So, a few days ago, I wrote a short post praising a new kit manufacturer, for doing a really fine job with their instructions (yea, Mine Mount Models).
Today, I’m going to share one quote from the instructions from a now out-of-business (OOB) kit manufacturer (not OOB due to their kits being bad, but most likely due to their retirement), and will then share something (vis paraphrasing) I read in a different kit manufacturer’s instructions.
Here is OOB kit manufacturer’s words: “No drawings are furnished with this kit as were previously furnished in our previous kits. Frankly, after review, we found the drawings redundant and perhaps confusing given the fact the kit parts are not necessarily identical to said drawings”,
Their instructions, by the way, are well written, and professionally formatted, BUT, you really are quite hindered by not having any parts drawings, or assembly drawings. Yes, there are numerous pics of the assembled model within the instructions, but, and this boggles me, the pics are of the assembled model, in a diorama, with lots of scenery obscuring the completed structure. I am just surprised by no “drawings” being included. The instructions mostly are of the type: take part acd453 and glue it to part 235tgy. Lol. Would like to hear your thoughts on this…via your comments.
Ok, let’s move on. I was reading the instructions of a current kit manufacturer some time ago (a yr or two ago), and they mentioned something to the effect of, they never look at what other kit manufacturers (i.e., their competitors) did or were doing when creating their kits. I took that to mean, this kit manufacturer thought he couldn’t learn anything from his competition – that “everything” he did, was perfect, with his kits. I had to laugh, because, while this kit manufacturer is very popular, has a huge selection of kits (having lots of “character” within them), has a significant following, and probably sells several hundreds of kits each yr, his instructions are, shall we say, not professionally written, with such bad formatting, they are just so hard to read. If his kits weren’t so good looking, and fun to build, I would like to send the guy an email, suggesting he pay someone to re-type his instructions once he’s “written” them, but I don’t want to get on his bad side, or hurt his feelings!! Lol 😉🤓. Feel free to comment on this as well.
Not trying to bash anyone – just trying to compare and contrast some different mindsets, that sometimes just don’t make sense to me.
