# What 'tweaks' is the AMT K'Tinga getting?



## SUNGOD (Jan 20, 2006)

Great to see that finally (well hopefully anyway) the old AMT K'Tinga is getting reissued with possibly a few tweaks but does anyone know what those tweaks will be?

I've often said the main thing it needs is a totally new front command/bridge and torpedo ball section as the original is pretty awful. Little clear plastic windows like on the Revell kit would be a huge bonus too.

The rear of the ship and the neck is fine and the aztec panelling looks great so I hope they don't touch that part.


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## Opus Penguin (Apr 19, 2004)

It sounds like not much. Jamie (over on the Round 2 blog) stated they had to keep the cost of this kit low. So the tweaks are more decal related I believe.

This is what he says: "On the K’tinga, we had to keep this release simple. We adjust a couple fit issues and we’ve added some decals to dress up the front bulb a little bit."

Source: http://www.collectormodel.com/round2-models/1686-round-2-models-alien/#comments


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## irishtrek (Sep 17, 2005)

Round2 is not reissueing the old 537 scale AMT K'Tinga, but they are coming out with a new 1/2500 scale ST movies set including the refit, the Relaint and the K'Tinga if I'm not mistaken.


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## Ductapeforever (Mar 6, 2008)

irishtrek said:


> Round2 is not reissueing the old 537 scale AMT K'Tinga, but they are coming out with a new 1/2500 scale ST movies set including the refit, the Relaint and the K'Tinga if I'm not mistaken.


K, Tinga *IS* being re-released with few if any changes, possible new decals.


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## SUNGOD (Jan 20, 2006)

Opus Penguin said:


> It sounds like not much. Jamie (over on the Round 2 blog) stated they had to keep the cost of this kit low. So the tweaks are more decal related I believe.
> 
> This is what he says: "On the K’tinga, we had to keep this release simple. We adjust a couple fit issues and we’ve added some decals to dress up the front bulb a little bit."
> 
> Source: http://www.collectormodel.com/round2-models/1686-round-2-models-alien/#comments




One kit that could benefit from a few new parts and all we get is a few new decals. What a waste of time.


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## Lloyd Collins (Sep 25, 2004)

No more rub-on decals and prismatic stickers? Bummer!:lol:


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## StarshipClass (Aug 13, 2003)

SUNGOD said:


> One kit that could benefit from a few new parts and all we get is a few new decals. What a waste of time.


I remember painting this model helping a friend out 24 years ago. We were using the pictures of the studio model from the side of the box. As I recall, the plating was off by quite a bit making the paint job only so-so accurate though still very authentic looking overall once the kit was done. I custom mixed the colors combining various shades of green with varying amounts of silver depending on the panel location.

The overall point being: there's probably not a lot they can do in terms of making this kit super-accurate (unlike the AMT TOS Klingon ship) without making a whole new kit.

Still, a few new parts here and there _would _greatly enhance what is already there . . . :wave:

Are there plans for a 1/1000th_ K'tinga _class? I suspect the accuracy would be much better on that.


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## Carl_G (Jun 30, 2012)

In styrene or resin? There's a few 1/1000 resin K'tinga's out there I believe...


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## Richard Baker (Aug 8, 2006)

The worst part of the original kit was the front of the command section above the bulb- I know they bevelled it to aid in mold release with the texture, but that is just so wrong. It should be a vertical drop, not swept back. Other than that I like the kit. I do have the resin upgrade sets to turn mine into a lighted 'Kronos One', just so many other things ahead of it this repop will be out before I get to mine.
The 1/1000 looks good from what I see, it will be fun to have it along side the original D-7 in scale.


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## StarshipClass (Aug 13, 2003)

Carl_G said:


> In styrene or resin? There's a few 1/1000 resin K'tinga's out there I believe...


I figured there'd eventually be something to go along with the R2/PL 1/1000th refit 1701 kit that's already out there.


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## RB (Jul 29, 1998)

SUNGOD said:


> One kit that could benefit from a few new parts and all we get is a few new decals. What a waste of time.


