Ever get so frustrated with a kit you tossed it out?

[Milwhiawatha]

I never threw it out but I did put it away for 4 yrs. It was a Proto 1000 Mill gondola I kept on breaking the plastic handrails finally I got made said I was building it bought metal grabs and now it rolls on the layout.

[SqueakyWheels]

I got one. Kim's Classic American Home Kit by Atlas. The gray colored one. Nice house.

 It was going together so easily, I wondered how could a dummy like me screw this up.

Well, I did! Got the North from the South mixed up, and found out after it was too late, that the foundation was glued on 180 degrees out! This was after I done used Ambroid Pro Weld to assemble it with. Lots of it.

So, there is no way to fix it- I even e-mailed Atlas about it that they need to clarify that part of their instructions- but they never responded.

So....

It just sits right now, and one day, I will just put it in the trash bin.

 

 

[Jake1210]

No, but I once got so frustrated with XtrkCAD that I nearly crushed my mouse. -Seriously!

[riogrande5761]

Yes! I got so frustrated with a Proto 2000 covered hopper kit that I threw it out in the trash.

Woo woo!  I actually built one of those kits and it's lovely, and I'm not a big kit builder either.  But ever since my eye's went middle aged I've virtually quite building kits.  I have one more P2K covered hopper that is languishing in the box.

 

Another really hard kit that is waiting forlornly to be built is a Intermountain cylindrical hopper.

[LD357]

I agree 100%...RTR can be your friend!   I haven't built any of the above mentioned kits\manufactrers because I have seen them in kit form and I know from experience {with resin castings} they aren't worth wasting money on...[Walthers is the exception, I like the RTR stuff].

  Years ago I was enticed by the new wave of resin aircraft and armor models....I was told they were the best thing since sliced bread AND ham!  I succumbed to the fad and wasted a lot of money! some kits were so poorly made you couldn't get a single piece of the inch thick runner without it breaking...and when painted it looked horrible!. So now I just deal with plastic, occasinally something made of plaster, and leave all the hi-dollar resin stuff to those who like to waste money on it.

 The answer to the question posed is ...YES! I have chucked a few kits ...and smashed a few, because they were so horrible,, did I have the remorse afterwards?  ONly 1 time I can remember,  and that was because I cut my hand when I smacked it!!

[Gandy Dancer]

It wasn't a kit it was an Athearn Genesis.  Yeah, after a week I went and dug it back out.   Still doesn't run.

[AggroJones]

Heck no. Just can't trash somthing I paid money for.  Can't even toss away items I don't care for. I save everything. Cause you never know when thoses peices will come in handy for a future project.

[DrummingTrainfan]

I haven't done it. My Dad did it once with a Sperry Railcar a few years back because he kept breaking off detail parts. I was somewhat mad at him that he didn't give it to me so I could sharpen a few modeling skils.

[loathar]

Yep! Walthers 23,000 gallon tank cars. Wasted my cash on 2 of them. Poorly designed. Nothing fit right. When I did finally get them built, they wouldn't stay on the track. Derailed like crazy. They're laying in pieces in a scrap box now. 

[CPRail modeler]

I get frustrated but don't throw anything out. I messed up an MDC (don't laugh) tank car kit by thinking the end weights were glued in correctly and putting the ends on only to hear them sliding around in there. I knew this would throw the car off balance so it sits in a parts box, but I still kept the detail parts and trucks. I thought these would come in handy one day (once I squished a boxcar between the wall and my desk, and one of the trucks came in handy). There was also this Accurail 89' autorack car that failed. Many of the end details fell off and broke and about 3 months later, I'm sifting though some boxes and I find the autorack box. I open it up to look for spare parts only to find a piece of cardboard hiding the autorack's weight! No wonder it was so light! I mainly don't run it because my 18" radius curves give it a hard time.

I also have two unbuilt building kits, DPM and City Classics. I just hope they aren't challenging!

[Anonymous]

Never tossed one out.

One time I retrieved what didn't stick to the wall, redesigned it, added a few parts, and built it like it should have been in the first place.

