Pilot Zero-Sen 54"
 

This kit has to be worst kit building experience I have ever had.

It was one of the older fully built up kits, they also did a similar size spitfire and mustang.

There was SO MUCH WORK for such a tiny little 'plane. Not a bad kit as such , contents quality actually very good, but terrible instructions. I finished mine, still have it , looks great, scale outline, but is is massively overweight and very unpleasant to fly.

I nicknamed it "the doodlebug" because it is so unstable and comes in like a V1 buzz bomb. Wing loading is so high that controlled landings are almost impossible. It taught me a lesson about WHY we aeromodellers are exhorted to build light. I have learnt the lesson with this 'plane.

The kits are no longer being made. I'm not surprised.

Anyone else successfully flown one?


fiery

What Was The Most Difficult Kit ?
 

The TF Corsair. The main center section of the wing is built around a plywood section that you have to laminate together. The plywood section was warped and no matter want I tried I could not get rid of the warp. It sits in my basement as a reminder that I should have attempted something easier for my first build. Since then, I have built several kits and love it. There is something about seeing a box of wood becoming a recognizable aircraft.

Bud Nosen Trainer-eBay special
 

My hands-down worst was a Nosen Trainer I got for
a great price direct from A&A Industries.
It was a compilation of the rejected wood pieces from their production kits. The wood was warped, split, too hard, or too soft. The die-crunching was awful. I ended up replacing much of it.

Came out looking and flying fine, tho.

Seth

What Was The Most Difficult Kit ?
 

I won't knock all e-bay specials. I know those AA (Nosen) kits are horrible because I have seen a few over the years but I can recommend those AK Models Mig29 e-bay specials you see every now and then.

First rate kit for a cottage industry guy. Laser cut, good fit (haven't finished it yet, though). Instructions are so-so but it's an easy build.

Got off topic by mentioning a good kit but just needed to be said that all the e-bay specials aren't bad.

Later
Don

royal p-38
 

Old Royal P-38 was really a chore to build true. And light. Pretty much "carve everything away that doesn't look like a P-38" That was in '71 and they might be better now.

However I just bought a Marutaka J2M3 Raiden a couple of months ago. All Japanese plans, one sheet of pigden English instructions("Gluing F12 to it's base, or F11." type stuff ), but my bigest disappointment is that the outline, including the spun aluminium cowl, is WAY off! This is not a scale airplane kit, this is a "bears a vague resemblence" kit!

What Was The Most Difficult Kit ?
 

Hardest kit I never GOT built was a Joe Ott P-38 during WW II. Card stock formers and splintering strip wood, maybe cut from orange crates.....

RC kits? Top Flite AT-6 took me awhile, but the kit was good.

Clair

What Was The Most Difficult Kit ?
 

Azcat:

Boy, do I remember Joe Ott kits. Never managed to finish one.

Either the paper formers would collapse when I tried to get the pine longerons to fit, the formers would get squashed (or melt from the moisture) when I shrank the tissue, or I'd just get frustrated trying to keep the blasted thing straight and stomp on it.

And then there was the Hawker Typhoon kit from Cleveland... My first power conversion, a Spitzy 0.045. Got it together, but never managed a successful flight. Didn't know enough.

Bill.

What Was The Most Difficult Kit ?
 

Well, after seeing this post I had to chime in!

The PICA Duellist!

I knew I was in trouble when I asked an experience builder (I think on RCU) if there were any tips for building.
All he could do was Laugh and ask if I liked sanding!

What an understatement.

I must say the kit goes together well but carving and sanding is the skill required to build this kit.

a year and a half later I am still sanding!

trying to get all the lumps and bumps out of the fiberglass so that I can actually put primer on it.

Many people say it is worth the trouble, I sure hope so.

finished 2 kits during the time of working on this duellist and last night decided to start my Patriot kit, (they have not asked me to start sanding yet :) )

What Was The Most Difficult Kit ?
 

mpriestley:

It definitely is to laugh, concerning the Duellist.

That is the plane I recommend as a Second twin, and never as a first kit.

Use a block plane for rough shaping, and a router bit on your Dremel for the hollowing, it will go much faster.

