I apologize for the b*tching but I have a dilemma which I know we all reach a point with a certain build because the kit is complete crap. The age old question do I complete what I started because I’m a masochist or do I send it to the breakers, a box I’m making for kits to be used to experiment on.
The Dilemma: Dragon 1/48 scale Spad XIIIc Eddie Rickenbacker. I have built some crappy kits growing up, this one wins the prize. Cockpit was bad enough, poor fit, very inaccurate layout, and poor use of photoetch to represent instruments without any instrument body. The insult imo was to to use photoetch for wood struts in the middle of wing span while using plastic for the outside area and the inner one from the fuselage.
So I guess I lean toward the masochistic side that I should finish what I started. On the other hand I’m not a rivet counter but in my opinion a kit that represents a historical aircraft or AFV should at least be fairly accurate. A lot of kits are but sometimes .
Open to opinions, insults and a smack upside the head.
Thank you for allowing me my end of the year rant.
Some kits …
I have a few that I have put aside in the hope of finding a solution or simply
the required motivation later.
There is a special kind of satisfaction when that model is finally built and painted,
when you finally won over that d*mn kit.
Being a tight a*se I don’t like to throw out anything I’ve paid for. I’ll finish everything even if I don’t like the end result.
Others are ok with binning a kit once it gets to a certain level of ‘I hate it and it hates me’ or you csn give it away to a charity, or use them as paint and technique test beds.
Your builds, your rules. We’re just here to watch and be entertained!
Some kits I release in the garbage bin. Some waits until I find ways to go around my problems and errors. Some I finish with nostalgia and let some errors be, like the Olifant Mk1A lately.
And, sure. It is really satisfying to finish a kit after many years…
Every kit that fails can still serve a purpose. Yet, I am uncertain… probably should go on the side in the “to be continued". But I am at the garbage can threshold.
And that is the other side in my thoughts. There is nothing better for good or worse than to finish what we start. I just want to have the same passion finishing the kit from hell and not be half-a$$ about it. So I procrastinate.. you have a good point though on putting it aside. I’m not at scratch build level experience yet so I have to make a decision too many kits calling me to the table.
It’s tough to actually throw out a kit that you have spent good money on, so maybe just set it aside on the shelf of doom. If the kit is so bad that it frustrates you, time to move on to another build. Life is too short to waste on crappy models. We are supposed to enjoy our hobbies.
To me, it depends on what my expectation was for the kit. If the kit was chosen to be built to contest quality and it all went south, I’d probably bin it and start over with another company’s kit if it was a bad kit or if it was my poor work, bin it and buy the same kit and try again.
If it was just a nostalgia build, I would just finish it and call it done.
Indeed - as other have hinted at or implied, one good reason to reprieve kits from oblivion is the possibility of spare or replacement parts. It’s true that if they’re bad kits the chances of finding useful nuggets in them are low, but it’s the age-old story – chuck something out and within weeks or months you’ll gnash teeth because it contained something you now need. I also realise that’s the Hoarder’s Anthem, so this is where you may need to devise an overall strategy and focus your preferences e.g. if you’re likely to focus on WW2 Allied subjects, ditch everything that isn’t.
There is another way of course, which I’ve pioneered - Nihilism. Make those crap kits and then express your disappointment creatively…
Creative ways to use fails lol. The young me would‘ve blown them up into eternity, but the young me at 15 blew up a lot of kits all for the brief entertainment. That last pic with the bullet holes is something to consider, but it’s going to get shelved for now. I still have 3 more WWI aircraft that will have to wait. As you said concentrate on the main theme which is WWII for me so I have the basics of a plan now. Thanks for the insight.
I was on the verge of just finishing it Top but every time I look at it on my table it feels like it’s mocking me. The use of PE to represent the center wood struts while using plastic for all the others imo is crap. I won’t let it defeat me I just need to work on getting my skills back up to address the problem. I may take a page out of Dioramartins recommendation and turn it into part of a scene. We shall see. My wife reminds me that I do have a determined stubborn streak.
Thank you all for insights and reminders. It is being shelved and it also reminds me when I am doing research and find discrepancies that if it can’t be resolved due to insufficient skill I should set it aside and just keep moving on.
With the struts, can you whittle replacements from Evergreen plastic strip?
If the overall look of the kit is OK then it’s worth the effort to replace the struts - otherwise how about a crash diorama with the top wing broken/shot off?
Barkingdigger Its a meh kit. I may be able to come up with something. I need to regain skills that have been dormant for 35 years. I don’t have an ample supply of evergreen strips etc. its on my supply list. What I have for evergreen is too thin. It’ll get shelved for now. Better to make progress and then revist
That is another consideration and test other ideas. As for a better kit I haven’t seen anything in 1/48. Eduard looked like they had a nice kit and based on the instructions I got from their site its accurate and the PE use is more common sense. But they discontinued all the Spads. I could get one in 1/32 but its not the scale I prefer.
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