I wish I'd never bought these kits .

[Gern]

Oh that's a shame dave so its never gonna get built what a pity
chris

I don't suppose my kids feel the same. Along with probably 95% of my existing stash which I'm unlikely to build in what's left of my lifetime, it'll be part of their inheritance. Worth a fortune if someone wants to organise the sale rather than put the collection in a house clearance.

I'm not moaning! I've enjoyed collecting lots of bargains over the years and spending many, many happy hours gloating over box contents and thinking ... if only I could ....

[boatman]

I don't suppose my kids feel the same. Along with probably 95% of my existing stash which I'm unlikely to build in what's left of my lifetime, it'll be part of their inheritance. Worth a fortune if someone wants to organise the sale rather than put the collection in a house clearance.

I'm not moaning! I've enjoyed collecting lots of bargains over the years and spending many, many happy hours gloating over box contents and thinking ... if only I could ....

Well dave with THAT Enterprisre all that's putting u off is the two thound pad eyes isn't it well don't paint them just paint the deck grey with its markins as that what I did on my Nimitz an that had 3 thounds padeyes an it still looked ok
chris

[Neil Merryweather]

I didn't think I had anything to contribute to this thread until Andy's Italeri figures reared their UGLY heads!
I bought these for my upcoming,10 years in the planning and still not ready, Higgins boat build.


I have been collecting many sets and makes of GIs over the years and these seemed ideal as they are all standing still, and not in extreme action poses that I will have to convert.
So far, so good.
ANYWAY
In my loss of mojo phase recently I started to sort through the various figures and I thought I would build one to just start the ball rolling and get a feel for what was needed.
That was when the full horror struck me.......


I knew I would have to do some converting anyway, because they are (I think) wearing the impregnated HBT overalls which I don't want.
They DO,however, all have the life preserver on which is not found in many figure sets, so I set to grinding the trouser pockets off( already done in this shot), shortening the jacket skirt, sharpening the collar definition,removing the buttons,(the uniform buttons are more out of scale than a doll's house figure).
The more I tried to make sense of the webbing the more I realised I was probably out of my depth.The definition of the webbing is just VILE,never mind incorrect.
But I stuck with it-not too bad, I thought


I could even live with his ugly mug, as not every GI had film star good looks.
But then I started painting him and that's when I realised I didn't stand a cat in hell's chance of making these into halfway decent figures.
So I have decided to just use the standing legs with better torsos and arms(did you notice the creases in the arms?)and just lose the crappy sculpting of the leggings in the jostling crowd. And I will use the weapons and most of the equipment which are acceptable-although the steel helmets went in the bin.

The crew figures that come with the Higgins boat are not that great , either.

Unfortunately, I also bought these before I knew what I was dealing with

They are marginally better , although some of the detail is wee bit heavy-handed, to say the least!
Check out the side seams in the fatigues....

and the FLASH!

I think the last time I bought Italeri figures was in the late seventies, so I think I can be forgiven for assuming they had developed with the times, but I won't go there again, and it remains to be seen whether the Navy guys get used at all.
Cheers all
Neil

[Steve Jones]

Pretty much all the kits I buy JR because thats what I look for. I enjoy turning bad kits into good models. The real bad ones I have had in the past are Roden, Alan Models, Mirror models and other unheard of makers. They have turned flash, injector marks, horrendous instructions, missing parts, incorrect parts, bad fitting parts, inaccurate parts into an art form :smiling5:

[SimonT]

I have lots of crappy metal figures and kits that turned out to be appalling and beyond help however one that I really regret buying is the 1/6 Dragon Sherman

Cost a fortune, is very over simplified for the scale and more importantly is so big I don't know what I would do with it if I built it - the turret is about 300mm diameter and the whole thing is nearly a metre long

[Guest]

Monogram figures - those with the holes in the chest or back :smiling6:

[Guest]

I didn't think I had anything to contribute to this thread until Andy's Italeri figures reared their UGLY heads!
I bought these for my upcoming,10 years in the planning and still not ready, Higgins boat build.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]n1120173[/ATTACH]
I have been collecting many sets and makes of GIs over the years and these seemed ideal as they are all standing still, and not in extreme action poses that I will have to convert.
So far, so good.
ANYWAY
In my loss of mojo phase recently I started to sort through the various figures and I thought I would build one to just start the ball rolling and get a feel for what was needed.
That was when the full horror struck me.......
[ATTACH=CONFIG]n1120174[/ATTACH]

