# Pain in the Bum kits



## bizzarobrian (Oct 4, 2009)

What was the hardest kit for you to work on?


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## Dr. Brad (Oct 5, 1999)

1/537 AMT Enterprise (or 1/529 as it's sometimes called). Hated getting rid of those stupid panels, the lighting, and a variety of other things. For some reason, I used incandescent bulbs, when I should have used LEDs, I didn't do as good a job on the Aztec panels as I could have (they're too subtle), etc., etc. All in all, just didn't enjoy working on it much at all.


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## John P (Sep 1, 1999)

Tough to cull one from the herd over all the years. There are more than a few that I smashed into little pieces in mid-build. I really miss shooting them, now that I live in the burbs.


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## bizzarobrian (Oct 4, 2009)

I had alot of problems with Lunar kits.The head was wonky on the Pumpkinhead & it was missing alot of teeth.The Classic War Machine from War of the Worlds from Lunar was the worst.The feet would not sit flat on the base.Alot of the tentacles were either missing or broken or with too much flashing.To make matters worse the tentacles on the Machine were casted in a straight position which were impossible to do anything with especially when the resin was extremely brittle.I got so frustrated I pitched it! Grrrr! lol
Also there was way too much mold release spray on it.I had to wash & scrub & scrub.


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## bizzarobrian (Oct 4, 2009)

Dr. Brad said:


> 1/537 AMT Enterprise (or 1/529 as it's sometimes called). Hated getting rid of those stupid panels, the lighting, and a variety of other things. For some reason, I used incandescent bulbs, when I should have used LEDs, I didn't do as good a job on the Aztec panels as I could have (they're too subtle), etc., etc. All in all, just didn't enjoy working on it much at all.


Nice work Bro !! :thumbsup:


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## iamweasel (Aug 14, 2000)

Making the oh so many parts (that means just about every piece, some even involve my woodshop clamps) of the Lindberg Robert E Lee actually fit right, when they in no way, shape, form or manner come even close to being the right fit.


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## WarpCore Breach (Apr 27, 2005)

Worst one for me was the FXM 1/3900 Ambassador. It was cast from that clear but extremely brittle clear resin. One pylon was broken when I got it in spite of the protection attempted in the box. That flippin' pylon would NOT glue back on no matter what!!! Nothing worked!

It had other issues as well that ultimately caused me to give it away years later. Worst kit I ever had.

Other kits? Well, not so much. Certainly there's some I have with one issue or another along the way but not as bad as what I got from FXM.


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## Hooty (Mar 4, 2000)

Revell Robbin Hood Fink and Outlaw. The figure went together fine, but the car was my curse for the entire time I worked on it. Most of the parts were chrome plated and very small. Scraping the chrome off was a pain!


Hooty


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## MadCap Romanian (Oct 29, 2005)

One man's "pain in the bum" is another man's.....HEY...WAIT A MINUTE! LOL!


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## bizzarobrian (Oct 4, 2009)

Hooty said:


> Revell Robbin Hood Fink and Outlaw. The figure went together fine, but the car was my curse for the entire time I worked on it. Most of the parts were chrome plated and very small. Scraping the chrome off was a pain!
> 
> 
> Hooty


I hear ya.I remember as a kid I got Barris`s giant Red Baron & I was in tears tryin to glue the chrome helmet to the car. lol


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## bizzarobrian (Oct 4, 2009)

MadCap Romanian said:


> One man's "pain in the bum" is another man's.....HEY...WAIT A MINUTE! LOL!


No droppin the soap around you Bro  lol :tongue:


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## CaptFrank (Jan 29, 2005)

I think the horror and trauma must have created a memory block,
because I can't think of any "pain" kits except the ERTL
_Ambassador_-class _U.S.S. ENTERPRISE NCC-1701-C_.
I put a lot of L.E.D.s in her, and assembly was a nightmare.
All those wires...


