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[Tom Eccles]

I have recently built (assembled, bodged, thrown together ---whatever) a Thunder Tiger E.T.N.Z. kit for a friend of mine.

I must say that the instructions are VERY well written; they are a superb example of an idiots guide and do exactly what it says on the box.

I understand that the kits are manufactured in China, it is my opinion that whoever wrote  these instructions has an excellent knowledge and understanding of
the English language- searching the booklet (again superb) I could only find a couple of minor errors and these could easily be "typos" .

Well done Thunder Tiger and well done Martin for raising an issue which I am sure has caused frustration for many

Best regards

Clegg

[Bee]

This is going to be a bit cheeky as I am not able to contribute myself but:
We have identified a problem so is there anything we can do to improve the situation?
If somone gets or hopefully while thinking of getting a certain kit they are likely to google it. If we have good content that responds to that search then they will find it, and get suitable advice, comment, star rating etc.
The 'What's in the box' section provides the location but I suggest a clearer name might be simply 'Model Kit reviews'.
Each entry needs a clear standardised title that is the kit's name and manufacturer plus type for casual viewers eg 'HotFish by BiggaBoats - Steam Trawler'. All picture files probably need the title too so google images finds it. The threads idealy should be edited to remove fluff and improve the English so that it becomes a worthwhile reference point.

It would also be nice to do the same for published plans, especially as pictures and description are often poor. Remember the old MAP plans handbook with its poor photos or line drawings? Just the same in its internet form yet someone must have made many of these so good photos should be available.

[tigertiger]

I can also sympathise with the manufactureres here. Having had to write user manuals for software, it is very difficult if you built the thing to write instructions for those how have not. It is easy to assume prior knowledge.
And even though some people may be familiar, others will be complete novices.

We were tought to write for the novice. The experts will skip through this anyway.

When was the last time I read the instructions for a kettle? Umm....

[Colin Bishop]

As they say, "When all else fails, read the instructions".

Of course you've broken it by then....

[SteamboatPhil]

Or built it and got lots of bits left over 

[catengineman]

Or built it and got lots of bits left over

Isn't that because YOUR good and it was possibly over engineered any way?
Well thats what I tell the spanner and it works for me.

Oh and I am thoroughly enjoying reading this thread

R,

[RickF]

Coming in late on this one, but I've been on holiday.

I spent the last twenty-odd years of my working life as a technical author writing operating instructions and maintenance manuals, first for the aircraft industry, then for a company making TV camera support equipment.

All the previous posts have made valid points. There are no excuses for poor instructions - they should all be tested and evaluated before publication. However, many companies use their designers or engineers to write the manuals and they are often too close to the problems to appreciate them, and have a familiarity with the product that prevents them seeing things the way a potential customer will. But, it's cheaper than employing a technical author!

Likewise translations, which should be carried out and verified by competent nationals of the target country - just getting an English national rather than an English speaker to read and correct the translation would iron out most of the problems. As an aside, I can tell you that translation is tremendously expensive and is usually the first cost to be cut! My translation budget exceeded my salary by a considerable amount. Translating a five page ops guide into six languages cost (in 2006) about £8,000. Far cheaper to get the SEO's wife, who did French at A level, to translate it.

Having said all that, there is a defence - of sorts -  for unintelligible instructions. One of the first things an author is taught is to identify his readership.This is pretty easy when you are writing for aircraft engineers or brain surgeons - it is possible to assume a common level of education or intelligence. Not so easy when dealing with modelmakers. Anything from a nine-year-old schoolboy (my first Airfix kit) to a ninety-year-old retired university professor (well, there must be one) and everything in between.  Writing to suit all of them would be difficult, but not impossible. It would be expensive and would need to be recovered in the cost of the kit. There are people in this forum more qualified than I to tell us what percentages and profits would be affected, but I suspect that the price rise might be prohibitive.

Rick

[Roger in France]

Well said, Rick.

My point earlier was that all instructions should be written by a technical author.

It has always amazed me that some writers never think to ask another person to read through what they write. When working and writing a report I frequently went to the most junior and inexperienced member of staff and asked them, "Please read this and tell me if it makes sense to you". Frequently it didn't!

The fact is that when we write something and check it ourself we read what we want to see.

I have seen material which has the relevant, standard reading age attached to it. I have also seen tables giving the relevant reading age for national newspapers....very illuminating!

It is also amusing to notice how many folk think you can write as you speak. You can't, these are two different skills.

Also, reading out loud what another has written is a different skill.

I could tell you of some amusing blunders I have made trying to write technical/legal things in French but I will avoid embarrassing myself.

Roger in France.

[malcolmfrary]

Anything from a nine-year-old schoolboy (my first Airfix kit) to a ninety-year-old retired university professor (well, there must be one) and everything in between.

Surely thats like running the gamut from A to B?
Instruction writing really is an art and an ability that is totally unappreciated by the bean counters.  They should always be proofed by someone else with low knowledge of the subject, but reasonable nous and enough brass neck to ask pertinent questions, and get answers.
Similarly translation, even moreso technical translation.  We have all rolled around laughing at Korean instruction manuals translated into English by a Hungarian using a phrase book, but what do the Koreans have from us as examples?  Or do we just print loud and slow?  Or do we rely on them studying English?

[tigertiger]

 I have read somewhere that the British manufactureres do have a reputation providing poor or sometimes totally inadequate instructions. And some modellers in the US will avoid buying British and other Europeanp products for this very reason.

There is another part to add to the equation though.
Big Manufacturers have no excuses. But as has been pointed out Thunder Tiger produce good instructions, and Robbe produce excellent downloadable instructions.

Many of the kit manufacturers are however 'owner drivers' (Moms and Pops), and they may not have the skills, cannot afford to buy in the skills, or may simply be too busy to cope with the additional burden.

However, if I can use Victor Models in California as an example. Everything I see about VM gives me the impression that this is a small company and the owner George Dornis seems to have his fingerprints on every aspect of his business. He is like many traders, very busy, does not answer emails sometimes, provides parts that need replacing (which he does) or need some working on, etc (all the usual foibles). But he does provide extensive stiep by step instruction books with many many photographs, and many pages. The instructions are not perfect, but as a beginer I found them intelligable and extremely userful.
Maybe in the American customers have a higher expectation.

VM sells all over the world. And some of his models have a huge following (e.g. Soling 1m)
So perhaps the message to small traders is that even if you don't think you have time, spending the time/money to provide good instructions may well help you increase you customer base significantly.