Anyone have any experience with any of Model Expo’s new release wooden kits? I recently picked up the 2020 release of their Muscongus Bay Lobster Smack at my LHS and I am seriously disappointed. I’m not sure when Model Expo switched over to 100% laser cut parts–I built a similar kit several decades ago with die-cut parts that was a sheer joy to build, but something went seriously wrong somewhere since then. The dimensions of the various parts are off on nearly everything so that nothing fits together the way it is supposed to. The instructions include photos from a prototype of the kit and very few of those photos match the kit parts once things start to go together. I contacted the company via their website and even provided photos to show just how off the fit was, and all I got back was, “I have no record of your purchase. Please advise.” Have not heard a peep after replying that I had purchased it at my LHS.
As cheap and easy as this kit is to mass-produce it still came with a pretty hefty price tag, and if this is the state of Model Expo’s current kit offerings and customer service, I don’t see me ever dropping that kind of money on any more of their products.
Is this a one-off or has anyone else had a similar experience with Model Expo and their wooden ship kits?
