I have a friend who scratchbuilds civil war-era ships (1/600 scale - they're tiny!). He has recently started building masters, but the guy who has been doing casting with/for him is overwhelmed right now. They've talked to people at AEF Designs, as they seem like serious resin casters. Has anyone had any experience with them? Good quality? Good customer service? Reputable and honest?

Any thoughts or advice would be most welcome.

Take a look here:
https://armorama.kitmaker.net/forums/26294&page=1

https://armorama.kitmaker.net/forums/29946&page=1

Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeesh, that ain't good. Thanks for the warning, I've passed it along. Anyone else got issues?

I have never had a good experience with AEF. Production Quality control is NON EXISTENT. Customer service (for me anyway) was also non existent. I wont be buying from them again. HTH
cheers,
Bryan

The quality of the items I have purchased from AEF has been hit or miss. Some of the stuff has been OK, (and I emphasize just OK) some of it has been just plain bad. "Instructions?? we don't need no stinkin' instructions" seems to be one of their mottos. As for customer service they don't know the meaning of the word. Everything I have ordered from them has arrived but the shortest wait I ever had was 6 weeks, another time it was closer to 6 months. They make some unique kits which is why I have returned to them more than once.

Mike

Part timer, Take this to heart.... "Use at your own risk." I have had more than one experience with AEF designs. I have been in the basement where the "operations" took place. Tony
( Owner Operator) has some of the coolest offerings out there for stuff you dont find everyday. Israeli, Syrian, Egyptian etc... Unfortunately There are problems in the QAQC department. I would think it stems from the parts being demolded too quickly causing them to warp. Air bubbles aka voids in the resin are the norm. I kick my slef everytime I think of maybe getting another conversion or something from AEF. I consider the clean up time, can I scratch stuff that I find wrong? yada yada yada. LAst I knew Tony had just a couple of folks operating as "helpers", but that was a couple of years ago. I'm not sure how he is doing things now-a-days, but as the others have stated its hit or miss. I would suggest to your friend to find somebody else to do his casting work for him. Just out of curiosity, how complex are these ships? How many pieces? I pressure cast stuff myself. Nothing fancy, but I get decent results. I'd be willing to share what I know with your buddy and maybe he would like to give it a go himself. Its not rocket science. HTH "Q"

One other thing Parttimer, sometime AEF sends out the wrong parts for a particular kit. The box will say one thing, but contain something else. This has happened on a couple of occassions. "Q"