I was thinking this way for a while. But apparently there are only about 3 or 4 factories in China producing model trains. More and more of the Japanese mass market models are being produced in China. Remember Mattel? They blamed China, got called on the carpet by the Chinese government and were forced to admit most of the recalls were because of American design flaws. I think specifications play a very big part in determining quality. Kato and Tomy seem to be able to get good products out of China, but it requires the investment of time and money to produce quality. The Japanese brass and paper models are in a league by themselves. They reputedly come from ma and pa factories. I can figure out what's going on by the diagrams on Tomix and Green Max packages, but I with a brass kit I think you would be strictly on your own model building experience.
It's not that bad out there in structure kit land. If you're a novice, start with something simple. Read all the articles you can about the subject of structure building and go for it. Just because some kits are better than others is no reason to only go for built-ups. By doing so you cheat yourself out of so many possibilities for unique structures and good building experiences. I suggest that some of you with complaints or concerns about your kit building experience should contact the manufacturer (if possible) and let them know of your struggles. As a kit manufacturer (although quite small) I want to know about any problems my customers encounter so I can rectify them as quickly as possible. All my kit instructions contain my company's email address for just such purposes. You never know what an email might accomplish--maybe nothing, maybe a new kit.
