Hi,
Haven’t you ever felt like you are a very very bad modeler?
I mean, you try your best, your very very best to be careful when gluing, or decaling, painting; but, you end up with clear parts scratched or stained with fingerprints, parts that do not align, broken smal pieces like antennas, landing gear, etc…
Then you go to youtube for some advice or tips and end up in channels like NightShift, Plasmo, LaserCreation World and many more…and you end up feeling sick on how bad you are…at some point is like… why even bother…kind of gets depressing.
What are your thoughts?
Hugo
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Hi ScalemodelerMex!
As a newbie myself, I completely get what your saying and can sympathize with how you feel. It is easy to feel inadequate when you compare yourself to those you see online.
My best advice would be for you to put it into perspective for yourself. Bring yourself back to the reality that those guys have likely been perfecting their modeling craft for years and years. Some of them even get to model full time as a career they’ve built for themselves.
You too, can achieve the level they model at, or better. I know I’m going to have to put in the work to learning how to do things. Those guys are still learning themselves, btw. It takes repetition, screwing things up, and doing things differently model after model to fine tune your skills.
See something they’re doing that you like? Incorporate it and practice it until its easy for you. That then becomes another tool for the modeling toolbelt!
I hope this helps, happy modeling sir!
JJ
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I’m only on my 6th or 7th build, so I know what you mean. There are SO many skills needed to do a great-looking model. But I know it’s unreasonable to expect great-looking results at this stage. With each build I try to focus on just a couple of things (decals or painting wood grain or chrome window trim, etc) that I want to do better than I had previously. Eventually doing better on just a couple of different things each model will result in an overall better skill set and better-looking builds.
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Nightshift and Plasmo are my two favourite modellers,they do make it look easy but who’s to say they don’t make mistakes, it’s probably just not filmed.
I’ve been modelling for 30 + years and I still feel like a noob, I mostly get more wrong than I right but I just take it as a learning curve.
My one down fall is that I start a kit and get halfway through and crack open another.
Did you watch Plasmo’s last build on his FW 190 D-9 Jesus that thing was a beauty.
Don’t forget it’s not just about how good you are it’s about if you’re having fun.
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I’m really not sure why, but for the last several months (but especially the last several weeks), I’ve been feeling depressed about my model building. 
It’s gotten to the point where I no longer share photos of my work in Facebook groups and pages. I’ve even deleted posts where I’ve shown pics of my models because hardly nobody comments or likes anything. I’ve also left about 2 dozen modeling groups because I just don’t think my work looks that good or is liked by anybody.
Any model pics and albums on my own FB timelime are now “private” and are only viewable by me.
I’ve just given up on showing my modeling work anymore.
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You’re building for yourself not for others.
I know it’s nice to get good comments as it gives you a sense of achievement.
Plus Facebook is sometimes not the best place to share your work.
I’m sure your builds are fine and do post some photos on here.
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Hey @ScalemodelerMex,
Yes. I felt that I lacked the innate talent to accomplish even a fraction of what I saw others doing. I found trying to match other peoples accomplishments to be depressing and demotivating and I got nowhere.
So I flipped it.
Instead trying to match others. My goal became to do better than my last build. By that I don’t mean the next build is visibly more awesome than the last. What I aim for is being able to tell that something has improved.
I used the exact method that @AntiqueTroy described. Work on one or two skills at a time. The greatest aid I had was finding good teachers on what basic skills are and how to apply them. I found Aaron Skinner’s Scale Model Basics videos invaluable.
The first skill I wanted was to make seams less visible. So I focused on my seam work and I started to see a difference. On each subsequent kit the seams became less prominent. The robot on the right was my first kit back into the hobby 7 years ago. The one on the left (red and white) was my 4th kit.
They’re definitely not show winners. You can probably tell that while I was working on the seams I wasn’t exactly working on my painting. lol
Much to my surprise the method paid off. Focusing on the basic skills and building them up one at a time I suddenly found myself turning out this.
I still can’t believe I was able to get even close to that. I though that took some sort of magical talent or genetic gift. Turns out it was knowledge and patience.
Finally, mistakes happen no matter what. And that’s another skill to develop. Addressing mistakes. It’s less about preventing them and more about learning how to deal with them constructively.
Like blobs of glue dripped onto the model or paint flowing strangely on the surface. 
They were both fixed with patience and a some personal forgiveness.
It’s also okay to step away for a while. I’m just getting back to building after a half year hiatus. Life and modeling just weren’t mixing and I had zero desire to work on a kit. That’s recently changed and I’m working my way back to it.
I look at the shelf of models I’ve built and I can see how I’ve improved over the last 5-6 years. My skills continue to build, my mistakes are better disguised, and my goal remains the same. To try and make my next build a little better and have fun while doing it! 
Hugo, I wish you luck and I hope you find what makes you happy in this hobby.
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Seeing the experts on Youtube can get you depressed, but it’s all about perspective.
When I was small, I was amazed at those diorama sheets included in Monogram kits. I knew there was no way I could do what Shep Paine was doing, but it inspired me to go beyond just building a model.
