How Many Of You Put Off A build Because It Looks Too Hard?

Zar

And why is it always a Dragon kit? Frankly I've bought three and all have been in the stash for over a year or more. Panzer I, King Tiger, and a SDKFZ 234/3. Of these the Tiger might look the easiest! The armored cars directions look absolutely daunting. I got nervous just looking at it. "How the bleep am I going to get through this" Am I alone? 

P.S. The Panzer I has these link tracks that look miniscule. For that alone I don't know what to do.

Zar, you will enjoy building that 234/3.  It sure beats assembling indy tracks... just 8 wheels and it was fun!  Don't let the high count scare you... not all parts were used eventually.  I built a 234/1 last year and I'd do it again to collect all four 234 variants. 

I hear you. I have a bunch of Dragon kits sitting idle. It's not entirely because I think they are too difficult, but about half are of kits I have built at one time, but want to do it better and apply techniques I've acquired over the years. That being said, the Marder II looks to be a pretty involved build with hundreds of those teeny track links and parts. Ditto with the little Panzerjager I. They are both opened-top vehicles which take more labor to paint and detail. I agree that the larger ones, sans zimmerit, intimidate me less.

I also have a Tristar Brummbar that will undoubtedly sit in the stash for awhile. I do like the newer Tamiya kits with the decent detail and lower part count, then over-engineered kits.

Stop right there ,if a kit scares you because of its high parts count you need to send it to me and I'll take good care of it!!! Mmwwwaaaahhahahahahah

I had the same feelings about starting one of the many Dragon kits I've accumulated thanks to the December promotions, but it turns out they may be the easiest to build!

A couple of weeks ago I finally gave up and started their Flakpanzer and although there was a whole bunch of parts (500-600 parts maybe?), mostly small, the mold of the kit was so good - they all fit perfectly and with ease! The entire time I was building it I was thinking "What a great value!". I got all my Dragon kits for under $30 from SprueBros during their promotions and this has been by far the best purchase I've ever made. Granted I have only 1 model of experience so far - imagine Tamiya molding quality but on much smaller scale.

In the end, I even managed to do a great job with the 3-color camo and the tank is just beautiful, probably atop my best builds, BUT and here comes the big 'but' - it has no tracks :) Well, it has 3/4 of the tracks on one side and that's as far as my patience took me with the indy links. But the rest of the tank looks awesome and I am currently looking around for aftermarket tracks for that model. If I don't find any I will end up building the rest of the tracks one of those days, though :)

Overall it took me two days for the build (without paint or tracks) but I was so psyched about how everything was going so smooth and well above my expectations, maybe that's why it was such a quick build. Plus, it really doesn't have many interior parts...

Bottom line, If you are postponing a Dragon kit for any reason other than time - don't! You are robbing yourself of a really good experience. I still can't believe I paid less than $30 for those kits, down right criminal!

Only one. I have a Dragon 39-45 series DAK Pz IV in the stash that I've opened up several times, only to put the lid back on after being put off by the sheer number of sprues and parts. Its still there waiting and taunting me.

Hey Zar,

I'm a relative newbie (I started modelling in May 2009) and I'm in the process of building more Dragon kits. I'll build a couple of easy Tamiya kits then build a Dragon 'Mega Kit'!

So far they have looked utterly daunting on paper but in the end everything has turned out ok. I always try and find a blog posted by someone who has built the very same kit and follow his assembly stages. They usually point out and instruction mess ups so you can avoid them and wbill has a load of Dragon kit build blogs on his site and I've followed a lot of his kits as he seems to build the same types of models as me (German and mainly SPG's).

Re the Panzer I: I assume it is Dragon kit with the interior (the Ausf A one)? I built this and it is one of my personal favourites. If it is this kit then you'll have Magic Tracks and you are laughing! Build a jig which has two raised edges placed exactly the width of the links apart so you can lay the links inbetween the raised pieces (I got a Stryrene sheet and cut off two thin strips and stuck them down either side of some links spaced apart so the space was equal all the way then assemble, add Tamiya thin cement and while the glue is still setting fit the links to shape on the tank with sag - ideally so you can remove them again for painting. I did the bottom part first which went under the road wheels and stopped at the 12'o clock point on the drive and idler wheels and let that set. I then did the top run as it would need more work getting the sag etc and it all went perfectly. If you have the Dragon Ausf B Panzer I I'll imagine you'll have links on the sprue so get cleaning up and assemble exactly the same - or if funds stretch to it buy Friuls!

I am guilty of being scared of a kit in my stash - the Dragon Marder III Ausf M Command Vehicle (Befehslager). The instructions are just mental and the PE fret is massive so I keep putting it off but it will be built to the best of my abilities later this year during my two week holiday off work later this year! When I've finished my current JSU-152 WIP and the Tamiya StuG III Ausf B & Dragon Sherman Hybrid IC Firefly also in my stash I'll then build the Marder. Hopefully

ATVB

Ben

Nope, I have never been scared off by the complexity of a kit.  I see each one as a new challenge; the harder the better.  Bring it on.

First I want to say a big "Thanks you" to everyone who ends up thinking this way you have saved me a fortune when you finaly sell them on Ebay - I love to see the phrase "Box only opened to check the parts" sure I believe you

I have about 50 kits in my stash now and I'm a slow builder - maybe 4 a year as I travel with work. But the way I look at is this, 25% or so of Dragon parts dont get used so the 600+ part count is now 400. If you then take off the track count maybe 100 per side your down to 200. Now take off 70 or so for the wheels and your down to 130 which is the real number you'll have to take time getting attached correctly.

