Terrible Kits You Love!

[Junkman]

Pretty much everything from Jo-Han, with the exception of the classics and the Turbine car.

What a pile of utter rubbish, but I love them.

[unclescott58]

Pretty much everything from Jo-Han, with the exception of the classics and the Turbine car.

What a pile of utter rubbish, but I love them.

You nailed it Christain. Good or bad I love Jo-Han kits.

Scott

[AC Norton]

hi snake,,,,your 69 Camaros do look great, and I would bet they were a blast to build too. might have to grab one of those black 69s from the net. anyhow, your 3 look neat sitting together.................the ace........

[afx]

Early Revell kits are quite challenging including the Porsche 914. But with effort and a bit of kit bashing they can produce a nice build.

Edited July 2, 2015 by afx

[Snake45]

hi snake,,,,your 69 Camaros do look great, and I would bet they were a blast to build too. might have to grab one of those black 69s from the net. anyhow, your 3 look neat sitting together.................the ace........

I hope sometime in the foreseeable future to photograph all five together. But seriously, don't go out and buy one of these backbirths. The Revell '69 Camaros are superior in EVERY way. I only built the last three just because I happened to find the kits in the stash. I think I'm finally out of them now.

[unclescott58]

A few of other Terrible kits I love. AMT's Munsters Koach and Dragula. Low parts count. Too simple in details. Plastic tires. Yet I love them both, and are working on them as I speak. I remember building these two for the first time sometime back in the late 1960's. I loved them then and I still love them now. I especially like the SurfSlab. I know it only existed in model form. But I like it and I'm going to mount it and it's rack on to my Dragula.

Another kit like two above, that I still like is MPC's (AMT/Ertl) Monkee Mobile. Another kit lacking a lot of detail. Especially in the engine and chassis department. Yet I still like the looks of it.

A mixed bag with the next two. Aurora's (Polar Lights) 1/32 scale TV Batmobile and TV Green Hornet's Black Beauty. The Black Beauty was not so bad. Especially after I sent one of the trees with all the parts that need to be chrome plated to Chrome Tech. Things like the grille, headlights, wheels, and rockets. The old 1/32 scale Batmobile has always been just terrible. Though one of our model car club member's grandson is doing a great job on one. He's especially has got his grandfather's talent for painting figures. Beyond that, this model has never looked right me. And the chrome interior parts never made any sense. Thankfully, Polar Lights/Round 2 has been able to give us a very nice TV Batmobile in 1/25th scale in recent years. I hope someday they offer us a nice Black Beauty in 1/25 scale. And, someday I'll again have to build one of the two unbuilt 1/32 scale Batmobiles in my collection.

Scott

Edited July 2, 2015 by unclescott58

[Snake45]

The AMT first-generation funny cars are pretty terrible, and yet I've bought at least one of every reissue--and I'm looking forward to building them all.

And from what I've seen here, I'm not alone in my irrational love of these things.

[unclescott58]

Another one people tell me is a bad kit is Revell's Jungle Jim Camaro funny car from the early 70's. I have very fond memories of that kit. And wish I had one today. (With a 1/25th scale Jungle Pam figure to go with it.)

The Beatnik Bandit model above reminds of a tough one to built, but a nice looking kit if you take your time building it. And that's Revell's Ed Roth Mysterion. The opposite of kits like the Munster's Koach and Dragula detail wise. A lot of small chrome parts that the plating needs to be scraped off to stick together. And it's model with an opening dome roof. I've gotten to the point where I build domed model cars where the domes do not open. All in all, the Mysterion turned out great. Other members of our local model car club were impressed.

Scott

Edited July 3, 2015 by unclescott58

[boyesreef]

right now im building the lindburg dodge l-700 and 1940 ford coupe flatbed trailer kit. i made my wife promise me we will buy no more lindburg kits! the parts arnt numbered, the parts need so much clean-up i could have made another model out of it. the flat bed trailer panels are so warped i dont know how im going to build it. directions, oh the directions... they are a micro picture from a terrible angle, then written out by someone whom has never built a model before. hate it. 

[ChrisBcritter]

The Revell '53-'54 Chevys. The modeling masochist in me keeps wanting to make a fourth attempt at one of these, even with all I've learned about them since I last tried. Probably because my family had two white-over-light-blue '53s.

[Deathgoblin]

The Revell '53-'54 Chevys. The modeling masochist in me keeps wanting to make a fourth attempt at one of these, even with all I've learned about them since I last tried. Probably because my family had two white-over-light-blue '53s.

I actually just recently got one of the Revell '53's.  Most of the kit is okay.  The engine is garbage, but I picked up a cheap 409 from an AMT Impala/Bel Air. 

