We all have our favorite models, but what is the absolute worst model kit you've ever had the displeasure of encountering?

I've goofed up a model or two myself because of my own mistakes, but I'm curious about the kits out there that are just plain "stinkers" because of lousy moulding/casting, poor directions, bad fit, etc.

The question covers everything from armor, aircraft, ships, figures, you name it.
Thanks.

Tied for the worst: Halcyon's Alien Warrior with Egg. Absolutely horribly fitting parts. This gets a little bit of slack because they aren't (weren't) one of the mainstream companies. All the parts had extensive fit problems and required much filling and sanding to get right. This was doubly necessary give the smoothness of the exoskelton along the joint areas in the movie creature.

So the worst model I ever worked on was the Testor's B-2 Stealth in 1/72 scale. The plane is in 6 major parts, upper and lower center portion and outer wing sections. Along the leading edge of all these part is a gap of almost a quarter inch. I had to use wood filler putty to close this up, epoxy would have been too costly and plastic putties would have melted the kit. There was a major warpage along the starboard edge of hte center section that required extensive puttying to raise it flush with the outer wings. The outer wing sections and ceter sections had poor mating surfaces as well. Sanding these joints kept breaking the bond between the assemblies. To top it off, the walkway decals were way too long to be easily laid down straight and wound up scrapped.

Zvezda's T60 light tank was the absolute dog's breakfast!
The Italeri 1/72 Yellow box Corsair and the old Revell Germany ( old Matchbox molds?) Me262 NO interior and the half torso of the pilot figure molded into the right hand fuselage side..also are in the running.

Most all of the AMT starwars and star trek kits had HUGE fit issues with the molds by the time I got to them, the Imperial Star Destroyer leaps quickly to mind. More gap filling CA than plastic on that one!

Mike

1). anything by Nitto
2). Lo Models figures
3). most Italeri figures
4). ICM figures
5). anything by Lindberg
6). the newer Italeri armor

Chris Pig no.1

The early Tamiya Panther form the late 60's is the worst one I have ever tried to build. And to think I spent $20 on it...

heller product.they probably needed a name and said "what can we add to hell?"

I'll second Mike vote for the Zvezda T-60. A total waste of manufacturing materials.

I'll refute Chris' vote for anything by Lindberg. If you did any one of the Jurrasic Park original dinosaurs (T-Rex, Raptor, Spitter), they were outstanding model kits. They also mixed a couple of ancient dinosaur kits into the mix (Stegasaurus and Corithiosaur(?)) that were not nice.

Also if any of you remember the old 1/32 scale M-46 Patton tank that was motorized and the turret went back and forth. It was a neat kit that was well designed. Nothing compared to today's standards, but was a top notch kit in the 60s.

I've always managed to muddle through most of the models I start. But there is one that I flat gave up on. The Dragon KrettenKrad. Poor fit, microscopic parts, and track that is an unbelieveable bear to assemble. It sits 70% completed and will stay that way until ... hell freezes over?

GSP, Maybe you could make a dio with a little mechanic ready to shoot the KettenKrad. :-)

I would have to agree with Pak40, totally a disgrace to the hobby!

The 1/48th F-82 by HobbyCraft from Canada. I think I'll just rework the 1/72 Mongram kit until Tamiya makes a decent '82.

1/72 M-551 by airfix. I wouldn't wipe with this thing (probably wouldn't be a good idea even if I liked the kit )

Testor's F2H-2 Banshee... Worst kit ever !
Awful fit. No detail... there's no cockpit!!! The main body of the plane is made up of less than 7 parts... Awful!

YodaMan

The OV-10 Bronco in 1/48 from Testors was a waste of a perfect subject.
No cockpit detail at all,awful prop blades,poor overall molding.
I was really disappointed
Maybe someone will get it right one day.

But you guys are complaining about 40 year old Hawk kits reboxed by Testors. Not fair to complain about ancient plastic kits and expecting 2000 standards.

Sorry... it was just a shock to me, ok?



Aside from that I'd say Halcyon's Attacking Alien warrior. I'm still too depressed about the bad fit to finish the darn thing!

YodaMan

At least you haven't had to work with the chrome plated versions. They were the dominant reissues when I was a kid. Of course, this is before many of us knew that you were supposed to scrape the chrome from the edges before cementing.

Does that include the OV-10 I'm refering too?

Yes, although the reissue does not include the wingtip Sidewinder air-to-air missiles that the original came with. Testors reworked the wings. The Hawk one I used to have and recently traded away was chromed with Sidewinders and came with "Air America" type markings. It was a very interesting variant. Other old 1/48 scale Hawk kits that used to be chromed were the P-51D, P-47, F8F Bearcat, MiG-15. Some of these have been released by Testors with nicer decals and no chrome. The chromed Bearcat I have (with SEA decals) is a very nice kit for its age.

Those little Polish Tankettes that came out a few years ago. I tried, gave up, gave it away in pieces. Don't recall the Mfr. of those kits, some Eastern European start-up... Worst crap I've ever seen.

Thanks,
Kevin Keefe
Mortars in Miniature

Tamiya's figure set of 4 German soldiers.....and it's still on the market today!!!
And a lot of figures by a company called New Hope Design....they have a lot of good figures but some that just look like lumps of metal with a seperate gun....this led us to call it No Hope Design.
And I agree with the fellow that said anything Heller.......LOL@something to add to hell...great line!!!
Happy halloween everyone!!

Old kit; Nitto M-4 high-speed tractor. I actually thought I could build this dogdue to my superior modeling skills HA HA HA when it was all over I was whipped and the plastic was still standing strong, impervious to any correction, sanding, or putty I could concoct.
Newer kit; a German artillery piece from AEF, this time I knew better; reboxed it and sold it down the river before I fell to deep into the abyss.

Coop

my list:
Tamiya
german para's.
German army infantry
U.s. army infantry

terrible things !!!


want my money back !!!

Alan Su-76 yes that was crap waste of plastic beads. Old Nitto crap again. Agree with Rob on the Lindburg Dinos as they are good. Except for the Stegosaurus and Corythosaurs.

Is that the one sort of running in a crouched position with the translucent carapace?