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Buyer beware is the proper thing....


Graff
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You'd think that I should learn sometime….
 This is probably the last time I buy a second hand kit.
 There was a Flair Puppeteer kit for sale on the Swedish version of evilbay. I bought it and upon delivery it turned out that it was actually  a started and abandoned kit that was missing two thirds of all parts.......

IMG_20240925_172506634_AE.thumb.jpg.f7ac76e9cf79eaa71f839e237ff8203b.jpg
 In addition, there were parts in it that did not belong to the kit.
 Luckily I got most of the money back.

 

 There is a Top Flite Se5a in my hobby room that I started after buying the kit used and it turned out it was missing half of the parts...

 

 The other kits I bought used that are not complete went to recycling today.


 I will probably only buy directly from dealers or manufacturers in the future, I really don't have the time or energy to deal with other people's unsorted junk.

Rant over....

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8 minutes ago, Geoff S said:

I must be lucky because I've bought several unstarted kits from various sources, including eBay but swap meets, too and they've all been as described. 

You must have been....

The only kits I bought the last two years that were complete was a Storch, a Fokker d7 arf and a Nieuport 28 arf.... There was 6 others that wasn't:

The Puppeteer, the Se5a, a Dauntless, a Jodel, a Cessna 172 and a Cirrus.

 

 

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There's a place advertising laser cut wood packs for the Flair scout series. Perhaps it's too late. But if you got your money back...

 

laser cut wood

 

https://skyhighrc.co.uk/flair-puppeteer-rc-scale-model-aeroplane-laser-cut-balsaply-rib-sets

 

and plans

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/usr/flyer21uk

 

and hardware from Inwood

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/202467876433?_skw=flair&itmmeta=01J8SSNR625ZK498PRHSZ75YJ6&hash=item2f24069e51:g:T00AAOSwpd1hf~j7

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10 hours ago, Nigel R said:

There's a place advertising laser cut wood packs for the Flair scout series. Perhaps it's too late. But if you got your money back...

 

laser cut wood

 

https://skyhighrc.co.uk/flair-puppeteer-rc-scale-model-aeroplane-laser-cut-balsaply-rib-sets

 

and plans

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/usr/flyer21uk

 

and hardware from Inwood

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/202467876433?_skw=flair&itmmeta=01J8SSNR625ZK498PRHSZ75YJ6&hash=item2f24069e51:g:T00AAOSwpd1hf~j7

 

I bought my Junior 60 rib set from them (via eBay) and they're very good with decent quality balsa.  My only gripe is the price (£44 posted) but balsa's expensive these days and it not only saved a lot  of time but they're much better than I could have cut by hand.

 

IF that is all the wood for a Puppeteer then it'll probably be better than the die-cut originals. 

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On 26/09/2024 at 20:20, Graff said:

You'd think that I should learn sometime….
 This is probably the last time I buy a second hand kit.
 There was a Flair Puppeteer kit for sale on the Swedish version of evilbay. I bought it and upon delivery it turned out that it was actually  a started and abandoned kit that was missing two thirds of all parts.......

IMG_20240925_172506634_AE.thumb.jpg.f7ac76e9cf79eaa71f839e237ff8203b.jpg
 In addition, there were parts in it that did not belong to the kit.
 Luckily I got most of the money back.

 

 There is a Top Flite Se5a in my hobby room that I started after buying the kit used and it turned out it was missing half of the parts...

 

 The other kits I bought used that are not complete went to recycling today.


 I will probably only buy directly from dealers or manufacturers in the future, I really don't have the time or energy to deal with other people's unsorted junk.

Rant over....

Annoying at being taken for a ride by what sounds like a dishonest seller. Most people are honest and not deliberately out to scam others ‐ often it's a case of different standards of how people describe fair, good, or excellent condition or maybe not having a clue about what they're selling in the first place.

A motorcycle that was described as being in excellent condition and that I had a 150 mile round trip to view many years ago was actually a wreck when I saw it. To say that I was annoyed with the bloke is an understatement. Turned out to be the sellers dad who I saw and he'd been lumbered with it and had it dropped in his lap, so I felt bad about berating him at the time after I'd calmed down.

Too old for all that stress now.

Always a gamble buying used anything - just have to stack the odds in one's favour as much as possible.

My friend took a chance on quite an expensive complete aerobatic model on BMFA a while back, and needed to make a four hour round trip to collect it on the sellers say so that "it would be worth his while" as he put it.

I saw the model on the field soon after and it was a cracker.👍

 

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It's extremely disappointing when the seller is a hobbyist, as was the case with both the SE5a and the Jodel kits.

It's also frustrating when people sell things that they have zero knowledge about...
 I'm also into model railways, and you often see steam locomotives for sale without a tender.
 Sometimes it is listed separately...
 In addition, they want to be paid what a complete one costs.

Anyhow, today the last load of models went to the recycling station.

 I have been trying to give away old gliders and oldtimers for a long time without much success.
 It feels wrong to throw them away, but 30 aircrafts take up a hell of a lot of space.
 I still have a couple of nice gliders that will be donated.....

Edited by Graff
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11 hours ago, Graff said:

 

 I have been trying to give away old gliders and oldtimers for a long time without much success.
 It feels wrong to throw them away, but 30 aircrafts take up a hell of a lot of space.
 I still have a couple of nice gliders that will be donated.....

You're not unusual in not being able to find good homes for old models. Very sadly, both of my clubs are having more and more garage clear out sales of deceased members' items as time moves on. Some stuff goes but in general, most just sits in the club house for a couple of months and then finds its way to the dump.

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  Sadly for many an old model there is no future. Last year I went through those "donated" in our club container. Couple of good trainer types were kept [ one has since been donated to a new member an IC Nova he is now flying having started with electric models ] Two I took home for "winter fix up" . The rest in pic below.

SAM_1829.JPG

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On 27/09/2024 at 14:11, Nigel R said:

 

It's generally cheaper to go direct to Inwood, either via their Website or 'phone. They normally add about 10% plus postage on for their eBay listings to cover eBay's commission. EG 6 3/4 inch cowl £34.99 eBay, £27.99 +£5 post = £32.99 direct.

 

I've found a lot of stores who list on eBay &/or Amazon Marketplace do the same.

Edited by John Lee
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