# best and worst kits



## Magesblood (May 12, 2008)

Are there any "best of" and "worst of" of model kits? You know, "best of" being the kit basically falls together with not gaps or seams, the instructions are very clear, the plastic is high quality and flawless and is just a joy to build whereas the "worst of" kit might be none of the parts fit right, the instructions are just plain lousy and is so inaccurate that it might as well be something other than what it's modeled after. Or maybe the subject was just so esoteric that it just wouldn't hold anyone's interest other than say one tenth of one percent of the modeling population would or could appreciate.


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## machgo (Feb 10, 2010)

There are many, but I would definitely put this one up there for WORST EVER--especially considering how much I was looking forward to it: Airfix Harrier, the big one, maybe 1/24. I can't remember because after getiing it, opening it up with glee, then test fitting a few parts, I put it away basically to never look at it again. Fit is awful, plastic is awful. Main fuselage fit rotten with no decent way to deal with the seams. And it was pricey as I recall. What a turd, I'm sorry I got it.


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## wolfman66 (Feb 18, 2006)

Worst kits to build for me was the Bornlosers specially Hitler pain in the rear.But once you get pass those seams on them 3 its smooth sailing


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## John P (Sep 1, 1999)

Best: IMHO, tie between Tamiya 1/48 Spitfire Mk I and ProModeler Messerschmitt Me-410. Both kits kit perfectly and have astounding detail. The 410 even has rib tape on the fabric control surfaces!

Worst: Hm. Well, it's probably something by Svezda - every one of their kits I ever built has at least one part that just. doesn't. fit. I can't think of one in particular. Or maybe something by Czech Hobby - some of their kits come with resin cockpits that are wider than the kit fuselage :freak:


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## USS Atlantis (Feb 23, 2008)

Worst kit I tried - twice

Revell P-38J

Bad fit of almost all the parts - gave up and got an Academy version -that one went together very cleanly

Academy seems to make good models

Hasegawa is another one - my 1/700 CV-14 Ticonderoga also fitted together very well


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## Jafo (Apr 22, 2005)

John, the 410 really? the canopy was one of the biggest pieces of %*$&# ive ever had to put together. My vote would be for the Fine Molds Tie Fighter and worst the AMT Deep Space 9 station


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## mcdougall (Oct 28, 2007)

Yama's Hawg...Worst kit EVER...
Couldn't tell the Spru from the actual kit...and get this...
NO INSTRUCTIONS !!!








Best Kit..... Nosferatu...hands down and thumbsup! :thumbsup:
Mcdee


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## John P (Sep 1, 1999)

Jafo said:


> John, the 410 really? the canopy was one of the biggest pieces of %*$&# ive ever had to put together. My vote would be for the Fine Molds Tie Fighter and worst the AMT Deep Space 9 station


Really? I remember having to be careful with the canopy, but nothing horrible. The molding and detail on the whole kit was astounding.
http://www.inpayne.com/models/me410.html


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## rkoenn (Dec 18, 2007)

Maybe the worst I have done was the Silly Surfer but that would be expected considering it was originally released in the 60s and was a really cheap kit. Most of the recent releases have been pretty good such as all of Moebius's I have done so far, the Tamiya aircraft I have done, and the Fine Molds Star Wars kits. The Aurora repops I've got aren't bad but definitely not up to present day models, again repops from the 60s modeling technology.

Bob K.


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## dklange (Apr 25, 2009)

I would have to say that the Tamiya 1/48 scale P-47M is one of the nicest kits I've built in a long time! My experience with Tamiya kits has always been very good and the P-47 was a truly great kit!! Can't really think of any bad kits... the worst I've worked on have been the old Revell Beatles kits... the fit is not great and some of the details are soft. But I guess for 1964 standards they aren't all that bad!!! - Denis


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## PF Flyer (Jun 24, 2008)

For figure kits, I'd second what McD said about Nosferatu and also throw in the Aurora Godzilla. For worst: there are several, but I'd go with the Aurora/PL King Kong.