Looking at it that way its not a lot of parts at all. You can always put it down for a while and go do something else. Wait till you get to the Photo-Etch!!

Plus there is always Ebay, again thanks for the savings

Pmitch

Yup

all the time.... mostly 'cos I can't paint the camo scheme I want, so practice on summat else...

I also got a Trumpy Faun Fransiska + Voyager (2000+ parts, eh?) I'm waiting for my skills to improve first!

& a handfull of PE from Aber & Commanders models.... need an electron microscope for that...

Hard? No, haven't put one off because it is too hard. I will put it off it if it looks like it will be more time consuming that current life events will allow. I try not to leave things hanging because often they will never get finished. So I try my best to make sure that it goes from box to paint as soon as possible. The longer an item sits at my desk unbuilt, the greater the chance my 6 yr old has to knock something on the floor and end up with the wife vacuuming it up or a puppy finding and grinding it.

As  a fairly new modeler i havent built many diiferent manufacturers, but i did stop building the czech f4 fury after reading some reviews of the daunting task.  if anyone remembers it was the one squadron had for 5 bucks.  sorry for the caps.  when i press shift, windows crashes :[

Nope....just another hill to climb....the only thing I try to do is not do two "big" parts counts in a row.....take an easy build for a rest then climb another hill

There is nothing to fear but fear itself!!

Rounds Complete!!

Sometimes it happens,but i'll tell you that their King Tiger isn't so bad.I built one as my 1st 1/35 armor kit,and it didn't kill me.Give it a shot

I dont know what to even say to this. I am scared to even start modeling cause I dont have an airbrush or compressor. If you have one of those... that model should be put together! 

I've never shied from a model because it's too hard, but I do hold off on certain kits out of a desire to build my skills and "do them justice". Mostly some pricey aircraft, but also an AFV Club Achilles (I'm actually more daunted at the prospect of painting/masking the open turret than I am build that Tasca M4A3(76)W).

DoogsATX

I've never shied from a model because it's too hard, but I do hold off on certain kits out of a desire to build my skills and "do them justice". Mostly some pricey aircraft, but also an AFV Club Achilles (I'm actually more daunted at the prospect of painting/masking the open turret than I am build that Tasca M4A3(76)W).

Agreed. Or, because the kit is a piece of junk as far as fit, and I don't have the time to play around with it. As far as instructions and complexity go, just dive in. take it a little bit at a time and you;ll get through it.

I have had that feeling loads of times, Dragon Tiger1 ,  open box, look at it , ah not yet , put it back. Leopold 35 scale same thing , maybe one day?  My  Tamiya famo because i put so much work in on the chassis that the rest of the build will have to measure up to that with a comprehensive PE set thats with it. Its just too involved.

So your certainly not alone.

Andy.

Having built three old Pocher car kits (1/8 scale, multi-media) I think I can build anything.  But there are some things I shy away from, simply because I am not interested in the subject or they are way too fiddly, such as four foot long battleships or wooden old sailing ships, and they take way too long to hold my interest.

Like many of the othere have mentioned, I have in the past bought a kit and slowly accumulated some items to go with it and then waited until I felt that I had my skills up to the level needed to tackle it properly and do it justice. Once that confidence level was reached, then it just became a matter of it finding the "right" moment on the bench. This applies to mostly older kits that need some TLC/upgrades to get them to where they need to be, there aren't any new kits out right now that would put me off.

I will say though that I do have a couple of the original DML "Super Kit" Pz IVs that I know are a real slog to assemble because of their over-engineered complexity and the result of that is that they often are lower down on the "want to build" list inevitably.

If you don't want it, I'll take it off your hands......

jus kidding.

Maybe because the parts count was too high for a particular subject but not because it was too hard...Some of the early 2nd Gen Dragon releases had astronomical parts counts, such as the initial flak 88, the DAK Mk IV and the Panther G (all of these I have but never wanted to invest so much time into one kit)...these kits were over-engineered...

To Dragon's credit they recognized this and developed the SMART kit which reduced part count but still gives a high level of detail...

I won't put one off because it looks too hard; I will however put one off until I know that I'm going to have a clear schedule to dedicate the time for it that I know will be necessary to do it justice.

I do get that feeling. I think most of us do. Personally, that is the reason why I have many kits on the  building block. When I feel that a kit is a little too complicated for continous build, I start with another. When I am psych up to go back to it,then I start to work on it again. I think that is also the reason why Michaelangelo took so long to finish his painting, "The Creation" at the Sistine Chapel.

Nope...I can screw up even the simplest kit so it is plain and simple laziness that keeps me from doing kits.

Ashamed to say that I got the Dragon Marder II in the Armour Secret Santa GB a couple years ago and still havent started.  Wanted to get a couple of armour builds under my belt first.

I used to be.  Mainly due to my skill level.  Or lack thereof.   The high parts count seems daunting.

But that is how you get better.  Gotta push yourself a bit with every build otherwise you won't progress as a modeler.

That seems to go with anything you do ie: sports, music  etc... 

I've yet to find a kit that was too hard. But I've certainly identified an entire brand with instructions that leave me confused on which end is up, which parts get used and what the heck they thought they were doing.