Hoping for some advice on superdetailing… I’ve been working on a 1/200 Bismarck on and off for several years and I aimed for the moon on detail with the idea that I’d build the most crazy Trumpy Bismarck possible with all sorts of aftermarket and scratchbuilt modifications.
The problem is, I have run into burnout a couple times and had to put the thing away for a while because I just get overwhelmed with such a large and intense model project.
I’ve recently restarted it and am feeling motivated to move forward now, but I know I’ll eventually get to that point where I want to quit again… and I want to finish this thing someday! [:'(]
Do you have experience with extreme projects that take forever to finish? How do you motivate, manage and succeed on them? How do you assess and carry out your vision on a superdetail project, especially where to draw the line on how far you take it?
I don’t usually work on two projects at once,but last year when I was working on my 1/350 Akagi I figured that could happen.So I got started the Akagi and got into but I also started a simpler Tamiya F-16 kit that I could default to when I got weary of the ship.It worked well, I stayed involved and got them both done.
You do need plenty of room do you don’t have to put one away,otherwise you might not get back to it.
I have great dreams on the level of detail; I can visualize everything . . . But then again, I’m quite limited in my abilities. So, dreams pretty much stay as dreams. With that, I feel that if you super detail one aspect of the model, you kind of have to do the whole thing at that level. Otherwise it comes out unbalanced. But that’s just me.
I hear you! I think new molding techniques and photo etch make good looking very small parts that are very hard to pick up and place in proper position. I am tired of this, and question whether I will buy PE sets in future, and may omit small plastic details in the future unless they will be very visible.
I just installed the cockpit of a plane into the fuselage. The cockpit assembly was very fragile and I knocked several detail pieces putting it together, losing a couple of those pieces! With the cockit installed very little of this detail can be seen. No more. I will try to figure out which parts will or will not be visible before putting them on.
Yep. Build the way you like. If you want to add those details, add them. But I second Ed. If you’re stuck right now, go do something else for a while till you’re interested in it again.
Be careful, though-that can also lead to the Shelf of Doom…
I usually have another build or two in the background. I may skip a day or week and work on those other builds, on a diffrent aspect of the ship project or nothing at all. When is enough enough? It’s up to you, ship builds can last weeks, or years, it’s up to you how far to take it, and of course your financial means.
Bottom line, you started the Bismarck with a vision. All journeys have hills and valleys, good and bad. Remember your vision and just keep going. I assume any deadline that you have is self imposed.
I have a 1/96 HMS Victory that’s been 1/4 built on the shelf for 15 years. I still have a vision for it. I tell my wife I can’t die until I put the last line on it.
I’m definitely a detail hoar [:P] and love the end results, but it gets frustrating fast when the PE parts are barely bigger than you needle tweezers, you might as well forget about it if you accidently drop a piece and the end result of hours of work fits within the diameter of a quarter. I’ve been building for at least 30 years (ever since I was a kid) but I’m still no master modeler and have really bit off more than I can chew on this one.
Maybe I need to reconsider why I’m doing it in the first place… Guess only I can decide where fun morphs into self-torment.
Here’s a peek into my project to show what I mean anyway:
The aftermarket has really gone nuts… do you really have to go this far to build a “good” model anymore?
Oh my goodness. Your Bismarck look’s fantastic!!! Keep going, even if slowly and in spurts. I agree with others here that if you get bogged down/ burned out, pull out some small cheap fun simple airplane or car or tank model (I call them “camping models”) and slap it together, with or without paint. I always have at least two builds going at a time, not so much for burn-out but just to have something to do on one while I wait for the paint or bond joint to cure on the other.
One benefit of doing highly detailed ship models involving PE, complex paint masking and rigging is that it can improve your skills that are applicable to car, aircraft, armor and other model projects. If you can build good ship models, you can build anything!
On one hand, I want to say if it’s driving you nutty enough to write about it, it’s too much.
On the other hand, I gotta say “Wow!”. Those pics sure don’t remind me of the ship models I built 50+ yrs ago, and the detail is really neat! So looking at it that way, keep going.
If you’d prefer something a bit more non-committal, let me know and I’ll see what I can come up with.
Hey even I don’t quite know what I’m trying to say. [ I guess I’m just whining that I feel like I need to be modeling at a certain level to be “in the game” but working at that level keeps becoming more of a chore than an enjoyable hobby… but even then I’m like most everyone and love looking at eye-candy too.
I’m wondering if anyone else has been “there” and how they got past it. Then again, maybe I just need a smaller project next time. [*-)] I think sometimes I get too philisophical when it comes to modeling and I burn myself out overthinking it!
I do enjoy superdetialing a kit on occasion. But they never start out as intending for that. Usually I get an idea somewhere along the way of, “ya know, this kit is missing this or that detail or feature, and really should have it… and I have the capability to add that”. Sometimes it snowballs into a major deal, adding more and more that I think should be there after the initial goal is attained. Sometimes I just stick with my initial inspiration and fight the urge to add more. The deep projects can take up SO much time and I may loose steam, then put it aside. Eventually I return, knuckle down, and finish the project. Eventually…
I have been working , off and on, for over 10 years on the same model railroad kit !
I bought a Model Die Casting combine kit ( cost, $5 ) and basically replaced ALL THE PLASTIC with strip wood and cast brass details. I have finished all the parts for the interior ( walls, seats, lights, carpet, toilet, sink, woodstove , ect) but haven’t installed any of it yet.
Come to think of it … I haven’t touched it in about 2 years.
Simply said, enjoy your work and the time spent giving you pleasure, satisfaction and relaxation.
You are doing one heck of a super detailed job on your model and looks awesome.
Another method is 3D printed parts. Man talk about details packed into tiny parts! I used 3D printed parts on my 1/144 scale Gato sub and the details packed on that deck gun where mind blowing.
On the GeeBee I am working on, I needed to pick up and put in place on the fuselage a pyrimid with a triangular base about 3/32 on a side, and about 1/8 inch high. Could not pick it up with tweezers. Finally got it by old trick of tiny ball of blue tack on end of toothpick. This was an important part of fuselage- could not omit it. These super-small parts are making kits harder to build.
I guess I’m just whining that I feel like I need to be modeling at a certain level to be “in the game” but working at that level keeps becoming more of a chore than an enjoyable hobby… but even then I’m like most everyone and love looking at eye-candy too.