And after your third or fourth Duellist you'll find they don't take so much time as you thought.

For a very similar flying, and much simplified building twin almost exactly the same size, get the Twin-Air 45 from Northeast Aerodynamics.

www.ne-aero.com

Bill.

What Was The Most Difficult Kit ?
 

Well Bill,

Your absolutely right this is not a good "first" kit.

I think that is where I went wrong! Ohhhhhhhhhh did I go wrong.
but I have survived this far.

Since you have experience with this one, what engines do you suggest.

I have recently been flying the Magnum by weston UK and it comes with a suped up Webra, they call the 50 v1 (I think) anyway it kicks some but and can spin 8/8 apc with a double cone pipe and I was contemplating....

The one positive aspect of this was the experience, I feel like I am qualified to build anything now.

Dumb thing was I went out and bought a Royal b-17.
as my second kit. LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!

The smart thing I did was build a couple of easy small kits while being frustrated with my first 2 (Lanier stinger 10 and HofB decathalon 10)

What Was The Most Difficult Kit ?
 

The kit that gave me the most trouble was a Sig 1/6 scale J3 Cub I built. This is a stick built kit and the directions where terrible. The full size plans where just OK. I had to figure out how to do must of the finer things myself. Like how to build and attach the wing struts. This was not a good kit for my second build. It did turn out to be a very good flyer and seems to sign hang there on a windy day.

Thanks

What Was The Most Difficult Kit ?
 

mpriestley:

The Duellist 2/40 is a very strong airframe, if you keep on sanding and hollowing it also will be light enough for a pair of OS 40 FP engines. My current 2/40 has K&B 8360s on it, goes nicely. For fast the Webra 50s like the one on your Magnum would work very well. For less money and still good performance, the Magnum XLS 46 engines. A little more money? The new Magnum 52s. Haven't used the 52s, but I've been well pleased with their 40s and 46s.

ChuckAuger has a pair of piped OS VRs on his. Rocketship.

So the engine choice is up to you, mild to wild. just stay in the 40-50 range, mainly for weight/balance considerations.

Had a Stinger 10, it put me off Lanier. Way too much plastic. Never built the HoB Decathlon, but all the HoB kits I've done have pleased me. First was an FW 190, which also got my first Norvel 0.061 as a replacement for the original Cox TD 05 RC I put in it.

HTH

Bill.

What Was The Most Difficult Kit ?
 

Almost any of the old Sterling kits, just as stick flyer said--brutes--and usually with balsa the weight of oak!

What Was The Most Difficult Kit ?
 

Sterling? No. built too many Ringmasters. Good kits, good planes.

But now, if you mention Berkley...

Bill.

What Was The Most Difficult Kit ?
 

Bill Robison.....my hat's off to you if you got the Joe Ott to the covering stage! My first rubber model was an Ace Whittman kit, the Zero. Didn't know to build the wings over the plan, so used the full length of the strip wood, and had a high altitude Zero with glider size wing span....actually glided pretty well!

Never built a Duelist, but flew one for a buddy years ago....his old K&B 40s wouldn't come up off idle together so takeoffs were an event!

One of the toughest builds I have done was the Der Jaeger, MAN plans, which were pretty poor. Many parts had to be measured off the airframe rather than the templates on the plans. It was cute though when I finally conquered it!

Clair Sieverling

What Was The Most Difficult Kit ?
 

Clair:

From late '42 to early '45 I had to do it all. Dad was riding a BB in the Pacific, Mom, my sister, and I were living with my paternal grandparents. Grandpa wasn't interested in the airplane kits and the women were lost.

At the same time I don't want to make anyone think I had consistent success with the Joe Ott kits, but every birthday I got six or ten, and Christmas was usually at least 20. A LARGE number of nearby relatives, they all knew I liked airplanes, the Joe Ott kits were cheap, so I got Joe Ott kits as presents. With the sometimes substitution of a Strombecker (brand?) solid model.

And once in a great while a relative felt rich and gave me a Cleveland kit. The Cleveland kits were very expensive, some of them even cost more than two dollars! But they had wooden formers instead of Joe Ott's paper.

