdle in what has turned out to be a very expensive, long-running, and challenging project to build a Hobby Boss A-6 Intruder.
I paid £35 for enough parts for two racks of Rockeyes, but at least we have consumer rights so I wasn't going to be left out of pocket. I contacted the retailer for a refund and included this photo.
To which the retailer replied “oh, that’s news to us. We’ll ask Eduard”.
To which Eduard replied “oh, that’s news to us. They look fine in our warehouse”.
Yes, really… They looked “fine” in its warehouse. Facepalm.
So Eduard received evidence of a problem about which it should have known, but tried to deny, while the retailer was very polite, gave me a refund, and said that I could keep the parts. That’s not uncommon if the return postage and processing costs are not considered worth it.
But that still left me with a quandary in the shape of a nearly finished A-6 which has been waiting for the markings and ordnance to be finalised for several months since the latest in a succession of stoppages.
I could try an alternative product, such as ResKit; but I wasn’t super impressed with the quality of my first ResKit purchase and MERs are very complex. In fairness to Eduard, its MERs are at least very well cast. I could use the kit’s parts, but they would be a big step down even with detailing. I could change my choice of ordnance yet again…
But maybe I could just lengthen the Eduard MERs with shims!
This white elephant of a project has already cost me a chunk of cash in after-market items, including some ordnance which won’t be used. So if I can actually save some money here, that would be a refreshing change. Not to mention finishing something!
I sometimes have these bright ideas and then come to regret it several frustrating and wasted hours later, but you [and I, for that matter] will find out if that happens again in the next article.
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