How many kits have you binned during construction?

It’s not so much about being able to complete,
more about the interest, joy, fun, satisfaction, whatever
of actually doing it. Do I want to spend more hours
and cash on a “sows ear” or do I build something
else where the “reward” is greater?
It is possible to take a shower with cold water, I have done
it, it’s just a matter of “willpower” but I absolutely prefer a nice
and warm shower.
Masochists may have another opinion …

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This is why I sell off older kits as new versions of them come out. Unless there is no other option, I will get the newer kit and build it.

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A follow up. First let me explain that I suffer from chronic migraine and cluster headache attacks. Often 3-4 days a week. So my time and tolerance is limited. :tired_face:

Not wanting to let a pile of plastic bits beat me i had another attempt at putting the links together. I figured that a piece of double sided tape would hold them down long enough to put them together. (Note that making the 6 link sections isnt a real problem). And it worked. I stuck a section of about 30 links down. Dropped the single link in and joined another 6 links on. Yippeeee. Then another 6. Worked fine.

THEN i turned the darn thing over only the find i put all the new sections on facing the wrong way. Bum. Now what? That section could go on the bottom and noone would know. But i would know.

I was looking at images of Fireflys on the web. Seems not all have the same tracks. One even looked like it had rubber pads on each link. One had completely different tracks.

Questions for those smarter than me! Could the links on the real thing be installed backwards? Im trying to be creative here!

Wot Ps me off most is that I started this Firefly to see if I could do a “NightShift” on at least one model.

By the way ive done several RFM tanks and never had this problem. :triumph:

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By “wrong way” do you mean the chevron is pointing the other way? But it’s still on the outside of the track? The answer is yes they could mount some backwards, and yes they actually did on occasion. Sure, any decent RSM would bark at the crew to get it right, but in action ANY track repair was better than none, and nobody’s got the spare time to pull it all apart to turn them round! There are even pics where different types of link have been mixed - possibly because the odd link was all they had at the time when the track needed fixed. And there are shots where a tank wears two different styles of track - one on each side.

So don’t worry too much about your reversed links!

As for track types, there were several different styles in use, and what a tank wore depended on what was in stock when the tracks needed changed. Many British tanks wore T62 steel-chevron tracks, but could also have T54E1s, T49 “cleat” tracks, or even plain T51 rubber blocks. Under ideal conditions a set of tracks could last 3000 miles, but in battle the wear & tear goes up exponentially!

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Thanks. I did mean the chevron facing the wrong way. Ive seen all the different types on various web sites but wasnt sure if many of them actually seen action.

I feel better now so i wont be taking the axe to them for repairs.

Dont get me wrong. Its a nice kit. But these tracks are only marginally better to put together than Miniarts dozer tracks.

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Yup - for years the modelling fraternity cried out for indy-link tracks instead of rubber-bands, and now we have tracks with more parts than the real thing! A classic case of “be careful what you wish for”…

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Failure is not an option, get creatively destructive instead…

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I do not think that is fair. In the model world, when someone wishes for a whatever, there is an unstated expectation of quality.

Not all injection molded, individual link tracks are created equal. Single pin tracks of this nature are often quite good. Duel pin tracks, on the other hand, are notoriously prone to breaking because model designers keep trying to make them workable with scale track pins, as if we all roll our finished tank models across carpets like little kids.

Model designers should do a better job designing duel pin tracks for two reasons. First, it increases customer satisfaction. Second, it decreases the amount of time, effort, and often money required to build a tank model. Both of these things will result in more sales.

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I think I’ve binned about 5 kits in almost 60 years of building. Three over the years because they were just unbuildable POS - the Alan SU-76, Bison II, and Tauro A7V. Actually I had other Alan kits that I binned without starting them. Stay away from Alan, horrible kits that I wouldn’t give away to a kid - because you don’t do that to an innocent kid. Better to put them straight in the bin.
Two other kits I was assembling while recovering from a car accident (not my fault) with pretty severe back injury and taking Oxycontin. Never do that. My eyesight and judgement were off because of the meds, and I totally butchered the suspension on the Meng St. Chamond. Binned the kit and bought a new one when I was off the meds. Likewise, assembled the whole of the Meng Rolls Royce armored car and firmly glued the body 2mm to the left of the frame. Binned that as well and bought a new one. Lessons learned - don’t buy POS kits, and only model when clean & sober!

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Kids or Kits?
Asking for a friend …

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Tough choice, Robin! :thinking:

And tackling the St Chamond suspension even when sober is not to be taken lightly…

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Now no laughing please.
Yesterday wasnt a good day health wise so i should have known better. But being old and pigheaded i went to the work bench determined to get the tracks done.
Well all went well. Finished a full run of 83 links as per the instructions. But theres a problem! You see you only need 82 links with the 83rd for joining the track.