Some kits can really test you.

-rrick

[tattooguy67]

Yeah i actually ran into that problem yesterday with a woodland scenics cast metal truck, although i did not throw it out the fit is so poor i am not sure if i will ever finish it, and i am not talking about a little flash here and there, we are talking major parts not fitting together well at all, and i not to long ago finished the DPM Night life set in N-scale and while i agree with tstage that when finished they are nice, and the detail is really good, i would rather not have to sand a bunch to get stuff to fit together, 2 of the buildings did not have wall alignment posts for the walls and you needed to make a templete for the roofs and cut them out of really thin styrene, plus make your own roof supports, again once complete they are nice, but a few small things done at the factory would make them much better.

[jecorbett]

More times than I care to remember although like some of the other posters, I usually don't throw it all away. I save the useful parts to make something else. An exception was a metal coal mining kit that had to be soldered together. It was my first and last attempt at assembling a metal structure. It required a skills I didn't have and I all but ruined the piece trying to develop those skills. I didn't see anything there worth saving so it went to trash can.

This is my first post since being away from the hobby all summer. Golf takes up most of the free time then. Every year I tell myself I'm going to spend a little time in the train room during the summer months but it never happens. The golf game was really bad this year and I've threatened to give it up and devote more time to the trains. That's another vow that I seem to make every year. Of course, model railroading presents its own form of frustrations as this thread shows. Apparently, I am a glutton for punishment.

[tomikawaTT]

Frustrated with a kit (actually, a dozen identical kits?)  Youbetchum!

Tossed 'em?  Never!!!  Recycled the pieces into something entirely different - so different that not even Sherlock Holmes could deduce what the original source of the parts was.

That was when I stopped buying kits to assemble, and started buying kits to kitbash.

Chuck (modeling Central Japan in September, 1964 - with modified Athearn BB parts!)

[UP2CSX]

Tom,

It was the Front Street building. I knew that, dealing with resin kits, I'd have to do some sanding and fitting but this was way beyond that for a styrene kit . Each wall had a distinct curve. The front wall had a 1/4 inch hump from end to end when laid flat. It's really hard to sand out that big of a warp. I think it wouldn't have been so bad if the walls weren't so thick. After a few hours of sanding, sweating, and swearing, I finally had it where two carpenter's braces would hold it together so it was somewhat rectangular while the glue set.

The roof wouldn't fit no matter what I did because the structure wasn't true in any plane. I finally just traced the roofline and made my own roof from .30 styrene. It really shouldn't have to be this hard on such a relatively simple structure.

I knew painting would be difficult but the many fine details that make the DPM strucures look so good are also extremely difficult to paint. Since they are all molded in, you need about 5 really fine brushes, a steady hand, and a lot of patience to make it look decent.

I think the end product came out OK as a background building. Here's a picture:

I think the total amount of time I spent on this building is right up there with kits that were a lot more difficult to assemble. I think the Front Street kit is part of the DPM beginner's line. I'd sure hate to try one of the hard ones.    

[chutton01]

Long time ago, when the Pirate Model Flxibles came out - I got one (that's when 40 bucks was worth something, I'll have you know) - I sanded & filed & filled & primed and so on...and the dang thing still looked like absolute crap after all that - very poor fit, wavy lines, window frames not straight - dang.  'Sadly' before painting, it had an accident and fell off the bench (well, I was more pissed than sad, and didn't really try to save it).  Ended up salvaging a few parts, and the rest of the bus ended up in the scrap heap (not so much trash - any thin diecast metal can be used as additional scrap in the pile).
Also, the first Walthers 'resin' vehicles were utter wastes - yes, I know they were solid filled, but besides that details like the grill/doors/lights were so poorly molded they were wavy, gap-filled, crooked, wildly different levels of relief (some good, some barely there) - I got the oil delivery truck, took a look at the cab, shook my head and tossed it immediately, and kept the tank (which they didn't screw up too badly).

