Biggest pet peeves on builds.

[LL3 Model Worx]

Disclaimer: This is just for laughs!

What is your biggest pet peeve on builds you've seen? 

Mine, is when a build is otherwise stunning but they forget or neglect to remove the mold line on the top of the radiator... goes double when there's a bunch of money in aftermarket parts under the hood.

 it's like "oh that's a nice set of billet valve cover's but what about that radiator seem?"

So, let's hear'em...

 

 

[CabDriver]

Not limited to models, but this whole thing with the extreme camber.  I guess it’s up to other people what they do with their cars, but having the wheels sitting with 45 degrees doesn’t look cool to me.  It’s the opposite of hot rodding or tuning a car to improve it.  
 

That said, it’s up to people what they do with their cars, and long as they’re having fun that’s the main thing ?‍♂️
 

Model wise, it DOES seem a shame to me when someone has a bunch of detail parts and aluminum stuff but the paint is awful or there’s seam lines and ejector pin marks and stuff...but as long as they’re having fun!  Ditto painting parts on the sprue - how do you even know they’ll fit together right?!  BUT, to each their own
 

And finally, the fact that Testors only sells their excellent gloss enamel in a little tiny bottle.  C’mon guys - sell a gallon jug of it so I don’t keep having to order 20 jars at a time now I’ve fallen in love with it and use it all the time ??

[Snake45]

30 minutes ago, LL3 Model Worx said:

Disclaimer: This is just for laughs!

What is your biggest pet peeve on builds you've seen? 

Mine, is when a build is otherwise stunning but they forget or neglect to remove the mold line on the top of the radiator... goes double when there's a bunch of money in aftermarket parts under the hood.

 it's like "oh that's a nice set of billet valve cover's but what about that radiator seem?"

So, let's hear'em...

Put me down for that one. Well, not necessarily on the radiator, but elsewhere. I've seen many, many otherwise outstanding builds ruined by mold lines running up the quarter panel and roof/C-pillars. 

Colored plug wires on what are supposed to be "factory stock" builds.

Tires with the molding seams running right through the middle of the treads. 

Chrome wheels left chrome that shouldn't be. 

And the description that goes, "...built right out of the box except for plug wires, fuel lines, photoetch emblems, resin hood, and aftermarket wheels/tires." In other words, not out of the box at all. 

And now one one me, in memory of our friend Harry P, whom we all dearly miss: No rearview mirrors. That's right, I almost never put them on (unless they're an integral part of the design) because they always get broken off and lost anyway. 

[Snake45]

4 minutes ago, CabDriver said:

And finally, the fact that Testors only sells their excellent gloss enamel in a little tiny bottle.  C’mon guys - sell a gallon jug of it so I don’t keep having to order 20 jars at a time now I’ve fallen in love with it and use it all the time ??

I feel ya, ma brotha, but at this point, I'd be happy if Testor could sell me a 1/4 oz bottle that wouldn't dry up, skin over, separate, or otherwise go bad before I've used even half of it! 

Edited December 4, 2019 by Snake45

[LL3 Model Worx]

2 minutes ago, Snake45 said:

Put me down for that one. Well, not necessarily on the radiator, but elsewhere. I've seen many, many otherwise outstanding builds ruined by mold lines running up the quarter panel and roof/C-pillars. 

Colored plug wires on what are supposed to be "factory stock" builds.

Tires with the molding seams running right through the middle of the treads. 

Chrome wheels left chrome that shouldn't be. 

And the description that goes, "...built right out of the box except for plug wires, fuel lines, photoetch emblems, resin hood, and aftermarket wheels/tires." In other words, not out of the box at all. 

And now one one me, in memory of our friend Harry P, whom we all dearly miss: No rearview mirrors. That's right, I almost never put them on (unless they're an integral part of the design) because they always get broken off and lost anyway. 

Haha, I try and put the side views on... but I honestly do not think I have ever included a rearview in any of my builds... because until just now, I NEVER even thought about it. Whoa.

And yea the "box stock" description with all the extra stuff is pretty frustrating.

The mold lines on tires is also grinds my gears...

I think I could just chalk it up to all those lol.

