Hey, Jibber, quite a time you're having. Sorry to hear it. Sounds like a candidate for a heavy weathering finish. :-)

When I have repeated problems with a buld, I will sideline it. Move on to another and when the urge for this build returns, pull it off the sidelines and see if the moejoe flows to a smooth finish.

Yeah, I think I had a "jinxed" build with my MiG-17F.  This was my first Hobby Boss kit. I hit the first “snag” soon after I started. I had to repaint the seat several times to get the effect I wanted and stopped construction for several weeks. The I took up the gauntlet again. The plastic in this kit was sort of odd; in some places it seems quite soft but it also seemed very brittle at times too. I broke several parts just removing them from sprues, and this sure wasn’t my first rodeo. The fore and aft sections of the fuselage presented the next challenge. There was a terrible fit between the two sections. After I had them together, I found that it looked like “a bear’s *ss sewed up with a grapevine” (old sheet metal saying there…). Out came the Bondo and I went to work evening things up. Next step was re-scribing all the lost detail. The wing to fuselage fit sucked too, and I spent a few sessions wrestling that into shape. Then, I somehow lost one of the front gear doors and had to make another one. Painting the scheme I wanted intimidated me too, and I had several false starts with that.  It was a great relief to finally call her done, and it left me with a less than great impression of Hobby Boss.

Been there, done that a few times. LOL!

Tex, she may have been a bear to build and paint, but she looks fabulous!!!!

stikpusher

Tex, she may have been a bear to build and paint, but she looks fabulous!!!!

Thank you Stik!  I do appreciate that; yes, she was a bear but eventually she came to heel, lol.

Gunner the paint looks terrific.

Jibber

We've all been there. I have a jinx kit sat on my work bench and if I every get frustrated with the build I'm on its the jinx I look at and think its better than that piece of

Phil

jibber

Gunner the paint looks terrific.

Thanks Jibber!  I wanted a little "tighter" edge than I was able to pull off with my Paasche Model H.  There have been times when I was able to do that but the spray gods weren't cooperating for this build.  Heck, I finally reasoned that even the North Vietnamese painters must've had a good bit of over-spray and I decided it was "close enough for government work", lol.  Thanks again!

Gary

One kit stuck out in my mind I've always had bad luck with and hated was the F-4 Phantom. Now matter how hard I tried, it was a biatch to build.

Tex, every photo of a real VPAF Mig that I have come across show the finish to be much more sloppy than most modelers depict. Very soft edge camo on the real deal.

BS214, which Phantom kit gives you fits? Or is it all of them?

YES INDEED!!!!

I've been building an UH-60 Medivac Blackhawk and an AH-64 Apache for a local museum - I think about everything that can go wrong has did so. This stretching what should have been a three month or so build to over a year now. If they were my models I would have long ago slam-dunked them both into the parts bin.

Oh geez , I can't remember the brand it was but boy did I hate it. Keep in mind, I'm going back to my early modeling years. Haven't done a Phantom since.

LCVP just stripped the green camo for the 3d time. will give it a day or 2 and try tape instead of silly putty. maybe a slightly different light/pale green. just annoying because right before i base coated a truck and gun with no problems.

Hey, Waynec, sorry to hear of your troubles. Yes, I'm learning as well that silly putty has its limitations. The alternative, though, is a steadier hand and better motor control, as in a lighter touch on the spray trigger, than I have so far!

SOunds like you may be in a hurry.....

Gamera

YES INDEED!!!!

I've been building an UH-60 Medivac Blackhawk and an AH-64 Apache for a local museum - I think about everything that can go wrong has did so. This stretching what should have been a three month or so build to over a year now. If they were my models I would have long ago slam-dunked them both into the parts bin.

i have some similar helo issues for a museum, AH-1 and H-34. may just start fresh with an OH-58. i do have a pair of 1/35 BLACKHAWKS in the queue that intrigue me.

BarrettDuke

Hey, Waynec, sorry to hear of your troubles. Yes, I'm learning as well that silly putty has its limitations. The alternative, though, is a steadier hand and better motor control, as in a lighter touch on the spray trigger, than I have so far!

any number of reasons but probably operator head space and timing and, as DOOG said, rushing it. i think i have to go back and really clean it up. may have some silly putty residue from previous attempts. i may have thinned the MMA too much too on this one. i used the same paint to base coat my DANA with no problem. may try freehanding it. i have used silly putty before to good effect. it may be old too. OTOH i may have stumbled across a way to "blend" the sharp demarcation line with SIMOPPLE GREEN and a green scrubbing pad. a technique definitely worth pursuing. 

