What's the worst kit ever made?
07-20-2005, 06:09 PM
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RE: What's the worst kit ever made?
I have a set of Comet Sailplane ribs that were so bad (crunched from some real hard, dark, stringy balsa) that my grandfather just used them for patterns, cutting his own ribs from some decent wood.
When I posted this thread, I was looking for responses about a kit that was overall pathetic(slowpoke), not hard to build.
07-23-2005, 08:43 AM
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RE: What's the worst kit ever made?
ORIGINAL: F16-Jockey
Anything by Aerotech UK..... all foam mouldings. No-one ever told them they were supposed to FIT together
I had their P-38 and a friend still has their B-25. The instructions for both kits were 90% identical. Fortunately they are no more!!
Regards
Scott
Anything by Aerotech UK..... all foam mouldings. No-one ever told them they were supposed to FIT together
I had their P-38 and a friend still has their B-25. The instructions for both kits were 90% identical. Fortunately they are no more!!
Regards
Scott
07-23-2005, 01:29 PM
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RE: What's the worst kit ever made?
ORIGINAL: EASYTIGER
I LOVED my Aerotech Me110, it went together very fast and flew just great. Instructions are for sissies.
I LOVED my Aerotech Me110, it went together very fast and flew just great. Instructions are for sissies.
Don
07-23-2005, 08:45 PM
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RE: What's the worst kit ever made?
ORIGINAL: woops
It helps to have pics though.
Instructions are for sissies.
All my foam parts were neatly sheeted and fit well and made construction VERY fast. The plastic parts fit fine, glass would be better, but it would cost a heck of a lot more. And the end result is reasonably light. My six channel 72" 110 came out at NINE pounds with two saito 56s, retracts, flaps, the whole hog, and flew like a dream.
Hattend...I had the Mossie kit, I sold it. Same thing as the 110, but only one rudder, riskier if you lose an engine. Now that GSP has one totally built and painted for $300, it kind of makes building the Aerotech kit the long way around. Think about that. You could really doll up the GSP one if you wanted, and it's all fiberglass, already built...
The Lancaster is awesome. I want one. I know of several guys in the UK who built it, it flies great. Saito 30s would be my call.
Is it the ultimate kit ever offered? Nope. But it was very reasonable, about $400, when they were new, and it's large, and it's easy to build, and it's a Lancaster. How much you want to detail it out, that's up to you. But a decent builder could have it "framed out" and sitting up on the gear in two weeks of evenings....a rib and spar job of the same plane would be MONTHS.
You just need to adjust yourself to some different techniques, namely the fuselage foam turtledecks.
07-23-2005, 09:21 PM
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RE: What's the worst kit ever made?
If the box says Ikon 'N West on it I won't touch it, period! Poor plans and you might as well forget any support from them, just not enough there. Parts fit was misreable but the quality of the wood was good, nope won't touch one.[:'(]
07-28-2005, 04:42 AM
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RE: What's the worst kit ever made?
I'm just finishing an Ikon Stinson SR-8. It is taking forever, but wasn't all that bad. I also built the Waco UPF-7 and the Monocoupe D145. They are lots of work and some parts didn't fit too well, but the finished planes look good and fly well. With the Waco, I had to cut my own fuse formers and notch them for the stringers. Nothing lined up. high and low and looked like spagheti. There are lots of things like that, and some re-engineering is needed for some weak spots. All in all, the designs are not bad. Truss constructed fuses are lighter and stronger than the plywood that's on many of the newer kits.
The old Sig Ryan STA was the worst I ever built. It was a nightmare start to finish. Not a good design at all.
The old Sig Ryan STA was the worst I ever built. It was a nightmare start to finish. Not a good design at all.
07-28-2005, 08:25 AM
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RE: What's the worst kit ever made?
was looking for responses about a kit that was overall pathetic(slowpoke),
07-28-2005, 06:03 PM
#40
RE: What's the worst kit ever made?
I'd vote for some of the Sterling rubber power kits. Had a Piper J3 where I had to use the kit parts as templates on contest grade balsa. For the heck of it, I cut one fuse side from 1/16" basswood, and it came out almost 2 grams lighter than the die crushed 1/16" balsa. Was easier to cut, too.
The mix of hard and soft balsa on their E-III Eindecker was pretty bad, almost compensated for by transparent plastic molded parts that cracked into pieces just handling them. But the plastic was a white color, you just could see through parts of them, they were molded so thin.
And yet their Great Lakes Trainer that I have in my collection seems to be what a rubber powered scale kit should be like.
The mix of hard and soft balsa on their E-III Eindecker was pretty bad, almost compensated for by transparent plastic molded parts that cracked into pieces just handling them. But the plastic was a white color, you just could see through parts of them, they were molded so thin.
And yet their Great Lakes Trainer that I have in my collection seems to be what a rubber powered scale kit should be like.
07-30-2005, 07:14 AM
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RE: What's the worst kit ever made?
why was this thread started....we should not be bashing companys unless it is due!
10-14-2010, 04:20 PM
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RE: What's the worst kit ever made?
ORIGINAL: Lifer
The old Sterling kits. They introduced me to 80 grit sandpaper......
The old Sterling kits. They introduced me to 80 grit sandpaper......
I don't know if it'd even qualify as a "kit," but a US Aircore Piper cub that I "built," was a total piece. I flew it like I hated it.
10-14-2010, 04:50 PM
#49
RE: What's the worst kit ever made?
Wow! A 5 1/4 year gap between responses.
I think I did mention something about the old Sterling kits, but actually with them, I've had good, and I've had bad, just llike about anything else in life. Most kit companies whose products I've built seem to have had very inconsistent quality. Actually, since my last post in 2005, I had the opportunity to give up on and scrap an unidentified oriental kit someone gave me that was mainly something that passed for light ply, which I hate anyway. Separating the parts led to many breaks, the stuff was so brittle. Even the balsa was of varying density, even worse than any Sterling Comet or Guillows kit I ever built.
Actually, except for that one example, almost any kit I've ever built ended up as a stronger, more durable plane than almost any wood ARF I've triied.
I think I did mention something about the old Sterling kits, but actually with them, I've had good, and I've had bad, just llike about anything else in life. Most kit companies whose products I've built seem to have had very inconsistent quality. Actually, since my last post in 2005, I had the opportunity to give up on and scrap an unidentified oriental kit someone gave me that was mainly something that passed for light ply, which I hate anyway. Separating the parts led to many breaks, the stuff was so brittle. Even the balsa was of varying density, even worse than any Sterling Comet or Guillows kit I ever built.
Actually, except for that one example, almost any kit I've ever built ended up as a stronger, more durable plane than almost any wood ARF I've triied.
10-14-2010, 05:56 PM
#50
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RE: What's the worst kit ever made?
I have been building kits since I was 7 years old...Now 45, I finished each and every one of them.....Except..."The worst kit ever produced"...Global Raven!....The thing was made from Balsa ply (not lite ply...big difference)...There was enough wood in the structure for 2 airplanes. I ended up so frustrated with it, I sold it, unfinished, for next to nothing at a club swapmeet The ones I have seen finished came out over 10 lbs and flew like bricks. Horrible kit!
-Johnny-
-Johnny-