Conflicting Missions - quality v production

[Bill_S]

There are times that I miss the days of tube glue, tiny bottles of Pactra paint and cheap Testors brushes. I never had a stash back then; bring home a kit, finish it up in a few days and wait til you could afford the next one.

 

These days it takes me months to finish a single kit, but I like the results much better.

[Guest Peterpools]

As time has passed since my return t the hobby 8 years ago and the clock is ticking (I'm approaching 70 this year), I've finally found my old niche, my comfort zone and re-kindled my personal desire to keep adding to my Display Case Mini Museum.

For the most part, I've comfortably settled back into being an OOB builder, adding some AM - Resin and PE to enhance the front office and a bit exterior detail. My true enjoyment if the finishing steps of a build: air brush work and decals .. I try to work carefully and always to the best of my abilities. I normally wont rush through a step or assembly and if it drags on and I get bogged down, I'll break open a new project and won't return to the original project until the juices or desire have returned. I prefer to work and finish my builds as well maintained aircraft as sen in a museum display - just what makes me happy.

These days I'm also starting to work in other scales as waiting for "The Kit" I want for my display may take too many years to show, if ever or it becomes a nice change of pace.

Peter

[DeanKB]

I tend to alternate.

 

I took a break from my HpH Walrus and knocked together an Azur Caudron C714.C1, OOB.

 

Now I'm doing an AIMS Ju188 conversion.

[Phartycr0c]

Is this question is answered really by the quality of the kit in the first instance? 

 

For example, I recently built a HK B25 H and spent an age getting the interior details including wheel wells and the like, painted the 50 cal ammo and belts, rigged the MG balance pulleys and cables only to find that when the kit fuselage was closed up you could see the square root of nothing of the details . Still I know its there right? It got to the point where I almost binned it off completely I became so bogged down. 

 

In a similar vein, I also recently finished a HK B17G dio with my head screaming, "You have to do this justice" so again, not having learnt by the B25 experience, I trod the same path. 

 

with both builds, and others where the expense of the kit is involved, something triggers in my tiny mind which almost compels me spend a shed load on details never to see any of it again, my list is endless. It becomes so frustrating spending time to get it "just so" to the point of being more of a chore than enjoyable.

 

In contrast I built a Hobby Boss spit MK v (not the best kit out there I know)  for the Edgar Brooks tribute, and you know what? I really enjoyed its simplicity, and in the end it look like a Spitfire. 

 

Im soon to tackle the HPH FW 189  which already has everything. I understand i will have to complete the interior on this one to a reasonable standard purely because of the huge greenhouse that is the cockpit, on the other hand, I also have the Catalina......... Im really looking forward to these builds because they really are out of mu comfort zone in terms of modelling skills

 

I think what I'm getting at is is there a correlation between the financial outlay on the kit and the amount of time that we as modeler's should put into it or are we all of the mind that our model representations should be perfect?  

 

On another note I do admire those who enter competitions with their builds, I could never get up there in terms of standard, that would just do for me i think. 

Edited March 12, 2017 by Phartycr0c

[Rainer Hoffmann]

Very interesting discussion, guys.

 

Once I have finished a model (not that I did finish one in the last 20 years...) I immediately lose interest in it. So I'm not in a hurry to finish anything. I just love building a model, not collecting them (I`ll probably donate the Viggen to a Swedish Air Force wing, if I should actually finish it).

 

Still, sometimes (too often actually) I take shortcuts. And inevitably I regret that... So, I guess, there is always room for improvement.

 

Cheers

Rainer

Edited March 13, 2017 by Rainer Hoffmann

[ZachP319]

Interesting points from everyone. Funny I tend to feel opposite on the financial outlay piece. I am working on an X-1E conversion right now where total financial outlay is maybe $50 but I realized to my shock that I have been on again off again with this project since late 2013!

 

I scratchbuilt the interior, rescribed everything and added the conversion parts and then stalled horribly......

 

I picked it back up recently and after two primer coats I am

Frustrated by the back and forth of prime, full, repeat.....

 

I am fighting the urge to switch projects.....lol

 

Zach

[R Palimaka]

This is a fascinating conversation, I love this site. I think the internet can be a curse and a blessing. We see incredible builds by our more talented colleagues, and they either intimidate us a little (and make us keep our finished work to ourselves) or make us stretch ourselves to do better. Like some of you have already said, sometimes we're better modellers in our heads than we are in reality. I know in my own case I can imagine what I would like to do, but figuring out how to do that can be a challenge. But then when you actually try some scratch-building you get those happy moments where you say to yourself, "OMG! That worked!?" My 1/24 Airfix Mustang build has been a pleasant exercise in growing my skills, while carefully borrowing ideas from others. The key for me is not to get too bogged down in details to keep the momentum going. It's deciding when enough is enough so that I don't find myself at the end rushing "just to get the thing done", or surrounded by detailed subassemblies that I'm not sure how to fit together. For a "quality" build, in my own case, I think the lesson I'm learning is I need to plan and organize better when an old kit needs this much work. 