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## HabuHunter32 (Aug 22, 2009)

bizzarobrian said:


> I hear ya.I remember as a kid I got Barris`s giant Red Baron & I was in tears tryin to glue the chrome helmet to the car. lol


I believe that was Tom Daniel's Big Red Baron! George Barris takes credit for enough! In a magazine interview he claimed HE designed The Monkee Mobile..not true Dean Jeffries did! And Tom Daniel designed the Red Baron.


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## HabuHunter32 (Aug 22, 2009)

For me it was the first issue of AMT's TOS USS Enterprise! Those damned wedges you had to jam in the loops of the warp pylons never worked at all! I think I broke the first 3 kits I bought trying to put it together before my dad put one together for me! And the warp engines still sagged like a garbage scow!


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## Dr. Pretorius (Nov 17, 2000)

I recently built AMT's "Mummy Machine" (the mid-'90's reissue).

The part fit was awful. 

I can't imagine some ten year old trying to build this thing back in the "70's. 

I know I would have smashed it in fustration.


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## SteveR (Aug 7, 2005)

So far ... Lunar Models' 2001 pod, just trying to restore the thing to a symmetrical, spherical shape. Nice, for my first resin kit. But after that, I started to enjoy correcting the little inaccuracies. 

As for the Lesney/AMT Smoothie, I put that thing away for about twenty years until I could deal with it, with the help of this board and SSM.


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## bizzarobrian (Oct 4, 2009)

I had alot of trouble with the Wonder Woman kit as well as a kid.Sold it for 50 cents to a girl not long after. Ouch! Gotta hate those stories!!


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## Cro-Magnon Man (Jun 11, 2001)

Almost anything by Airfix; sadly I've never warmed to the produce of Britain's greatest company.


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## bizzarobrian (Oct 4, 2009)

*Lunar*



SteveR said:


> So far ... Lunar Models' 2001 pod, just trying to restore the thing to a symmetrical, spherical shape. Nice, for my first resin kit. But after that, I started to enjoy correcting the little inaccuracies.
> 
> As for the Lesney/AMT Smoothie, I put that thing away for about twenty years until I could deal with it, with the help of this board and SSM.


I always found alot of the seams were way off at times.Lots of sanding,scraping & filling. :drunk:


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## Seaview (Feb 18, 2004)

Lunar Models Seaview, the "TV conversion".
I just remembered, by the time I finished it, I was balled up in a corner laughing and crying and pointing at it.


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## Mitchellmania (Feb 14, 2002)

I bought the Lunar models Spindrift and interior- I opened it looked at the vacuformed plastic hull, and sheets of styrene for the inerior, and I sent it back.


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## bizzarobrian (Oct 4, 2009)

Mitchellmania said:


> I bought the Lunar models Spindrift and interior- I opened it looked at the vacuformed plastic hull, and sheets of styrene for the inerior, and I sent it back.


There kits weren`t exactly cheap either.


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## CJTORINO (Jan 20, 2003)

AMT 1969 Chevrolet Chevelle SS 396. 1/25 scale.
a real basket case. poor design, ill fitting piece of you-know-what.
it has the wrong bucket seats, the tail lights are a joke. a poor chassis design, 
one of the bigger piles of junk to come from AMT.
with some serious attention to detail, and a well-stocked parts box,
you can actually make a fair looking Chevelle.
But after shelling out the initial cost for a complete kit,
why should a person have to kit-bash just to get a decent looking model?


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## bizzarobrian (Oct 4, 2009)

CJTORINO said:


> AMT 1969 Chevrolet Chevelle SS 396. 1/25 scale.
> a real basket case. poor design, ill fitting piece of you-know-what.
> it has the wrong bucket seats, the tail lights are a joke. a poor chassis design,
> one of the bigger piles of junk to come from AMT.
> ...


That`s exactly my point with the Lunar kits.Not cheap & alot of work.I tried my hardest to think of a way to make decent looking segmented tentacles for the War Machine but was totally stumped.Even had they been casted in vinyl they would have looked like crap.It sat around for 5 years & finally I just pitched it.


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## KINGZILLA (Aug 27, 2005)

*Back in the mid 80s*



bizzarobrian said:


> There kits weren`t exactly cheap either.


