What is the toughest model kit to assemble??

After 35 years in N-Scale, I prefer scratchbuilding. There's no one to blame except myself.

 

three dirty words.. R-T-R.. too many horror stories about kits.. did maybe three intermountain covered hoppers.. I have no doubt they contributed to the carpal tunnel!!

 

Anything made by Walthers with silos! Those never go together well without lots of Squadron putty and sanding. My cement plant still isn't finished after a few years now. I'll agree about the IM cyndrical covered hopper - a total pain - my GHQ NP kit took a longer time but much less frustration.

Other tough ones were some Muir Models wood kits - they required lots of work to make them up but they still look bad compared to any other wood kit structure.

My topper was a Heljan arch bridge. This thing had the crappiest symbolic instructions that you couldn't tell where parts fit together; warped parts; the arch sides had no registration/location marks, tabs, slots, nothing to help the builder assemble it. I found that it just wasn't possible to assemble it by the instruction's order, but later I found it just wasn't possible to do it at all. I remember I threw the whole thing away in disgust and scratchbuilt a truss bridge instead to span my river (I later converted the bridge into a covered bridge in 1989 and won a NMRA contest with it).

Peter

 

War and Peace, uh I mean piece.*L*

No wonder Prozac is so popular.*L*

 

Without a doubt N Scale Architect's Worcester Union Station. 1300 resin, etched, white metal and laser cut peices that like to break and get lost. I have been working on mine off and on for three years. I should take it out and see how it is doing, but I am already sick to my stomach.

 

I would have to say any of the DPM GOLD kits.Like someone earlier said it was not a kit but more or less PLANS.

 

I would love to find one of those Coon gap Sawmills today without having to get a second mortgage!
I have been working some of the Z Scale laser kits........that is interesting for sure!

 

I love a Modeling Challenge!!!

I have loved putting models together since I was in Kindergarden, no joke! My most favorite model was from the early/mid 1970's of a Hotrod Steam Locomotive. It was molded in red and had alot of chrome plastic parts. That was the coolest model I have ever seen.

Now, for the most difficult/time consuming I have had the opportunity to assemble, the Walthers HO North Island Refinery. My young son had some HO and I was expanding it but later sold everything, including the Refinery. Time Wise, the N scale North Island takes 2 hours where the HO took about 2 hours a day for 2-3 weeks. \

Now the only models I assemble are Robert Ray's laser cut Z scale rollingstock. Everything else is Scratchbuilt!!!

Hobo Tim

 

I'll second that motion. The kits would go together a whole lot better if better care was taken in molding all those pieces.

 

Kaslo shops CP caboose in N. Resin kit, s**tty directions, no photos.
A bear.

 

I havent built any structures yet, but for rollingstock Ill say the Intermountain covered hoppers, very fiddly, but with care you end up with a way better model than IM's built up models.

 

IM reefers

 

I'm sure glad to NOT find any of my resin structure kits mentioned here. Some of you have experienced problems with warped parts in my kits. Nothing a little heat from a hair dryer and a flat surface wouldn't fix. My thanks to all who have purchased them.

The most exasparating kit I have ever built was the Dornaplast Ford Cargo. It is a flat injection-molded kit that requires the builder to actually bend some of the parts (like the front panel) in order to be assembled correctly. Every detail is a separate piece. The mirrors alone are 3 tiny pieces each. The wheels are a joke and it's questionable whether the detailed chassis is actually a model of a Ford or not. I ended up putting the cab on an Atlas 9000 chassis. I actually had to purchase two of them to get one right, the first being the practice model.

Jimmo
willmodels

 

I with jimmo here.

Having been away from TB for a few days I read this thread with some trepidation. I am grateful that none of N Scale Kits turned up here - I know that some packing has been wayward, but I hope that we have got that sorted, and missing parts are mailed to you rapidly. Ideas for improvements, though, are readily received.

The worst kit I ever tried to put together was not railroad, but the Airfix 'Queen Elizabeth 2' liner - when I was just a nipper. We had just sailed on her, and I really keen to model this beautiful boat. Probably not the best one to start modeling - two feet long and thousands of parts, some of which I never found again from the floor. It is still uncompleted and in the loft; I just cannot bear to part with it.

Peter

Peter Harris
N Scale Kits
N Scale Kits

 

Well, this thread has reaffirmed my terror over building structure kits. I think I need to renew my search for built-ups and and revisit my layout plan to see if I can pare the structures down.

What were the problems you had with this kit. Seeing that my whole layout theme is a small farm town, this kit was planned as more or less my "centerpiece". Am I going to regret it?

 

For building kits, the hardest one I put together was the DPM powerhouse. For rolling stock, I would say the branchline box car kits. The basic car went together fine, but the detailing pieces are super fragile and half broke just trying to get them off the sprue or onto the car. I wound up eventually replacing the plastic details like steps, ladders, brake lines and grab-irons with metal detailing pieces instead.

 

I did not like the Heljan brewery. The warped roof did not fit very well and no matter what kind of glue I used, it just did not want to stick together properly. And then, the cat jumped on the layout, directly on the brewery and that in fact was the end of it..... (the brewery, not the cat)

 

What this thread seems to say is the market is saturated with inferior quality kits. I started out by doing some DPM kits in HO. I think I've only done one Walthers kit and it was OK. I also found that most ready-to-run was really ready to be adjusted.

About a year ago I switched to N scale because of the availability of track pavers from Tomix. At the same time I bought a couple of Green Max kits. I was amazed at the difference in quality. There was absolutely no flash. I fact in about a dozen kits over a year I've only seen flash once and that was on a sprue. The parts always fit together and never are warped. The instructions are Japanese but there are diagrams and I never seem to have a problem. I prefer kits like Green Max which are still made in Japan over some others which are now made in China. There are quality products on the market in Japan so why can't there be quality products here? I think there is too much focus over here on the cheapest price.

I now have a name for all the stuff sold over here. AMC (American Made Crap)--I'm not picking on Americans-- if it was from a Canadian manufacturer it would be CMC!
But wasn't it the Americans that taught the Japanese to make quality products? Along the way we seem to have lost something. When I was a kid Japanese goods didn't have a good reputation.

Model railroad items are often sold in department stores in Japan and seem to be lumped in with other consumer electronics. Japan's consumer electronics are among the world's best and their manufacturers seem to always be trying to do something new or better. Over here it's just something cheaper. That kills quality. It is amazing what I can get from Japan. I have a Tomytec two car interurban EMU which is a painted display model. It cost $15 US and I purchased a Tomix drive designed for this car for $20-25. A kit to make trucks for the trailer were $6. I'm working on track right now but when I'm ready I will fit the truck into the car body and discard the display chassis. Why can't this be done over here?

 

Actually, I think what you mean by CMC is "Chinese" Made Crap. Most AMC and CMC is really CMC as I have defined it, right? Thank goodness we haven't had any lead paint problems or the whole hobby would be in jeopardy.