Giving up on a project

I'll trash a kit if I know it will never turn out like I want or I've lost critical parts that I can't replicate. If don't want to bother or can't get from the manufactuer dosn't help.

I've walked away from a few models over the years.  Some of them I've gone back to came out relatively good.  That's also left me with a nice supply of scrap plastic, which is handy, because I'm trying to learn new techniques & I'd rather ruin those then a new project. I have been at the bench everyday since Christmas & haven't started anything new. Learing a lot from YouTube, y'all on the FSM forums and good ol' practice. 

Jim  

I can honestly say I had never thrown a model away.  A few did meet an enternal demise.  The Monogram F14 where I messed up the mechanicals for the inner wings, so I gave it a tap with the 8lb Sledg O Matic, and then there was the Testors F4 where the landing gear drove me to the point where I took it out to the range and blasted with a 12 GA.  

Now I just put frustrating projects aside, let the problem settle, and either go back to it, or turn it into a paint testing platform.  

I have thrown away a Revell 1/48 F-15

No agonizing over the decision for me; if building the kit is no longer fun or the "challenge" doesn't seem to be worth the effort, I will not hesitate to set it aside. I won't throw it away though; it could end up being a source of spare parts some day.

One of the reasons I switched to 1/48 scale Tamiya armor kits; they assemble well and there is enough out there to super detail them and they are nice enough to build out of box without the bells and whistles.

I just hate painting and after the initial build, they sit around waiting for their day in the paint booth.

A downside to Tamiya 1/48 scale armor kits is that the line consists mainly of WW2 German, a smaller amount of WW2 allied and just a handful of modern kits.

seastallion53

When you agonize over the thought of returning to the model, putting it back on the shelf for years and never touching it again.

 

Actually, I consider that a relief- the agony and shame come from considering scrapping it.  I guess that is why I have so many unfinished ships on my shelves of doom.  And, I do occasionally get back to some.

I guess, too, the fact that I build ship models, especially plank on frame rigged sail, helps willingness to take a break on a ship.  Some of my model ship builds would be at least a year or more effort if I went straight through on the project, so I commonly build those in split efforts, yet do get back to finishing them.

When you agonize over the thought of returning to the model, putting it back on the shelf for years and never touching it again.

Peaches

So this may sound like a weird question, but when do you y'all just say the heck with it this model isn't worth it.  I am working on the Academy F-15, and nothing seems to fit right, nothing seems to glue together correctly.  So when is enough to y'all 

 

I know your pain! Especially with the Academy F15! That kit is absolute crap. The fitment and build are beyond suspect. I first tried their F15k SLAM Eagle. I couldn't get anything to line up right. It meet it's demise under the heel of my shoe. I tried again, thinking maybe it was just my lack of skill, this time their F15E. AGAIN, the same problems and again a gruesome demise. That kit is no good. It' nice that it has all the weapons you could want and outstanding decals by cartograph, but the kit itself is doodoo. Third time worked for me with the Revell F15E and weapons from the Academy kit. The Revell F15 is regarded as the best F15 kit you can buy.  I have trashed many another model, and when I stop and look at it, about 85% of them were Academy! Most of their kits are junk with exception to their newer releases where they seem to be getting better. 

So no it is not weird and no you are not the only one to say F this. Sucks that we basically just threw money away, but hey, in this hobby, nothing is impossible or unheard of.

The only kit I ever trashed was an old Lindberg F-104.  Terrible kit, but it did have a removable engine on a stand that I did end up keeping.  But usually when I gave up on a kit I would try out experiments on it, or use it for parts for another project.

I've given up on the AFV Club M38. It's a nice kit, but I just can't make it work. After a few glue run disasters, I will leave it for those better than I.

fermis

I don't remember what company made the kit(not Monogram), but it was an F-82 twin Mustang in 1/72. It was terrible...and rather than add any further disgrace to my trash can...I got a shovel and buried it in the back yard.

