I always check Scale mates webpages and RU-vid reviews before buying either vintage or new model kits. I like vintage kits that were good for the time when they were released. Thanks for your 2021 videos and expecting more for 2022. Happy new year mate.
Well, at least either the Zero and the Spit are good kits, but ruined by a bad choice of materials (wrong glue for the Spit, bad paints for the Zero), so you couldn't include them in this list. On the contrary it's scandalous that Airfix sell an old model in a new box without advising about mold's age, when I bought it, the series 1 kit were sold in blisters!
Airfix have recently been releasing their older kits in the vintage range, which tells you information about the tooling date, but there are still some in the regular range which are pretty old
@@ModelMinutesMinutes Yep DH-88 Comet being one of them. I got one that came out in the new boxing as soon as they got released being one of pre-war father of the Mosquito and a time of flight, I'm interested in. Found out it had been manufactured in India and was the same one I build when I was at primary school primary and I'm in my mid 50's now. Molding was that bad. I had to send it back on opening and looking over and checking the kit. As the wing was warped and engine lacelles did not even line up with the wings was how bad it was warped. I would have had to rebuild the whole wing. That knocked the whole will of even getting a replacement just with those simple things with just that one. Be good to if you did something on how you select your next model you're wanting to build. When you get it how you check it over and get it ready to build as well organizing the tools and paints for it. Everyone covers making the kits and the reviews of it. But often miss the simpler things. You have done well with some of this like when you went over your experiences with paints from when you first stated till now. Please do more things like that.
I like how you have done this one. As you have point out some of the major factors you found with doing some of the kit's Like the age of the original molds, The challenges that you tried to restrict yourself to and did not work as well for you, not because of the model itself. As myself I the Airfix 1/72 Zero up there with one of the best for new beginners to start with and has a lots of room for the advance modelers to play around with. (Could be something to do in the future. Good models for beginners you have found so far.). Also, the well-known issues with Academy... THERE ARE DECALS...(I Find good decals can make or break the final look of a well-made model.)
I became a subscriber this year after finding your review of the Academy 1/144 F-16. I haven't built a model kit in nearly 20 years and was interested in getting back into modeling with a starter kit like the Academy F-16. My last completed kit was a 1/72 Zero like the one you made.
Hi Matt, happy new year, I thought your list was good although that zero's paint was the pits. I've built the Walthers North Island Oil Refinery kit.....now that was the worst kit I've ever built, a nice looking model but it seemed to take an age to complete. Looking forward to seeing what you plan for this year....I have to admit I'm till hoping you will build the Airfix, Revel?? Henkel HE111 at some stage. Stay safe over there.
Thanks! yes, I'm sure that a He111 will appear on my workbench at some point, just need to get some of the other kits off the bench first and clear that stash :P
Clearly you didn't build the Airfix 1:600 Bismarck this year then? I did, and not too bad once an entirely new main deck had been built, the hull height reduced by one deck height, the massive rudders reduced to half the original size, and numerous parts replaced by scratch built items. The only good thing about it was that since the molding was so bad, the secondary turrets had their front face slots completely flashed over that enabled me to drill out the barrel slots correctly rather than all the way down to the bottom as in the originals. For some reason I like this old 1:600 range, but I don't know why. Currently doing HMS Nelson and will probably have increased the detail on it by a factor of 20 by the time I'm finished. Madness!!
After a long absence from model making, and I do mean loooong, it's one thing to be ultra stressed out about, where to start, what tools should I really get, what is the best construction method to use, the myriad painting possibilities and wanting to make the perfect kit the first time...all freezing me to inaction. It's another thing to have the added burden of a low quality kit that requires so much remedial work and enhancement requiring the many and sometimes obscure skills I don't have that you think to yourself - why did I buy all those kits and spend hundreds of dollars and I only want to give up before I even take shrink wrap off?
I had a friend like this, kept avoiding it for fear of doing a bad job. I had to just encourage him to have a go - what does it matter if you do a bad job this time, it will help the next one be better...