Maybe they're rethinking the plans for the 1/350 K'tinga, and decided to reserve energy (and tooling dollars) for that possibility.


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## irishtrek (Sep 17, 2005)

Looking through the R2 blog Jamie confirms a persons queston regarding R2 reissuing the 350 NX-01, so hopefully they heave corrected the problem with the pylon angle.


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## SUNGOD (Jan 20, 2006)

RB said:


> Maybe they're rethinking the plans for the 1/350 K'tinga, and decided to reserve energy (and tooling dollars) for that possibility.





Be nice if they were but I doubt it.


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## SUNGOD (Jan 20, 2006)

Richard Baker said:


> The worst part of the original kit was the front of the command section above the bulb- I know they bevelled it to aid in mold release with the texture, but that is just so wrong. It should be a vertical drop, not swept back. Other than that I like the kit. I do have the resin upgrade sets to turn mine into a lighted 'Kronos One', just so many other things ahead of it this repop will be out before I get to mine.
> The 1/1000 looks good from what I see, it will be fun to have it along side the original D-7 in scale.




Yes the whole front is bad. Wrong shapes and hardly any detail especially when most of the rear is good. 

Revell have shown how to do the front section on their D7. Nice clear plastic little windows and a pretty accurate shape. Obviously R2 don't think the bad guys ships are so important by the looks of it.

A real missed opportunity to bring this kit up to scratch.


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## irishtrek (Sep 17, 2005)

One can always do the fixes themselves, they aint that hard to do.


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## jtwaclawski (Aug 7, 1999)

irishtrek said:


> One can always do the fixes themselves, they aint that hard to do.


Or you can just buy all the accurizing pieces from JT-Graphics. 

http://www.jt-graphics.com/P_RP.html

I have everything to accurize a K'Tinga or make a Quonos One. I have the photo etch for the Quonos One and am about to release Impulse PE for the K'Tinga. 

And yes, in order to completely accurize you will be replacing MOST of the kit. Or you can pick and choose what parts you want to modify, OR you can create a Hi-brid between the K'tinga and Quonos One. 

I'm also planning on making some custom kit bash pieces and have a full decal sheet in the works.


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## Nova Designs (Oct 10, 2000)

Cool stuff!


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## irishtrek (Sep 17, 2005)

jtwaclawski said:


> Or you can just buy all the accurizing pieces from JT-Graphics.
> 
> http://www.jt-graphics.com/P_RP.html
> 
> ...


Buy all of the accurizing pieces you say?????? most of them are 8 dollars a piece with atleast on of them being 20 dollars!!!!! If one wants to spend a small fortune then let them, but not me when it's cheaper to do it myself for less than half the cost for all of those accurizing pieces.


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## Trek Ace (Jul 8, 2001)

Jeff isn't forcing anyone to buy them. Frankly, I'm surprised that no one brought them to the market earlier. 

They are very well done. This will save me a lot of time rebuilding and reshaping a D7 head to replace the kit one, as I've had to do before. That's worth the price right there!


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## SUNGOD (Jan 20, 2006)

I don't want to buy any replacement resin or try and alter it myself. I want to see an otherwise decent kit brought up to scratch with a few new *styrene *parts. 

Not everyone likes resin or is capable of scratchbuilding the necessary parts. There's a lot of detail missing on there and I'd like to see R2 upgrade the kit in a similar way to what Revell have done with their D7. Tiny plastic windows and more accurate detail. Again all it need is a few new parts.

Unfortunately R2 seem intent on just repackaging the same old thing over and over instead of improving their kits.


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## irishtrek (Sep 17, 2005)

Trek Ace, I was not implying he was trying to force people to buy his aftermarket items.
The 3 areas where this kit needs to be redone are the leading edge of the bridge, the forward wall of the main body and the back wall as well needs to have more accurate grill wok on the molds. All not hard to do when you stop and think it through.


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## Trek Ace (Jul 8, 2001)

I've done it, before. It's a LOT of work. 
That's why it's great that there are aftermarket parts that relieve a lot of that pain.


