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February 2024 by Jamie Ingall
Models look great. I will say they do over promise/under deliver on time frames. I was told I’d receive the models by Christmas, and ordered 3 large models spending a significant amount of money. They were all over a month late.They did call me to see if I was satisfied after I finally received them which was nice. Although when I expressed disappointment with the delay they were sort of just like “ya… that sucks sorry”. I might recommend using them again because they seem to do good work and the model matches my photos fairly well. Just make sure you’re not in a hurry & not expecting any sympathy if something goes wrong!
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February 2024 by Kym Francesconi
We ordered custom made Dash 8 Q400 models and they are perfect! The attention to detail is incredible, they really are miniature replicas of our Nexus Airlines planes. The service was excellent and delivery process smooth. I would highly recommend Factory Direct Models.
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February 2024 by Gregory Torre
Cost of QualityThat's the term used to describe when product quality suffers from increased production.I'm a repeat customer of FDM and for the most part had been very satisfied with the results from past orders.My last order however signaled a very different situation.This last order was placed 10/25/23 in hopes of getting it in time for Christmas. In early December I was cautioned by FDM that they were falling behind in deliveries and might not get my model by Christmas. I appealed to FDM management as a repeat customer and was then promised it in time for the holiday.That turned out to be "a day late and a dollar short"; my model was ready December 26th. "It is what it is", I sighedWhen I did received the model I was disappointed as to the quality of the execution.The nose gear lacked any detail and was white instead of silver as in the photo I sent, the spinner color was gray instead of white and the clear coating was globbed on in places further obscuring any detail of the wheels and gear legs.The empennage scale rendition was inaccurate, appearing too thin for a C-172K.I sent pictures but they claimed to have trouble seeing them (I'm a pro level photographer).FDM offered to replace this first attempt for half price so long as I returned what I had; an alternative was to return what I had and just pay shipping for the replacement.I wasn't about to pay another $150.00 to get what I had paid for originally and this obsession with getting the subpar model back was somewhat of a mystery. What were they going to do with a horrible copy of MY airplane?!I tried negotiating, first I offered $100.00 for the replacement but FDM was firm on the half price.I didn't want to send back what I had, having seen how delayed FDM is with their deliveries as then FDM would then have both my money AND my model with no assurances of getting a better version back.I again tried to negotiate offering to return the defective model, at my expense, for one of better quality once I had received the better model.This too was rejected.For FDM it is apparently their way or the highway.So here I am with a clearly ugly version of my beloved C-172 and no joy from the FDM folks.Undoubtedly they will reply to this review with some lame and inaccurate statement but the facts are the facts. I'm not saying you should not order a custom model what I am saying is to be aware that there is a cost of quality.
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January 2024 by Alex Beckworth
Had a model made of my Cessna 182P. I sent them pictures of mine and it is fantastic!
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January 2024 by Chris Totten
The level of detail is amazing. Highest quality construction/materials resulting is a solid model. A simply beautiful piece of work. I'm beyond happy and satisfied!
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January 2024 by Ken Evers
The model I ordered was precisely the same as the actual aircraft. Incredible attention to detail and I was beyond impressed. I cannot recommend this company highly enough!
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January 2024 by hamish dixon
The model arrived well packaged and exceeded all expectations making the perfect present. I was so impressed by the amount of work that had gone into creating this miniature aircraft that I've ordered another aircraft model, this time for myself!
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January 2024 by Bobby Miller
Excellent quality and details, beyond what I was expecting!
