Model expo Constitution

[ronald305]

Hello there

    may I ask why it takes Model expo to ship a backordered kit like the Constitution when they

   are the ones who manufacture the kit  or any other kit that is back ordered acturly I purchased the

   kit from the USS Constittution store and that they had to comtact Model expo for the kit and that was

   ordered on the 12th of  last month I wish PayPal was in the picture I'm still waiting

                                Ronald

[Nirvana]

Ronald, sometimes ME are short of material to complete a kit.

It's not unussual. And I think the Constitution is manufactured to order.

[ronald305]

ooh ok I'm starting to believe you are right about the Constitution kit

                                   Ronald

[mmosko]

Since the buck stops on my desk I want to answer the question. 

 

Constitution is a daunting kit to manufacture. It has a myriad of parts. Yes, we make most of it .... meaning we laser cut the wood and cast many of the casting in house. We do all of the final assembly. But the problem lies in making sure that every part is accounted for and is available for assembly when needed. Right now we are waiting on 5 mm (3/16") Walnut deadeyes sourced in Italy. Our last shipment did not contain them. Our supplier ran out. They will be available next week and we'll be making another 25 Constitutions, which are not enough as demand for Constitution continually surprises us. We frequently run into problems such as these even though we try hard to keep enough material on hand for at least a 90 days supply for all 30 kits we produce. It ain't easy.

Thanks for your patience .. but this is unlike making pizza or other simple products. 

 

[JerseyCity Frankie]

Its not every day on the internet that you see the CEO of a company step in personally and address the complaint of one of the companies customers! And even on the rare occasion we see this happen, seldom do you hear more than some platitudes and vague generalities.

Its refreshing to see this kind of response, an actual precise explanation from a person that could have very easily pretended not to know about a problem.

Model Expo has been an important part of this hobby and I wonder how many of us would be making models today if the company had not been there over the years offering tools and kits? I wish all hobby companies were as attentive to their customers.

[usedtosail]

Well said Frankie. 

[Altduck]

Note also Marc Mosko's more lengthy explanation here:

 

http://modelshipworld.com/index.php/topic/12679-whats-going-on-with-model-expo/

 

My hat is off to him and all the other small businessmen and women who have the interest, skills and fortitude to persevere for the rest of us.

 

Richard

[texxn5]

That kind of response and actions keep all of us coming back. Well said Frankie, and thanks Marc.

[Nirvana]

This is what I like with MSW, the sponsors are truly reading and follow some of the inputs from us.

I also take my hat off for Marc.

So I was both right and wrong in my previous statement. Sorry.

[mtdoramike]

You can't deal with a better company than Model Expo. They make every attempt at correcting any issues that you may have with a kit that they manufacture and will even assist the best they can to short comings of foreign manufactured kits as well. Try dealing with Artesania Latina or Constructo or Mamoli, I have on a few occasions and what a real pain in the butt it was on each occasion. I have built a number of Model Shipways kits and have yet to be missing any parts. The Constitution is one fantastic kit so I don't doubt for a minute that it's popular Marc. I have built a few Constitution kits and the Model Shipways version is by far my favorite and quite realistic too.

 

Way to go Model Expo.

 

mike

[donrobinson]

I am inclined to agree with all aforementioned comments, however, on the negative side I would like make a mention of the lack of any sort of guarantee on these kits.

  My first build, one year ago, was the AVS(an awesome kit) and there was no guarantee. Since then I have bought the Connie, Pride of Baltimore, Rattlesnake and Fair American none of these with guarantees. I now want to get the Syren, but than again no guarantee.

  So could you please guarantee I will live long enough to build all of these fantastic kits.  

  I for one love your kits and will continue to promote them. We are some times lost in the "perfection" of kits, but in reality it is wood that we are working with and it is not perfect and that is why we should love it,

  In closing all I can say is you are doing great and keep it up...........get new rigging    

[twintrow]

Mr Mosco:
How would you like to jump from your current market share to no 1 wood shipmodel kit manufacturer in the country.
Two small modifications, at least initially.......

1. switch from those pathetic wood blocks now supplied with the MS kits to those made by the Syren Co.  Chuck is a reasonable man and if you can negotiate the deal, your customers probably wouldn't mind a mild price increase to cover the added costs.  After all, that move alone would catapult you to one of the best.
2. While your at it, negotiate also to begin acquiring Syren rope as well.  Again a modest increase in price would be acceptable.
Having done these two simple tasks, you will no doubt significantly increase your sales.