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## irishtrek (Sep 17, 2005)

But, where's the fun in using resin replacment parts instead of scratch building them your self????:wave:


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## John P (Sep 1, 1999)

SUNGOD said:


> Unfortunately R2 seem intent on just repackaging the same old thing over and over instead of improving their kits.


:freak:

Much of what they're rereleased has had some kind of improvement or another - landing gear on the KBoP, new lower hull and transom on the Reliant, new and better decals on many kits...

Nowhere is it written that a re-release of an existing kit HAS to have improvements. Other kit companies release the same kits over and over for decades with nothing but different decals. The last time R/M re-released the Phantom Mustang, it was the same kit I bought in 1968.

And half the point of re-releasing a kit from existing molds is that it takes no development money to generate income that they can then use to come out with new kits. They gotta pay for the 350 E and the upcoming shuttlecraft somehow.


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## SUNGOD (Jan 20, 2006)

John P said:


> :freak:
> 
> Much of what they're rereleased has had some kind of improvement or another - landing gear on the KBoP, new lower hull and transom on the Reliant, new and better decals on many kits...
> 
> ...





It might not be written that an existing kit has to have improvements but the Klingon ship is one kit that really needs it i.m.o. Something like the old Phantom Mustang is not really worth improving as there's much better Mustangs available from loads of manufacturers now and it's not a case of just adding some new parts. 

There's only 1 K'Tinga kit so why not bring that up to scratch. 

R2 aren't a small company like Moebius. They could afford to do it if they wanted to so I'm not convinced that providing a few new parts for the K'Tinga would stop them bringing out new kits like the 350 E (which is almost being released) or the shuttlecraft. 

In fact maybe they'd make a good profit on an upgraded K'Tinga anyway as people would have more of an incentive to buy it instead of buying the same old kit again.


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## WarpCore Breach (Apr 27, 2005)

Most of the Trek kits (and the further back you go from their release date, the worse the problem is) all suffer from varying degrees of inaccuracies that require far more than simple "tweaks". Some - especially the old 18" TOS E and the recently re-issued Romulan Bird of Prey need to be completely redone with new molds to make them truly accurate.

It really wasn't till when Polar Lights started coming out with their new Trek kits that the accuracy situation improved - but even so, those kits still have some compromises that affect their overall accuracy.

Not defending R2's (or anyone else's) policies; just pointing out that their record so far has been good in at least trying to address some of the issues.


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## RSN (Jul 29, 2008)

According to CultTVman, who was at the show for the announcement, there will be some chages to the K'tinga. 
http://culttvman.com/main/?p=25085


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## irishtrek (Sep 17, 2005)

But that link does not say what those 'tweaks' will be. 
In fact it has more info on the old AMT bridge kit being repopped.


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## RSN (Jul 29, 2008)

irishtrek said:


> But that link does not say what those 'tweaks' will be.
> In fact it has more info on the old AMT bridge kit being repopped.


Why not wait to see, then we will know. :thumbsup:


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## jbond (Aug 29, 2002)

You really can't get anywhere near the look of the actual miniature without replacing the entire nose "bulb"--the ERTL one is way too round, completely the wrong shape.

...since this ship is being put out again, though...you have to wonder whether they'll redo the original refit model. It's still a nice size...of course it's probably impossible to make it a "smoothie" again which would be the improvement everyone wants.


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## oggy4u (Sep 27, 2007)

I, too, am disappointed that R2 reissued this old MATCHBOX kit without major improvements. Like ,why bother. Its is perhaps the least accurate Star Trek kit ever made.Here's just one example; the engines point up if the model is viewed from the side and point inwards if looked at from above.(Admittedly this actually exists on the studio model,but not that badly.) I hope that R2 is only trying to make money off this mold before they issue a totally new K'tinga.


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## John P (Sep 1, 1999)

Yes, _damn _these people for reissuing old kits that we loved, so people who may have missed them can get their hands on them! And damn them for not announcing the exact changes, if any, in intimate detail! Keel-hauling's too good for them!

:freak:


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## WarpCore Breach (Apr 27, 2005)

jbond said:


> ...you have to wonder whether they'll redo the original refit model. It's still a nice size...of course it's probably impossible to make it a "smoothie" again which would be the improvement everyone wants.


