Working on one and I’m contemplating it. I remember reading a Zaloga review of a kit he referred to as a craftsman kit and he had to fabricate parts for it along with lots of cutting, sanding, adding. This kit isn’t that bad, but it’s way more work than I think it should be. I am cutting off molded parts to make other parts fit…
What kit is it?
Steve Zaloga rates right up there,with shep paine and cookie Sewell,so any kit is gonna be a lot of cutting,sanding and they have mad scratch building skills…
1 Like
These days, soon after opening the box…
Cheers,
M
5 Likes
For me, sometimes “bail” and “shelve” are the same. But “bail” as in discard? I bail when they are no longer fun for whatever reason - usually because they become too much work. Some I trashed are the 1/32 Revell MiG-21 some 40 years ago, Italeri’s Hetzer, and the Revell rebox of Nitto’s rocket Hanomag. Another was the Airfix B-26; it was 90% complete and even decaled. Then I moved, and parts began coming off. Then I did not work on models for a coupe of years and when I did, the model just didn’t look right any longer. I fiddled around with it for years but never could complete it, and I smashed it upon the driveway.
1 Like
Assuming model making is your hobby and not your job, I would say the moment you are no longer getting any enjoyment from it is the right time to bail.
7 Likes
I have on occasion stopped working on a kit for different reasons - it may be loss of interest or things other than modeling calling to me - but I put them away with the idea that I may come back to them one day . I recently completed a Tamiya 1/12 motorcycle that I started over 35 years ago. Also recently built Tamiya’s ancient 1/12 Lotus 49 and that was a dog. It is the only kit that came near to being discarded.
2 Likes
I’ve rarely baled on a kit as in binned it, but I have binned several over the years. When it becomes obvious to me that the finished product is not going to look right anyway, when the effort is not worth the outcome, when the project is subject to the law of diminishing returns…
That’s when I know it’s time to bin the kit and break out a fresh new perfect Tamiya/Takom/Meng/Ryefield kit.
3 Likes
Nitto / Blue Tank LVT alligator: Shelved for years and then binned when Italeri released a better one.
It wasn’t unbuildable but it would need so much work that the Italeri kit was way easier.
A few old Tamiya kits have been built/painted as jokes.
If something resists me I put it aside and trye again with new ideas, new information, new skills or whatever can assist in finishing it.
1 Like
Intresting that this topic came up, being a track head for the last several years I started “jones-ing” for a Pacific theater tri-color war bird . . I have a Hobby Boss F4U 4 that got shelved 5 or 6 yrs ago that I just can’t seem to get the mojo going on it so it’s become a closet queen, meanwhile the postman brought Academy’s TBF 2 Avenger, one of my favorite WWII attack craft, this kit is marginal in it’s detail and for the last few weeks it’s been a growing struggle to spend any build time on the kit, debateing on how much effort do I want to invest trying to up grade a sub-par 1/72nd kit . . . well this morning I finally gave in to defeat and decided to box up this “Turkey” (pun intended), discovery after the fact . . . Sword offers a range of Avenger variants in 72nd scale that are likely more promising than the dud on my work bench right now. As far as totally “bailing” on a kit build that honor goes to Academy’s M551 Sheridan, after three yrs of cutting, filling and fileing the glacis plate sans the molded on wake board Tamiya comes out with their rendition of the “hotrod” that is clearly superior in detail. I’m reluctant to just give up on any model though, completeing the build is the whole point rite? 
Cajun 
1 Like
The Academy Sheridan …
Definitely a bin candidate, absolutely not at the top of the build list …
1 Like
I usually end up putting kits away especially if I lose interest or it becomes a dog and not worth the effort. I built a KP Mig-17 and it was a pig. I refused to give up on it and finished it. It’s sitting on shelf, still a pig.
3 Likes
When there’s no hope,when it’s not fun anymore.
Not to say that I have not slogged thru a build,fixed some things,and I ended up happy with the build.Like i said it’s when there’s no hope left then I strip it and trash it.
2 Likes
Unsolicited negative comments from detail & accuracy focused friends used to cause me to discard model builds. They’d get wrapped up in if something was off a scale inch or had the wrong wing nut etc. God help, if you didn’t adjust the build based on their very exacting research. Yes, I took it all way too seriously.
Wised up, started to mislead them about my current builds. Focused on out of the box building helped too. Avoided building a specific tank in a picture, as they’d dig until they found some detail to gig the model over. That solved the issue. 
That probably sounds stupid but building sucessfully and competively was 100% about motivation in my younger days. Protecting that inner fire of motivation was critical.
Once the “friends” issue was fixed:
Aesthetically pleasing, I’m happy to work on the model. Interest in the subject matter plus kit quality play a role in helping me power through the typical obstacles that may occur. If the model becomes aesthetically displeasing, it can end up shelved or in the waste bin.
I still tinker with a lost cause, Tamiya Pz IV J, started in 1994 - TLC finger prints melted into plastic, sat on 3 wheels, seam in gun barrel etc. Definitely trash can material due to low skill level back in 1994. However, I like Pz IV’s so its never been in any real danger of being discarded.
Latest kit, I pitched in trash was an out of the box Tamiya Marder 1A2 in 2012. The exterior stowage looked really terrible but the model looked wrong without stowage… 
1 Like
When the experts have “killed” a kit,
just let it sit on the shelf until you
have forgotten about all the issues …
1 Like
When you hit a wall trying to detail the Tauro A7v and then Meng comes out with a super detailed kit… with interior.
2 Likes
I never bail. I only move kits from place to place… to someplace else.
Слава моєму верстаку!
🫡 
1 Like
The rivets halfway outside the edge of the armour plate …
The track links that broke when you looked at them …
The horribly stiff springs for the suspension,
taken from some “machine” in a gym …
The few provided details were clumsy …
Apart from that it was sort of OK and it made it safely to the display cabinet.
1 Like
Thanks for the input everyone. I will decide today whether to toss it or keep going. If I put it in the box I know I’ll never get back to it, as I have two or three things sitting in boxes that I’ve paused on but that I really like and I’m having trouble getting back to them…
It’s the Eduard bf109e7 in 1/48.
On the upside the wings and the fuselage fit together beautifully and that is worth a lot.
But basically the whole front of the plane is an exercise in surgery. The PE screens for the various intakes are all oversized (how can that be?), so I’ve bent all of them to make the plastic fit together. Some of the plastic on those intakes had to be sanded quite a bit to get a decent fit even without the screens.
And everything under the front cowlings must be out of scale - they made it so it could be displayed open, but to close it, I’ve just been cutting off big chunks of plastic. Of course none of those cuts are visible, but really?
I’m building it for the Africa campaign, so will post some shots there - hopefully success pics…
Put it back in the box. The nose, even with a lot of work already kinda looks like crap. Stuff just doesn’t fit together or line up. Weird design. Next!
I guess I have a pretty expensive set of 1/48 decals I can use in the future…