FiberClassics P-51 Info
08-19-2002, 08:27 AM
#1
Thread Starter
My Feedback: (1)
Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: SevenoaksKent, UNITED KINGDOM
Posts: 5,193
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
FiberClassics P-51 Info
Hi guys,
I'm on the verge of ordering a Fiberclassics P-51 but having never seen one in the flesh I'm looking for as much un biased info as I can. Does anyone have any views of the quality of the kit and its options or even any web sites containing info (I've got the fiberclassics www address).
Any help you can provide would be invaluable.
Kind regards,
Mark
I'm on the verge of ordering a Fiberclassics P-51 but having never seen one in the flesh I'm looking for as much un biased info as I can. Does anyone have any views of the quality of the kit and its options or even any web sites containing info (I've got the fiberclassics www address).
Any help you can provide would be invaluable.
Kind regards,
Mark
08-20-2002, 02:09 PM
#2
My Feedback: (2)
Join Date: Apr 2002
Location: Clifton,
NJ
Posts: 1,859
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
FiberClassics P-51 Info
Hi Mark,
Do a search at the various forums, there's a lot that has been written about it. It can be made into a really nice model, but it will take a lot of work. Check the Frank Tiano website, a couple of years ago a fellow won team scale with one, maybe you can get his address and talk to him. I don't remember the specifics, but there were problems with the fuse and with the wings and spar. I also think there were fit problems. For the price you are going to pay, there should be NO problems. Fiberclassics also had a lot of problems with it's MiG 29. It was a $10,000 kit, only 100 made and only two, Wolfgang Khlur, who has the prototype and one other fellow has one flying, and this is after more than 2 years of the kits being out there. For 10K one shouldn't have to redesign ANYTHING! I was thinking about their Sabre, but after reading about it's problems, I'm not paying almost $5000 and do a lot of modifications. From what I've read and heard their quality is very suspect and I would be VERY cautious before spending big money with Fiberclassics.
Regards,
Jon
Do a search at the various forums, there's a lot that has been written about it. It can be made into a really nice model, but it will take a lot of work. Check the Frank Tiano website, a couple of years ago a fellow won team scale with one, maybe you can get his address and talk to him. I don't remember the specifics, but there were problems with the fuse and with the wings and spar. I also think there were fit problems. For the price you are going to pay, there should be NO problems. Fiberclassics also had a lot of problems with it's MiG 29. It was a $10,000 kit, only 100 made and only two, Wolfgang Khlur, who has the prototype and one other fellow has one flying, and this is after more than 2 years of the kits being out there. For 10K one shouldn't have to redesign ANYTHING! I was thinking about their Sabre, but after reading about it's problems, I'm not paying almost $5000 and do a lot of modifications. From what I've read and heard their quality is very suspect and I would be VERY cautious before spending big money with Fiberclassics.
Regards,
Jon
08-20-2002, 02:20 PM
#3
Thread Starter
My Feedback: (1)
Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: SevenoaksKent, UNITED KINGDOM
Posts: 5,193
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
FiberClassics P-51 Info
Jon,
Can you name any other forums I could look at. RCUniverse is the only one I really know and I can't find anything in here!
Thanks,
Mark
Can you name any other forums I could look at. RCUniverse is the only one I really know and I can't find anything in here!
Thanks,
Mark
08-20-2002, 04:02 PM
#4
My Feedback: (2)
Join Date: Apr 2002
Location: Clifton,
NJ
Posts: 1,859
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
FiberClassics P-51 Info
Hi Mark,
It must have been on the old RC Online forum. The fellow that won TOP GUN is Bill Stevik, he lives in NY. I remember seeing a P-51 kit at the WRAM's show several years ago. It was nice as far as the molded in detail, but the surface finish wasn't the best, especially for what they were asking for it. Like I said, you can contact Frank Tiano who runs TOP GUN and he may have an e-mail address for Bill. www.franktiano.com.
I'll do some searching at this end and see if I can get more definitive information.
Jon
It must have been on the old RC Online forum. The fellow that won TOP GUN is Bill Stevik, he lives in NY. I remember seeing a P-51 kit at the WRAM's show several years ago. It was nice as far as the molded in detail, but the surface finish wasn't the best, especially for what they were asking for it. Like I said, you can contact Frank Tiano who runs TOP GUN and he may have an e-mail address for Bill. www.franktiano.com.