[LL3 Model Worx]

9 minutes ago, CabDriver said:

Not limited to models, but this whole thing with the extreme camber.  I guess it’s up to other people what they do with their cars, but having the wheels sitting with 45 degrees doesn’t look cool to me.  It’s the opposite of hot rodding or tuning a car to improve it.  
 

That said, it’s up to people what they do with their cars, and long as they’re having fun that’s the main thing ?‍♂️
 

Model wise, it DOES seem a shame to me when someone has a bunch of detail parts and aluminum stuff but the paint is awful or there’s seam lines and ejector pin marks and stuff...but as long as they’re having fun!  Ditto painting parts on the sprue - how do you even know they’ll fit together right?!  BUT, to each their own
 

And finally, the fact that Testors only sells their excellent gloss enamel in a little tiny bottle.  C’mon guys - sell a gallon jug of it so I don’t keep having to order 20 jars at a time now I’ve fallen in love with it and use it all the time ??

 

Man I have literally thousands of Jars and spray cans of testors enamels... (love them also)

For big work, such as bodys I usually just decant spray cans into a glass bottle with a good lid.

If you ever need a color just PM me... I've got tons of paint that is no longer in production... including Pactra and "Racing Colors"

Another one for me is not filing heads/intake manifolds to mate up and not leave a grand canyon size gap between the intake and head!!

That one drives me insane!

[LL3 Model Worx]

8 minutes ago, Snake45 said:

I feel ya, ma brotha, but at this point, I'd be happy if Testor could sell me a 1/4 oz bottle that wouldn't dry up, skin over, separate, or otherwise go bad before I've used even half of it! 

You must be referring to the Acrylics.... the enamels may separate but with a little mixing they are good as new.

I've got some jars I know for certain are over 30yrs old that work fantastic.

Now the acrylics on the other hand do all the skinning over and drying out... funny enough out of the literal thousands of jars I have, I only have 2 acrylics... a black and a silver, that I bought by mistake because they were on the enamel rack!

I wasn't happy when I got home.

[Tom Geiger]

 A big peeve of mine...   customs and street rods in the Light Commercial class at shows!  

[Snake45]

1 minute ago, Tom Geiger said:

 A big peeve of mine...   customs and street rods in the Light Commercial class at shows!  

And, conversely, roadster pickups and other clearly ROD early trucks that get moved here down to the Truck section (which I never look at). 

[Snake45]

16 minutes ago, LL3 Model Worx said:

I've got some jars I know for certain are over 30yrs old that work fantastic.

Me too. It's the newer stuff that's going bad so fast. 

[LL3 Model Worx]

1 minute ago, Snake45 said:

Me too. It's the newer stuff that's going bad so fast. 

Wonder if they have added xylene or "more" xylene to the mix?

That would certainly accelerate the evaporation and gooification process.

Do they reconstitute when you add a little mineral spirits or lacquer thinner?

Haven't really had it happen, so I'm curious lol.

[Dave Ambrose]

Paint drama has been my Achilles heel. I'm pretty sure I need to prep a bunch of bodies, and just spend an entire weekend painting. 

[CabDriver]

1 hour ago, Snake45 said:

And, conversely, roadster pickups and other clearly ROD early trucks that get moved here down to the Truck section (which I never look at). 

I’d really like it if hot rod pickups were allowed in the section with the other hot rods rather than in the forum with minivans and off road stuff and SUVs and whatever else 

[CabDriver]

1 hour ago, Snake45 said:

Me too. It's the newer stuff that's going bad so fast. 

Wait - so is this acrylic you’re taking about or enamels, or both?  Got me nervous about my big enamel paint collection now...

[Motor City]

One of the worst is the mold lines on either side of the roof where the top and quarter panel meet.  Jo-Han was notorious for not smoothing that area out before painting the '68-'71 442 promos, and I've also seen it on finished kits!  The MPC '68-'72 GTO promos and kits are also afflicted with this, but it's less noticeable.

[LL3 Model Worx]

1 minute ago, CabDriver said:

Wait - so is this acrylic you’re taking about or enamels, or both?  Got me nervous about my big enamel paint collection now...

I've got thousands of jars of model master enamel... and over a thousand "little bottles" of testors enamel...

Never had any off them spoil...

