It goes without saying...the kit which you are least in the mood to build, that has a completion deadline, and has had Murphy watching over your shoulder during the whole process. I think just about every review build I have done has had some sort of distraction whether it was the kit itself or me. I won't start another review build without my lucky flipflops on my feet or hobby knife on the bench.

It might be considered a bad omen when stuff like this happens...

You can see where the wheels left marks on the paper...the model bounced up and sideways from the bulb strike. Had I used anything but solvents, this model would have probably been reduced to pieces parts...the damage was limited to the canopy and antenna, the exhaust stacks were only pressed in place as I wasn't 100% done with the build.

Any kit too bad to build gets added to the spares stash for incorporation into something else.

 

1/35 Imex AH-64D Longbow Apache. I´m still getting goosebumps whenever I think of that horrible thing. And none of the good kind...

 Cockpit of the AH-64A. Wrong Decal font. Wrong angle of wheel struts. Completely wrong avionic bays. Horrible fit, there was more putty on it than plastic in the end... brrrrrr

I've mentioned this in other threads, but it has to be the 1990's Testors 1/72 B-2.

What an awful, awful kit. The wing sections were warped beyond repair. That is a slight problem when trying to build a "flying wing" aircraft. I've heard that this was not isolated to my kit, but was a common problem. The cockpit was a joke. Only one weapons bay was open for display, the other one had the doors molded in the closed position. I don't know about the decals because I never got to that stage in the build.

After several futile attempts to level out the wing sections, I threw the whole thing in the trash.

    Oh man, I built one of those when i was in high school.  Been wantin' another one too.

  I have to post up some pics of my RM P-38.  I did the night fighter conversion on the canopy, AND did the glazed nose and made my own windows.  Painted it red, salt-chipped the hell out of it, and made it a USFS fire spotter.  Didn't spend a whole lotta time with it, but I was happy with it in the end.  I'll have to get those pics up.

 

Have to chime in about Trumpeter's bang for the buck. I've only done a little work on the f4u-1d and I like the working cont surfaces/wing fold,(Despite the latters construction jinx, I can cope.)  Still at $70.00 goofy lookin cooling gills, off prop hub and a cockpit with a erronious floorboard are details that I shouldn't have to fix.  At $100.00+ the 1/24th Bf109 G10 features such SNAFU's as opaque "Galland panzer", Mg131's not quite right, Mk108 thats closer to 1/32nd scale, and a DB 605 d w/ 2 curved LH style engine bearers, poor detail and again a scale thats more like 1/32nd.  This is not a great problem for me as I have scratchbuilt weapons and a highly modiffied/ updated DB 601 to DB 605 AS from an Airfix Emil to use but... It's like the tooling/ prototype dept at trumpeter didn't get the memo and at these prices such plebian shortcomings are in deffensible.   Worst kits? I have to say Aurora's Bismarck at 1st lindbergs Bismarck a distant 2nd, Tamiya's1/100th Saab Draken(An abysmal turd, recently reissued for$15.00.) and AMT's "Munster's coach" so frought with boners, unless you're lousy with 60's musclecar spares (I am not.) not worth the effort, tie for 3rd.

 Yup, me and Modelcrafts 1/48 Twin'stang had some HELLACIOUS arguments, I heard words come out of my mouth that would make the filthiest of whores blush!!! However, I did kick its A$$!!! and I've been told it will be in an upcoming "episode" of FSM reader gallery! It was the worst kit I've ever come across, but one of my favorites, just because of the battle won. I want another one. (can't believe I'm saying that!!!)

sfcmac wrote:

Fonderie Minature kits! Way Over priced and each step is an exercise in futility. Nothing fits nothing lines up and the directions are usually 5 steps of wrong and trap after trap. I love them!

  Gotta try one, sounds like a real adventure or perhaps a pig in a poke. Nevertheless I really like your attitude.

Variant wrote:

...The Revell-Monogram 1/48 P-38 Lightning...saw that this kit is almost universally despised...

I'm going to have to...go ahead and...disagree, with the majority, I like that kit.  Sure, there are newer kits, which have been better engineered-or perhaps over-engineered, judging by some threads in various forums-but it's not a bad kit, and the fit issues aren't anything your average modeler can't handle.  But bravo for you for taking a positive attitude about a kit that was a negative, and looking to the things you can learn from it.  I have a couple of them in the stash, by the way.

I also don't mind the old Aurora kits that much.  The F4B-4 is not too bad of a kit, although the turtledeck is for a -3, while the tail is for a -4.  But until Classic Airframes came out with theirs, it was the only game in town for that subject in 1/48.  I also have the Aurora SBC on the bench.  I concede that it's a bit of work, with its idiot marks and its completely made-up interior.  But its shape is pretty accurate, and again, until the Czechs made their kit, it was the only example in 1/48.  And some of their other 1/48 kits soldier on today, as Revell-Monogram kits (Monogram bought the molds, when Aurora closed in the 70s).

But I can think of some kits that are pretty horrible, and those are the 1/72 fighter kits by Aoshima.  They really are little better than toys.  But on the other hand, they can be good exercises in scratchbuilding and other techniques.