Boycot Academy's flak panzer 4.

I could be wrong, but isn't it one of Tamiya's older offerings? Sorry to hear that Charles, better luck on the next kit.

CONGRATULATIONS!!! ur now a member of the worldwide modeling community!

Tamiya does make a wirbelwind but it cost 36.00 dollars and the one from Academy cost me 18.00 it is really quite a shame because i love that machine.

I think the $36 Tamiya kit was updated with some new moldings and parts. The Academy kit I bet was the older Tamiya version. They have a few of Tamiya's old molds such as the Panzer IV H. That's why they are cheaper.

Didn't wbill76 recently completed an Academy Wirbelwind? Or was that a Tamiya?

Oops sorry...it was a Tamiya.

Could you explain further about the problems of the kit?

just got an old Tamiya version.....man it will take a lot to make this thing "good" build. I must have the "early" version. Looks as if this was offered as a motorized version.

well v8tj you got the same one as me, first thing is first the instructions were missing vital bits of info and, color guide was probly made by a 3 year old, peices in the instructions were not on the parts of the kit were they were sapossed to be connected, and you could see straight into the tank from the gunning area.

theres a couple of reasons this kit sucked!!

you an me charlesw! what a pair. the thing is that i've always wanted to build one of these things! what shall we do?

I built the Academy Panzer IV out of the same mold as the Wirbelwind and I thought it was a nice build. Not exactly the best fit and need some (well a lot) of putty, but I got the kit for a whoppin $4. I have both the Tamiya (old) and Academy Wirbelwind they were both distriputed by MRC so I am guessing they came out of the same mold. The indy tracks were also nicely done on both kits.

QUOTE: Originally posted by v8tj97 you an me charlesw! what a pair. the thing is that i've always wanted to build one of these things! what shall we do?

How bout a crappy kit group build?

well speaking of crappy kits I bought Hobbycrafts M2 Bradley this kit is by far the worst kit I have ever built when I went to glue the hull to the top half of the tank it was completly off, I became completley frustrated and threw it in the closet , I just pretended it was a bad dream.

I am sorry to hear your problems with these kits.I have in the past had my share of bad kits but still figured a way to fix them.They were some of the best work I did and just like some of the other modelers who are on this forum.So take a deep breath and put it nice and neat into the closet,then get to your nearest hobby shop and buy another.Also buy some sheet styrene and other styrene products.this is need to constraut extra or new parts also to help fill in the big gaps that you might incounter.With all of this then go to work and beat the bad boy kit at its own game.Make it work for you,that way you can talk to itand say'"I got your number."Digger

I agree with Digger on this. I also own the offending kit, and, after inspecting it, found the same issues, but for the money, I figured it had acceptable detail, and solving the problems would make me a better modeller. I realise I may change my tune when I build it, but I built a number of frustrating kits, (Maquette T-34, Alan SiG33) that I have turned into nice models, and have learnt a lot in the process. My advice is, build it after you have just built a kit that falls together, so your patience is high, and try something different on it, like Zimmerit, or battle damage etc, that you wouldn't try on an expensive kit.

looks like i'm the only one up at 3:38am... my son is 12 weeks old and woke up a little fussy.
hattals: you said something about indy tracks? Man I guess I did get the bottom of the barrel, cause I got the super duper one piece vinyl goodies! Does anyone use these things anymore, or do they just go aftermarket?

Claymore: I like it! how bout the "great crapoff 2004" the badge could be a little toilet with trax and a barrel. I'll fool with photoshop and make one. Even if we don't do a build like this one, I still think I need the toilet for MY sig.

well here ya go....15 minutes of photoshop and viola!
....um how do i post the image?

I 've built the Tamiya Wirbelwind and it had the rubberband tracks and the open to the interior turret fighting compartment. I liked the kit, especially the detail on the gun mount, and the only place it really fought me on was the fit of the upper and lower turret halves but a little bit of sanding and putty cured that up just right. I don't know anything about the Academy Wirbelwind but I did build their Pz IV H as a cheap kit (it's not really an H or a J but kind of a hodgepodge of the two in terms of features...) but it also built up ok.

Maybe it's just me, but I actually like kits that have to be worked on a bit to get them to look good...it's what distinguishes the craft/art from mere assembly of pieces. Granted, I like the smooth building kits just as much as anyone and have cursed at ill-fitting or flash heavy pieces in turn but in the end when you can make it look good, that just increases the satisfaction level over the accomplishment.

I tend to agree with Wbill.. providing at least that the poorer-quality kit
is cheaper and older than the better one! There's no excuse for new mouldings (as opposed
to reissues) being poor-quality nowadays.
My idea of a "bad" kit is generally 40/50-year old Airfix/Frog/Matchbox (and I still build plenty of those!),
rather than 20/30-year old Tamiya, etc! But that's just me - I buy 90% of my kits second-hand and rarely pay
more than £10, most kits I buy are between £3 and £6. Newer kits rarely turn up in second-hand model sales and if they
do they aren't usually much cheaper than retail prices. And "half price sales" are rarer than a 1/32 B-36 in UK model shops!
Maybe if I had a bigger budget, I'd be more willing to pay £20-£30 for the latest kits. But I enjoy the challenge of building models from older kits - finding references for new colour schemes, adding scratchbuilt details etc. That's just
what I enjoy about modelling - I understand why newer modellers don't want the hassle of dealing with flash, poor fit, etc.

well i guess im real trouble i have both of the bad kits,the m2 bradly and the wirbelwind .and they look like good kits to build.

gdarwin[roy]

anyone have advise as how to post my image? I tried the image icon, but it never gave me an option to browse from.

v8,

You can post images using the url method of [ img] http://url.url.com [ /img] and it should show up so long as the url you are posting from allows hotlinking. Otherwise you will get the dreaded red X.

Ever hear that old saying "one persons junk, is anothers treasure?" Thats sort of how I try to look at cheap or poorly manufactured kits! Usually, I have a pretty good idea of what I'm getting into when I choose to buy an older or cheaper kit. Accept the challenge to make it all you can, and you'll most likely look back on it as one of your better accomplishments. Thats how, as we've read here, that many become premire model builders, and exploit the limits of their capabilities. Enjoy the challenge, and happy modelling. semper fi, mike

Here is my view on crappy models. If you got it for cheap, then through it together. Place it some where out side and put some old, crappy figures next to it. Buy allot of firecrackers and place them where desired by some extra fuses and then tie the fuses together, and make an offering to the Plastic Model gods . be careful.

I just have to shake my head - "...worst kit ever"

I don't think so! Try some of the Encore Models offerings, or perhaps an older Eastern Express kit or two, but this kit is far, far from being the worst ever produced.

If I buy a 1970's armor kit from ANY manufacturer, I'm definitely NOT looking for perfection! I would be completely deluding myself otherwise. Heck, even the 1970's Tamiya kits, with those darn motorization holes all over the place, are a royal pain in the rear and I expect them to be a serious challenge to build. It's just plain common sense!

Enjoy your modeling...

I will say this that if you think that expense kits are better then think again.Just because they have a higher price tag does not make them better.I have bought same high priced kits and some what you would call el cheapos.Some of the cheapos were better in detail and fit then some of the high priced kits.Kits are kits,it is our skills that takes a peice of coal and turns it into a diamond.I don't mind the cheap kits,sometimes you can do more to them,then the expensive kits.Digger

ok it may not be the worst kit ever but it sure is the worst ive ever had to put together.

the best thing for this kit is just to be put together and blown up with a fire cracker.
BLAMMO!!!!