[robertw]

The recently reissued MR Porsche 914, but like most of us the challenge of overcoming the various problems has dragged me in and I working on one. Problems include a chassis/interior that must be installed before the body with its front and rear clips are built or painted. Both clips fit poorly and require losts of putty and sanding to make them fit, the opening rear trunk lid doesn't fit and there is a space between the trunk and mid engine hood. That's as far as I've gotten so far, I'm just waiting for the nightmares ahead. rob

[Snake45]

I hope sometime in the foreseeable future to photograph all five together. But seriously, don't go out and buy one of these backbirths. The Revell '69 Camaros are superior in EVERY way. I only built the last three just because I happened to find the kits in the stash. I think I'm finally out of them now.

I FINALLY finished that fifth--and almost certainly last--MPC '69 Camaro. Will have pics of it Under Glass very soon, I hope, and then pics of all five together at some point.

[Daddyfink]

I think I have tried three times to build this, mostly when I was younger, and never quite got it right. So many little fragile parts and no patience makes for a terrible building experience for a kid! 

Might have to try it again now and see how it goes. 

 

[CometMan]

I think I have tried three times to build this, mostly when I was younger, and never quite got it right. So many little fragile parts and no patience makes for a terrible building experience for a kid! 

Might have to try it again now and see how it goes. 

 

I agree with you on this one, Jesse! One of my favorites as a kid, but too difficult at that time. Might have to give it another go!

[CometMan]

What about the AMT '69 Cougar? Was probably pretty descent when new, but the molds seem to be wearing out now, and should probably be scrapped! But there isn't much out there in the way of Mercurys, and such a beautiful one at that!

[Dann Tier]

First off, I've heard most people cant stand the Testors kits, they are rough and take a lot of work, but I will take those yellow boxes all day long!! One in particular -they're Pantera kits! -you always have to make your own windsheilds for them. One day my wife found a person on Craigs List that had a lotus kit I wanted. I was busy, but she drove to Penn to get it for me. when she got home, she had a trunk FULL of Testors kits, and told me that the guy said she could have them for free, because they sucked. Like I said, i'll take'em all day long

[Dodge Driver]

First off, I've heard most people cant stand the Testors kits, they are rough and take a lot of work, but I will take those yellow boxes all day long!! One in particular -they're Pantera kits! -you always have to make your own windsheilds for them. One day my wife found a person on Craigs List that had a lotus kit I wanted. I was busy, but she drove to Penn to get it for me. when she got home, she had a trunk FULL of Testors kits, and told me that the guy said she could have them for free, because they sucked. Like I said, i'll take'em all day long

I keep going back and forth on that Testors Pantera kit. The lack of an engine is a real turn-off to me. However, the car on the box looks so cool! I have to fight the urge to bid when one comes up on ebay.

[Dann Tier]

I keep going back and forth on that Testors Pantera kit. The lack of an engine is a real turn-off to me. However, the car on the box looks so cool! I have to fight the urge to bid when one comes up on ebay.

I know the feeling. It seems that whenever it comes up on ebay, I pay $100+ , then a month later another one comes up, and somebody gets it for $25. I have one of the GTS's built in the Under Glass section that I entitled Hemi Pantera, and I have the exact same kit that I will be putting the Ford engine in. The Fujimi Pantera is sweet, but I was amazed that they're Multi-media kit of the Pantera still had no engine! and at a near $400 price tag!

[Luc Janssens]

The Mpc '67 GTO also falls under that moniker, and the guys at Round2 knew it all too well, when they re-released it.

As an annual it was a crisp representation, but it aged rather poorly due to some funny decisions, which probably made a lot of sense at the time..

Anyway, despite it's short comings, I always liked the styling upgrade over the previous model year, which Revell tooled up somewhere in the late 90s.

Edited December 29, 2016 by Luc Janssens

[Daddyfink]

First off, I've heard most people cant stand the Testors kits, they are rough and take a lot of work, but I will take those yellow boxes all day long!! One in particular -they're Pantera kits! -you always have to make your own windsheilds for them. One day my wife found a person on Craigs List that had a lotus kit I wanted. I was busy, but she drove to Penn to get it for me. when she got home, she had a trunk FULL of Testors kits, and told me that the guy said she could have them for free, because they sucked. Like I said, i'll take'em all day long

This little gem taught me never to try it again! Now I know it is an IMC kit, but back then it just turned me off to anything Testors! 

[Snake45]

First off, I've heard most people cant stand the Testors kits, they are rough and take a lot of work, but I will take those yellow boxes all day long!! One in particular -they're Pantera kits! -you always have to make your own windsheilds for them. One day my wife found a person on Craigs List that had a lotus kit I wanted. I was busy, but she drove to Penn to get it for me. when she got home, she had a trunk FULL of Testors kits, and told me that the guy said she could have them for free, because they sucked. Like I said, i'll take'em all day long

I didn't have to make a windshield for this one, and it seemed to turn out okay.

[bbowser]

I hate the Lindberg Auburn, but love the car!

[Dann Tier]

I didn't have to make a windshield for this one, and it seemed to turn out okay.

I've had six of these, and the other versions, and ALL of them had an injection line across the foggy windsheilds. you got VERY lucky.

[Dann Tier]

This little gem taught me never to try it again! Now I know it is an IMC kit, but back then it just turned me off to anything Testors! 

I've often thought of doing this kit.