worst kit youve ever built
#104
Senior Member
Long ago, good Balsa was hard to find. Seems that it and cork were being used as insulation for LNG tanker ships. One "super" tanker could almost use up the years crop of cork.
Balsa of decent quality just disappeared from the hobby store's shelves, and the poor quality of what was available put a serious crimp in my modeling efforts.
About the time things started getting better, kids and moving around more or less did in both time and spare money! Now that the kids are grown, and we seem to be more or less
settled in one location, and I'm retired, I no longer have the patience to scratch build or stick build models. I'd rather put a decent ARF together, and fly it!
Balsa of decent quality just disappeared from the hobby store's shelves, and the poor quality of what was available put a serious crimp in my modeling efforts.
About the time things started getting better, kids and moving around more or less did in both time and spare money! Now that the kids are grown, and we seem to be more or less
settled in one location, and I'm retired, I no longer have the patience to scratch build or stick build models. I'd rather put a decent ARF together, and fly it!
#105
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Peculiar, MO, AMERICAN SAMOA (USA)
Posts: 87
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
The PT-40 was my first plane,and first build. That was probably over 30 years ago. It was mid 1980's
It was a lot of work,but I enjoyed putting it together. I bought a new 40 FP for it. Those 40 FP's are really good motors in the right plane. But on damp grass it's barely enough to get a PT 40 off the ground..
I refused to get help flying it,and since i couldn't get it airborne from grass runways. I found a paved circle drive where they where building new houses. (I had been making hap hazard attempts off and on to put this plane in the air for at least a couple months) It was a wide open field except for 1 tree I got it in the air,and made a circle,and on the second time around that tree became the strongest balsa magnet I have ever seen. My friends were yelling turn turn turn,and i was yelling I am! It got stuck in the tree only about 8 feet up. But it was a Locus tree with BIG thorns. I got it out without too much bleeding,and the only damage was a chunk out of the fuse.
I still have that plane hanging from the ceiling,and that was it's only flight. I have plans of making a float plane out of it some day if I live long enough. I might need to go pull that thing down,and take a look at it. I myself would not put it on the worst plane list just for the memories of the fun trying to get it airborne.
It was a lot of work,but I enjoyed putting it together. I bought a new 40 FP for it. Those 40 FP's are really good motors in the right plane. But on damp grass it's barely enough to get a PT 40 off the ground..
I refused to get help flying it,and since i couldn't get it airborne from grass runways. I found a paved circle drive where they where building new houses. (I had been making hap hazard attempts off and on to put this plane in the air for at least a couple months) It was a wide open field except for 1 tree I got it in the air,and made a circle,and on the second time around that tree became the strongest balsa magnet I have ever seen. My friends were yelling turn turn turn,and i was yelling I am! It got stuck in the tree only about 8 feet up. But it was a Locus tree with BIG thorns. I got it out without too much bleeding,and the only damage was a chunk out of the fuse.
I still have that plane hanging from the ceiling,and that was it's only flight. I have plans of making a float plane out of it some day if I live long enough. I might need to go pull that thing down,and take a look at it. I myself would not put it on the worst plane list just for the memories of the fun trying to get it airborne.
#106
My Feedback: (2)
I hesitate to post on this one being a kit manufacturer myself but the worst i have had was an IMP PT-19, to make a long story short i ended up running the fuse and the wing through my band saw cutting it into multiple pieces about 6" long. Guess that pretty much sums up the story.
#107
Smashmaster. my buddies PT 40 was the first plane he used for floats..he had fun flying it..I had fun watching.. But you will need more than the FP 40 to make it work though.. In my club everyone said the FP stands for Effing Piece ! It was the only glow motor I could ever get to run an entire tank of fuel thru without dieing ! hahahahahaha
#108
My Feedback: (1)
I hesitate to post on this one being a kit manufacturer myself but the worst i have had was an IMP PT-19, to make a long story short i ended up running the fuse and the wing through my band saw cutting it into multiple pieces about 6" long. Guess that pretty much sums up the story.
I think we all have had our history with the typical old school kits, but to pay a lot of money, for a modern laser cut kit, and have it as bad as the one I received, (like your IMP) it is really inexcusable. The only recourse really is to steer fellow modelers clear of these manufacturers.
I bet in some ways, putting your bandsaw to such use made you feel a little better!
#109
My Feedback: (2)
While I was successful in completing my TA 152 as you have seen, It was a PCK kit, and it was completed through sure will and due diligence. Almost all the parts were replaced.