No need to wonder anymore. It's already been said that they don't have any plans to reissue that Refit again. Plus, the molds were inspected and they've been basically been ruined by the process to etch that faux paneling. A Smoothie will never again be seen from those molds.

If there were to be any reissues, the model would be exactly the same as all the other reissues. There's LOTS of room for improvements, though. You could fill a box with all sorts of "tweaked" parts to replace the kit ones with....


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## kenlee (Feb 11, 2010)

oggy4u said:


> I, too, am disappointed that R2 reissued this old MATCHBOX kit without major improvements. Like ,why bother. Its is perhaps the least accurate Star Trek kit ever made.Here's just one example; the engines point up if the model is viewed from the side and point inwards if looked at from above.(Admittedly this actually exists on the studio model,but not that badly.) I hope that R2 is only trying to make money off this mold before they issue a totally new K'tinga.


Having the old kit re-issued is better than not having anything at all. I will gladly buy one of the re-issued models, just to support Round 2 because they are giving us re-issues of kits we thought that we would never see on store shelves again (Pilgrim Observer, Strange Change kits, Dark Shadows kits, Leif Ericson to name a few) and new kits that we thought that we would never see (1/350 TOS Enterprise, 1/35 TOS Galileo, Re-fit NX-01 and more). 
If you don't like the kit, don't buy it, there is no reason to come here and complain about it, that accomplishes nothing.


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## SUNGOD (Jan 20, 2006)

kenlee said:


> Having the old kit re-issued is better than not having anything at all. I will gladly buy one of the re-issued models, just to support Round 2 because they are giving us re-issues of kits we thought that we would never see on store shelves again (Pilgrim Observer, Strange Change kits, Dark Shadows kits, Leif Ericson to name a few) and new kits that we thought that we would never see (1/350 TOS Enterprise, 1/35 TOS Galileo, Re-fit NX-01 and more).
> If you don't like the kit, don't buy it, there is no reason to come here and complain about it, that accomplishes nothing.





Maybe nobody should ever do any "complaining" on these forums then. Maybe we should all just say everything's great all the time? 

It's great that R2 reissued the Pilgrim Observer and Strange Change kits etc of course but they still stand up well today. The K'Tinga is lacking in certain areas


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## irishtrek (Sep 17, 2005)

For all we know those 'tweaks' to the K'Tinga just may be the corrections to the molds that so badly need to be done.
And as for the speculation on wether or not R2 will reissue the old AMT refit
R2 has said in the past the same thing about the 350 NX-01 and they recently anounnced it was going to be reissued, but at the same time that does _not_ mean they will do the same with the refit.


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## SUNGOD (Jan 20, 2006)

John P said:


> Yes, _damn _these people for reissuing old kits that we loved, so people who may have missed them can get their hands on them! And damn them for not announcing the exact changes, if any, in intimate detail! Keel-hauling's too good for them!
> 
> :freak:




If anyone's missed them and wants the same old kit then there's quite a few on Ebay right now. Loads of those old K'Tingas about if you look for them.


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## Guy Schlicter (May 3, 2004)

WarpCore Breach said:


> No need to wonder anymore. It's already been said that they don't have any plans to reissue that Refit again. Plus, the molds were inspected and they've been basically been ruined by the process to etch that faux paneling. A Smoothie will never again be seen from those molds.
> 
> If there were to be any reissues, the model would be exactly the same as all the other reissues. There's LOTS of room for improvements, though. You could fill a box with all sorts of "tweaked" parts to replace the kit ones with....


I asked Jamie about reissuing the 1/537 Refit and he told me that they looked into the possibilty of reissuing it as a smooth kit. The cost came back too high and he told me they would retool most of the kit. Even though it was drastically altered by Ertl with their panel detailing and not every one liked it. The truth is it was a good selling model, Ertl said in their 1987 Blueprinter they sold 150,000 of them with the Star Trek IV boxart. Ertl even awarded Leonard Nimoy a chrome addition of their Enterprise A model on a beautiful display base for the success of Star Trek IV and the model selling very well.


