"Hobby Armor Depot - an honest assessment" Topic

I initially wrote an entire review of the order process and of the products themselves.

But I was informed, too late to stop it, that these vehicles are rip-offs from other designers. I am ashamed that I helped to perpetuate it.

I have deleted my review and replace it with this – a second call to avoid H.A.D. at all costs.

I have to go to confession now…….

Bill, please don't hesitate to remove this entire thread as mentioning the retailer is indirect advertisement and that's the LAST thing I want to do.

I have had pretty much the same feelings on the HAD line myself. For what we needed he was just about the only vehicle producer of MRAPs. In 28mm I cannot find or am completely ignorant of any one else making them.

I have had my eyes on a few other of his smaller pieces but again no one else makes them. I can pretty much confirm their amtrack is a knock off. Thank god for Imprint stepping up and making a cleaner one.

Yes Generalstoner49.

Lesson learned – ALWAYS check here before you order from a retailer. There are people out there who are well aware that us modern gamers are starved for vehicles, and won't let IP crime stop them from getting their grubby little hands on our cash.

How can they be ripoffs if he's the only one selling them? Are they all copies or just some? Is this just a suspicion or is it established that model X is a copy of model Y?

Do a search. You will have all the info you will need to answer your own questions.

Grimm

It is as essayons said… The molds are just too soft. In the MRAP's I got the siding was very poor with some of the wheels almost looking like green stuff was smushed on.. I spent a good 2 hours with a dremel cleaning the sides up and actually taking the extra tires off and rescuplting them back on.

Over on the Force on force forums there is a definitive list of his knock off which included the French VAB that he sells and the AAVP. Someone also mentioned that the Stryker he makes is a knock off but I cannot remember which company. The VAB and the AAVP were a 28mm French company.

As Essayons said I kinda felt dirty after purchasing stuff from him because he was screwing someone else in the gaming community. One has to admit though, as I did, that when you are getting into a period such as 28mm modern there are very few makers of good vehicles out there.

Have I been tempted at purchasing the VAB for my Eureka French…mi sure have. Have the HEMTT M997 cargo vehicles been tempting, yes, but I refuse to do business with this guy ever again.

Previously known as All Fronts Armor Depot or AFAD.

Not only a recaster, his models are poor quality recasts, very cheap resin (one painted model I had started oozing a sticky residue through the paint over time), gives fake postal tracking numbers, when I confronted him he blamed all problems on an unseen brother.

I made the mistake with HAD in the past as well when doing 28mm vehicles. Oh well. Live and learn.

Wow, if you search on TMP for these guys you get nothing positive. Before I do business with anyone for the first time I always check here first. You can save yourself a lot of headaches that way!

Seems so hard to believe the man can be a thief by being an idiot. But he manages it.

I'm amazed he is still in business.
I would have assumed that The Law would have caught up to him by now…

I agree with you Disney but you would need definitive proof. I only know of 3-4 models that I can personally trace back. What about all the WW 2 stuff he has for sale? Surely it us recasted but from which lines?

And I have to say, upon further and closer inspection, it looks like he squirted out blobs of green stuff along many of the seams for no good reason. Quite shoddy.

I too will have to dig out my dremel and do some cleaning up if I'm not to waste the $85 USD I already blew on this.

Blobs of green stuff can never be a good thing. Good luck with the dremel!