I think we all have had our history with the typical old school kits, but to pay a lot of money, for a modern laser cut kit, and have it as bad as the one I received, (like your IMP) it is really inexcusable. The only recourse really is to steer fellow modelers clear of these manufacturers.
I bet in some ways, putting your bandsaw to such use made you feel a little better!
I think we all have had our history with the typical old school kits, but to pay a lot of money, for a modern laser cut kit, and have it as bad as the one I received, (like your IMP) it is really inexcusable. The only recourse really is to steer fellow modelers clear of these manufacturers.
I bet in some ways, putting your bandsaw to such use made you feel a little better!
After the countless hours of trying to make it work, it was a relief to have it gone.
#111
My Feedback: (1)
Sterling Real Sporty,,http://www.rcuniverse.com/market/item.cfm?itemId=953069
worst kit ever,, the die crunch was unbelievably bad, not one part came out cleanly, the fit of parts was so bad as hard as I tried the fuse had a bad warp,,I never finished it
worst kit ever,, the die crunch was unbelievably bad, not one part came out cleanly, the fit of parts was so bad as hard as I tried the fuse had a bad warp,,I never finished it
#113
Bud Nosen Mr Mulligan. While the kit still isnt finished, All of the actual building is done. Just left to do the finishing to it. I still have at least 90% of the original kit still in the box. Thats how much of it had to be re-cut. NONE of the ply was useable, neither were any of the die smashed parts. The plans were ok, i guess, and the instructions were brutal. So, in short, Mr. Nosen gets my vote. On a side note, the balsa sheets and sticks were fine.
#115
My Feedback: (3)
CARF Eurofighter
Where shall we begin...
Asymmetrical - fuselage, wings, intake tubes
Mis-aligned canards - complete removal of factory installed parts and refabricated mounts and re-aligned canards
Wing thickness inconsistent for servo pockets
No bulkhead under the dorsal fin to transfer loads into fuselage
Air brake kit doesnt fit as purchased, needed extensive mods
Gear door set doesnt fit as purchased, needed mods
No provision for nose gear door air cylinder
Nose gear strut included with heavy duty retract set interferes with the door
One wing retract mount works OK to mount door to the wing, the other doesn't
Poor turbine motor mounts
Removed the rear bulkhead and redesigned a new one with more ventilation to relieve internal air pressure
And on and on...
Burned me out
Where shall we begin...
Asymmetrical - fuselage, wings, intake tubes
Mis-aligned canards - complete removal of factory installed parts and refabricated mounts and re-aligned canards
Wing thickness inconsistent for servo pockets
No bulkhead under the dorsal fin to transfer loads into fuselage
Air brake kit doesnt fit as purchased, needed extensive mods
Gear door set doesnt fit as purchased, needed mods
No provision for nose gear door air cylinder
Nose gear strut included with heavy duty retract set interferes with the door
One wing retract mount works OK to mount door to the wing, the other doesn't
Poor turbine motor mounts
Removed the rear bulkhead and redesigned a new one with more ventilation to relieve internal air pressure
And on and on...
Burned me out
#116
My Feedback: (22)
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: palm harbor,
FL
Posts: 2,232
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
The sterling kit sucked .Lanier put out garbage.I built a sig kougar .no it wasn't the worst kit by any means but the builder that would be me built it as the worst build ever.hey nobody told me about incidence.so I sanded the heck out the saddle.and I was fairly new soooòooooo I didn't balance well.when I flew it I had tail heavy negative angle of attack.lol yes it went back to a kit big time lol
#118
Senior Member
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: South Florida
Posts: 375
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Worst kit I ever built? FEJ F16 kit ... Hands down!
Nothing lined-up, Nothing fit together. Engine rails were uneven, Joints didn't touch/match. No glue where it was needed. Too much glue. Cheap wood. Everything had to be modified ... EVERYTHING!
I'd go as far as saying every FEJ kit is an engineering nightmare. They are not airworthy.
Nothing lined-up, Nothing fit together. Engine rails were uneven, Joints didn't touch/match. No glue where it was needed. Too much glue. Cheap wood. Everything had to be modified ... EVERYTHING!
I'd go as far as saying every FEJ kit is an engineering nightmare. They are not airworthy.
