Thorn in my side

For me it would be a toss up between a Contrails vacuform XB-70 and a Hasegawa SR-71 that I had cut, filled, and bonded together to make an A-12. The Vacuform XB-70 had all kinds of general fit problems but the panel lines were all horrible. I had to sand all the panel lines off and started to rescribe them. I stopped rescribing and after painting used a pencil and drew the panel lines on. The A-12 conversion was done (including decals) except for an overall clear coat when lacquer thinner my son was working with went airborne and onto the model. 2^nd time thought I was using an acrylic flat clear coat but it was a flattening agent for acrylic paint. 3^rd time got it painted, decaled and dull coated but the paint build up on the canopy was so thick by now that when I pulled off the masking tape I had to resend the whole canopy polish the clear plastic remask and repaint the canopy. The XB-70 was over half way done when AMT released their XB-70. I had 2 ½ years in the XB-70 and 3 years in the A-12 due to frustration and my leaving things alone until I was in a frame of mind to work on them again. Magoo

I am building a hit-kit 1/48 vacform MiG-3, it has been on and off the bench for over 5 years. Every time I make two step of progress there is a one step setback. I finally had this model masked, puttied, and sanded, ready for painting, then a aileron broke off. So its current status is shelved....but I wil finish this kit!

Tough call for me. My first thought goes to the 1/48 Modelcraft F-82. BUT!, I knew what I was getting into, and actually enjoyed whipping it into shape. Another was a 1/72 F-82(don't remember what brand), it was so bad, I actually burried it out in the yard. (got it for $1 at a warbird museum in Kissimmee Fla) In recent times, probably the Schnellboat I just did. Nothing really wrong with the kit, just a different process that I'm not used to, being an aircraft guy.

For me, the Glencoe re-issue of the Walt Disney’s Man in Space space station, hands down. [Warning to anyone considering building same.] The Strombecker moulds had been allowed to deteriorate. What should have been somewhat trivial was a nightmare! It’s not a snap-together kit, but it wouldn’t be much more *IF* the moulds were still in their original condition. I put in a ridiculous number of hours scraping that hull smooth with a #23 scalpel blade in an X-acto knife.

I tried a DML 1/35th scale Panther II as my second effort after returning to modeling after 30+ years.  Very frustrating.  I made so many mistakes  that I junked for spare parts.  It was too complicated a kit for my level of skill.  I didn't really have all of the tools I needed.

Now some 6 Tamiya kits later, I've purchased another Panther II and at some point I'll tackle it again.  My skill level is improving and I have the tools (sprue cutter, files, etc) to properly assemble it.

Regards your current challenge.  I suggest that it is haunted or possessed by demons.  I recommend that you drink 3 Sam Adams, make faces at it and take a nap.  Even if it doesn't work, you'll feel better.

The Maquette Boeing 307.  The two sides of the fuselage do not have the same- reversed- cross section at each station.  Not only is one side taller than the other, the cross sections are different- that is, the fuselage is not symmetrical around the centerline.  It is so bad I probably will not finish it.  I have bought a 1:144 B-17 for wings, engines, some of the tail, etc. and will scratch a fuselage. I know the engines are different and will have to modify the nacelles, but there is no way I am going to finish that Maquette kit.

Any transformable Gundam model from the ZZ line.  I have a couple and I've never been able to get one to go together right.  The moveable parts always seem to keep each other from holding together. 

So far it has been the 1/35 Maquette T-34/76 1941 Stz. The original kit fit and engineering was pretty bad, and when compounded with the included conversion parts to make that particular variant, really became a beast of a struggle. Measure twice and cut once was still not enough! The kit was sidelined numerous times before I finally knuckled down and completed the beast. I ended up replacing the kit turret with an old resin aftermarket one because the kit supplied one was not correct. The individual track links were a massive exercise in frustration time and time again... But in the end, after all the frustration, headaches and heartaches, I did have a good looking completed kit.

That 307 is on my list too, along with the good old P-61.

Currently though it's the Heller 1/100 Victory. Not that the models faulty, it's just really BIG and I have no place to store it. It lives in the spray booth (sort of) when not in play, but when I paint in the booth it goes on the bench, which is more of a storage pile of tools than a work area. When I work on it it takes up half the kitchen table, so in between coats etc. it goes in the dining room and takes up a big chunk of that table. All this moving around- something is going to bust off.

Without a doubt, my worst nightmare of a kit was the Monogram F/A 18 Hornet in 1/48th scale. I don't know why, but that kit just refused to go together well for me. Granted it was like my 2nd or 3rd airplane kit I ever built, but the experience from that nightmare turned me off from building aircraft altogether and I went back to cars and trucks.

That kit was one that found it's way impacting the wall at mach 2.  It's the only kit I have ever deliberatley demolished out of frustration and I have never had another kit give me the fits this one did.

For me it was the 1:32 Kinetic F-86...it was Murphy's Law in plastic....it eventually experienced "the hammer."