Unknown Model Company

[vossy]

Has anyone had any experience with this company (Nordic Class Model Ships)? There models look really interesting to me but I would like to know a lot more about the construction and quality before forking out on them. Are they double planked etc? What is the quality/quantity of the timbers used? Is there any plastic (hope not). What about metal/PE parts? How does the overall quality stack up against some of the more well known reputed brands; Amati, Caldercraft Sergal etc?

 

Here is a link to a company in Australia that has just begun to stock them. A quick search online finds many other reputable companies overseas stocking even more vessels from this manufacturer.

 

https://www.modelerscentral.com/model-ship-kits/nordic-class-boats/?mc_cid=fdf68ef080&mc_eid=b2e1744581

 

I have emailed Modellers Central about the product but am yet to receive a reply.

 

Cheers

 

Chris

 

 

[popeye the sailor]

I've heard of them........but I haven't book marked anything.   I did do some looking......here is an article written by my friend Clare {catopower}

 

https://shipmodeler.wordpress.com/tag/nordic-class-boats/

 

....and here is a good place to get them

 

http://www.agesofsail.com/ecommerce/nordic-class-boats.html

[vossy]

hey, yeah I have seen both of those pages when I did a search as well. really want to find out more about quality etc. though.

 

cheers

 

chris

 

[ccoyle]

We've had one or two build logs started for models from this company. Try searching for Mariefried or Bohuslan in the kit logs section.

[vossy]

thanks for that. guess I should have looked in the kit log section first! oh well, good to see some have built her already and by the looks of it my questions about quality etc. have been answered. I really like the Mariefred.

 

cheers

 

chris

 

[puckotred]

The NCB kits are manufactured by Turkmodel and IMO quality is not that high. I built the SS Bohuslän and was not happy with it. A couple of guys in Sweden come up with what ships to make into kits and let Turkmodel do the kit. I have built kits from Amati, Occre, Caldercraft, Euromodel Como and corel, NCB has lower quality than any of these I'm afraid. And customer care is zero...

[vossy]

Hey mate, I have been going through your build log. I thought you did a great job. To me, no manufacturer could possibly be any worse than Mamoli. Also, it appears you got a pretty old kit version. I would be hoping that maybe they have upgraded a bit and fixed a few errors. I emailed the owner of an Australian distributer here and he said that the kits were double planked. not sure if this is true or not, but if it is, it represents an upgrade from your single planked hull version.

 

Cheers

 

Chris

 

[puckotred]

Hi Chris,

I doubt they upgraded the kit to double planking. A lot of other parts would have to be modified. Also, when I contacted NCB they knew nothing about the kit parts. Turkmodel answered quickly but they didn't think that parts that don't fit or where the wrong size was a problem.... And the damn ship is down here in the harbor so I don't understand how they could have got so much wrong in details

 

I've had a look at their latest kit SKONAREN VEGA and quality has not gotten any better. Seems as Mariefred is their best kit and the one you should go for if you really must buy. 

 

I just got HMS Terror from Occre in Spain. This being a €99 kit it is way better than Bohuslän that cost me €285

 

Reputable resellers is not the same as reputable manufacturers

 

Take care of your money 

[catopower]

Yeah, I don't think quality has changed that much.

 

Overall, I think development costs for kits are pretty high. I don't know how much Matthew Betts got for the use of his drawings and research on HMS Terror, but I doubt that it was anything close to the cost of developing the kit design from scratch.

 

NDC is doing their own development work and then paying Turk Model for the production work, so I wonder if they're making much money. The primary draw of these kits are the subject matter, as I think all the Nordic Class Boats kits are of currently existing vessels. Those interested might be a little more forgiving about dealing with various design issues, as they can add or fix-up details based on the real boats. At least, that's my theory.

 

Clare

Edited April 28, 2018 by catopower