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## irishtrek (Sep 17, 2005)

Worst kit the AMT refit, but with a little tweeking it can be fixed.


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## SJF (Dec 3, 1999)

The best kit I built very recently was the Moebius Galactica, which fit together like a dream. 

The worst kit was the Defiant from DS9. The styrene model of this spaceship was a real mother to build. No matter how hard I tried (and I tried very hard), it just wouldn't go together properly. I finally stopped working on it and just built it as a badly battle-damaged version, with an exposed engine. 



Sean


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## Magesblood (May 12, 2008)

SJF said:


> The worst kit was the Defiant from DS9. The styrene model of this spaceship was a real mother to build. No matter how hard I tried (and I tried very hard), it just wouldn't go together properly.



Yup! 

Shame too because I love the Defiant.


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## bigdaddydaveh (Jul 20, 2007)

The best for me was Accurate Miniatures McLaren M8B. Super detail and full plumbing. There's so much detail to the chassis and engine that the instructions are like a book. I would say Fine Molds Falcon but I have not had the time to start that so it does not count. The worst by far was the Airfix James Bond/Odd Job. The figures look like they are related to Odo from DS9. You can just about, almost, make out facial features on theme.


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## beeblebrox (Jul 30, 2003)

The Mobius Invisible Man is excellent. 
The Polar Lights Spiderman is crap. 
My figure model experience is pretty limited, so take that opinion for what it's worth.


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## kenlee (Feb 11, 2010)

Worst kit has to be the AMT Galileo 7 from Star Trek, the only way to make this into an even semi accurate representation of the Galileo 7 shuttlecraft is to throw out almost the entire kit except for the engine pods and decals and scratchbuild the rest. 

The best has to be the Moebius Jupiter 2. The only place I had to use any filler is where I altered the original kit parts to include additional detail such as the opening outer airlock door, removable landing gear and the ceiling beams I created for this kit.


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## yamahog (Nov 19, 1998)

*Read Your Lid*



mcdougall said:


> Yama's Hawg...Worst kit EVER...
> Couldn't tell the Spru from the actual kit...and get this...
> NO INSTRUCTIONS !!!


Dude, the instrux were printed on the box lid.

--Hawg


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## Magesblood (May 12, 2008)

kenlee said:


> The best has to be the Moebius Jupiter 2. The only place I had to use any filler is where I altered the original kit parts to include additional detail such as the opening outer airlock door, removable landing gear and the ceiling beams I created for this kit.


Good to know! I do plan on getting one someday.


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## mcdougall (Oct 28, 2007)

yamahog said:


> Dude, the instrux were printed on the box lid.
> 
> --Hawg


Oh man :drunk:
I used the box lid to eat my Corn Flakes out of that day and...well...it leaked...and then it caught fire when I tried to dry it out in the oven...
Yeah it was a rough day:freak:
Mcdee


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## kenlee (Feb 11, 2010)

Magesblood said:


> Good to know! I do plan on getting one someday.


If you want, check out my photo album, it has a number of photos of my Jupiter 2, mainly showing the airlock, utility room and opening outer airlock hatch mods I made. There are also photos showing off the lighting as well as the completed ship in the custom made launch cradle with launch towers and security guards. There are also photos of the custom ceiling beam kit I produced for this model.


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## Seaview (Feb 18, 2004)

Kit of the year; Moebius Jupiter 2. :hat:
Biggest nightmare of the year: Thermalized Plastics studio-scale Spindrift.
(But I'll get that thing finished some day; I haven't had this much grief since the Lunar Models Seaview). :drunk:


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## bizzarobrian (Oct 4, 2009)

Tskuda`s Wolf Man is the worst.Brundle Fly from Dark Carnival is the best!