You're very honest Tom but I can only encourage you to try! The process can be more enjoyable than the finished model and if you look at it from a perspective that your skills will improve and develop over time, it can spur you on to build more! Happy modelling mate and don't be too hard on yourself 😉
@@hermannjoseph Thanks Hermann. I am reminded of the time I had to re-tile the bathroom, I was in a lather wanting to know everything - eventually I got there! Modeling seems so nuanced too. There is basically one way to tile a floor or wall! But I see your point. Now... if only stock would get moving again. Last night I checked my local suppliers and all the cheaper kits plus the ones I wanted to get have all gone. Sigh.
@@tomstamford6837 You've reminded me of the time about 20 years ago that I tiled our upstairs bathroom directly onto yellow thounge and groove and the bloody cement wouldn't stick! Lesson learned 😂 Best of luck on the modelling front, it has been a mental life saver for me over the past couple of years. Cheers
@@hermannjoseph Ooooh, that's terrible! That is why I get so obsessed with doing things right. They say, do your best, but to me that is a bad way to think about things. I prefer do THE best. Maybe it's harsh but I believe unless you can do a really good job, don't do it and find someone who can give you a good result. In the end, 'your best' might be so bad it costs a lot of money to fix and then you also feel bad about yourself. I also believe it's better to admit someone can do better and know your limitations than to try and disappoint yourself. Which was why I did the tiling to the point where the manager of the tile shop told me to stop bugging him (in a friendly way - I think). But the result is a good bathroom that is still good after 20 years. So with modelling... it's obsession, obsession, obsession. And I haven't even touched plastic yet!
I would say avoid kits that come with paint, these are made to get kids into modelling, but because the paint is crap puts most of them off, wash your model in soap and water it gets rid of the mold release agents and grease before you start to build, the paint will cover much better, buy some better brushes or use an airbrush if you can afford one, join a model club and in time you will learn which kits to avoid, [ reboxed or very very old kits ]
I immediately trash those little tubs of Humbrol paint! Most are dried and useless, others are like finger paint. I have never had luck with Humbrol. I think they send their old out-dated stock to the US.
1:22 I've just last week picked that Revell P51-D kit as a gift from a friend, wish I had bothered to check the tooling on scalemates beforehand though! It's an atrocious kit really and absolutely should not still have been being released by Revell as recently as 2019!
I hadn't built a model kit in over 25 years, but my sister bought me the Star Trek TOS Enterprise model for Christmas so I decided to buy and build some others to practice. So my guess is that these first 5 models are going to be my worst of 2022 (since I didn't start in 2021, lol), but we'll see I guess. Currently finishing my first, the Airfix P40 Warhawk 1:72. Build is looking good, we'll see how I paint, lol.
As I posted a while ago... maybe here Matt? a kit boxed 'vintage' /could/ mean what is being modeled is an old type not that the model itself is old so it's an ambiguous term, thus I agree with the main point that more transparency is preferable. On that note the Seahawk is IMHO very naughty as it's sold in a new style box but the kit inside is old. Personally I'd knock it down a place for that alone.
My nomination is the Airfix Suzuki 500cc 1/24 model i found on ebay (its rare) and wasted a few hours on. It was all going fine until I discovered, around half way through the build, that the decals are too large for the model. They looked more like 1/12 scale. A mixup in the factory perhaps. To be fair to airfix I've never experienced that before.
Can’t say I’m familiar with that one, perhaps if it was limited run that could explain the mix-up with the transfers as the designer might not have invested as much time as they should have
Excellent description of that F-16. It does look like someone designed it from memory. It does look like the nose was attached upside down, but it’s funny what little difference that makes on this particular Viper.
