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Forums - News / General

For General modelling or hobby-related topics that are not covered by any other specific forum. Please keep to topics concerning the hobby.
Topics  2962
Messages  21967
 Subject:  Comments about reviewsList thread.  
  
 Date:  Aug 17, 2002
 From:  Andy Herbert 
Hi there

I have a general comment about reviews and the star ratings that we
give. Of course this is prompted by the response to my review of the DML
Panther D, but the recent furor over the Academy Honey, and so many
other kits brings this to mind.

Exactly what is a five star, or four star, or two star kit? I'm sure it
differs for us all. In my mind, a 5 star kit would be perfect. Accurate,
well engineered, well molded, clear instructions, perfect decals and so
on. That would be 5/5 in my book. I don't know of many kits like that.
Perhaps the Tiger Early or Afrika by Tamiya come close. But the turrets
aren't asymmetrical enough, and I'm sure there are other nits to pick.
When I review a kit I look at as many aspects of the kit as I can, and
comment on them. Most of the time, I have no useful comments about
accuracy. For example, the Panther D kit could be off in size. I
wouldn't know. When I review a kit I try to make that clear. I care
about accuracy, which is why the new Academy Honey is a disappointment.
It looks great in the box, but the interior is wrong for a Honey. I bet
the M3A1 kit coming soon would get a higher rating from me, because
that's the interior you get with the Honey. The kit is better than the
Tamiya M3, but not deserving of 5 stars in my book because of this flaw
in the accuracy. The engineering isn't great either, because the running
gear assemblies stick into the interior, and mess up the fitting of the
interior. Now the Panther D is a nice looking kit. But as I say in my in
box review, the new sprues have lots of ejector pin marks in visible
spots. So again, not a perfect kit. And in another NG Bob Lessels and
others had some comments about the kit that were illuminating.

I guess I'm wondering if there is a good way for us to review kits, and
have some uniformity in grading. It probably isn't possible in some
sense, because we all have different preferences, and for some accuracy
at all costs is a motto whereas others look for ease of assembly first.
I like the fact that ANYONE can review a kit (and have it published on
this site!!), and have their opinions known. I suppose some statement of
how we "grade" kits would help readers. I think the labelling of reviews
as Construction, In the Box, or Rant helps that way.

Anyone else have some thoughts?

Andy
 
Thread Listing 
  Comments about reviews - Andy Herbert - Aug 17, 2002
. . . Re: Comments about reviews - Saul Garcia - Aug 17, 2002
. . . Re: Comments about reviews - MSW - Aug 18, 2002
. . . . . . Haha I can see I'm oot of review practice :) - MSW - Aug 18, 2002
. . . . . . Re: Comments about reviews - Ken Hartlen - Aug 18, 2002
. . . Re: Comments about reviews. - Christophe Jacquemont - Aug 18, 2002
. . . . . . Re: Comments about reviews. - Andy Herbert - Aug 18, 2002
. . . . . . . . . Re: Comments about reviews. - Ken Hartlen - Aug 18, 2002
. . . Re: Comments about reviews - Kurt Laughlin - Aug 19, 2002
. . . . . . Re: Comments about reviews - Andy Herbert - Aug 19, 2002
. . . . . . . . . Re: Comments about reviews - Kurt Laughlin - Aug 20, 2002
. . . . . . . . . . . . Re: Comments about reviews - Christophe Jacquemont - Aug 20, 2002
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Re: Comments about reviews - Kurt Laughlin - Aug 20, 2002
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Re: Comments about reviews - Andy Herbert - Aug 21, 2002
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Re: banned in Canada. - Christophe Jacquemont - Aug 21, 2002
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Re: banned in Canada. - Andy Herbert - Aug 21, 2002
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Re: Comments about reviews - Kurt Laughlin - Aug 22, 2002
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Re: Comments about reviews - Andy Herbert - Aug 22, 2002
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Re: Comments about reviews - Steve Frost - Aug 22, 2002
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Re: Comments about reviews - Paul Roberts - Aug 22, 2002
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Re: Comments about reviews - Kurt Laughlin - Aug 22, 2002
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Re: Comments about reviews - Andy Herbert - Aug 22, 2002
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Re: Comments about reviews - Warrink - Aug 22, 2002
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Re: Comments about reviews - Tim Streeter - Aug 23, 2002
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Re: Comments about reviews - Andy Herbert - Aug 27, 2002
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Re: Comments about reviews - Paul Roberts - Aug 27, 2002
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Re: Comments about reviews - Andy Herbert - Aug 27, 2002
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Did you try? - Peter Ong - Aug 22, 2002
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Likely not related to anything that you said (did) - Mati Raudsepp - Aug 22, 2002
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Re: Comments about reviews - Graeme - Aug 22, 2002
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Re: Comments about reviews - Andy Herbert - Aug 22, 2002
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Re: Comments about reviews - Graeme - Aug 22, 2002
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Re: Comments about reviews - Andy Herbert - Aug 23, 2002
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Re: Comments about reviews - Tim Streeter - Aug 23, 2002
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Re: Comments about reviews - Graeme - Aug 23, 2002
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Re: Comments about reviews - Tim Streeter - Aug 23, 2002
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Re: Comments about reviews - Graeme - Aug 23, 2002
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Re: Comments about reviews - Kurt Laughlin - Aug 24, 2002
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Re: Comments about reviews - Tim Streeter - Aug 24, 2002
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Re: Comments about reviews - Kurt Laughlin - Aug 23, 2002
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Re: Comments about reviews - Graeme - Aug 23, 2002
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Re: Comments about reviews - Kurt Laughlin - Aug 23, 2002
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Re: Comments about reviews - Steve Frost - Aug 23, 2002
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Re: Comments about reviews - Christophe Jacquemont - Aug 23, 2002
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Re: Comments about reviews - Andy Herbert - Aug 23, 2002
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Re: Comments about reviews - Kurt Laughlin - Aug 23, 2002
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Re: Comments about reviews - Graeme - Aug 23, 2002
. . . Re: Comments about reviews - Jerry Gustafson - Aug 19, 2002
. . . . . . Re: Comments about reviews - Andy Herbert - Aug 19, 2002
. . . It should be noted... - Peter Ong - Aug 22, 2002
. . . . . . Re: It should be noted... - Tim Streeter - Aug 22, 2002
. . . . . . . . . Re: It should be noted... - Andy Herbert - Aug 22, 2002
. . . . . . . . . . . . Re: It should be noted... - Saul Garcia - Aug 22, 2002
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Re: It should be noted... - Andy Herbert - Aug 22, 2002
. . . . . . . . . Re: It should be noted... - Peter Ong - Aug 22, 2002
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