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## bizzarobrian (Oct 4, 2009)

bizzarobrian said:


> Tskuda`s Wolf Man is the worst.Brundle Fly from Dark Carnival is the best!


Actually the Tskuda Frankie is just as awful.


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## HabuHunter32 (Aug 22, 2009)

My best kit nomination is the Moebius Jupiter 2! Fantastic kit all around! No filling or sanding. A complicated joy to build! First rate all the way! :thumbsup:

By far the worst for me would have to be the original release of the AMT USS Enterprise back in the 60's with those awfull plyon attachment thingies! That drove me crazy trying to build it and the first 2 went into the trash bin! My dad bought me a third and modified the pylons and secondary hull with wooden tongue and groove parts and at least that probem was solved. The rest of the kit still had alot of problems and took a while to complete. Quite a challenge back in the day! Not untill Polar's Enterprise did we have a half way faithfull example of the gray lady of space! Even though it was to small for such a grand lady IMO!


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## Y3a (Jan 18, 2001)

I think the best kits I ever did were the mid-70's era Tamiya tank kits. I still have the Churchill Crock after all these years (and moves). Worst, probably the Lunar 24" Jupiter 2.

Moebius Jupiter 2 is the best modern kit I've seen, along with the Chariot and Seaview.

Special kudos to the Central Valley Model Works Bridge kits.


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## bizzarobrian (Oct 4, 2009)

Seaview said:


> Kit of the year; Moebius Jupiter 2. :hat:
> Biggest nightmare of the year: Thermalized Plastics studio-scale Spindrift.
> (But I'll get that thing finished some day; I haven't had this much grief since the Lunar Models Seaview). :drunk:


The Classic version of War of the World`s kit by Lunar was a pain in the nutz.They gave you war machine tentacles that were segmented & cast perfectly straight.Even if you tried to bend them with heat they would snap off.Most of the tiny martians tentacles were either missing or had horrible flashing.Not sure what they were thinking.Friggin garbage & that`s where it went.It didn`t matter what you cleaned it with I couldn`t get the release coating off.The paint would go fish eye.


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## bizzarobrian (Oct 4, 2009)

Y3a said:


> I think the best kits I ever did were the mid-70's era Tamiya tank kits. I still have the Churchill Crock after all these years (and moves). Worst, probably the Lunar 24" Jupiter 2.
> 
> Moebius Jupiter 2 is the best modern kit I've seen, along with the Chariot and Seaview.
> 
> Special kudos to the Central Valley Model Works Bridge kits.


If I remember correctly wasn`t Lunars Jupiter 2 just a couple of what looked like salad bowls?


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## Seaview (Feb 18, 2004)

Before cutting & assembling, yes, but once completed it was rather nice, and much sturdier than the 16.5" version LM put out. I had to sell mine several years ago, but if I still had it, I would've scratch built an interior for it.


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## Y3a (Jan 18, 2001)

The last versions of the 16" / 16.5" Jupiter 2 were sturdy and not too bad. My 24" was not exactly circular and the legs & footpads weren't identical. I ended up cutting them down and using bent solder tocover up the joint. The legs ended up having brass strengthening and support which required a soldering form to put them together so the legs really would go up n down smoothly. ( I know, I haven't posted the landing gear tests on Youtube yet) The instructions SUCKED! They did not clearly state which side of the lower hull the gearwell cutout template was to be. I being an idiot didn't verify before doing it backwards. Should I fill in the front lower window and "move" it and then just rotate the lower hull a bit, or leave it alone. I left it alone. The addition of the supports for flying the model hasn't been completed. That has to be done upside down to make sure the parts smoothly sit up against the hull. A thin steel tube will go through the hull just to the surface of the hull so the soft plastic won't get torn, etc.


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## Stu Pidasso (Apr 5, 2008)

I'm just happy that none of my kits turned up on the "Worst" list...

And a little bummed that it's not on the "best" either...

Oh well, gotta work harder!


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