[railroadyoshi]

Not that I can remember...but selective memory is always a possibility...

I've stopped dead in my tracks and put the kit away, but I don't believe I've ever thrown it out. There is almost always something good for scrap.

When I get that angry, I get up and exercise a bit. Works pretty well. 

[onebiglizard]

Digital Griff..

Maybe I missed something.  What kit was it, and who manufactured it?   I'm new enough to this hobby to not know the answer that (seems) apparent to the other posters.  I would like to avoid a similar experience. 

When I have a similar experience (not "if" , but "when") I will probably throw the kit in a box and try again later, or use it for parts.  We old Scots want to buy cheap, but also can't stand to throw anything away.

Thanks,

Bill Field 

 

 

   

[jeffrey-wimberly]

Yes! I got so frustrated with a Proto 2000 covered hopper kit that I threw it out in the trash.

[Alex V.]

"Ever get so frustrated with a kit you tossed it out?"...

no.

[PA&ERR]

Not yet, but the day is still young...

-George

[tstage]

The closest I ever came was one of the DPM kits. No wall was flat or square, the roof didn't fit correctly, and the detail areas were so small they were almost impossible to paint. I like the look of DPM sturctures when they're done but they are some of the most poorly made kits I've ever put together.

Jim,

At least DPM tells you up front which wall edges you need to sand flat.  Yea, DPM kits are some work to put together.  However, if you follow their directions closely, their suggestions do work well.  Jim, I'm not implying that you didn't follow the directions with your kit.  I'm just telling you what personal experiences that I've had with them.

Upfront, sanding and fitting are a given to assembling DPM kits together.  The roof usually has to be cut and fitted to shape - once the walls have already been pre-sanded and assembled.  You are right.  When the kits are assembled and painted well, they look nice.

My first attempt at a DPM kit (depot) didn't initially turn out as well as I would have liked, either.  Two inside walls didn't meet at a 90-degree angle and I struggled with cutting and gluing the exterior rafter boards.  Since it was early on in my modeling experience, I just chauked it up to the learning curve.  (I think it was only the 2nd kit that I had ever put together.)

Jim, I'd encourage you to consider trying another DPM kit before you swear them off for good.  The extra work and time is well worth the effort.

Just out of curiosity, which of the kits did you attempt?

Tom

[tstage]

Usually I'll put it down for a few days then come back to it when I'm more fresh...and less frustrated.

Tom 

[UP2CSX]

The closest I ever came was one of the DPM kits. No wall was flat or square, the roof didn't fit correctly, and the detail areas were so small they were almost impossible to paint. I like the look of DPM sturctures when they're done but they are some of the most poorly made kits I've ever put together.

[secondhandmodeler]

With limited financial resources these days it's rare for me to throw out anything.  Have you retrieved it since your post?  Spare parts are always nice to have.

[selector]

Sort of.  I tackled, as green and unknowing as I was, a P2K tanker kit that gave me fits.  I finally packaged up what few intact bars and grabs I had not destroyed and gave it to a fellow fine modeler who knew how to put it all right.  In fact, he placed brass wire grabs and bars on it for me where they were destroyed.  Looks good now, better than I could have done.

RTR is my friend.  I have low standards, compared to some I suppose, but I must account only to myself since I pay my bills.

[DigitalGriffin]

It happened to me for the first time today.  I tossed a $30 piece rolling stick right into the circular file (aka trash).  Within the first 30 minutes I broke 5 metal castings just by assembling them.  The final straw was when they so poorly fit together with the plastic pieces that I couldn't get it together.  After 20 minutes of trying to assemble 2 pieces together I gave up

Good thing I only bought 1 instead of 3 like I was planning.

I had zero problems assembling  Walthers Heavyweights.  (Even with their impossibly small eye rings.)  I had no problems assembling the Kibri Cathedral, or the Walthers Bascule.  I had no problems putting together Branchline blueprint series cars.  I had no problems putting together the blast furnace (outside some mold line issues), or the walther's round house, or the modern turntable....

But this kit took it way beyond my patience level.