With Joe Ott my success rate did improve as my skill increased, but overall I doubt, out of the 80 to 100 I started, more than 8 or 10 made it to the covering stage.

I do not now remember my reasons, but I had saved the Cleveland kits.

Dad got transferred from his Battleship (Massachusetts) to the 5th Naval District, taking over the training aids division at the Norfolk (Virginia) Naval Base.

With my dad there, (an old time modeler) and the Cleveland kits,
my success rate went way up immediately.

While I would not suggest anyone follow my route to kit building skills, I would strongly recommend building stick and tissue planes as a necessary stage of learning.

Bill.

What Was The Most Difficult Kit ?
 

Interesting modeling background Bill, similar to mine except I didn't have the relatives that came through with kits! And I agree that stick and tissue modeling will sure improve your skills for larger models. I still frame up a Gillows (?) warbird once in awhile just to relive my childhood....

Clair

Re: Pilot Zero-Sen 54"
 

I have one of these kits in my closet. Along with the Mustang and Spit :) The reason they are no longer made is because the factory burned down and all tooling was lost. I have heard these models can come out a bit on the weighty side. What does yours weigh? Did you install retracts?

John

What Was The Most Difficult Kit ?
 

what is the best building corsair kit on the market 60 size and above?

What Was The Most Difficult Kit ?
 

Sterling P63 King Cobra, I tell you, boy what a job . Their die's must have been dull and I got the kit water soaked , Warped parts. I think I could have scratched it out just as fast! have half built know hope to have it done in a couple weeks! That is bear bones!

RE: What Was The Most Difficult Kit ?
 

The 1959 (?) 3 ch. ( no ailerons) Sterling Monocoupe. Why, because I bought the kit in 1962 and started construction shortly thereafter. Moved the half finished kit over 3 or 4 states and several households during the last 40 years and still have it in the basement with the wing and tail nylon covered but not the fuse. Meanwhile, a fellow worker sold me his unflown but finished Sterling Monocoupe which he had made with a flat wing and ailerons, four channel. I flew that for years including off frozen lakes and finally crashed when I changed engines and forgot to put the lead nose weight back in. Great flyer as it tracked like a pattern ship with zero dihedral. Sold the remains to a fellow on the internet who just had to have one because he and his father had built one when he was a kid.

Will I ever finish and fly my original Monocoupe unfinished after 40 years? Maybe, if I could get one of those Berkeley Aerotrol radios that it shows on the plan to install with the rubber band escapement!

RE: What Was The Most Difficult Kit ?
 

After reading these posts, I aint EVEN gonna mention the kit I was thinking about!
Granted, Ive only built a few kits so far, but DAMN! I'm not worthy...[:o]

RE: What Was The Most Difficult Kit ?
 

Wing B25 or Royal Staggerwing. Both were very hard. Too much planking on the engine nacelles and fuse on the B25. Too much wood carving and sanding around the wings of the Staggerwing. Took me a year on the B25 and a couple of months on the Staggerwing. I've built over 250 planes in 40+ years doing it (started when I was 7 with Comet kits). These two stand out the most. The B25 has never been flow, pic was taken before decals, props and shaft extensions where done. Notice all of the filler behind the cowl and in the wing fillet. Never took any pics of the Staggerwing with covering as owner had me do it in cream. Hated it.

George

RE: What Was The Most Difficult Kit ?
 

Royal 60 size Corsair I offered to complete for a friend of mine years ago. He had framed the wings and started on the fuse. I never did get it completed and I can't remember what happened to it now.

RE: What Was The Most Difficult Kit ?
 

Jack Stafford Ercoupe (AirCoupe?). Finally got so mad, I tossed it in the corner and never touched it again.

Sterling Stearman was bad, too. This one was started around 1990. Bought from Tower. Plans were so old, there wasn't even a zip code on the address. Every fuse former was so brittle, it would snap in half if you tried to put a pin in it. Firewall was 2 3/8" pieces of square plywood that you had to glue together and cut out to the round shape. I was helping a friend with this one. He finally got frustrated and threw the whole thing in the trash.