And as the saying goes, it’s the journey, not the destination. Being inspired by other people’s works is useful to shape your journey, whether it is to improve your construction, finishing, detailing, or the creation of a diorama.
As others said, it is important to strive to be a better you, not becoming a Youtube star. The best advice is to make your next model better than the last one. And don’t fear mistakes. Just learn from them and move forward. I know how maddening it can be when a part snaps or the CA glue runs. But as you gain experience, you will be able to fix or hide problems. 
Build for your own satisfaction and not anyone else’s.
Oh, above all, remember it is supposed to be FUN!
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I never pretended to be a great modeler. If a model turns out half-way decent, I’m happy. I do it for the history.
Gary
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Agreed with @AntiqueTroy and @PhoenixG
I suggest watching the YouTube video put out by The Midwest Model Shop titled “Shop Talk Episode 1”.
Be patient with it. Ben takes about 10-11 minutes (of a 16 minute video) to get to the point. Point being, of each model you build, pick one thing you want to focus on and get that one thing right.
I’d post a link to it if I knew how to do that, but I don’t. Sorry 
Cheers,
Mark
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I like to think that I’m a decent modeler. I don’t watch YouTube modeling videos so I don’t have anything like that to compare myself to in that respect. I have been an active member in local IPMS and AMPS chapters in So. Cal. and AZ, where there have been and still are some incredibly talented modelers. At those clubs, I ask those guys how they achieved certain results and will do what I can to incorporate their techniques into my own. Sometimes it works, sometimes it does not. Modeling is a very personal activity, so use what works for you, and move on past what does not. Each project is a stepping stone of improvement to the next one.
In the words of General Yamashita
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I feel like a fraud in almost all aspects of my life, haha.
But I think this very, very real “fraud-feeling syndrome” is an extremely modern trend, that only came to exist because of, again, the social networks. Suddenly, we can, and we do, compare ourselves with people we may never have heard of before, never have been exposed to their work, their workflow, their results.
Some will find inspiration and thrive to be better. Others will just feel how inferior and less talented than those great modelers are. I confess I am generally part of the latter.
All we can do is… keep going, honestly. What leads to greatness is repetition. Do it, again, again, again. Don’t obsess over the details. Practice is the key. At best, this year, I think I may only be able to make 2 models - which is extremely low. I need to build MORE. Repeat the operations until they feel natural, faster, as it’s only when something feels natural that we can start thinking how we could improve it.
But yeah in the meantime I hear you.
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Exactly, I also think they have any tool or materials ($$$) at their disposal.
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I hear you.
Sometimes you need to put away the hobby for some months, do something different and inspiration will come back. I left the hobby for some years (4), between moving homes, work opprtunities and studying. I finally came bac to it. In the end I do this, as its more a meditational, mindfulnees activity which relaxes me. Dont feel the hobby as an “obligation” , do it, when feeling to. It would it be nice to make models as NighShift…but hey…my family has the small defect of having to eat 3 times per day, so…work and family comes first. Hope this helps.
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You’ve received a lot of great advice here and it’s difficult to add anything new. Just remember, we are our own worst critics and your models probably look as good as most everyone else’s. Viewing others work on YouTube or facebook can be useful towards having a vision to aspire to, but the only models you need to be comparing to are your own. Just try to make your current model better than your last few in some small way.
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Exactly! Many of us here grew up in the era of Monogram kits with Sheperd Paine how to diorama flyers included in each kit. Those were not there to tell you look how good he is, as opposed to look what you can also do. The flyers were quite inspirational/motivational. That’s where the seeds for improvement were planted
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Count me as one of them. I still have an affinity for the Monogram kits.
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I think of each model as a series of little models that I’m working on and then assemble each part to complete a finished product. These finished builds will, for me at least, all tell a story of my journey of errors, and successes. They are like a chapter in a book of building adventure. if you don’t get too hung up on the results and just work on the journey you can overcome most anything that comes along your way.
I’m a returning modeler after a 30 year rest and there have been challenges. Ask me about any of my builds so far, and I can point out everything I did wrong in each kit. If I never said anything, I find, that in many cases I’m the only one who can see the flaws.
Do your best and keep learning.
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I’d love to see your latest work. I’m only in this group so maybe that helps?
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I’m a decent enough modeler, but I build for myself, not for others, certainly not judges.
Be careful comparing your work to others, whether on YouTube or in person. It’s one thing to look and try to learn and improve your techniques, if that’s what you want to do. But it’s very easy to fall into the trap of getting down on yourself because your work doesn’t look like what you see online or at shows, or in magazines. I don’t compete, either, because you can get too caught up in competition. If that’s what someone wants to do, fine, but it’s not for me.
I will add myself to those who grew up on Monogram kits, and enjoyed Shep Paine’s “Tips on Build Dioramas”. You are all right on target when you say that Shep’s goal was to show the people building those kits what they could do and encourage them to try and improve their technique. He inspired a couple of generations of modelers in that effort.
Finally, I always remember what one of the editors of the old Cybermodeler web magazine said: Build what you like, the way you like.
It’s a hobby, but if we stop enjoying it, it ceases to be.
Best regards,
Brad
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