[LL3 Model Worx]

1 minute ago, Motor City said:

One of the worst is the mold lines on either side of the roof where the top and quarter panel meet.  Jo-Han was notorious for not smoothing that area out before painting the '68-'71 442 promos, and I've also seen it on finished kits!  The MPC '68-'72 GTO promos and kits are also afflicted with this, but it's less noticeable.

I've got an MPC 72 GTO and that Line Is pretty bad.

Maybe the older releases not so much but mine is the most recent and it's a dog. That mold definitely has some mialage on it.

[Modelbuilder Mark]

For me, it is also misplaced seems, which is also my least favorite aspect of the hobby.

Now, I'm not just talking about the seems on other folks finished projects, nope, I'm talking about the fact that there are SOOO many kits over the years, that seem have have had little to no thought as to where the seems would end up, and at times, I think they TRIED to put them in a bad place for chrome. I end up spending a very large portion of my build time, simply cleaning up those ill placed lines, stripping chrome from countless bumpers etc. Like engine block halves with the molded oil pan, C'mon!

Many of the more modern kits seem to be getting better about placements.

 

Edited December 4, 2019 by Modelbuilder Mark

[slusher]

2 hours ago, Dave Ambrose said:

Paint drama has been my Achilles heel. I'm pretty sure I need to prep a bunch of bodies, and just spend an entire weekend painting. 

Dave,  when I get great weather like fall and spring, I work on painting bodies. I have some painted up but tomorrow will be 60 and all day even in the cool morning is a great day for painting. Rattle can painting....

[Bucky]

1 hour ago, LL3 Model Worx said:

I've got thousands of jars of model master enamel... and over a thousand "little bottles" of testors enamel...

Never had any off them spoil...

I have had the little bottles of TESTORS enamel paint turn into a stone-like substance. A toothpick won't even puncture it. TESTORS enamel thinner won't break it down, either. Those bottles go into "File 13", and I hafta make a trip to get more.

[Bucky]

Another peeve I have is in the mold process. It happens when the mold sections don't line up right, throwing an offset in areas such as window trim, or fender edges. They can be hard to deal with, at times.

[LL3 Model Worx]

1 hour ago, Modelbuilder Mark said:

For me, it is also misplaced seems, which is also my least favorite aspect of the hobby.

Now, I'm not just talking about the seems on other folks finished projects, nope, I'm talking about the fact that there are SOOO many kits over the years, that seem have have had little to no thought as to where the seems would end up, and at times, I think they TRIED to put them in a bad place for chrome. I end up spending a very large portion of my build time, simply cleaning up those ill placed lines, stripping chrome from countless bumpers etc. Like engine block halves with the molded oil pan, C'mon!

Many of the more modern kits seem to be getting better about placements.

 

I the molded oil pans drive me nuts also... I really like "locator" pins that are placed on block halves that completely miss align the halves when joined.

And I'd agree some of the placement for chrome is downright suspect.

2 minutes ago, Bucky said:

I have had the little bottles of TESTORS enamel paint turn into a stone-like substance. A toothpick won't even puncture it. TESTORS enamel thinner won't break it down, either. Those bottles go into "File 13", and I hafta make a trip to get more.

I've had some of the small bottles leak, wich led to them drying out.

But I've never had them go bad when they were sealed up well.

Here's to hoping I never do.

Try some lacquer thinner... I use a little badger electric stirrer to mix my jars up, even the small ones... works great.

[StevenGuthmiller]

My biggest pet peeve doesn't bother a lot of people, but it's metallic paint that has metallic in it that is way too big, or far too heavy for 1/25th scale.

 

In my opinion, the little things like mold lines in radiators or tires might not be immediately evident on a model, but there's no hiding "the bass boat syndrome".

It's an instant turn off for me.

 

 

Steve 

[Dann Tier]

Not really a pet peeve, but i cant stand it when someone says that they started building models when they were 5.....No you didnt.....there are a million reasons why thats false. I dont know, but maybe people believing that load is possibly more annoying.

[Repstock]

I might be way off on this (wouldn't be the first time), but as I read this it seems like people are saying "It bothers me when someone else doesn't build the way I like to build."  I'm probably taking this all way too seriously.