 

I've never been interested in quantity really, although of course I wish I had time to build more. It depends on the subject too. I love the Mustang and will take extra time to get the details right if I can, and incorporate the unique modifications that I discover, in this case post-war RCAF. If it was a 109 or 190, I wouldn't be so fussed and would simply try to do as good a job as I could with what was in the box...so that would probably go faster.

 

It all builds confidence, but I think my next one will have to be out of the box to balance things out. Like others have said, build to make yourself happy. It's not a contest...unless building for contests makes you happy. I'm not there yet.

 

Richard

[sluggo]

One should never be discouraged from posting because he/she feels their work is inferior. You don't gain skills by starting models, you gain skills by finishing them.

 

There's two things you can count on in this hobby. There are those who are better modelers than you and you should look at them as an inspiration as opposed to a threat. Then there are those that are not as good as you and you should be an inspiration for and support them. 

 

I've decided to just start building my stash. The only thing I will let myself get hung up on is fit and finish. Chances are a model will not get a second glance if those two criteria are not in check. You can toil for weeks on your cockpit, open up the cowl, etc but if the overall finish blows, you've wasted your time.

 

Painting is my favorite part of the build and in my opinion my strong suit. Fiddly details and photo-etch, not so much.

Edited March 13, 2017 by sluggo

[Winnie]

I enjoy various parts of the build, but sticking parts together with glue, and setting the first decals are my absolute favorites.

 

Due to work I have a month away from the bench, then a month where it is available, but so is everything else I want to do. Occasionally I dive in deep and work really hard at a project and it turns out quite well, and other times I en up rushing the finish, because I get impatient. I have the tools and products required to make masterpieces, but alas I lack the skill and patience to do that...

 

Oh well, I only build to please myself anyway!

 

Cheers

H.

[Bryan]

This all rings so true to me...

 

In general I strive for quality over quantity, partly because my display space in my man-cave is very limited and I don't want to crowd it with 200 models anyway. 

 

This equates to complex, large scale kits, often with aftermarket accessories.  The downside is I often get bored with the tedious details of these kits, and walk away from them for a while.  If I don't feel like working on a kit, I usually don't.  The result is that I generally only finish one or two models a year.

 

The other thing that really hits home....the model I finish and have in my hands never lives up to the completed model that I envisioned in my head when I started.  Never.  I have come to accept that fact and can manage to be happy with the result sometimes regardless.

Edited March 14, 2017 by Bryan

[Joel_W]

One should never be discouraged from posting because he/she feels their work is inferior. You don't gain skills by starting models, you gain skills by finishing them.

 

There's two things you can count on in this hobby. There are those who are better modelers than you and you should look at them as an inspiration as opposed to a threat. Then there are those that are not as good as you and you should be an inspiration for and support them. 

 

I've decided to just start building my stash. The only thing I will let myself get hung up on is fit and finish. Chances are a model will not get a second glance if those two criteria are not in check. You can toil for weeks on your cockpit, open up the cowl, etc but if the overall finish blows, you've wasted your time.

 

Painting is my favorite part of the build and in my opinion my strong suit. Fiddly details and photo-etch, not so much.

 

Slugo,

  I've posted many times that unless it's a contest model, the most important thing is the final overall presentation whether here, at a club, or in your display case.   if they like what they see, then they'll get close up and look at more details, but if the model doesn't appeal to them, they'll quickly pass it by.

 

Joel

[sluggo]

Slugo,

  I've posted many times that unless it's a contest model, the most important thing is the final overall presentation whether here, at a club, or in your display case.   if they like what they see, then they'll get close up and look at more details, but if the model doesn't appeal to them, they'll quickly pass it by.

 

Joel

Joel,

 

There is absolutely no doubt about it. It's the same with car shows. A stunning paint job will drag them in every time. I've pretty much quit competing in both but the recipe is the same.

 

When I see someone truly interested in my work I encourage them to touch it. For me the sheer look of astonishment (borderline horror) when someone is invited to handle my models is validation enough. 

