Orlik

[medved]

With a view to generating some intel on how companies & the post treats the paper modeler, I thought I would share my current experience with Orlik.

I have just this minute taken advantage of some of the great discount offers they are running & ordered 6 models for shipping by Air.

I will say that they were very fast & friendly when communicating by email, now it's down to the postal service.
As this is a busy time I shall be interested to see how quickly/safely these get to me.

Hopefully someone will find this 'experiment' useful!
Will update when they arrive.
Tick-tock Mr Postman :p

[Tim Crowe]

Hopefully santa will deliver them!

Tim

[B-Manic]

My dealings with Orlik have all been very good with packages arriving in a timely manner and well packed to prevent damage.

[medved]

Well lets hope the pattern of service continues!


Merry Xmas everyone

[medved]

Results -
Having ordered on the 23 Dec, they were dispatched the same day & arrived on 30 Dec by air (I don't think I could have expected any quicker if the order had originated locally given Xmas etc).
Items were packed in both waterproof film & hard card outer to protect them during transit.

Cannot find any fault in this transaction whatsoever & would not hesitate to recommend the company.
Given that my previous models have been 99% downloads - Fiddlers Green, PaperTiger etc, this was a good experience.


As to the models they look suitably daunting - & far too good to cut up! :D

I was particularly taken by this snippet of history so couldn't resist the Peshka esp. as it was on offer

While the Pe-2 generally featured favorable flying characteristics when airborne, it took a good amount of force to pull the elevators up to get the plane rotated off the runway during takeoff. Russian night bombing missions often flew with female pilots and some of the women were not strong enough to get the airplane airborne by themselves. When such a situation occurred, the procedure was to have one of the crew get behind the pilot's seat and wrap her arms around the control wheel and help the pilot pull the wheel back. Once the aircraft was airborne, the crew member returned to her duties and the pilot continued to fly the plane without assistance

[cdavenport]

I built a Koster vacform model of the Pe-2 in 1/48 scale some years ago. At 1/33, your model should be very substantial, indeed!

That was a very interesting historical anecdote you added to your post. It's such a very good thing Patton was wrong about going to war with them. Imagine fighting a force where even the women are tough as nails!

Wait, don't have to imagine...the Germans tried it already.

[medved]

Originally Posted by cdavenport

I built a Koster vacform model of the Pe-2 in 1/48 scale some years ago. At 1/33, your model should be very substantial, indeed!

That was a very interesting historical anecdote you added to your post. It's such a very good thing Patton was wrong about going to war with them. Imagine fighting a force where even the women are tough as nails!

Wait, don't have to imagine...the Germans tried it already.

Wow Vacuform - that takes me back, can't recall what it was I last had as a vacuformed kit but after regular polystyrene it was a b*tch to work with I thought.

Yes the 17.11m span & 12.78m long will be quite a size @1/33 (some 22"-ish span I think) & will require a major remodel of the house... :p

I can only imagine what it must have been like trying to get a fully loaded Peshka up in the air for the devushki involved. Nerve-racking to say the least.
Have to say a war with Russia would be no walk in the park. The people are generally pretty tough & I would have to say I've learnt from that whenever I've been there. (Not to mention the fact that the girls are some of the prettiest I've ever seen anywhere - which can be quite disarming on its' own. )

I feel the history gives one a bit of impetus when building something as difficult as a paper-model can be. Having an 'emotional' attachment & intellectual investment is a valuable resource.