Sounds like i'm not alone on this one for whatever reason…

Graet lookin Mig Gary .

When things are not going well, I just walk away from the bench and continue at a later date.

plasticjunkie

Graet lookin Mig Gary .

When things are not going well, I just walk away from the bench and continue at a later date.

Thanks a lot Ernie, much appreciated!  The final "insult" was when I got to the airport and took that model out of the box, the starboard pitot tube had broken off in transit.  I believe NVAF private Dam Dhum Phuc had backed into the MiG with the refueling truck.  Oh well, photography marched on! 

waynec

Gamera

YES INDEED!!!!

I've been building an UH-60 Medivac Blackhawk and an AH-64 Apache for a local museum - I think about everything that can go wrong has did so. This stretching what should have been a three month or so build to over a year now. If they were my models I would have long ago slam-dunked them both into the parts bin.

i have some similar helo issues for a museum, AH-1 and H-34. may just start fresh with an OH-58. i do have a pair of 1/35 BLACKHAWKS in the queue that intrigue me.

Good luck with yours Wayne. Not sure what happened on mine. Maybe I honked off a Voodoo priest and he or she cursed them. I've never had that many issues with a kit before... 

Texgunner: Sorry I forgot to comment before but the MiG looks fantastic! I wouldn't sweat the small stuff either- I agree that the real plane probably had a few rough places in the camo. Someone back on the armour forum cautioned about the perfect 'Hand of God' camo scheme- the real thing was painted by some guy or crew crawling all over the subject with a brush or airgun dragging a hose behind them. No way it's going to be perfect. 

I've had a few builds go south on me. I did an F-18 with Blue Angels paint scheme not long ago. Had a lot of problems with the landing gear on that one, but otherwise, it turned out OK.

There are 2 that really stick out for just horrible builds. The first was a Saturn V rocket. Assembly wasn't bad, but you would be surprised at how many problems I ran into when painting the stupid thing. I finally finished it, but the paint job was terrible. The other build was an F-15 I started a couple years ago. It was just an all around terrible build. Pieces wouldn't stay together, and no matter how much I tried to get the fit right, I had gaps you could drive a semi through, the list goes on. I put that one on the sidelines and haven't touched it since.

Gamera

Texgunner: Sorry I forgot to comment before but the MiG looks fantastic! I wouldn't sweat the small stuff either- I agree that the real plane probably had a few rough places in the camo. Someone back on the armour forum cautioned about the perfect 'Hand of God' camo scheme- the real thing was painted by some guy or crew crawling all over the subject with a brush or airgun dragging a hose behind them. No way it's going to be perfect. 

Thanks brother!   I appreciate the kind words!

This was my hard luck build that fought me every step of the way Maquette's 1/35 T-34/76 STZ production... but the end results, while far from perfect, were "good enough".

I have a Monogram B-26 that did not go well.  It is still waiting to get finished, the seams were terrible.  I am almost ready to dump it and start over.  Have not worked on it in years, as I started it before my enforced modeling sabbatical.  I have not been brave enough to pick it back up

John

Hi :

   Seems to me you got that bear in the cage . Darned nice looking job on that plane !

stikpusher

This was my hard luck build that fought me every step of the way Maquette's 1/35 T-34/76 STZ production... but the end results, while far from perfect, were "good enough".

Stik, that T-34 looks pretty cool to me brother!  I can't see a thing wrong from here, I've always wanted a T-34 in my collection.  Might be a good incentive to get off my butt and build, or finish, something!

Gary

I have one kit on the bench at the moment that falls under this criteria.  The Hobbyboss 1/48 F-105D.  The kit started off fine enough then the troubles started.  1.) I was fitting the Black Box resin cockpit and was getting close to finally having all the sanding and shaving done to get it to fit.  Was so close in fact that a the little extra pressure combined with the thinned plastic resulted in the left half of the fuselage splitting when I was testing the fit.  On the plus side it did make the cockpit *snap* into place.....  2.) After that was resolved with a lot of sanding and rescribing I began work on the wings.  Somehow/someway a small puddle of laquer thinner had pooled on my work bench.  I set the right wing down into that pool.  By the time I realized it the thinner had done a fantastic job of softening and melting the plastic.  More sanding, filling, rescribing (though once again, on the plus side the softened plastic made scribing a breeze!).  By now I'm bound and determined to finish this kit out of spite!  Well, that and the substantial dollar investment in AM parts that went into this build.