Reviews and the Scores

Back at the beginning of this blog I wrote I wrote about how I would review kits. One of my readers recently wrote to me asking how I score my reviews, so I thought I'd just add a quick post to show you exactly how I score built kits and in-box reviews.

With built kits I give a score out of 5. Generally I will try and finish a kit before scoring although sometime for whatever reasons a kit doesn't get finished.

There are 5 points categories, with either 0, 0.5 or 1 point being awarded for each. They are:

• Decals / Colour Schemes - Ease of use of decals, colour scheme options and number.
• Detail - Accuracy of models, detail of individual parts, quality of sprues.
• Build - Ease of build, quality of instructions.
• Value - Quality and price based on the recommended retail price (not necessarily the price I bought it for).
• Bonus - Extras points for offering something new, ground-breaking, unusual or just for being an extraordinary kit.

If kit decals aren't used then I will judge the available colour schemes, not the replacements. The same applies for extra details from third party manufacturers.

So in the case of my last review the final score of 2 was reached by scoring the following:

• Decals - 0.5, two nice options but the decals themselves were a bit too thick for my liking.
• Detail - 0.5, reasonable level of detail, let down by the inaccurate front wheel and sparse interior.
• Build - 0.5, possibly a bit generous as the review mentions the numerous fit issues but I did mange to complete the kit despite them.
• Value - 0.5, fairly good value but there are of course better kits (but not P-39s) available in this price range.
• Bonus - 0, nothing really stood out. I contemplated a half point for the option to open the cockpit door but realised open canopies are pretty much standard on all kits.

For the in-box reviews I use the following scores:

•  Avoid - says it all really!
• Average - The basics are there but you'll probably want to consider this kit as a starting point and purchase extras for it.
• Promising - Looks good, could probably be built out of the box or with extras. Either way it's up to you!
• Outstanding - A top of the range kit with everything you need to create an excellent model.

So there it is, I hope that help when reading my reviews in the future. Feel free to let me know if you want any further information about a particular review.