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I second Trainnut1250's comments re having other people try assembling the kit with the instructions before offering it to the public. I've had some great kits with really poor instructions over the years, and this can be really frustrating, especially when new to the hobby. One of the worst instructions I've had the displeasure to work with was for a Rio Grande Models HO scale rail steam shovel. The kit was one of their earlier ones and the parts themselves were great. The plan was an exploded diagram, but the parts were just sitting in space with no indication where they attached to each other. To add to the confusion, the instruction referred to many of the parts by their protoype names, without a listing of what was what - "attach the clevis to the fulcrum" or something like that. Since I was new to the hobby, I thought it was my lack of knowledge that was the problem. A few parts that I glued together the way I assumed they went together later had to be removed as they interfered with later parts. I later read a review of the kit in a magazine, and they too complained about the poor instuctions, so I wasn't my lackof knowledge at fault. Their later kits got better. I can still recall my first Campbell kit assembly. It was kind of intimidating, that large sheet with all of the text, photos and plans. But slogging through it one step at a time made things seem easier. Later kits were even easier. I like structure kits with isometric drawings, but since I have a background in drafting, this may not be useful for everyone. Some modelers with no experience in reading plans may be at a disadvantage when using any kit plans. Bob Boudreau
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