Help! Model came damaged in the mail.

[Skateforfood]

Hey everyone, some of you might of known me and not. I just recently got back into modeling. I ordered a Nissan 180sx ( sense i have a 240 ) and the company shipped it in a bubble envelope. As soon as I saw that I predicted damage. Opened it up to see the roof was warped ( ive seen this problem on here before just forgot how it was fixed ) and the windsheild was cracked. Is there anyway I can order another body from Tamiya? Didnt find anything on there site but I might have not looked hard enough. I tried searching, but I honestly dont know how to search on a specific forum on this site ( might be a bit of a retard there). Ill try to get pictures, but my camera is broken so it will have to be off my phone.

[blue///m3]

call the company and see if they'll replace it. you may hae better luck that route at first.

[Skateforfood]

Originally Posted by blue///m3

call the company and see if they'll replace it. you may hae better luck that route at first.

Thing is its in hong kong, Ive sent them a e-mail but I hight doubt it will be replaced.

[blue///m3]

try tamiya then. Good luck.
If all else fails make it a convertible or speedster style (chopped down windshield). You can also use that thin plastic sheet (like the stuff they used for transparencies in school) That worked for me once when I screwed up a windshield with excess glue

[ZoomZoomMX-5]

Seems all those Hong Kong sellers ship models in a very precarious manner.

If you order from reputable places like Hobbylink/Hobby Search, you get professional packing and proper customer service.

Those "cheap" Feebay prices for kits from Hong Kong are generally a false economy; shipping prices are high and damage likelihood is also very high.

Be lucky you got bubblewrap. Some of those Hong Kong sellers wrap the kit box in paper to ship. No protection whatsoever.

[malsheem]

You aren't the first, nor will you be the last to suffer damage from poorly packaged kits from Hong Kong sellers. It's best to avoid them completely regardless of any perceived savings you think you might be getting. I doubt you'll get any satisfactory answer from them if any response at all.

You can contact Tamiya USA for spare parts. The part code should be in your instructions. I've ordered spares from them before, and it's a pretty simple process.

http://www.tamiyausa.com/articles/fe...cle-id=157#5CS
Phone: (800) TAMIYA-A

Just be warned though. They typically only have parts for the most recent kits in their catalog or in production. I'm pretty sure that 180SX kit has long been discontinued, so you probably won't have much luck getting any spares from them. But it's worth a phone call.

Sadly, you'll probably be left to your own devices to salvage the kit. Maybe someone on the forum has spares to help you out. Try posting a classified (it's stickied at the top of this forum).

[Skateforfood]

Thanks everyone, I guess I learned my lesson. Sucks I finally had the money and saw it on rip off ebay. Im heating it up and its starting to get back into shape but still a bit damaged.

[Mojo_stevo]

Originally Posted by ZoomZoomMX-5

If you order from reputable places like Hobbylink/Hobby Search, you get professional packing and proper customer service.

.

+12345

I ordered some rims from Hobbylink, but they had a defect. I contacted them, and they said they couldn't replace it, but hyper linked Aoshima's help page
and assured me that they would square me away. I contacted Aoshima, and included a picture of the damaged part. They told me not to worry about sending the old one back. 3 days later I had an air mailed package at my door, no if-ands-or-buts, with new rims + a cute anime apology letter with poorly translated English, which gave me a good chuckle.

With that being said: The extra few bucks that you spend with the better companies is the way to go, because it pays off with service.

Also I purchased 3 models off of our classifieds here with 0 problems.
I buy off of ebay if the model is super cheap, and they have a high % rating.

[klutz_100]

Sounds like you might be able to salvage the roof/body issue.

Replacing the clear part isn't such a big deal. This tutorial should help: http://www.automotiveforums.com/vbul...d.php?t=514642