The worst or difficult kit to build

[van883]

Hi Guys,
Most aircraft kits are easy to build as there is a set procedure; cockpit, wings, fuselage, tail and rudder, undercarriage, flight refueling probe and canopy. Paint and decals.

Older kits such as 1/72 Novo tend to warp i.e. Shackleton. If you can get the Revell/Monogram kit this is much better but it has its faults as well.

The Novo Revell Shackletons are the same old Frog kit!
worst kit? I don't know really they all present their own challenges.

Van

[elmayerle]

I have in mind an Eastern European 1/72 kit of the Yak-28 that I bought in the late '90s, the flash was so abundant, you'd almost think you had a vac-form kit.

[Joe C-P]

Lindberg. For ships, specifically the Lindberg Blue Devil Destroyer. It's huge and very inaccurate, so much so that to make it look like an actual prototypical Fletcher you basically buy the model, scratchbuild the hull and superstructure, and steadily replace all the details with parts from various third-party companies, and you end up with all the original parts back in the box.

[McColm]

Hi Guys,
Most aircraft kits are easy to build as there is a set procedure; cockpit, wings, fuselage, tail and rudder, undercarriage, flight refueling probe and canopy. Paint and decals.

Older kits such as 1/72 Novo tend to warp i.e. Shackleton. If you can get the Revell/Monogram kit this is much better but it has its faults as well.

The Novo Revell Shackletons are the same old Frog kit!
worst kit? I don't know really they all present their own challenges.

Van

Thanks Van for clearing that up.

[Nick]

I take it we're talking about mainstream makers rather than garage firms like Pegasus and their EAP, one of which I am struggling with right now?

Most Starfix kits are awful and I chucked their F-5 for being rubbish.

A rare one is the Italeri Stingbat helicopter of which I have 2 in the stash and one built. They all have warped fuselages that bend apart at the front end.

[B777LR]

A rare one is the Italeri Stingbat helicopter of which I have 2 in the stash and one built. They all have warped fuselages that bend apart at the front end.

I did the Stingbat too. Mine was without the warp. Not that it was an easy kit though, i used a lot of putty.

[PR19_Kit]

Lindberg. For ships, specifically the Lindberg Blue Devil Destroyer.

Oh no, not THAT heap again! And the darn thing is STILL being produced! 

Back in the 70s, when the Model Engineer Exhibition was held at the Seymour Halls, nr the Edgware Rd in London, I used to do some work for Riko, who imported Lindberg kits back then. A buddy of mine and I made some radio-control models of standard Riko imported kits to show to the Joe Publics just what could be done. Amongst these was the darn Blue Devil.....

It was pretty easy to add the motors and R/C gear as it was so big, but the deck is all in one piece and it fits on TOP of the hull sides. Of course it had to be removeable to get at the gear and batteries etc. which meant a very lengthy sealing face, all the way round the deck edge.

It went like the clappers, about a scale 70 kts probably (!) and looked great, heeling into the turns around the swimming pool we used for demos, but it shipped water through the stern deck like a bilge pump in reverse, and after a few runs up and down the pool it always sank! Amazingly we could still steer it when it was under water (27 Mhz R/C in those days) and sometimes managed to get it back within reach of the pool sides, but I lost count of the number of times I had to dive into the pool to get the ruddy thing back! 

[kitnut617]

I've a couple, Pegasus EAP Demontrator for one, still haven't figured out how the parts go together, there's lots of them and all are warped to heck. And the Merlin Spitfire Mk.XII is a real doozy

[Nigel Bunker]

Any of the newer Hasegawa 1/72 Phantom kits. These were designed on the basis of "Why use 1 part when we can do it with 10?". I finished my F-4E, but it took months, and a determination to finish.

[PR19_Kit]

...but to enter 'The Worst Kit to Build Contest' I nominate the Merlin TSR2.

Like Pegasus kits, Merlin must have only had a small moulding machine as the fuselage is in about 8 parts! None of them fit each other, or any of the other parts either, and all are warped to hell and gone. You might make quite a good Buccaneer from it actually.........

[frank2056]

...but to enter 'The Worst Kit to Build Contest' I nominate the Merlin TSR2.

I think Merlin only made one kit - lumpy, roundish blobs for the fuselage halves, a long blob for the wings, smaller blobs for the other parts and a clear-ish/semi-opaque blob for the canopy.
Mix and match, add more of one type of blob or the other and you can produce all of the kits in their lineup.

[Dork the kit slayer]

For now, then and forever.......The fit the box Glencoe(and every other incarnation) Curtis Condor

[Brian da Basher]

For now, then and forever.......The fit the box Glencoe(and every other incarnation) Curtis Condor

The Glencoe Curtiss Condor will certainly challenge your sanity and the Glencoe Martin MB 1 will make you certifiable. See below.

Brian da Basher

[ChrisF]

Oh i def had to reply to this one.. I've just finished a desert storm tornado which came as weekly parts with a magazine called "take-off" many many many moons ago... it was awful particularly the air intakes the fit of which was so bad i had to resculpt the sides and bottom of both sides and STILL had to cheat and mock up some "canvas" covers for them... it was such a challenge i started a second kit to pass the time while waiting for bits to dry ect.... BIG mistake

Enter the Airfix Club Fleet Air Arm Wildcat.

The single worst kit (and worst instructions) ive ever seen, not one piece didnt need filling, sanding brute force AND rebuilding. Even the decals had a fault on one roundel (Although went on nice)

[pyro-manic]

The most difficult kit I've come across is the AModel Yak-28 Firebar. Nice detail, but there's enormous quantities of flash, the sprue gates are huge, and there are no location pins etc. to help with alignment. I started cleaning it up, but it's gone back in the box until I feel brave enough to tackle it...