What are the worst kits you've ever built?

[Daddyfink]

Without a doubt, the worst kits to assemble, at least in their later re issues, are the Revell Tri Five kits. And oddly enough, they just kept making them worse and worse with things like two piece tires! 

 

[Snake45]

11 hours ago, Daddyfink said:

Without a doubt, the worst kits to assemble, at least in their later re issues, are the Revell Tri Five kits. And oddly enough, they just kept making them worse and worse with things like two piece tires! 

Hard to argue with that. The '56 I built as a kid gave me all kinds of problems but I finally wrestled it to the ground and made it my witch. 

One that STILL gives me fits is the Nichimo 1/48 P-51D Mustang. Bought it in high school around 1971 or so, started it then, never finished it. Every few years I decide to give it another try with my "new, improved" skills, and every time I end up putting it back in the box in less than an hour. What a pig! 

[Daddyfink]

15 minutes ago, Snake45 said:

Hard to argue with that. The '56 I built as a kid gave me all kinds of problems but I finally wrestled it to the ground and made it my witch. 

One that STILL gives me fits is the Nichimo 1/48 P-51D Mustang. Bought it in high school around 1971 or so, started it then, never finished it. Every few years I decide to give it another try with my "new, improved" skills, and every time I end up putting it back in the box in less than an hour. What a pig! 

Those early Japanese Warbird kits where just slap together type of models. I am amazed when someone can make something decent out of them. Even Tamiya was kind'a rough back then as well. 

[Snake45]

11 minutes ago, Daddyfink said:

Those early Japanese Warbird kits where just slap together type of models. I am amazed when someone can make something decent out of them. Even Tamiya was kind'a rough back then as well. 

The box art on this kit is gorgeous, even if the tail appears a little too large (and 8AF Mustangs never carried 5" HVARs AFAIK). The kit itself is a hot mess. Nichimo also did a clear-bodied "Phantom Mustang" version of this kit and it had a lot of unnecessary internal detail, and (supposedly) working landing gear that neither looks nor works right. The entire airframe is covered with tiny rivets. It's just a mess all the way around, but IIRC it does have droppable flaps, which was WAY ahead of its time. 

[slusher]

I did not do a very good job on this kit the first time I built it a long time ago. I plan on trying again I bought ones about ten years ago..

 

[dave branson]

AMT 1/25 2010 Camaro Convertible. There are no 2 parts that fit together.

[iamsuperdan]

I've been working on the MPC Country Charger kit, on and off for about a year now. It's taking that long because every time I touch it, I get annoyed. The fit on everything is off. The plastic is soft, and everything is molded in vague, blob-like shapes. Engine block? Sure, I guess. If you squint. The decals are goofy, the instructions could not be any less clear, the tail lights are a joke. Not one redeeming factor in this entire kit.

Not sure why I'm bothering to finish it.

[Snake45]

How could I possibly have forgotten the horrid MPC/AMT '57 Corvette flip-front "gasser?" The two body halves don't come close to mating up. 

In this pic, the top body is right out of the box, taped together, the middle one is the flipper body after MANY hours of work, and the lower is a one-piece MPC '57 Vette body. 

 

But I improvised, adapted, and overcame, and about ten years later I managed to drag the wretched backbirth across the finish line for one of the BOYD builds. 

 

[Motor City]

I would have to say the original issue MPC '77 and "78 Trans Am Special Editions (Blackbird) with the poor fitting interior tub and inconsistent gold tone plating.  Hopefully the reissues were of better quality.  Does anyone know?

[lordairgtar]

On 2/11/2021 at 11:37 PM, Daddyfink said:

Without a doubt, the worst kits to assemble, at least in their later re issues, are the Revell Tri Five kits. And oddly enough, they just kept making them worse and worse with things like two piece tires! 

 

That thing was so slab sided but I liked it because of one thing. The hood trim was actually on the hood, not like AMT's kit which was stuck to the grille surround.

[John Pol]

The Lindberg Dodge L-700

[Daddyfink]

And who could forget the Revell John Buttera line of kits! Neat kits, but a pain when I was a kid! 