Years later, I tackled ModelCrafts 1/48 F-82, which was worse yet...but my abilities were far greater than when I tried the little one...even made it into the mags "reader gallery"!

 

Totally 86'd the ESCI demag 250. Like you said, nothng fit well, but I was  bit of a novice. No excuse by today's standards.

I call them...Hanger Queens and they're starting to pile up.

Anyone want a Mach 2 Valiant?

I don't remember what company made the kit(not Monogram), but it was an F-82 twin Mustang in 1/72. It was terrible...and rather than add any further disgrace to my trash can...I got a shovel and buried it in the back yard.

Years later, I tackled ModelCrafts 1/48 F-82, which was worse yet...but my abilities were far greater than when I tried the little one...even made it into the mags "reader gallery"!

Peaches

So this may sound like a weird question, but when do you y'all just say the heck with it this model isn't worth it.  I am working on the Academy F-15, and nothing seems to fit right, nothing seems to glue together correctly.  So when is enough to y'all 

 

Next would be a Zvezda T-60 kit, bought after the Berlin Wall came down when it was only available to Warsaw Pact purchasers. The one piece vinyl tracks were short shot and nearly useless. The kit was Zvezda's first and not worth trying to make better.

Third kit was a Trumpeter M60A1/A3. When Trumpeter first started out, they produced cheap copies of Tamiya and Academy kits. This one even had a bad doctored copy of Academy instructions showing placement of parts that were molded onto the upper hull. The upper hull looked like it had been placed under a heat lamp with soft and lumpy detail. The tracks didn't fit the tank either.

Yep, I had that model too. I did buy a "Colin Kelly" B-17C to use, which I still have

Mine came off eBay from a cigar smoker, couldn't even bring it in the house. I threw it away two moves ago.

If you ever have any further thoughts, I'd be interested to share.

 EDIT: You don't smoke cigars, do you?

Bill

I do occasionally trash a model, rather than placing it in the shelves of doom.  Last one was a Maquette Boeing Stratoliner.  Most of it was okay, but the fuselage looked like it was paper mache, and the height of each side along the seam differed by between a sixteent and three/thirty-seconds.  Really junk.  I would have needed to scratch the fuselage, and decided to just get a B-17 kit and scratch a fuselage for that (I know I will have to modify engine nacelles to rid them of 'charger.

Call me a hard headed, stubborn old Irishman, but I hate to just trash one even though I have, not too many years ago. It was just so badly warped, there was no chance to correct that and the canopy was short shot, so I binned it.

If I buy one and it basically disappoints, then I'll still finish it without any effort spent on details, paint and decal it, then give it to neighbor hood kids. They're delighted with the gift, it brings them some fun and it's not wasted then. They won't know it's cr@ppy @ss unless I tell them. I don't.

Patrick

Definitely know the feeling!  But some models beg to be finished no matter the time spent on the Shelf of Doom.  Not so much those terrible kits that fight you every inch of the way, but it's those projects that you just love too much to abandon completely.

In fact, I have a 25+ YEAR old shelf queen that I hope to finish soon.  It's ultra super top secret right now, but hopefully I can share my long lost labor of love with the forum when it is done.

So never say never to your shelf queens, if they are special to you.  Yeah, but go ahead and dump the cr*p-*ss junkie kits.  Life is too short for that stuff.

Same here, if it is no fun anymore i will put it on the side and maybe make a diorama with the model in a crash scene. That way it doesn't matter what the model looks like

When it's not "Fun" anymore, I salvage any part's I feel would be used on other stuff ......

And the FIRECRACKER'S come out of storage again !

1: Place on ground ...

2: Light fuse ...

3: Step back a few feet and enjoy the show !

Same here as well but on rare occasions. I’m always researching reviews on a particular subject. I’ve had times I just pick up a kit and have a go at it no matter the issues.

Same Here !

Nothing weird about it, there are times when a particular build gets frustrating or even the whole pursuit. For me it's either fun or not - when it's not it's time to do something else.

Mike