Yeah, and the canopy just looks 'wrong' - too flat!! In fact the whole aircraft just looks a bit too long and flat; except for the tail fin which looks too thick and oversized, and doesn't appear to fit on the fuselage perpendicular....!! A decent 1/144 modern warbird is the Revell F-15E...it looks 'right'; even the decals are good!! 😊
My worst builds are "shelf queens" that after taking a long look at them, I decided they were not worth the trouble. My worst are: 1.) Atlantis Models H-25 Army Mule HUP-2 Helicopter. 0utside from the model needing extensive work to correct basic omissions (no cockpit floor, no glass for the side windows, shelves inside of the side windows where none existed, no cargo bay doors, etc.), there is a serious factory defect where the propeller shaft hold for the rear rotor is partially molded at the wrong angle, making the fuselage halves very difficult to align. 2.) Monogram's old 1/48 P-61. It simply does not want to go together, with flimsy fuselage floor panels as well as eggshell thin fuselage sides, it is a challenge to "warp into place". And the engine nacelles do not get any better. 3.) The 1/72 Lindberg Me-109G and Spitfire Mk 22 2-pack kits. Basically kids toy junk. No landing gears or any sort of cockpit/pilot figure, instead opaque canopies that hide the fact nothing is there.
Been building models for most of my 65 years. I can appreciate newer better detailed kits, but also still enjoy the old vintage kits - original and repop. My considered "worst" kits are the off-scale kits by Starfix of Israel. Utterly horrid!
Not quite this year, but I built a Revell BK117 "Space Design" in 1:72. The kit was from a different manufacturer packed in a Revell box from the '80s. The tooling was bad, the decals sucked, the whole project frustrated me so much, I crushed the model and threw it away. Luckily I only spend 1,50€ as the shop did sale on discontinued kits.
Currently working on a 1965 concorde kit from heller, it has molding quality issues but since it represent the 1964 project, I'm all in for a original concorde. I had to modify the nose to make it somewhat accurate to the nose down position and the livery will be a mix between the 1st and 2n prototype, I got it from the "légende heller" gifset wich also contain their frist kit, the caravelle. Still adding putty on the beast, I don't see it as a bad kit due to its level of detail for a kit base on a project (the engine seemed particularly good for me). When I want to buy vintage kit, it depend of the price (sorry but 100€ is too much for 1 model for me) and the decals quality. I'm not afraid of building them after tackling unicraft resin kit and it depend if I can do what if/project/prototype out of them or not. Happy new year from france!
@@ModelMinutes you're welcome, btw the heller giftset is quite rare now, I was lucky to get one at the aviationmegastore with a aeroflot a350 from zvezda and their 747 8 that I'll do in a british airways retro scheme
It seems to me from this video that Airfix is a brand to stay away. I just ordered two Eduard - Profi-pack BF-109 and Profi-pack Spitfire. When I was a kid I always felt guilty because I really love the German aircraft from WWII. Now that I'm older I realize you can appreciate the engineering without thinking you are a Nazi :D The BF109, BF 110, and JU 87 are some of my favorites. I like the P-61 as well which is another night fighter like the BF 110. I like the Spitfire, Hurricane, and Mustang as well. :D I forgot to add the iconic F4U which got me into WWII planes in the first place, after watching Black Sheep with my dad growing up. Dad was a machinist at Northrup, so I grew up around aviation.
Airfix does make reasonably ok kits, but they tend to market themselves a little higher whilst generally being considered a bit of a budget brand. Eduard is one of the best manufacturers i've experienced so far
I’m sorry you think that about Airfix. Quite some years ago the (then) new tool Mk1 Spitfire in 1/48 attracted a cacophony of derision for certain aspects of the kit. This, despite the fact that it was (then) the most accurate Mk1 Spit available - as Edgar Brooks confirmed more than once. So I built one with simple adaptions that easily addressed the ‘faults’ and posted it on Hyperscale, describing what I did. The critics were universally silent and the puerile game of ‘Airfix bashing’ for the Spit ceased as the build simply revealed the shortcomings of the trolls. Airfix have since made huge and overt strides in quality and are turning out lovely kits. I built the 1/24 bubble top Typhoon as a test shot back in 2014 and the car door version (also a test shot) in 2015. Great kits and followed by test shots I also had the pleasure of building of a bunch of other Airfix offerings, including the 1/48 Hurricane, Spitfire and others. No kits, from any manufacture, are completely free of aspects that’ll need fettling, so the real trick is being discerning about who you listen to if you’re interested in a particular subject…
@@stevenbudd3725 as I always say, every manufacturer makes some good kits, with some also less than perfect offerings too. I’ll give kits credit where it’s due, but my criticism of Airfix in recent times is mostly due to their very public voice about striving for quality and detail, which in comparison to other brands, they tend to fall short
No need to feel bad about preferring German aircraft. I prefer German WW2 armour simply because the camouflage schemes are much more variable as oppose to the 'bog standard' dark green or light stone for Allied armour.