[Draggon]

18 hours ago, John Pol said:

The Lindberg Dodge L-700

No kidding, I bought that when it first came out. The frame and running gear wasn't fun, but that body was a nightmare. Even when the molds were new, nothing fit right. I had to glue the doors shut, and when I tried to mount the cab I ended up gluing it in place because there were issues with either the hinges or how it sat on the frame. 

[John Pol]

The Lindberg Dodge L-700 I know what you mean another bad kit I thought it was is the Orange Crate

[GLMFAA1]

Worst for me was the Revell Ford pick up. Building the original way back when, I was so frustrated it ended up smashed on the floor right in front of my mother who was ironing.

greg

[SCRWDRVR]

On 2/15/2021 at 2:23 AM, slusher said:

I did not do a very good job on this kit the first time I built it a long time ago. I plan on trying again I bought ones about ten years ago..

 

I have one of the releases of that kit I built quite a while back and the biggest trouble I had was trying to get the flip front to sit and flip properly.

[Sledsel]

4 minutes ago, SCRWDRVR said:

I have one of the releases of that kit I built quite a while back and the biggest trouble I had was trying to get the flip front to sit and flip properly.

I have had one in the works for a bit. I ended up putting steel pins in the rear of the hood to hold it when closed. Works better than the small plastic pins molded in the hood bottom.

[slusher]

8 hours ago, SCRWDRVR said:

I have one of the releases of that kit I built quite a while back and the biggest trouble I had was trying to get the flip front to sit and flip properly.

I was about 17 the first time if I remember right, I have a pro shop prepared one and I want to do right..

[Rbray47]

Just about anything that has "Revell" printed on the box and produced before the late 80s. Especially the tri-fives. 

Dodge L700 gets an honorable mention. I had to glue shut the doors on mine as well. 

[capntucker]

I'm an old guy that built models back in the late 60s and early 70s. The instructions were very precise. Todays instructions are a joke!!!! I've got back into model building since retiring. I'm learning with each model car. I'm seeing assembly instructions out of order! Making some super easy assembling into almost impossible! Really seeing one end of a part with dotted lines leading into a direction, NOT THE EXACT SPOT! I've had to break pieces back off to correctly fit them. Gonna start doing Aircraft for a while to see if easier to assemble.

[Snake45]

I'm currently trying to rescue a '67 GTO glue bomb which might be the World Record Holder for flash on a model car body. Amazingly, the OB removed none of it before painting it!  It reminded me that I had to wrestle one of these to the ground some years ago. I eventually made it my Joy Behar, but I had more time just straightening out the body of that backbirth than I have in most entire builds--around 40 hours. 

[Robberbaron]

1 hour ago, Snake45 said:

...I eventually made it my Joy Behar...

Literal LOL on that one, you just won quote of the day!

[FLHCAHZ]

On 2/15/2021 at 12:23 PM, iamsuperdan said:

I've been working on the MPC Country Charger kit, on and off for about a year now. It's taking that long because every time I touch it, I get annoyed. The fit on everything is off. The plastic is soft, and everything is molded in vague, blob-like shapes. Engine block? Sure, I guess. If you squint. The decals are goofy, the instructions could not be any less clear, the tail lights are a joke. Not one redeeming factor in this entire kit.

Not sure why I'm bothering to finish it.

I'm builging one of these as well.  Really awful!  So much extra flash, it should have had a trench coat with it....

[Snake45]

2 hours ago, FLHCAHZ said:

I'm builging one of these as well.  Really awful!  So much extra flash, it should have had a trench coat with it....

I was looking at your WIP thread last night, and couldn't believe how wrongly shaped those fake vents in the door are.  They're not even close! I thought the Revell Chargers got this wrong, but they're not even in the same league. Neither is anywhere near as accurate as the vents in the original MPC bodies. Yikes! 

[FLHCAHZ]

37 minutes ago, Snake45 said:

I was looking at your WIP thread last night, and couldn't believe how wrongly shaped those fake vents in the door are.  They're not even close! I thought the Revell Chargers got this wrong, but they're not even in the same league. Neither is anywhere near as accurate as the vents in the original MPC bodies. Yikes! 

If I could have looked in the box before I bought it, I would have probabbly passed it over.  I'm still having fun just trying to make it asnice as I can.