Fenris games Griffin House - assembly problems

[gnomehome]

I've finally started assembly on the Griffin House from Fenris Games. I've found it to be a very bad fitting kit, unless I'm doing something wrong.

Do you really have to sandpaper down all the slots where the tabs shoudl fit ? It' the only way I see to get a clean, flush corner, or will the styrene sheet take care of these imperfections.





The walls are slighyly (but noticably) curved as well unless of course the grid pattern on my cutting mat is crooked as well (no picture) .

The front door also is a crooked fit. The tabs on the short wall piece had to be sanded down or they would't fit. The inner wall is also 0.2 mm narrower than the front wall .



Has anybody ran into the same problems when assembling, am I missing something obvious (I follow the guide on the Fenris site, so I don't think I've made a mistake but one never knows.

Surely it can't be the case that you have remeasure and sand each slot to get the correct fit - it's a £60 kit - it should fit right out the box.

I've assembled several 4ground kits (or whoever makes the Rorke's drift and Dead Man's hand buildings) without any problems whatsoever so I'm not a total newbie when it comes to assebling such kits.

[The Dozing Dragon]

Mine is still a halfway house but the plastic covers the corners etc. I have some pics somewhere on LAF and will look later.....quick snooze now before night shift 

[Mindenbrush]

you are not alone, I am putting one together for a friend and have found the same issues.

[The Dozing Dragon]

Here's the older sales thread with links at the bottom post.

http://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=53322.0

[Svennn]

I didn't have these particular problems but the one I built certainly wasn't a smooth ride.  The corners will be covered but I would get them neater than that first if it was me.  Its a lot of work and head scratching at times but its probably worth it in the end.

The one I did is in this thread
http://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=67177.0

[robh]

Do you really have to sandpaper down all the slots where the tabs shoudl fit ? It' the only way I see to get a clean, flush corner,

Rather than sanding the inside of the slots it is easier to de-laminate the inside of one set of the tongues on each corner. Just score with a craft knife and remove 2mm or so thickness with the knife or a chisel.
This will allow the wall to drop down further making the join tighter.

[gnomehome]

First of all, thank you for the replies and links. It's a bit of a comfort to hear that I'm not the only one having troubles. On the other had - it's quite obvious that there's something quite wrong with the kit-design.

I also think that the laser cut does not form a straight angle with the flat surface, it seems slightly on angle. The lasercutting machine probably has it's problems too (or is ill-maintained or not adequately used). I suppose that this wil not be much of a problem for the build though.

Rather than sanding the inside of the slots it is easier to de-laminate the inside of one set of the tongues on each corner. Just score with a craft knife and remove 2mm or so thickness with the knife or a chisel.
This will allow the wall to drop down further making the join tighter.

I'll have to resort to this strategy. I've measured some things up with my calipers. The thicknes of the plywood is 3,5 mm on average (and quite constant), the slots where the tabs are to be fitted are between 3,1 and 3,3 mm (more variation may be due to more difficult to measure). This to me is a serious indication that the kit-design is just plain wrong (or more likely the prototype was developed for a thinner material) and that there is no real quality control within Fenris. I can live with the occasional miscast resin base I receive from them, this is quite easily fixed, but for a piece with this price point I expect a better design without what seems to be mistakes in design.

Sanding down all the tabs will take quite a bit of time, I've might just as well have scratchbuilt. I'm very disappointed in Fenris Games.

[zizi666]

When in doubt contact the fine people at Fenris.
I had pieces on my Dock crane (Ichabod Crane) that didn't make sense.
I scanned them (with measurements) and emailed 'em to Fenris Games and they confirmed my suspicion about miscuts.
I got replacement pieces and managed to put everything together just perfectly.
now, if only I could find time to finish the paint job (and create a new hook since the plywood one was a bit too fiddly for my enthousiasm  )

[geronimo]

Sorry to hear that some of you have had problems - this is the first time I've been made aware of them and would have replaced parts/resolved issues sooner if I'd known. Drop me pm s or emails if you have problems  and i'll do my best to get you sorted ASAP. Please be aware, though - "the fine people at Fenris" is just me, so things will, of necessity, take a while to sort out.

EDIT: or refunds, if preferred.

[zizi666]

Sorry to hear that some of you have had problems - this is the first time I've been made aware of them and would have replaced parts/resolved issues sooner if I'd known. Drop me pm s or emails if you have problems  and i'll do my best to get you sorted ASAP. Please be aware, though - "the fine people at Fenris" is just me, so things will, of necessity, take a while to sort out.

EDIT: or refunds, if preferred.

In that case : "the gentleman at Fenris" 

[gnomehome]

Sorry to hear that some of you have had problems - this is the first time I've been made aware of them and would have replaced parts/resolved issues sooner if I'd known. Drop me pm s or emails if you have problems  and i'll do my best to get you sorted ASAP. Please be aware, though - "the fine people at Fenris" is just me, so things will, of necessity, take a while to sort out.

EDIT: or refunds, if preferred.

I'll make some pictures and measurements and contact you directly to see exactly what pieces might need replacement.

Many thanks for the excellent customer service

[geronimo]

I'll make some pictures and measurements and contact you directly to see exactly what pieces might need replacement.

Many thanks for the excellent customer service

Sure, happy to help. I've always bent over backwards to make sure customers are happy wherever possible, especially when it's my fault :blush: iirc the issue with zizi's crane was that I cut from an old file (when changing over from the old laser to the new, there was a lot of mucking about with file formats and settings), this may have been the case with a batch of Griffin Houses. Sorry again !