 

The only dynamic that differs here is that a lot of times we'll breeze past something that is probably more deserving of compliment than the amount of replies would indicate. I'm sure there are several factors at play but I think the most prevalent is that most of us have to be really intrigued by a subject to comment on it.  I'll admit that I'm particularly bad about it. For me, it's more of a what can I add that has not already been said thing. I feel I've cheated the builder if I don't have more something original to say than "very nice".

[Joel_W]

Joel,

 

There is absolutely no doubt about it. It's the same with car shows. A stunning paint job will drag them in every time. I've pretty much quit competing in both but the recipe is the same.

 

When I see someone truly interested in my work I encourage them to touch it. For me the sheer look of astonishment (borderline horror) when someone is invited to handle my models is validation enough. 

 

The only dynamic that differs here is that a lot of times we'll breeze past something that is probably more deserving of compliment than the amount of replies would indicate. I'm sure there are several factors at play but I think the most prevalent is that most of us have to be really intrigued by a subject to comment on it.  I'll admit that I'm particularly bad about it. For me, it's more of a what can I add that has not already been said thing. I feel I've cheated the builder if I don't have more something original to say than "very nice".

 

Slugo,

 

 I try to post a comment or two on most builds that I click on. One thing that I quickly realized when I made the switch to 1/32 for most of my builds, is that the selection is so much less then 1/48 scale, so duplication happens more often then I'm used to. But each build of the same model offering just seems to be approached differently. From super detailed to pure OOB. The fascination for me is how each builder goes about trying to achieve their building goals. I try not to compare one build to another, but rather to my own standards.

 

I'm finding it almost impossible to keep up to all the threads here, hence, the leaving of Aeroscale, and the lack of time on ARC.

 

BTW, I do remember on ARC when you jumped in when we wanted to do something for the Bradfords medical bills. I'm still drinking my coffee from that mug.

 

Joel

[Bryan]

Joel,

 

There is absolutely no doubt about it. It's the same with car shows. A stunning paint job will drag them in every time. I've pretty much quit competing in both but the recipe is the same.

 

When I see someone truly interested in my work I encourage them to touch it. For me the sheer look of astonishment (borderline horror) when someone is invited to handle my models is validation enough. 

 

The only dynamic that differs here is that a lot of times we'll breeze past something that is probably more deserving of compliment than the amount of replies would indicate. I'm sure there are several factors at play but I think the most prevalent is that most of us have to be really intrigued by a subject to comment on it.  I'll admit that I'm particularly bad about it. For me, it's more of a what can I add that has not already been said thing. I feel I've cheated the builder if I don't have more something original to say than "very nice".

 

I know little about car shows, but it is absolutely 100% true about models....

 

I cannot count the number of times I have followed a build thread wherein the builder was super talented....correcting every minor inaccuracy....adding every detail...however minute.  I mean really going to the extreme in a quality build sense.  Then when the model is completed and painted, I find it a little....meh....because the eye/mind cannot really absorb all the work that went into it.

 

Then there is a build thread where a kit is just put together, with decent proficiency but no heroics....and topped off with a stunning paint job.  The latter build might have only 1/50th of the work put into as the former....but it typically draws much more attention.

 

I think this is why many armor and aircraft modelers often have a tendency to over-weather their builds a bit, at least in the sense of portraying scale reality.  Even if it is not completely "realistic", it draws the eye and makes people look.  At least it does me....

 

I have never participated in model competitions, but I would wager this factor has huge influence in the judging there, even if the judges are not aware of it fully.

[Joel_W]

I know little about car shows, but it is absolutely 100% true about models....

 

I cannot count the number of times I have followed a build thread wherein the builder was super talented....correcting every minor inaccuracy....adding every detail...however minute.  I mean really going to the extreme in a quality build sense.  Then when the model is completed and painted, I find it a little....meh....because the eye/mind cannot really absorb all the work that went into it.

 

Then there is a build thread where a kit is just put together, with decent proficiency but no heroics....and topped off with a stunning paint job.  The latter build might have only 1/50th of the work put into as the former....but it typically draws much more attention.

 

I think this is why many armor and aircraft modelers often have a tendency to over-weather their builds a bit, at least in the sense of portraying scale reality.  Even if it is not completely "realistic", it draws the eye and makes people look.  At least it does me....

 

I have never participated in model competitions, but I would wager this factor has huge influence in the judging there, even if the judges are not aware of it fully.

 

Bryan,

  I use to judge back in the mid 70s, and we judged what was on the table, and what we looked for was errors in the basics above anything else. Generally a basic flaws eliminated 80+%  of the models on the table. Once it got to being subjective, then a perfectly painted and decaled model was what we were looking for. Weathering was just coming into vogue back then, but a model that was weathered realistically caught every viewers eye.

 

Joel