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January 2024 by Rick Longlott
WOW…. What an amazing job FDM did on a Challenger 601 for our Boss’s Christmas present. Besides the crazy colors of our jet and last minute additional paint on our winglets, the Boss couldn’t have been more pleased.The crew who handled our order and all of our changes need to be commended. This includes Lauren H., who handled my order and answered all my dumb questions….Jason W. and Mike G who guided me thru the final process and handled our last minute additional work and answered my delivery questions.Thank you; the 601 is a exact image of the real jet. In addition, the case our 601 came in was equally impressive. I can’t tell how impressed our boss was with the model.On time, perfect match, great order process and fantastic customer service, I couldn’t have been more satisfied with my order and with FDMThanks,Rick Longlott
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December 2023 by Tedrick “Carbon” J
Placed a custom order for a very special Christmas gift on 9.13.23 and was told I made the cutoff for Christmas delivery. Only after inquiring today (because I hadn’t heard anything), I was told that they would not make delivery in time for Christmas. So disappointing. Even more unhappy that I had to ask - no effort on their part to get ahead of this. Complete collapse and utter failure to show concern for the customer. This is my second order from FDM. There will not be a third. Rating them one star, only because less than one star isn’t an available option.
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August 2023 by Austin Meyer
I placed the order for a Lancair with:-the ACTUAL 3-views from the POH-the ACTUAL paint design from Scheme Designers-the EXACT IMRON paint codesAll in the first email. Nobody could do a more complete, thoughtful, and perfect placement of the order. Despite this, presumably because they are just a front for the actual work being done in Malaysia, they took NINE MONTHS to deliver the model, and, after COUNTLESS emails trying to explain the paint colors to them because they had no concept of an IMRON paint code, I had to refuse the first attempt due to them getting the colors all wrong and labelling it as (I'm not making this up) a TBM-850 on the stand. I answered my emails to them promptly, but they still blamed me for taking NINE MONTHS to deliver the model. I run a small business, and I don't farm out my work to the cheapest, slowest bidder, and then blame the customer when my suppliers drop the ball.
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August 2023 by Ernest Lugo
Quality work: Detailed work with excellent craftsmanship. I would recommend FDM to anyone looking for quality work.
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June 2023 by Sean Hainer
***UPDATE at Bottom*** Reputable company with great reviews but sloppy technology. This company produces high quality models and is well known, but drops the ball on order taking. Where they are lacking is attention to detail on their website and tech. The site FAQ lists that a 50% deposit is taken when the order is placed. However, if you choose to pay with PayPal, its 100% in advance. The customer is not advised of this. When placing an order, you enter all the details and send photos, however, they don't make it to the staff and the info and pictures need to be provided a second time. Lastly, the price of a custom order is listed at $395, however, bi-plane models are $495. Again, nothing saying this and the order goes through. Other, ready to ship bi-planes are the same price as the other models. Certainly they can charge what they choose but should be upfront with their pricing. Customers should put up with some issues when buying a custom product but when you mislead your customer on multiple areas, you need to do better. Their staff was timely and professional in answering my questions about these issues. They seem to be a trustworthy business with some advertising and order taking issues. They are processing a full refund.***UPDATE***The company founder reached out to me personally and was professional, apologetic and offered to help me himself. There is also a plan in place to fix the website confusion. Sometimes it's more important how you handle adversity than success. It seems this company is good at both. Their reaction to a problem is uncommon professionalism with a drive to make it right. If you are reading this review, the final statement is, things will go wrong, how you react is what matters. This company can be trusted to react well.
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June 2023 by FortyEcho Films
An amazing company with which to do business. Excellent service when planning the project, great communication through the approval process, and most importantly, talented artists who produce a marvelous replica. Every last detail was executed to perfection! The photo does not do the model justice. It is absolutely stunning!!The best compliment one could give is the following story. I purchased this model as a gift for someone who has everything. The recipient was so impressed that he placed an order the very next day for the same exact model, only with landing gear instead of amphibian floats.Factory Direct Models now has two very happy customers who will definitely work with them again in the very near future!
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May 2023 by jhillips18
My review was a little delayed because I got a model for my dad's retirement so I wanted to wait until i could see him and give it to him first. He absolutely loved it and can't stop talking about it! He's had it less than a day and his co-workers are already asking here he got it so they can get one. Even the ones that already have models from other companies have admitted they're not as well done. Hope y'all get a few more customers out of this. Excellent work and transparency! Thank you again so much!