#119
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Peculiar, MO, AMERICAN SAMOA (USA)
Posts: 87
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Smashmaster. my buddies PT 40 was the first plane he used for floats..he had fun flying it..I had fun watching.. But you will need more than the FP 40 to make it work though.. In my club everyone said the FP stands for Effing Piece ! It was the only glow motor I could ever get to run an entire tank of fuel thru without dieing ! hahahahahaha
The .40 FP is an excellent motor in the right plane. It weighs just barely more than a .25. I have bought up a bunch of used ones dirt cheap and planning on putting a couple on a Twinstar. The one off of my PT 40 is now on a Primo .25 and pulls it around nicely. Especially after setting around in basements almost 30 years!
Last edited by Smashmaster; 06-21-2015 at 05:11 AM.
#120
My Feedback: (156)
Ikon N W'st Mr. Mulligan. At $450 plus shipping (in 2000) it was an expensive all wood kit. Extremely difficult wing build as it was tapered in 2 axis and had washout. It was obvious the maker put some effort into the plans, machine cut parts and instructions, but building a straight airplane was quite a challenge. There was little scale detail considered in the final product and many parts required modification to fit well. Polyester resin glass cowl and pants were very heavy, as was metal landing gears. The fabric and fiberglass finishing process completely burned me out and I sold it before ever flying it. I actually HATED the airplane when it was finally completed.... years later, I bought it back from the owner (who had never flown it), and I got it airborne. NOT an easy airplane to fly!! Very strange handling characteristics with horrible adverse yaw. Still working on getting it dialed in, but suffice it to say, it flies like a race plane and is unforgiving. Best kits? Anything by Bruce Tharpe, Midwest Citabria, and some of the scratch builds in which I made all the parts!
#121
My Feedback: (12)
Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: Agawam, MA
Posts: 145
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
After getting back into the hobby after a long absence I picked up an old Great Planes Electric Cub. Electric was just coming into it's own back then and the old DC motors were the cutting edge. In order to keep weight down there are 'way too many small pieces (more like a scale model) and 'way too many steps. It's killing me to finish it but I am not giving up. My first plane was a Trainer 40 (just picked up one of those and look forward to that build) which also had a fair amount of steps but 10X easier to build.
#122
My Feedback: (12)
Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: Reedsburg,
WI
Posts: 700
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Worst experience was a Guillow's Piper Cherokee. I admit, part of the problems where the fat fingers, but it was really hard to get things into place.
After glueing several parts to my fingers, I gave up on that one.
I just finished one of the best kits I have seen so far - BTE Vortex. Very detailed instructions and high quality materials. This is so much fun to build, I wish all kits would be like this.
After glueing several parts to my fingers, I gave up on that one.
I just finished one of the best kits I have seen so far - BTE Vortex. Very detailed instructions and high quality materials. This is so much fun to build, I wish all kits would be like this.
#123
My Feedback: (22)
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: palm harbor,
FL
Posts: 2,232
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
And I forgot how bad my sterling kit was.god it was a mess .the balsa broke easilyears ago i could get big blocks of balsa as it was used as ballast on tankers.I ran out about 10 yrs back.then I bought from a company in Texas that I think went out due to a fire .so I buy from balsa usa.I try to get the better grades.
#124
Senior Member
My Feedback: (5)
Really can not recall the worse " kit " that I have ever built. But, I am not really pleased with the Balsa USA Eindecker 90 that I am presently working on, which really surprises me because I have only heard good things about their kits. Just some of the things that I do not like about this kit is the quality of wood, the poor stamping of parts, needing to make parts from scraps as per directions, instruction booklet does not agree with plans, etc, etc, etc. The kit will turn out decent, but only because of my years of building models, not because of the kit.
Years ago I purchased a profile Sig Phazer. The fuselage was so warped that no matter what I did, I could not straighten it. I sent a letter to SIG , stating that I have built many of their kits over the years and have been very pleased with them, but this Phazer is absolutely the worse kit that I have ever seen. I asked them if they could send me a new " straight " fuselage, of which they did not do . In turn they sent me a whole " new kit ". Not that is what I call customer service !!
Years ago I purchased a profile Sig Phazer. The fuselage was so warped that no matter what I did, I could not straighten it. I sent a letter to SIG , stating that I have built many of their kits over the years and have been very pleased with them, but this Phazer is absolutely the worse kit that I have ever seen. I asked them if they could send me a new " straight " fuselage, of which they did not do . In turn they sent me a whole " new kit ". Not that is what I call customer service !!
" Hangar 9 Christen Eagle "
Simple, simple !!
LOL