Back in 87,I was just tickled to get the LM 16 inch J2,and when it arrived,and for THAT price,I could'nt believe it!! I did get it together,but sort of thought,This truly is'nt the heyday for Sci Fi models. They have us over a barrel. When PL finally arrived some years later. It was almost like a second comming for Aurora.


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## djnick66 (May 2, 2008)

Cro-Magnon Man said:


> Almost anything by Airfix; sadly I've never warmed to the produce of Britain's greatest company.


Most Airfix kits take some TLC but turn out spectacularly. Check out the Airfix (sponsored) forum on Hyperscale 

http://www.clubhyper.com/forums/groupbuildframe.htm

Its mostly aircraft and some military, but there have been a couple spectacular 2001 Orion's and some James Bond stuff as well.


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## Cro-Magnon Man (Jun 11, 2001)

Thanks for the link.


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## Bobj812 (Jun 15, 2009)

The Horizon vinyl T-800 Endoskeleton. I decided I just HAD to make it look better. I remember the hydraulic shock absorber thingys needed to be puttied in, as well as filler bits in areas needed to be carved out. Also, his hands were clunky so I decided to cut up little bits of wire for the "bones." Then I decided to light his eyes up, but I cut my pieces of fiber optic shorter than I should have to reach the bulb I had stored in his chest, and rather than drill out his eyes again and make longer pieces, I stubbornly "made it work" after a lot of frustration. I made battle base for him to stand on, with bones and skulls at his feet. If you pushed on a leg bone, his eyes would light up. I even made a plasma rifle to go with it. Ultimately I was as happy as could be despite it not having a chrome finish. My local hobby shop put it in a display case, and the heat from the lights made it start to droop. Other vinyl kits had been fine in there, but this one was so delicate I had to take it out. Now it's off it's base and tossed aside in my work area, his hands missing bits. Never had the heart to try and fix it,especially when toys came out later that looked a lot better.


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## Moebius (Mar 15, 2007)

Two kits come to mind, Inteleg vinyl Spawn, and the Revell astronaut. The larger scale version. Very tough to get body halves that big to glue together as a 10 year old!


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## Magesblood (May 12, 2008)

Spock with snakes. Those stupid seams on the detailed part of the snakes! Ugh!


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## Zombie_61 (Apr 21, 2004)

I'll take Polar Lights for $500, Alex. So far I've built three of their figure kits--the Randy Bowen Wolf Man, Robby the Robot, and their re-pop of The Forgotten Prisoner of Castel-Maré--and all three were a real pain in the posterior. Excessive flash, poor part fit, poor engineering, detail present on one part that was missing from the mating part...terrific kits when they're finished, but it takes a lot of work to get 'em there.


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## bigdaddydaveh (Jul 20, 2007)

Any of the Polar Light's stock car kits. I did a couple of built-ups for them to use at toy shows and they were the worst fitting car kits I have ever worked on. Something went horribly wrong when they scaled down the resin masters to the final tooling. The engine cradle was so thick and out of scale that the hood wouldn't clear the engine and there was no room for the headers. The molds with the roll cage were so far off center it was a joke.


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## Mudkicker (Jan 14, 2008)

Having done vinyl and resin mostly, very few styrene kits, I probably haven't had the nightmares many have had here. Resin the toughest was probably the Marilyn Manson Anti Christ Superstar kit. Tough to get a fit on that. Great kit though. Vinyl was probably Screamin's Werewolf kit. I couldn't get any glue I tried to take. Ended up giving it away.


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## PF Flyer (Jun 24, 2008)

I'll throw in the Polar Lights King Kong. Guess the Aurora had the same problems.


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## bizzarobrian (Oct 4, 2009)

Magesblood said:


> Spock with snakes. Those stupid seams on the detailed part of the snakes! Ugh!


I agree.That`s what I`m working on now.I`m refusing to paint them green as shown on the box.This thing is an alien.What are the odds of it being green anyway.