The newer Airfix kits, especially 1/48 scale WWII planes, are quite good. Beats Tamiya for detail and quality. Their older 1/72 kits remind me of old Aurora and Hawk kits. Simplistic.
My worst kit of 2021 was the Airfix, 1/72 scale Fiesler Storch. A very old kit rereleased displaying all the Airfix "features" that had us all flocking to Tamiya back in the 1970s; flash, fiddly, fragile parts, and even some warped parts.
I just built one in the desert scheme, and have a second I will do in the green camo scheme. The canopy gave me fits, leaving a huge gap on top. Filled with Mod Podge.
About the craft and canvas paints, although these are pretty hard to use with brush, if you have an airbrush it's another story, totally usable and I say that as an Acrilex and Corfix (Brazilian budget paints) user myself, here Humbrol, Tamiya, Vallejo and Revell cost between 100%-300% more than Acrilex paints and are hard to find, so if you're stuck with a model half done because you lack a specific paint it's completely alright to use those, specially the ones for crafting (wood, metal, PET), you just have to be patient and take your time applying coats. Edit: grammar
@@ModelMinutes i would recommend you to try again with an airbrush, i too have the same Aliexpress kit with a mini compressor and it works pretty well, just don't dilute the paints with just water, use some kind of airbrush thinner or flow improver like the Vallejo ones, you can also make one yourself using some easy to find products, i personally use ethyl alcohol 70° + water in a 30%/70%, mix those 2 and than add Veja Vidrex Cristal, which is a glass cleaning product in a 50%/50% with that other mix, this glass cleaning product works as an flow improver while the water + alcohol help in the quick setting. When you mix it with the paint it should be a little heavier than milk, your airbrush will be just fine, it just need to be light enough to pass through the needle, test it with a plastic spoon, i would recommend using primer before applying the coats, if you don't have a primer it will work just fine but the first coats need to be lighter, also never let it be wet on the surface, you need to stop spraying right before that point and let it dry a little and you can use the air of the airbrush to help it dry quickly. There are some tutorials here on RU-vid that explain this use pretty well. There is a video of a RU-vidr called Barbatos Rex that helped me a lot with this process i would recommend you to watch that if you want to try it. Hugs from Brazil my friend. Edit: changed some words for a better understanding since english is not my main language.
Oh no - I have that 48th scale Academy 500D police helicopter - now I’m afraid, haha. I built the normal one with the army scheme earlier this year and didn’t have issues with those decals. Hopefully my ones are better?
@@ModelMinutes im state side I have never seen a beacon model on a shelf here, and I though you mentioning something about not being sure about the airfix models you did as to their mold dates is it a random case of certain models not having their mold dates listed....I default usse scale mates as reference so I get a better picture of what to expect I hate incomplete kits missing essentail parts, but you can take the most basic kit and turn it around wwith some extra work.....I kit bash so I have some experience in making panel line, rivets, fabricating parts from brass sheet etc...but not every one wants to do that or enjoys it which is understandable.....I'am the type of person wwho will buy a track kit for a tank that cost more then the kit lol
That’s simply not true. If you choose to spend your money on low quality kits and then spend extra time fixing the flaws, that’s fine, but it doesn’t mean you’re a better modeller. There’s no excuse for low quality kits in 2022.
Didnt really build any Bad kits in 2021 but rather i finally finished a VOLVO FH 16 that i started in 2019. Fitment was Quite akward and sometimes the instructions blatantly Lied to where the Part needed to go. It looks somewhat okay now next to my Scania 143 H Torpedo.