I knew I would have to do some converting anyway, because they are (I think) wearing the impregnated HBT overalls which I don't want.
They DO,however, all have the life preserver on which is not found in many figure sets, so I set to grinding the trouser pockets off( already done in this shot), shortening the jacket skirt, sharpening the collar definition,removing the buttons,(the uniform buttons are more out of scale than a doll's house figure).
The more I tried to make sense of the webbing the more I realised I was probably out of my depth.The definition of the webbing is just VILE,never mind incorrect.
But I stuck with it-not too bad, I thought

[ATTACH=CONFIG]n1120180[/ATTACH]
I could even live with his ugly mug, as not every GI had film star good looks.
But then I started painting him and that's when I realised I didn't stand a cat in hell's chance of making these into halfway decent figures.
So I have decided to just use the standing legs with better torsos and arms(did you notice the creases in the arms?)and just lose the crappy sculpting of the leggings in the jostling crowd. And I will use the weapons and most of the equipment which are acceptable-although the steel helmets went in the bin.

The crew figures that come with the Higgins boat are not that great , either.

Unfortunately, I also bought these before I knew what I was dealing with
[ATTACH=CONFIG]n1120181[/ATTACH]
They are marginally better , although some of the detail is wee bit heavy-handed, to say the least!
Check out the side seams in the fatigues....
[ATTACH=CONFIG]n1120182[/ATTACH]
and the FLASH!

I think the last time I bought Italeri figures was in the late seventies, so I think I can be forgiven for assuming they had developed with the times, but I won't go there again, and it remains to be seen whether the Navy guys get used at all.
Cheers all
Neil

Neil that figure look it could well be at home in a Wallace and Gromit cartoon :smiling3:. Thanks for posting

[Guest]

Definitely we all have them then, interesting to see as well. Next think should have a posting of photos of peoples stash. :smiling3:

Thanks to every one who contributed.
John.

[rtfoe]

Hold on a second! I've got one...the A4 Amtrack by Blue Tank. I guess it was manufactured for bath tub thrills, but it was the only one around before real plastic kits of amtracks appeard later. Struggled and got it to a respectable finish but I won't go through it again.
Below are some of the reworked and replacement parts like a full turret, sand guards, switch gap, track waders and gun shields.



Cheers,
Richard

[Guest]

Evening, had just been looking for a kit to build while I wait for some fern branches to dry.
Picked up this again.


Should have remembered the track pins

1 mm ! :fearful::angry:
Tracks aren't much bigger .

.2 mm at most in flat width .

Have just packed it up, just not worth the effort. , The rest of the drive and idler sprocket, and upper track rollers are crap , for a better word .
Of to find a German Panzer 3 as have some decent Fruil tracks .

[scottie3158]

John,
Fair play for attempting them I don't think I would have even looked at them

[Guest]

Between 12:49 am and 8:53 am? Some of us like to sleep you know!
I think the worst I've ever had, by far, was the Zhengdefu Leopard I started a couple of months ago, then binned. https://www.scale-models.co.uk/threa...rd-tank.34492/
Pete

Sorry Pete, normally there's only Simon, Richard and me , I forgot near normal people are still asleep:smiling:

[Gern]

Sorry Pete, normally there's only Simon, Richard and me , I forgot near normal people are still asleep:smiling:

Just 'cos I don't post every night don't mean to say I ain't lurkin' in the background! My 'normal' bedtime is around 6:00 am; sleep through 'til early afternoon; then up and about doin' more or less just what I want. Readin', crosswords and/or sudokus (gotta try an' keep both my brain cells occupied an' in workin' order), lurkin' about on here or at the bench. Maybe a bit of telly. Shoppin' once a week. Such a strenuous life bein' retired an' single innit!?

This 'lockdown' we're on hasn't really made the slightest difference to me except I miss my one night a week out with sis at my local pub quiz.

[Peter Gillson]

Ok, I know its not a kit - but I regret buying these paint sets over the years. Not that there is anything wrong with them, but I just don't use them. They seemed a good idea and i have used each of the sets at least once, but not often.

peter

[peterairfix]

Wish I never got this one kits ok but a weird scale but the decals don't stick even putting them on a wet layer of varnish and then laying another coat on top they just dry out and drop off.