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## Fozzie (May 25, 2009)

I'm in for a K'Tinga and the 1:350 NX-01. These are kits I missed during their original releases and I am delighted to get a chance to pick them up now, flaws and all.


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## WarpCore Breach (Apr 27, 2005)

About the AMT Refit - while it's a nice intermediate size (and I've got a whole bunch of them and variants underway), and I do not challenge what's been done with the kit in the past - the kit itself is not well-designed and it has a lot of issues in terms of accuracy, best-selling or not. For over 20 years, it was the ONLY game in town, f you wanted a decent sized Refit. You only have to look at all of the accurization kits done in the past and present that fixes most of the problem areas but still doesn't address inherent flaws in the major parts themselves.

I still love this model, though. I've had lots of fun with ones I've worked with, flaws and all.  Those have really worked on this kit have produced stunning examples of real model building skills in making an eye-catching model.


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## Ductapeforever (Mar 6, 2008)

SUNGOD said:


> Maybe nobody should ever do any "complaining" on these forums then. Maybe we should all just say everything's great all the time?
> 
> It's great that R2 reissued the Pilgrim Observer and Strange Change kits etc of course but they still stand up well today. The K'Tinga is lacking in certain areas



When your customer base complains about every bloody little detail that doesn't meet your personal standard after damn near a years worth of design , planning , and tooling. It is not surpriseing that they are closed mouthed about new kit information or forthcoming with any info at all.
I honestly wish they would quit releasing *ANY* information about new products until they are ready for store shelves. Give me the old days of discovery when the first time you heard about a new kit was when you were paying for it in the check-out line. There are plenty of Consumer web sites just for complaints, take it there....we are all tired of hearing about it.


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## kenlee (Feb 11, 2010)

SUNGOD said:


> Maybe nobody should ever do any "complaining" on these forums then. Maybe we should all just say everything's great all the time?
> 
> It's great that R2 reissued the Pilgrim Observer and Strange Change kits etc of course but they still stand up well today. The K'Tinga is lacking in certain areas


Not disagreeing with that but complaints about something that has not been released yet serve no purpose. Wait until it comes out or we see a test shot of the kit to see what has and has not been addressed. If something does not meet your standards then complain away if that is what makes you happy.


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## SUNGOD (Jan 20, 2006)

Ductapeforever said:


> When your customer base complains about every bloody little detail that doesn't meet your personal standard after damn near a years worth of design , planning , and tooling. It is not surpriseing that they are closed mouthed about new kit information or forthcoming with any info at all.
> I honestly wish they would quit releasing *ANY* information about new products until they are ready for store shelves. Give me the old days of discovery when the first time you heard about a new kit was when you were paying for it in the check-out line. There are plenty of Consumer web sites just for complaints, take it there....we are all tired of hearing about it.





Here we go again eh Duct. You seem to have set yourself up as some moral campaigner on here who never does any complaining yourself. Even though I remember you complaining about the Moebius Battlestar kits.

If you're going to act the moral authority then at least practice it yourself. Otherwise you come across as a hypocrite.


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## Ductapeforever (Mar 6, 2008)

SUNGOD said:


> Here we go again eh Duct. You seem to have set yourself up as some moral campaigner on here who never does any complaining yourself. Even though I remember you complaining about the Moebius Battlestar kits.
> 
> If you're going to act the moral authority then at least practice it yourself. Otherwise you come across as a hypocrite.


I don't own a Moebius Battlestar kit , nor did I like the re-imagined series .I have no interest in any of the series products, and am completely ambivalent to any discussion on the subject,.......in short.....I could give a rip !


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## SUNGOD (Jan 20, 2006)

Ductapeforever said:


> I don't own a Moebius Battlestar kit , nor did I like the re-imagined series .I have no interest in any of the series products, and am completely ambivalent to any discussion on the subject,.......in short.....I could give a rip !




Well you were complaining about Moebius doing them weren't you? So it's ok for you to complain about something but not for everyone else?


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## Griffworks (Jun 24, 2002)

Why is it people can't just respect each others opinions...?


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