I’m currently at the tracks stage of a Panzer III 1/35 scale tank by Academy. I’m having some issues with the track linkage and just about at the stage of boxing it up and starting another porject. . . . should I stick with it? . . . Or move on to something new? Was wondering what others do.
Thanks, Frustarted In Texas
Depends on how frustrated you are. In my case if I’m thinking of putting it away I do. I rarely get good results when I’m mad.
If it’s only the tracks and your happy with the build,I would order some AM tracks and finish it up when they come in.
I usually slog thru a kit,I don’t want to start a shelf of doom.
I have been known to trash some really bad disasters after stripping them for parts,but not a lot.
“Shelf of Doom”. . .I like that.
I’m almost at the mad stage. . .
One thing about modeling, you sometimes get that one kit, no matter what just does not work out. I would “shelf of doom” it for a while, look for solutions and finish it. Remember, if you slam that model up against the wall, the model has already won.
I had a model that I was 90% done with. Due to a fire in the house I had to box stuff up. I was having trouble before the fire with some fitment. Afterwards and being boxed up, it just didn’t go together. The whole body of the aircraft warped… I should have kept it for a diorama, but it just went in the trash.
[quote=“mscuderi, post:6, topic:261353, full:true”]
One thing about modeling, you sometimes get that one kit, no matter what just does not work out. I would “shelf of doom” it for a while, look for solutions and finish it. Remember, if you slam that model up against the wall, the model has already won.
[/quote]I’m sort of like you are on that subject Marcel. If the build stops being fun for me, I’ll put it up for a while and think about it. Once I’ve figured out a resolution to the problem area I’ll drag it back out and start having fun again.
I just box up kits that give me trouble and leave me frustrated. Rather build something that I will enjoy.
Fiddly tracks are a fact of life with armor. They are the main reason I’ve mostly moved on from tracked vehicles and now focus on aircraft. Maybe try some aftermarket tracks. I’ve used tracks from this company Products and am pretty sure they have tracks for a Panzer III. When it’s just a bad kit, it’s not worth my getting upset over it. I just put it back on the shelf and in some cases just toss it.
When it comes to modeling, I’m a bit of a sucker for pain.
Often enough, I find myself wanting to build stuff I did when I was a kid. That means (1) models that would be considered unacceptable by today’s standards, and (2) old molds that result in parts badly cast. I do have new stuff in my little stash, but somehow find myself gravitating to the old kits.
As a result, I end up spending time figuring out how to work around flaws. That can be quite rewarding.
When I want to take a break from that, I work on one of the newer kits with AM thrown in. Forget about scratch building and all that old school stuff 
Feel your pain on the tacks, probably my least favorite part of building a armor model.
AM tracks would probably be better then the multipart tracks that came with the model, that way their are pins that attach each link, rather then press fit which is a pain to line up perfectly.
I agree with what others have said. If its not fun anymore, it goes back in the box. Onkly 2 or 3 times has the model beat me and I’ve tossed it over my shoulder. The 1/72 Italeri Tornado was one. That got tossed and then accidently stepped on 5 or 6 times
Interesting to see this thread as I, too, have been doing battle with a Meng Me-410 kit. I agree with you all, especially Mustang. I’ve had those “fly it into a wall” moments with this and the model would have won. I’ve had “stomp on it” moments too and could have done a crash diorama with it, but too much effort in detailing that… 
. So far I’ve stuck to it since I’m so close to finishing this pig. It cost to darn much anyway. I could have shelved it for the Me-109G waiting for me.
I had that happen with a Corsair that I built for a friend around 10 years ago. It wound up in the trash can no fewer than 4 times and I think I lost count of how many times I was just ticked off at why I would attempt a 1/48 Revell Corsair kit. For me…it was one of the worst models I’ve ever put together. However…it was a gift to a friend of mine and I couldn’t give up. In the end it turned out presentable and my friend LOVED it…and that…was really all that mattered.
Like everyone else I’ve sent a few unfinished kits to the abyss of no return, I’ve also paused a few, put them back in the box, remembered they were in said box a year or so later and sent them on their recycled journey, out of the handful of times I’ve put it in the box for a later time I think I’ve actually went back and finished one, possibly two.
I say to box it up or to shelve it for a while until you get the "mojo’ back for it. As they say on the modeling podcasts, “Life is too short for crappy kits”.
I have a Shelf of Time Out where problem kits can go for months or a year before being allowed back out on a day pass to see if they get done or go to the Shelf of Doom. Those that do make it to the Shelf of Doom may sit there in squalor for years or even decades before they get another chance. I pull a few 15 or so year old victims last year and found that it wasn’t so much the kit as my lack of skills back then so they are now proudly on display. There is hope!
Tcoat, I love your idea of a "Time Out Shelf"for model kits that are “misbehaving” It must because I was an elementary school teacher for over 30 years.
I’ve done this before several times (you should know that because of my Kingfisher kit–lolololol) but I always come back to them. I can think of two that I never went back to