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## bizzarobrian (Oct 4, 2009)

Mudkicker said:


> Having done vinyl and resin mostly, very few styrene kits, I probably haven't had the nightmares many have had here. Resin the toughest was probably the Marilyn Manson Anti Christ Superstar kit. Tough to get a fit on that. Great kit though. Vinyl was probably Screamin's Werewolf kit. I couldn't get any glue I tried to take. Ended up giving it away.


lol I couldn`t even give mine away!


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## deadmanincfan (Mar 11, 2008)

If you still have it I'll take it off your hands, Brian... :thumbsup:


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## bizzarobrian (Oct 4, 2009)

deadmanincfan said:


> If you still have it I'll take it off your hands, Brian... :thumbsup:


I can`t remember if I threw it out or not I`d have to do some diggin. lol


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## John P (Sep 1, 1999)

Polar Lights makes _cars_!?!?* 








(running joke for 10 years now)


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## Capt. Krik (May 26, 2001)

John P said:


> Polar Lights makes _cars_!?!?*


 

Ahhh! The classics!


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## Magesblood (May 12, 2008)

bizzarobrian said:


> I agree.That`s what I`m working on now.I`m refusing to paint them green as shown on the box.This thing is an alien.What are the odds of it being green anyway.


a green creature..._from space_? 

I wholeheartedly agree with you. Green is too terrestrial, too earth-centric. They should be violet or something unique. Well, okay, maybe not violet.


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## bigdaddydaveh (Jul 20, 2007)

John P said:


> Polar Lights makes _cars_!?!?*
> 
> 
> 
> ...


 Ah, how soon they forget the Mach V. The funny cars were not all that bad I'll give them that. I did a couple of those for them as well for the Chicago show. The stock cars were a nightmare though. I'm not even going to bring up Crash Bandicoot.


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## Auroranut (Jan 12, 2008)

I love the Snap Draggins!! 
I'm pretty sure they started out as resin kits but the styrene P/L ones are the ones I have. 

Chris.


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## Y3a (Jan 18, 2001)

My 2 foot Lunar models Jupiter 2. NOTHING was shaped right, and the window frame was broken right out of the box and even after calling and emailing them they NEVER DID ANYTHING ABOUT IT. That was when I started spelling it looner moddles. That kit sucked like a shop-vac!


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## bizzarobrian (Oct 4, 2009)

bigdaddydaveh said:


> Ah, how soon they forget the Mach V. The funny cars were not all that bad I'll give them that. I did a couple of those for them as well for the Chicago show. The stock cars were a nightmare though. I'm not even going to bring up Crash Bandicoot.


Ok Then I won`t tell you that you just did!! lol :tongue:


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## Chuck (Apr 29, 1999)

Polar Lights (Aurora) Undertaker Dragster. Has anyone built this? I'm determined to get it done.


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## kit-junkie (Apr 8, 2005)

*1/72 scale Hasegawa Anzio Annie (Leopold Railway Gun)*

This one:




























It's the toughest kit I've ever built.

I think I'm still suffering from the trauma created by my wife and the feather duster. There is still one teeny tiny part missing.


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## MightyMax (Jan 21, 2000)

My Daughter when she was about 9 or ten wanted to build a model.
I got her a Polar Light Crash Bandicoot. She loved the character and painting the kit. Now, I have been modeling since I was a kid and this kit was a nightmare build. She didn't know cause I was there to handle the problems. At one point I needed three hands to get it together! This was a snap kit aimed at kids! Now if a 40 year old experienced modeler was having a hard time, did PL think a 12 year old building on their own would fare well? I know if I was a kid on my own building it, I would never have wanted to build another model kit, ever!!!


Currently I am building the AMT repop of the original MPC Alien. I have a SCi-Fi and Fantasy magazine with a review and I have found a review online. Both guys sing high praise for how well the kit fits. They must have been smokin crack!
It is one of the worst fitting kits I have ever built! A couple weekends ago I put a set of diamond burrs to use in grinding the ribcage to look like a single piece!
Still need to fill gaps in the legs and the back spine and tubes need work to look like a natural part of the anatomy and not 3 ill fitting parts!

Max Bryant


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