Having read in an earlier posting from Steve Faxon and one other forum member at how "confusing" it was to deal via email with AEF Designs, I was wondering if anyone else can offer comments on dealing with them?

I ask as I ordered their Israeli Sherman conversions perhaps 1 1/2 months ago, and on July 7th they charged my Visa account for the order. However, it is now 20 days later, and nothing has arrived. Given they are only a few States away, I was wondering if this was typical for their service? Should I be concerned?

Cheers,
Andrew

I also had a bit of confusion on my order of both the IDF kits. The few weeks wait was worth while, though. Like Steve, I have had several IDF Shermies in the works for over 30 years. Mebbe these bits will spook them along. Dan

Let me put it this way: my experience with AEF Designs was the exact opposite of the experience of buying from Fighting48th . Dealing with Tim was an absolute pleasure - dealing with AEF was... complicated. I know that I can buy stuff from Tim, sight unseen, because I know that regardless of the price I'm going to receive superb quality product that is well worth its' price. As far as AEF Designs go, I seriously doubt that I'm going to deal with them again.

Similar to you, Andrew, my cc was charged way in advance. I sent several e-mails and was lied to twice about "order has been shipped on <insert date here>". Eventually all 3 conversions (that I ordered) showed up on my doorstep in one package shipped couple of days after last e-mail sent to them.

As for the conversions themselves, the name of the game is "air bubbles + soft details". Their quality control is non-existent. Some of the problems can be fixed, but some of them will be little bit more problematic. On top of that, the hull used for M51 conversion is directly based on Hobby Boss M4A1 hull - with all of it's screw-ups, including angled sidewalls. I think I'm going to use the Iron Designs hull and update it to M51 myself. Don't get me wrong, the conversions are not completely useless. I'm just disappointed, because I expected a little bit more quality... Also, don't expect any meaningful instructions...



SeanSki
http://www.pme.org.pl
--
"Car's grip is greatly reduced when wheels are not touching the ground" - Steve Matchett

Hi Sean; check is in the post!!! Seriously, many thanks for the kind comments, but I must admit things don't always go according to plan, as poor Andrew can testify! We have had a couple of things go astray in the post too, one to Japan, (which turned up in the end) and one to the RSA, which didn't, but there isn't a lot anyone can do about the postal services.

However, when I launched the Fighting 48th range, having decided to go down the eShop route where a customers payment can be made in seconds, I felt it only reasonable for our response to be prompt, so I have invested quite a bit in maintaining stock levels such that when an order comes in, the kit goes out within a day or so, weekends and holidays notwithstanding. I am lucky not to have massive overheads, or staff demanding salaries, so there is no temptation to cast 'to order', which is I suspect the root problem otherwise. I don't supply traders either, so I don't get massive orders every once in a while which can swamp capacity to the exclusion of all else.  And my range is tiny, so it is easy to keep track of! With a catalogue of hundreds of items, it must be a nightmare to control.

Hey, I'm just suggesting some of the issues that might impact on a suppliers ability to respond to an order. In the end, it is a question of balancing a lot of conflicting requirements, and all sorts of things can put a spanner in the works. But you should expect a reply to an e-mail or two, if only to acknowledge its receipt.  I do try and manage that!

Tim

www.fighting48th.com

I've not dealt with them in quite some time (decade?), but no, I did not have a positive experience. Poor casting, broken pieces come to mind.

RobG