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Favourite 1/32 build?


Pup7309

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Despite Tamiya, despite WNW, my favorite build is still Trumpy's TBF-1C Avenger.

 

Just an excellent kit that you can really go to town on and detail to within an inch of its life, should you wish, with lots of plastic, huge amounts of glass allowing easy views of the cockpit, even a rotating turret to play with, with a bomb bay, bombs, rockets, machine guns, cannons, even a torpedo! Lots of weathering possibilities to hide crappy paintwork, open panels everywhere, big old engine to detail & show off. Big enough to be different, but not too big.

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My opinions change depending on how successful the build went and of course after time all the school holidays were sunny..

After a steady diet of 1970's Revell kits I built the Hasegawa Me 109G6 which was very enjoyable to build, it all fitted.

The next kit that really gave me a lot of satisfaction was the AZUR Bloch 152, not fantastically engineered but very satisfying to look at when it was finished.

Then of course there was the MDC Hawker Typhoon, it made me really work for it but it looked great to me when I finished it.

The last three builds were all Hasegawa, Hayate, Raiden and N1K2, all very beautifully engineered and a pleasure to build.

 

Cheers

 

Dennis

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3 hours ago, Gary Needham said:

Tamiya

Corsair,

Spitfire IX

Zero

WNW

All of them built thus far (6) .

 

These two brands are in a league of their own engineering / fit wise.

Gary

I agree WNW & Tamiya lead the field (or led in WNW's case) in quality, but......they are so easy to build, so very easy, that does this not detract from the sense of achievement one garners from completing a kit?

 

Your beautifully built, faultless and perfect Tamiya Mk.IX Spitfire, for example. It wouldn't take too much looking to find others with an equally good build - in fact, you may have problems telling them apart. Johnny Johnson's "JE-J" Spitfire resides in pretty much identical copies in many, many of the hobby's homes.

 

Does that commercialism, uniformism & simplicity - arguably, perhaps, needing less skills & imagination to complete -  not make finishing such a kit more mundane task?

 

Not sure what the answer is, but I personally got more enjoyment & satisfaction from Trump's Avenger, even though my Tamiya & WNW builds were undoubtedly technically faultless and physically easier to build. Then again, when I found myself stuck with a troublesome build, I sometimes grabbed a Tamiya kit as a quick & easy alternative, whilst the other kit sat on the shelf of doom, to be moved again only to make space for the next troublesome kit.

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10 minutes ago, mozart said:

Wise words Dean, my Tamiya Spitfire IX has lain a quarter completed in its box for some years now, no real challenge in it. 

Much like my Birdcage Corsair Max, had two stabs at it now and is looking good so far but just no challenge, maybe another couple of goes and I will get it over the finish line.

 

Regards. Andy 

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1 hour ago, DeanKB said:

..they are so easy to build, so very easy, that does this not detract from the sense of achievement one garners from completing a kit?

It probably depends on what your aim is with this hobby I'd guess. Personally I love building a model that falls together without a fight. I do this hobby for relaxation, not stress^_^

1 hour ago, DeanKB said:

 

Your beautifully built, faultless and perfect Tamiya Mk.IX Spitfire, for example. It wouldn't take too much looking to find others with an equally good build - in fact, you may have problems telling them apart. Johnny Johnson's "JE-J" Spitfire resides in pretty much identical copies in many, many of the hobby's homes.

Not sure I see a problem with that if the builder is happy with the result. Horses for courses I guess. 

1 hour ago, DeanKB said:

 

Does that commercialism, uniformism & simplicity - arguably, perhaps, needing less skills & imagination to complete -  not make finishing such a kit more mundane task?

Again, it's a personal thing and your mileage may vary but I tend to choose kits I like and enjoy building. If I finish one that's a bonus:lol:

1 hour ago, DeanKB said:

 

Not sure what the answer is, but I personally got more enjoyment & satisfaction from Trump's Avenger, even though my Tamiya & WNW builds were undoubtedly technically faultless and physically easier to build. Then again, when I found myself stuck with a troublesome build, I sometimes grabbed a Tamiya kit as a quick & easy alternative, whilst the other kit sat on the shelf of doom, to be moved again only to make space for the next troublesome kit.

You pose valid questions to which there are many answers. 

We should all be happy that most of the spectrum of personal choice is accommodated by todays kit manufacturers so we can all build what we enjoy

 

Cheers and happy modelling. 

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2 hours ago, DeanKB said:

I agree WNW & Tamiya lead the field (or led in WNW's case) in quality, but......they are so easy to build, so very easy, that does this not detract from the sense of achievement one garners from completing a kit?

 

Your beautifully built, faultless and perfect Tamiya Mk.IX Spitfire, for example. It wouldn't take too much looking to find others with an equally good build - in fact, you may have problems telling them apart. Johnny Johnson's "JE-J" Spitfire resides in pretty much identical copies in many, many of the hobby's homes.

 

Does that commercialism, uniformism & simplicity - arguably, perhaps, needing less skills & imagination to complete -  not make finishing such a kit more mundane task?

 

Not sure what the answer is, but I personally got more enjoyment & satisfaction from Trump's Avenger, even though my Tamiya & WNW builds were undoubtedly technically faultless and physically easier to build. Then again, when I found myself stuck with a troublesome build, I sometimes grabbed a Tamiya kit as a quick & easy alternative, whilst the other kit sat on the shelf of doom, to be moved again only to make space for the next troublesome kit.

 

So, you're saying the poorly engineered kits that don't fit together worth a damn are better?  (I'm kidding!  :D )  

 

I can agree with this sentiment to a point, and it's a great thought to explore as part of the philosophy of this hobby. 

 

I don't do too many Tamiya kits because there I feel like there's not much challenge in the build.  That said, if a kit is too bad, it can be equally as unfulfilling (looking at you SH Brewster Buffalo).  Often, I feel that with well-engineered kits that the challenge is the finish.  With almost any kit out there, aftermarket decals exist to change up the options.  For those fortunate enough to access to a mask cutter (or a friend with one), the limits of the finish are boundless.

 

Then, even with those uniform duplicates that you describe, there are still nuances - and this is a hobby defined by the word "nuance."  Yes, lots of copies of JE-J are sitting in homes across the world, but I challenge to find you two that are absolutely identical.  Each artist makes his or her own mark on the world.  Even I would be hard pressed to make two models that are exactly identical myself.  So, are those kits mundane?  No.  Less challenging?  Arguable.  

 

For my personal tastes, I have come to prefer replicating the quiet warriors, those faceless masses that were the workhorses behind the headlines.  I'll likely never do a Glamorous Glen, a Marge, or a Fiery Ginger.  It's for that reason that I rarely use the kit decals for more than simple stencils, and if I ever do a Tamiya Spitfire, it will likely not be marked JE-J.  But, I've also been at this hobby long enough that I've gotten kind of bored of just building a machine and putting it on the shelf.  I've recently found my creative stride in making vignettes or small dioramas.  Putting the machine into context has started to become more appealing to me.  

 

Anyway, neat conversation topic.  Glad you brought it up.

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