Wow! I have to ask, how long have you been building models? The reason I ask is I can't believe you are trying to hand brush paint them rather than using far better and more realistic spray or, even better, air brush application. Please don't take this wrong, but that paint job on the Airfix "0" is something you might expect a 5 year old to do. It is just horrible! Like you said, the model itself is fine which is typical of Airfix kits. Oh well. I am likely a bit more critical than some as I have been building model kits for about 68 of my 74 years. I have an Airfix 4-Stroke Engine kit that I built, I think, back in the mid 1980s. It is my first and only Airfix model, but I have to say it was a very accurate and well molded kit that assembled with no issues. I spray painted it and the finish looks as good as a full size commercially made one. I keep it covered and it looks as good today as when I built some 38 or so years ago! 😉
Thanks for your thoughts. As mentioned in the video, these are the worst kits I built that year for a reason… I’ve been building on and off for about 15 years and I think it would be worth checking the companion video to this where I look at the best kits I built that year for a comparison
@@ModelMinutes - I guess the problem I have with your comment is you say the Airfix is absolutely fine and has no business being on your list. I agree 100%, because it is not the model that is bad, it's your paint job. You can't criticize the model for that!
Hey Matt some of the kits in this video i could not find build videos for, the kits where the AW Skyhawk, mister craft helicopter and from your other video the fairy fulmar.Do you know where I could find build videos for them?
As mentioned in the video, some of the particular models shown haven't yet had the build videos edited an uploaded - make sure you have those notifications on so that you know when they are :)
Hi, thanks for the vids. I've had similar experience of re-boxed kits as late as 2014, when I bought Tamiya 1/48 Zero and FW-190D. I chanced upon the inner surface of the Zero, li and behold... The kit's original molding was made in 1973! Granted Tamiya kits were THE kits back then, but players like Eduard, ICM, Miniarts, and those made in china came up with better tooling, ultra realistic detailing and photoetched parts (which were a luxury in the old days). BTW, the worst kit I built recently was a Banda 1/100 Gun-Tank. So disgusted I threw the whole lot away.
That's why I believe in box reviews are not useful. It would be better if experienced modelers showed the assembled kit and procede to explain the problems they faced. And as you said sometimes the instructions can be tricky as well, no matter how old a kit is. Just a little thought. All the best for 2022!
However, this is also why 'in-box' kit reviews are VERY useful... if a manufacturer is re-boxing a 20 - 50 year old kit in a modern box, then you, the buyer should be made aware of that.... you then know to expect no cockpit interior details, and that there's maybe only a pilot figure to glue onto a couple of pegs.....not what you'd expect to find today in a £10-20 72nd scale kit....but still could find if there were no in-box reviews... ;-)
this isn't just a video on products that I think are bad, its also a reflection on how well they were built which is why that one is included in this list
Manufacturers are hurting the hobby by cheating customers. Big box stores in the US are covered wall-to-wall with Revell. Because of Revell’s well-earned bad reputation stores aren’t moving kits fast, and narrowing shelf-space for models. This situation is even hurting the chances of good kits like Bandai-that is still available at Hobby Lobby. And there a few newer, well-done Revell kits that no one will touch because the bad reputation.
lol, someone always leaves this elitist comment on one of these videos. There are bad kits, being poorly designed and manufacturered. If Gordon Ramsey served you up a tin of dog food would you still say there is "no such thing as bad food, only bad chefs" ?
I don't understand the appeal of 72nd scale. Or 700 scale ships. I get it's small for those with limited space but the size just kills detail. They are all generally the right shape of the subject and, yeah...
The Aircraft kit years are now over. Pre Jet, prop era is where my interests have been and included flying boats and passenger aircraft. Building over the last two decides, kicked off at Christmas 1959, with gaps inbetween, have seen my available stash slowly reduce leaving only stripes of dust between where kit boxes once sat. The Submarine building era came along and is now largely over because I chose 1/72 boats to build and few exist in that scale of the German Uboats and American Gato boats that have captured my attention. Discovered while looking around the Internet are two model subjects that I'm keen to have a crack at building. The NS Savannah produced in a previously unencountered scale: 1/380, and the Korean War era hospital ship, USS HOPE also in an unusual scale - 1/471. Interesting times ahead are predicted. Let the assembly begin and as soon as can be.
I think any kits dating to pre 90s should be listed as 'retro' on the box. There are many old 60s kits I enjoy for nostalgia reasons, but I wasn't to know when I'm buying one.