 

Now be aware that Chuck will most likely have to increase his production equipment and staff, so allow for an upfront offset of those expenses.

 

OK now your turn Chuck.  How son can you get tooled up for the increase in production?  ;o)

Tom

[Chuck]

Staff???  What staff?   Its just the three of us.   Me, myself and I.      But seriously...the amount of blocks he uses per month is just an astounding number.  You couldnt even imagine.  An impossibility to manufacture by hand my blocks and rope for his needs.  Its just not possible.  I can at best make about 1400 blocks per day.  Then I want to stick a fork in my eye.

 

Chuck

[mtaylor]

No forks, Chuck.  If you're going to cause pain, use a spoon.. a rusty one.         I really don't see anyway you could increase production as those are things that really can't be automated.

[mmosko]

Great suggestions: 

 

To Donrobinson ... I wish I could offer a lifetime guarantee on all of our kits ... guarantee meaning you live long enough to build your entire stash in your closet. Since I came out of retirement I have felt better, lost weight, worry more, elevated my stress levels and heard my doctor say I'm doing far better than my younger friends. I also renewed a contract with my wife guaranteeing her 24 more years of mutual servitude. So the bottom line is to stay busy mentally, physically and with an end goal in mind. It works. I'm glad I'm no longer retired.

 

Your suggestions regarding blocks and rigging line. Chuck at Syren Model Co. is smarter than all of us because he realized that the blocks in all kits (ours and Euro kits) are terrible ..... and that goes for the rigging too.

 

Chuck makes 1400 blocks a day, which works out to about 30,000 blocks per month. Not a bad rate of production. If he could build up production to over 100,000 per month and drop the price down to two cents to sell them all to me then he could stick all his forks in his eyes as the $2000 per month sales wouldn't allow him to buy food anyway. I think his blocks are marvelous and if were building kits for fun I would throw away the kit blocks and buy Chucks'[. When you spend 100's of hours to build something beautiful you can spend a few more $$$. Like putting jewelry on a beautiful woman. 

 

The same goes for rigging line (rope).  By the way ... I would love to hear suggestions on where I can buy decent rigging. I've had nothing but disappointments with rigging for decades. I would even elevate cost substantially for a decent supplier of linen. Know a good source? Let me know. 

We use about 5,000 ft. of rigging per day. 

[twintrow]

OK Chuck and Marc let's look at this in a different way (Until I retired I created about 25 different companies most in areas others said couldn't be done).....let's look at Crown Timber yard and the Lumberyard, both create "packages" for scratch building models.  They are not trying to provide lumber sets for all kits, just specific ones, slowly adding to their inventory.

Why not then have Syren start providing rigging materials only for say the Constitution, or the Confederacy.   The parts list says how many of what sizes are needed. So start by customizing popular kits.   It is also what the etched metal makers are doing for plastic and wood kits.

For example, I would love to have a set of Syren rigging materials (rope, blocks, deadeyes, etc.) for the HMS Prince kit I just acquired.   I'll not be using crappy kit supplied stuff. I would be an injustice to the ship.

Just trying to stimulate the imagination a little to satisfy my own selfish needs, but I'll bet there are a few more folks out there that would like the same opportunity to buy new rigging materials for their kits.  I know I can order what I need from Chuck ala carte, I'd rather it be a custom package.

 

IMHO

Tom

[Jack12477]

Marc, my 2 cents on rigging thread - until I found Chuck's Syren thread, I was replacing the horrible thread in your kits with thread I got from Artesania Latina via Tower Hobbies in Chicago. It's cotton I believe but much easier to work with than that which comes in MS kits.  Find out who supplies AL with their thread, is my suggestion. Now I use both Chuck's Syren and AL's, depending on the model, until my AL supply is exhausted then it will be Chuck's for sure.

[Daryl]

Now that someone has mentioned ModelExpo and Paypal in the one entry, why doesn't ModelExpo use Paypal?? Certainly would help everyone especially those of us how have horrendous postage due to being international clients.

[jwvolz]

In terms of kit rigging line, Caldercraft uses a much better material than any manufacturer I've seen. The most important point being that it is NOT nylon or other kink-prone, impossible to work with synthetic.