[Saeta]

The issue of the riveting in the EI Texan has already been mentioned in some threads, but only as a side issue, not really as the main topic.

What do you guys think about it ? I personally hate it. I was very happy to find out that EI was coming with a 1:48 Texan, since I am a big fan of their Mustang and felt that a T-6 was an original choice. Then imagine my desillusion when I saw the first pictures and my eyes were hit by the awful sight of a model holed all over !. A vision raced through my mind : “This poor little 1:48 Texan had once looked gorgeous while parked in a 1:48 scale diorama of Hickam Field in a 1:48 Pearl Harbour, but then wave after wave of Japanese 1:48 Zeros and Kates came and all emptied their 1:48 ammo on this single model, which as a result now has thousands of bullet and shrapnel holes where a real Texan would normally have none…”.

I know that we all have different tastes and preferences, and that what some of us like in a model some others despise. However, there is one fundamental issue with which we all agree, one that lies at the heart of model collecting : the models should look as much as possible as the “real thing” does ( scale, proportions, shapes, details, colours, markings, etc ). Hence, when making the cast for a new model, why waste time and effort adding a complicated detail that is not even there in the real plane in the first place ? Real Texans’s fuselages are not full of oversized rivet holes. In fact, the T-6s I have seen look and feel pretty smooth all over.

Many other models have riveting detail that is nice and adds to the quality of the product. EI’s own P-51B had very nicely made riveting in some areas that contributed to the overall stunning look of the model. Other models have it too. But with the Texan EI took it to a completely new dimension, unnecessarily.

The sad part of all this is that now I will never have a T-6 in my 1:48 collection. I can not buy the EI one because the rivets thing killed it for me, and I can not buy it from another brand because now nobody else will make it… so, thanks Eagles International !

Eagle International, if you are listening, for your next model could you please revert to a Mustang-style of riveting detail ? Please ?

[PappyB]

I have not seen the EI Texan in person yet, and I'm holding out hope that the rivets don't look as ... fugly... "live" as in the pictures, which can magnify details like these, or rather make them look a bit worse than they are.

However, what I've seen has prevented me from ordering one, and I don't see that changing unless I find one really, really cheap somewhere. It is unfortunate, and I'm sure EI will rectify the matter with future models, if and when we see any. I know they had production issues with this tooling and I think rejected some early production samples?? It sounded like the production of this tooling was a bit of a nightmare for them for whatever reasons. I have heard around here I think though that the Texans are still selling well, which I hope is the case -- because....

I'd still love to see them do a Corsair! (or FW 190A)

On a sidenote: I have a Franklin Mint Huey (the higher end sharkmouth one) and I thought the rivets were really overdone on that model too, but they look okay because at least they are uniform over the entire model -- and I saw a real Huey recently and what do you know, it had big rivets all over it so the FM wasn't as far off as I'd thought.

[hworth18]

Saeta,
Having worked closely with EI and already painted a few of these in custom schemes, I can say that the riveting is probably overdone, but not as bad as pictures portray it to be. My suggestion to you is find someone that has one and look at it in person. If it still looks bad to you, then you can atleast say you saw one in person.

[Elmer]

I own both of the first releases and, yes, the riveting is overdone. The USAF Hondo Texan appears more overdone, somehow, with the yellow paint, than does the pre-war naval Texan. I think the paint was applied too heavily on Hondo and it exaggerated the riveting detail. But this could be a model by model problem.

[STARMAN 352ND]

It's a little heavy on the rivets but it sure does look good sttting
next to my F2A-2 Buffalo.
JP

[flyXwire]

JP, how much do you like that E.I. Texan? Please try to convince me hard before I get one for the bargain price of $50!

Originally Posted by STARMAN 352ND

It's a little heavy on the rivets but it sure does look good sttting
next to my F2A-2 Buffalo.
JP