Special Hobby Kits

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TobyC
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Re: Special Hobby Kits

Post by TobyC »

I think they're very expensive, unnecessarily complicated and over rated. Others may well differ to my opinion. They do some unusual kits though it has to be said.
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PaulBradley
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Re: Special Hobby Kits

Post by PaulBradley »

They tend to be your typical limited-run kits - no alignment pins, uneven surface texture and often poorly - even downright crudely - cast fiddly bits, but often mitigated by excellent resin and decals. They aren't cheap, as Toby rightly says, and I'd advise caution if you haven't had a lot of experience with limited run kits - these aren't Airfix kits!
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Re: Special Hobby Kits

Post by BWP »

In addition, it's important to remember that they've been around for a little while, and their older kits are probably more difficult to build than their newer ones.

Note also that their kits are marketed under a variety of names: Special Hobby, MPM, Xtrakit. I think a few have also ended up in Revell boxes.

I'd say, find one at a price you're comfortable with (for the subject matter) and see how you go.

IMO the subject matter of a kit is usually more important (to me) than the manufacturer, and the SH kits cover a lot of very interesting subjects. If I know in advance that a kit might give me trouble I'll take that into account and adjust my expectations accordingly. I've not yet built one of their kits but everything I've read suggests that they absolutely take effort to assemble.
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Barry
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Re: Special Hobby Kits

Post by Barry »

I've built a number of these and we get along very well together. As has been said, Special Hobby, Sword, MPM, all come out of the same stable and differ primarily in the amount of resin and/or etched brass included. Expect no locating pins and butt joins instead of tab & slot at the wing roots, but if you've found something you like, go for it.
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Eric Mc
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Re: Special Hobby Kits

Post by Eric Mc »

I'm building my first ever Special Hobby kit (I've a number in the stash). It's the Bell X-1E. So far, I have not found any insurmountable problems. The lack of locating pins is a bit of an issue but I sometime remove them from mainstream kits anyway as they can sometimes be a hindrance rather than a help.

The main difference with a mainstream kit was the use of resin for the cockpit and the wheel wells. This was the one area where I did have some difficulty. Essentially, the resin ejector seat broke apart when I tried to remove it from its plug. Whether this was down to it being too fragile or me being too ham fisted is difficult to say. Probably a bit of both. However, I used the wreckage of the seat as a template to assemble a plasticard alternative, which doesn't look much different once installed and painted.

I hope to finish the kit over the next weekend.
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Re: Special Hobby Kits

Post by Stuart »

interesting thread this - I've not tried any limited run kits other than a Brengun Tiffie. Sounds like a challenge.

Loooking forward to seeing the X-1E Eric.
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Eric Mc
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Re: Special Hobby Kits

Post by Eric Mc »

I did a bit of work on the undercarriage earlier this morning. One aspect of limited run kits is that small components, like undercarriage legs, often have to be moulded in multiple sections rather than as one item. This means they will be a bit more fiddly to assemble. Also, it's a good idea to check that locating holes for such items are sufficiently deep or large enough to accept the other piece. Don't assume Tamiya or new Airfix type tolerances.

The key to assembling short run kits is check and fettle, check and fettle and check and fettle again before finally committing to glue.
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PaulBradley
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Re: Special Hobby Kits

Post by PaulBradley »

Eric Mc wrote:The key to assembling short run kits is check and fettle, check and fettle and check and fettle again before finally committing to glue.
Wise words indeed. :)
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Stuart
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Re: Special Hobby Kits

Post by Stuart »

PaulBradley wrote:
Eric Mc wrote:The key to assembling short run kits is check and fettle, check and fettle and check and fettle again before finally committing to glue.
Wise words indeed. :)
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Eric Mc
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Re: Special Hobby Kits

Post by Eric Mc »

To be honest, I have found little need for filler in my X-1E build. The pre-checking of the fit before assembling will often negate the need for correcting later.
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Re: Special Hobby Kits

Post by JohnRatzenberger »

At one point, "we" thought that SH was a reincarnation of CA given similar subjects, style, etc - but that is not the case.

They are, however, like CA in that you actually have to build the model (and BTW, I "loved" CA and really miss them).

FWIW.
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Re: Special Hobby Kits

Post by JamesPerrin »

Special Hobby were part of the the MPM stable, but released more esoteric subjects generally, they were even more short-run in nature than the MPM releases and had vacform canopies and more bits of resin. I think the label has been dropped though now as MPM have upgraded their tooling methods to produce kits that are almost mainstream in quality.
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Eric Mc
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Re: Special Hobby Kits

Post by Eric Mc »

I think Special Hobby kits are still being issued by the MPM group. My X-1E has an injected canopy and is pretty modern and refined. The same models in slightly different versions will often appear in MPM. Special Hobby or Azur boxings.
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Re: Special Hobby Kits

Post by JamesPerrin »

Eric Mc wrote:I think Special Hobby kits are still being issued by the MPM group. My X-1E has an injected canopy and is pretty modern and refined. The same models in slightly different versions will often appear in MPM. Special Hobby or Azur boxings.
I think that's why they stopped releasing kits under the SH banner as it came affordable to release them to the same standard as MPM kits. The X-1E was released 7 years ago http://www.hyperscale.com/2008/reviews/ ... ewme_1.htm;
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BWP
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Re: Special Hobby Kits

Post by BWP »

JamesPerrin wrote:I think that's why they stopped releasing kits under the SH banner
They absolutely have not stopped releasing SH kits. Multiple new releases announced in their most recent newsletter.

http://www.cmkkits.com/en/page/about-us/;

Note all of the manufacturer names! (Not Sword, though.)
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