notsram

No doubt this will get deleted, but is anyone else concerned that not a single person has yet posted in here saying that their tank works?

The flashing lights sounds like a pairing issue. I haven't started this build yet (and won't be doing until someone, somewhere actually confirms they have a working model), but I had the misfortune to build the Modelspace T72 and the lights on that would flash until pairing was successful.

Even if I wanted to go after-market, I couldn't. Out of interest, I thought I'd see how much the KK stuff costs and it turns out they don't ship to the UK.

I'm not a lawyer, so someone else might well be able to explain this a bit better, but basically, Eaglemoss are insolvent, i.e. close to going bust. Rather than declare bankruptcy and have to close the company completely, they have called in administrators to try and rescue the business. Perhaps by finding a buyer, selling off stock or finding someone willing to invest enough money to keep them going. The problem with this, of course, is that once people know the company is in administration, they're not very likely to place any new orders, so the cashflow situation will probably get worse rather than better. You've already spotted that their online ordering system is down. I'd guess it'll stay down until the situation is resolved.

Might I ask why my post has been removed? As far as I'm aware, I didn't break any forum rules.

Eaglemoss are currently in administration. I'd be very careful ordering anything from them until that's sorted out. That's if they're even taking orders at the moment, of course.

Dug the awfulness that is the T72 out of my loft today to take a look at the wheel/track gap. My memory was right, for once. There's virtually no gap, certainly not enough of one to cause an issue. A few pics attached for anyone interested... As you can see, the wheels and tracks fit together quite nicely.

I'd assume the reason for the tub/suspension arms being plastic are that this model seems broadly based on the Modelspace T72 and they were plastic on that model. In fact, IIRC, just about the only metal item on the T72 was the tracks, and, I think, the main motor wheels. And the tracks weren't pre-built on the T72 either. I had a LOT (see above) of issues with the T72, but I don't recall any problems with the plastic construction of the tub and suspension arms.

I should preface this by saying that there's no reason to suspect the Agora model will have any of the following issues... It was a few years ago, so I don't remember all the details, but the two main issues I had with the T72 were with the electronics and the handset. Try though I might (and I had three or four replacement circuit boards), I couldn't get the thing to work properly. It was something like the gun elevation controls being reversed and the fire button only operated the machine gun sounds. I also had at least three handsets. They'd clearly bought a job lot as they all had identical issues - the on/off switch was very very stiff and would quickly jam. You'd need a screwdriver to move it. Then there was the smoke generator. Insanely loud. It completely drowned out the onboard sound effects. Speaking of the sound effects, the volume was supposed to be adjustable but it wasn't. Finally, there was pairing the thing when powering it up. Some combination of flashing lights. It would take at least half a dozen attempts to pair, which involved switching the handet on and off again. Which was a pain as mentioned above. I did buy the Wifi/camera add-on, but never got around to trying to install it. I gave up on the model after all the above issues. I do seem to remember complaints on the forum that that didn't work properly either 😛

Whoever dropped the ball doesn't really matter. This is marketed as being driveable. If it's going to fall apart when driven, it's clearly not fit for purpose. I'm not sure how much R&D went into it in any case. As I've now got all the components, I've started downloading the instructions (apart from pack 12 - still no explanation on this, Agora?), and now I've started reading them, this seems like a reworking of the T72 from Deagostini/Modelspace. The second worst partwork I've ever built (the worst being the X-Wing). The T72 had no end of issues (mostly with the electronics and the handset), but I don't remember the wheels being one of them. I still have the thing in my loft somewhere. I'll have to dig it out sometime and see how the wheels look.

Lack of clarity really isn't a good idea. Keep people informed and they'll be a lot more forgiving if there is a problem. And if there is a problem, ignoring it won't make it go away. The delay to the instructions for pack 12 is a complete mystery. It's not as though Agora have gone to the expense of printing the instructions, so even if there were last minute edits, they should be available by now. As Agora can't/won't clarify, we can only speculate. My guess would be they've identified a major problem somewhere (possibly the track issue that you spotted) and are trying to find a way of rectifyting this as cheaply as possible. Once again, some communication would be good, Agora...

It's three weeks since this thread was posted. Surely, someone from Agora would have the courtesy to answer it by now? This is a 'museum quality' model priced at well over £1,000, not a £10 toy from Argos. If it's going to break when we start using it, I think we deserve to be told. And we definitely shouldn't have to fork out for expensive aftermarket parts just to get the thing to work. I'm quite glad I haven't started this build yet. I'll be watching this thread very carefullly and if it does turn out to be a serious issue, I'll have to give serious consideration to returning the kit for a refund.

They're up now 🙂

Now that Eaglemoss are in administration, I doubt we'll ever see this now 😞 Unless someone else picks it up of course!

I would jump on this one like a shot!

I should have paid closer attention to my account page. Turns out that what I was charged for a month ago was the next installment of the Jaguar build. It arrived this morning. Previous complaint on how long it took between payment and delivery obviously still applies... it's only two days until my next payment is due to be taken! And having now checked my Leopard account page, looks as though @Joep is correct - the next invoice date has been pushed back to the end of May? If there's a delay, it'd be nice to be at least informed about it... Oh, and as a final whinge, I updated my delivery details back in December. Why are all my orders still being delivered to the old address? 😛

I was charged for pack 9 on March 24th. It is now April 19th and I still haven't even been told it's despatched yet, let alone received it. This is really VERY poor, Agora. Deagostini/Modelspace level...

It had better not be May, seeing as Agora charged me for pack 9 three weeks ago... I fully appreciate we have to pay for stuff in advance, but this was barely a week after I'd received pack 8. There does seem to be a larger and larger gap each month between paying and actually receiving the pack.

I'm in the UK too. I'm not building the bus, but am building the Jaguar and Leopard tank. I get notification emails for both of those before each pack is despatched along with royal mail tracking numbers.

*cough* me too *cough* I would jump on the DB5 like a shot if it came out!

I've just had the shipping notification on mine, so hopefully we'll all have the first pack soon 🙂

But getting your hands on the Deagostini Jag is all but impossible. I've ordered the full kit twice and cancelled after months of waiting. Really looking forward to this one. Just hope the quality is a bit better than the Shelby Snake...

The glue on mine is still holding. Although I haven't moved the model once since glueing the wheel on and putting it in my display cabinet. For a model costing this much (even by partwork standards, it's expensive), we shouldn't have to do things like this. The parts should be near enough perfect.

Luckily the glue seems to be holding the wheel on (four days in my display cabinet so far and it's not fallen off yet!) and to be fair, it does look lovely. Just not quite as lovely as it should given that I don't dare move it in case something breaks...

Looking at the promo pics, it should stay open, but it doesn't. Mine flops too. Shame as I'd really like to display it with the lid open to show off the interior detail. Then again, when you fully open the boot lid, there isn't quite enough clearance and it scratches the paintwork on the back of the model. Only a tiny scratch, but noticeable.