Ahhhhhhhh.

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I second the Panda kit frustration, I have two of their Husky VMMD kits and the lack of detail annoyed me so much that they are going to be used to help make the AFC Club kits just a little better. I want to use the front and rear mods to make a Red Pack for one to tow. I jsut need to get the center part done is CAD and printed.

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Binned kits that come to mind and various reasons.

2018 - Italeri Panther A → D started in 1997, sick of looking at it on shelf. Threw it out in the trash. Felt bad about trashing kit next day, dug model kit out of the trash in the rain and put back on shelf. Completed in 2024.

2012 - Tamiya Marder 1A2, completed but I didn’t like my paint work, I didn’t like the stowage. Pitched in trash can from the workbench. No regrets sending to the bin.

2012 - Dragon T-34-85, entire upper hull caved in after being painted when curing under a heat lamp. I’d carelessly placed the heat lamp too close.

2002 Dragon Panther D goofed on a hair splitting detail, then discovered multipe detail errors had been made, was upset :rage: and threw kit, box and aftermarket in the trash…curbside, wanted it all out of the house. Wife dug kit out of the trash can and put box back on the shelf. Finished in 2024.

2001 - Tamiya Merkava Working on model in the Tamiya box in recliner in living room. Dumped entire bottle of Testor’s Liquid Cement directly on to top of upper hull. Severely damaged.

2000 - Tamiya Challenger Knocked over bottle of Testor’s Liquid Cement on work bench. Model was severely damaged.

1999 - Italeri Puma 234/2, seller stated kit was unstarted but a POS, purchased for $5, discovered massive sinkmarks on nearly every part and multiple parts with short shots, (incompletely molded parts) plus core shift. Fixing would have required scratch building 50% of the model. Not worth the time.

1989 - MiniCraft F-14 Tomcat 1/48, seam issues, masked with frisket paper which lifted causing terrible paint work, got orange peel in paint from shooting too hot of a mix of Floquil Railroad color wirh Dio-Sol. Broke canopy. Catapult shot into trash can from ten feet away!

1988 Nitto 251 Hanomag Death by over turned bottle of Plasti-struct ABS Cement…into the bin like a dead rat :rat:

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MORAL OF THE STORY - Never scale model on the recliner and put your glue on a base…

I’m no stranger to oopsies like that. I spilled half of my Tamiya Ultra Thin on my work bench and it splashed on an AFV M102 Howitzer.

I was able to save it, so this one was spared from the bin.

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I think the only kit I ever binned was an old Testor Panzer IV that I cut up to make a wedgie out of, but it just didn’t work for me. It was definitely more of my inability to get it to look right than the kit itself. I bought it many years ago for like $5 at an old Kay Bee toy and hobby store in a mall where I live, which went out of business decades ago. I have thrown out some older plastic figures after a lousy paint job.

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Over Christmas i persisted. Yes some cursing. I got both sets of tracks done. Both the same length. But one has 82 links the other 83! But with a BIG hammer I will make them fit.

Its a strange kit. Some excellent detail and fit. Other parts are a real guess. Ive done a few RFM kits and this is the first disappointment.

The sad thing is this was to be my “Nightshift” build. Nah now just another build.

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Two from my errors, and two that I blame on the kit. Fortunately one of the kits (a Dragon T-34) has served for lots of parts for other builds…

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unfortunately, way too many for me between moves and mess up’s and yes, a couple of downright crap kits I’ve donated some to the Bin Monster along with untold small bits to the Carpet Monster. I will not speak of the animal’s contributions in this matter (cat looks at me and goes back to sleep and the Dogs leave the room) lol.

TinyDog01

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@Brantwoodboy I’ll add to that - some Panda kits are tough. I’ve built three or four of their MATV kits - wow. At the time they were the only option, and I really wanted to build them. But to get them finished was a LOT of work. I never tossed them (though I wouldn’t blame anyone for throwing them out mid-project) and finished each, but the amount of work required to do so was significant and frustrating. The weird thing about them was the parts were basically pretty nice with a decent amount of detail :man_shrugging:

Assembly was another story, specifically the independent suspension modules, which required plenty of cutting, pinning parts together, sanding and filing, and a lot of patience. In addition to the poor fit, the instructions had errors/mislabeled parts :man_facepalming:. The good news though is that they look pretty nice once built :man_shrugging: And no, they didn’t get that much easier to build with practice - building each was a PITA!! :smile:

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