I just got a NIB Extra 300L 24% from Planes Plus. It is the ARC version. It was damaged due to poor packaging. The cowl was literally fused to the front of the fuselage and could not be removed (at least, not without completely destroying the cowl or the fuse). I'm shipping it back immediately. Anyone have a similar experience? Aren't these supposed to be high quality kits?
Phil

The kits are good quality - the packaging is crappy. My Widebody had the canopy scratched , the
right wing tip was almost crushed and one corner of the box was ripped open and the wheel pants
were missing. Nothing to have a heart attack about , but CA needs to learn to pack these things better.
It's a long way from Argentina and the only protection in the box was some stuffed in newspaper and
not much of that.

tommy s

Thats about what I figured. If I'd been able to get the cowl off the fuse I probably would have kept it as well. Maybe I'll pick one up at a show so the contents can be examined before buying.

my widebody had similar damage, the cowl was cracked badly, the wheel pants were missing altogether, and the tip of the vertical fin was broken off.
though i must say, they quickly sent me out a replacement cowl and wheel pants, and didn't ask for mine back. they did have good customer service.

tony

I have to say that my 38% ARC was packaged very well and had no damage. There were a lot of foam peanuts and styrofoam blocks in the box to protect the plane.

My buddy has a Widebody 40 and the packaging from Planes Plus was very tight but very well protected. Only problem is a badly warped laser cut sheet. He needs a replacement, what should he do? He called Planes Plus but they no longer will replace it.

I would think that Planes Plus (or any other distributor) would check their product for quality assurance before they ship it and not rely on the manufacturer's packing. If I was the distributor, I would inspect ALL of my inventory prior to shipment.....that should be a no brainer....duh?!! If I was the distributor and there was a problem/damage when I received the shipment, that would be between me and the manufacturer(thus keeping the negative RCU comments to a minimum!).


-Rob

Those parts are packed in plastic and when opened they acclimate...Some twist some don't. I don't think any distributer would open the plastic bags on each kit to see what happens. Don at planes plus is a great guy and its to bad that he does not carry these kits anymore because his customer service is great. He has some new planes coming out.

I am not talking about opening plastic bags etc. Just inspect the overall quality and re-pack if neccessary(especially knowing CA Models's notorius 'weak' packaging). According to Phil, "The cowl was literally fused to the front of the fuselage and could not be removed". A simple inspection thats all. BTW, I had a 34% from Don and that was packed fine and the service was great.

-Rob

PLanes Plus stopped replacing bad parts from CA because CA would not send the replacement parts to them. If you go to their warehouse they have a pile of damage parts just sitting their.

I bought a kit and ARC recently. I was amazed at the lousy packaging, but there was no damage. One aileron was was warped, which they replaced immediately. Don't bash PP, they have had nothing but great service. CA quality went down with its increase in volume hence PP getting out of CA models. They are selling off what they have left but are not supporting them beyond what's left...

DP

Exactly what desertpig said, Planes Plus is a Top Shelf company.

Read my last post.....inspect what you expect (or sell). There is no PP bashing on my part. This is typical of many companies. Bottom line, no one wants a cowl fused to the fuse regardless if they are (quote)"selling off what they have left but are not supporting them beyond what's left" Just open the box and look inside before you ship....right?

-Rob

I'm still left with deciding what to replace the 24% ARC with. I don't want to order the same plane through Aero-Works as it would come directly from Argentina with no quality control in between.

HEY MANS......

WHO SAID ANYTHING ABOUT THE REAL BAD PAKING OF ANY TOP FLITE - GREAT PLANES -HOBBICO KITS??????????????????????

I live in ****co - Chile , and here we have 7 kits of CAMODEL and they comes in the same paking form of any other North American kits, maybe the box is´n baeutifull but no one of ours kits arrive with damage...

I think the kits are very very easy to build, the woods assamble or joint very exactly, and i cant said the same in others kits........

Sorry with my english, but if i know more english, i can write a lot of more good cquality of Camodel kits.

Sergio

No offense, CA is a great kit, but the warping needs to be figured out, no other plane I know of has come badly warped like thiese laser cut sheets. Even from the jungles of Taiwan or wherever.

I don't think anybody is bashing anything here. I would like to have one of these kits delivered to me in good condition. But I'm out $25 to $50 shipping cost again if the next one arrives in the same condition. If I wanted a Hobbico or Great Planes kit, I would go the local hobby shop, open the box and examine the contents before buying.
So the question remains, what is a viable alternative? Who has a similar 24% 3D plane that I can do some building upon?
Phil

P.S. Did he really call us "MANS"?....Thats sort of cool....