I’ve just put my hands up. Was building the Roden Curtiss H-16 flying boat. Lower wing broke in half at the fuselage (carry-through spar). I need a flying boat for a club challenge project this fall. I will not trash it- it will go on my shelf of doom for unfinished kits. Some actually do get resurrected from there later if I find enough inspiration.
Today I start a Sword Sikorsky S-43.
I’m currently there, white flag in hand! I figured I’d give the Trumpeter 1/48 P-40 a shot. I knew it was a pig going in but figured an Aires cockpit would help with the kit’s main complaint. This one has fought me every step of the way. Bad fit, poor detail, huge gaps and worst of all, the Aires cockpit slipped without me noticing after I applied superglue and sealed the fuselage. Now the cockpit is totally crooked. I want to give up, but I’ve reached the point where I actually want to finish this dog of a kit simply out of spite. I almost want it on the completed shelf where its more successful predecessors can sit and pass judgment.
Yes building a "problem child"kit can be a real chore!But you have to press on!Almost guaranteed to make you a better modeler!
I found that moving on to something really simple is a good way to get the juices flowing again. After the adventure with F/A-18E, i pulled out a little Bf-109 G6 easy build from Hobby Boss and got to practice the gap filling and decaling that seemed to give me some trouble. Got things back on track. Sometimes the simple ones can bring a lot of joy to the old man:) John
I work the scale model all the way through no matter how bad it is. “When the going gets tough the Dremel gets going” it can fix anything.
Dash has the correct modeling spirit for sure!
Hi, I’ve worked on some ill fitting, frustrating kits. Put i’m back on the shelf for awhile, but I just can’t be totally defeated until I get it done to my satisfaction, even if it’s not what I hoped for.
I’d have to say it depends on the cost/overall-availability of the kit. For example, I’m currently working on the Academy U-2S, to be totally honest, the kit is horrible. The seams require a ton of filler, the panel lines are raised and crude and the PE cockpit detailing is kicking my rear. If it wasnt the fact that there isnt a better option out there for the U-2 and I like the aircraft, I’d probably have dumped it a long time ago. In the meantime, I’ve set it aside and work on it occasionally, but have needed to add other kits to the bench to have something to work on. One of those was a really cheap Testors 1/48 F-4G that I picked up for around $5 USD. That kit was by far worse than the U-2 and it has now been sent to the “test mule” for future painting technicques.
Fortunately, I had a very decent build in there with the Hobby Boss Ta-152C-1. That was a fun build and really enjoyed that. I’ve also started work on the 1/48 Trumpeter T-38A, so far its been an easy build and I’ll eventually finish up the U-2.
Well, if there are issues straight out of the box that are major, then I will just slap it together the best it I can and not fiddle with a lot of detail. Then I simply paint it up to make her look nice, and move on.
I never stress over this hobby, I may be disatisfied at times with the quality of a kit after tossing money into it, but that’s what open box kit reviews are for.
I wish you luck with this project.
For me it was a 1/35 T-72B with Kontakt ERA made by WSN # MM-00332. It didn’t matter what type of glue I used, I couldn’t getting two pieces to stay stuck together. However, I still use it as a spray paint test bed.
I have had a very few kits that slipped off my desk as I was building them and I stepped on them accidentally, crushing them into pieces…usually at that stage, I give up. [:S]