I do not remember, seeing ,The Hughes build? Will check it out after your best kits '21, video. I watched this one first, as modern people, me included, are more passionate about the things we hate, than in the things we like/love. So worst lists tend to be funnier That is why ZP's/ Yahtzee's, worst lists, are way funnier, than his likes, lists' as are his negative reviews, compared to ones on games he likes.
My "worse kit build" of 2021 was probably an Airfix 1:72 (New-ish tool) Folland Gnat. I've built one before but for some reason, the undercarriage was lower on one side than the other when I came to stand it on its wheels. Also one side of the one piece wing to was bent out of shape. It is usually good kit but this time around I didn't do great job of it. That Airfix Sea Hawk was ancient when I built one in the early 1990s. There are better Sea Hawk kits available now I think.
@@ModelMinutes Yeah its a good kit but people just need to take care with the tricky fit of the legs. There's a lot to fit into not a lot. I was ok with the first one I did of that kit. Onwards!
Most of these would have been fine if you gave everything a prime before painting. Painting directly on to plastic without a prime is always going to end up poor.
@@ModelMinutes This is true but I don't know why you wouldn't. It would avoid the paint separating like it did in this video many a times. You would have a better smooth coat and less coats of paint. You do you though.
@@petermillar8866 which model are your referring to in particular? The only one I had trouble with separating paints was the challenge build… a primer was outside my budget on that one
Bad paint job on the exterior of the Zero looks fine, as a WW2 Japanese aircraft enthusiast, look at photos of the real aircraft in combat, the paint was terrible and weathered heavily. All Zeroes were painted overall greenish grey ( corrosion protection coat) and then the dark green applied to the upper surface,of note is that the dark green was pigment powder that was mixed with any kind of colour base so blotches and opaque points are fine.
That Zero, built it before, Its the best budget Zero you can get, there is no other competition for that price Personally I say you shouldn't include challenge kits for this video, because they will not be up to your usual standard making them look worse
like i mentioned at the beginning, its a retrospective of my modelling over the year, that Airfix zero (in my opinion) is indeed the worst kit I built this year because it looks horrible. This video isn't just a review of whether a kit is good or bad but also based on how well i completed them
I can definitely see why companies don’t put the tool date me for one if I want a particular kit il get it regardless of age but for some they would be put off and let’s be fair it’s not good business since
I've found the new airfix kits are fine. Especially for the price. The older kits do show their age though. Scale mates is the best guide for buying kits.
If they are going to still sell vintage kits, then they should only be allowed to sell them for the price that was charged on the original release date (with no adjustment for inflation) 😜
@@ModelMinutes I can only speak from experience of this 1/48 build, just about everything was a challenge on this kit, but at least it didn't end up in the bin. If you feel like a challenge you should try building one!!!!
When you paint wings and bodies you should use a flat brush as wide as you can manage. If using acrylics thin with water or matte medium and apply 2-3 thin coats. White is always tricky it is better to spray it. Pointed brushes are for details you will never get a clean flat coat using one without a lot of skill and effort. Also don't put paint more than halfway up the brush it ruins them quickly and splays out the tip.
As mentioned, this is a list of my worst kits based not only on the quality of the kit but my construction and completion of them, I just don’t think I did a particularly good job of it
Did you not watch the video? I literally said that at the beginning . . . This is an honest review of not only the quality of some of the kits I built this year, but my ability to complete them
#1: RS Models 1/72 Heinkel He-280. Odd, really vinylie plastic doesn't like paint or glue. Vague location marks and chunky detail. The decals look good indeed.
I think the way you’re judging them is very fair. I don’t like getting a kit that’s a 50+ year old die or older. More work isn’t the issue, I just want to be informed there will be more work. And thanks for the heads up.
Sometimes it’s intended, it helps highlight to the viewers the areas of the kit that require that attention. Other times I just don’t bother because I find it boring and you’ve got to enjoy what you do 😂
The worst build I made this year, was the revel 1:48 scale F111 Aardvark. The first were so bad, that I had to bend parts to make them fit together, and there was so much detail missing. The sweep wing was very broken, and only sometimes worked