I'll do some searching at this end and see if I can get more definitive information.
Jon
08-21-2002, 02:18 AM
#5
My Feedback: (60)
Join Date: Dec 2001
Location: Litchfield Park,
AZ
Posts: 7,677
Likes: 0
Received 25 Likes
on
23 Posts
FiberClassics P-51 Info
You might try searching for info at www.rcwatch.com in the scale and warbirds forums. What I recall is essentially what has already been posted.
08-21-2002, 02:58 AM
#6
My Feedback: (77)
Join Date: Jan 2002
Location: Austintown, OH
Posts: 115
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Not that bad of a kit.......
I have one and I am still purchasing parts for it. I have a line on a ZDZ80 inline. By the time I am done I will have $4000.00 in it. The surface finish looks pretty real, it is not smooth, it is like the full scale with the rippels, dings and dents. Yes there is some fitting to be made but it is by far much better than a Yellow, Byron or Ziroli. There is just as much work in one of them and the surface finish does not look as scale .here are some pic's. I will probably get around to in about a year or so. The plane in the pictures was assembled with packing tape so I could get a picture with the kids. This is the degree of completion you get right out of the box....I will let you know what problems I run into when I start building it.....Ken
08-21-2002, 09:26 PM
#7
My Feedback: (15)
Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: orlando,
FL
Posts: 226
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
FiberClassics P-51 Info
Mark,
I have never built a p 51 but have very successfully completed a FC Yak 11. Its now had over 350 flights.
Give me a ring. I.m in the Uk
Steve
01535642113
I have never built a p 51 but have very successfully completed a FC Yak 11. Its now had over 350 flights.
Give me a ring. I.m in the Uk
Steve
01535642113
08-30-2002, 06:19 AM
#8
Senior Member
Join Date: Mar 2002
Location: EU
Posts: 166
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
FiberClassics P-51 Info
I ordered a special offer Mustang last autumn an got it before x-mas. IT WAS DISAPPOINTING. I had to refurbish a lot.
The connection of the flaps to the wing had to be totaly reconstructed because it was absolutely not scale.
The moulded screwheads on the cowling literaly could not withstand a sharp look - they broke away because they were made only thin film of the silver paint the whole model is colored with. No resin was behind the moulded screwheads and some other spots. Also the seams need a lot of sanding and filling.
Although the model is already painted almost the entire model must be repainted.
Of course I gave the guys of fiberclassics a call. They regret that they offered and selled such second (third) class products. Their major objective is now to restore their once excellent reputation. Needless to say that a lot of rumor with very angry posting was going on in the german model forums. The reason for that spoiled reputation is based on the outsourcing of the production to Thailand. The costs (and the quality) droped but the selling prices remained high. Meanwhile fiberclassics is broken up to three independent divisions: fiberclassics trading company and fiberclassics events in Germany and fiberclassics productions in Thailand.
So I think you should never by a fiberclassics Mustang without having the chance to check the qualitiy of the kit before you spend some K$. However, the fiberclassis Mustang is the most scale looking Mustang you can get - if you overcame some problems. Especially the wonderful scale undercarriage is the only one which does not look like the legs of a stork like the ones of other manufacturers.
Joe
The connection of the flaps to the wing had to be totaly reconstructed because it was absolutely not scale.
The moulded screwheads on the cowling literaly could not withstand a sharp look - they broke away because they were made only thin film of the silver paint the whole model is colored with. No resin was behind the moulded screwheads and some other spots. Also the seams need a lot of sanding and filling.
Although the model is already painted almost the entire model must be repainted.
Of course I gave the guys of fiberclassics a call. They regret that they offered and selled such second (third) class products. Their major objective is now to restore their once excellent reputation. Needless to say that a lot of rumor with very angry posting was going on in the german model forums. The reason for that spoiled reputation is based on the outsourcing of the production to Thailand. The costs (and the quality) droped but the selling prices remained high. Meanwhile fiberclassics is broken up to three independent divisions: fiberclassics trading company and fiberclassics events in Germany and fiberclassics productions in Thailand.
So I think you should never by a fiberclassics Mustang without having the chance to check the qualitiy of the kit before you spend some K$. However, the fiberclassis Mustang is the most scale looking Mustang you can get - if you overcame some problems. Especially the wonderful scale undercarriage is the only one which does not look like the legs of a stork like the ones of other manufacturers.
Joe
