Many times in this and other forums folks comment on how easy or hard it was to build a model, many times chalking up some ill fitting part to their fault or lack of attention. Or bad instructions as well. Well let me tell you a story, a short one. remember not too long back I happily posted about my gains at a I.P.M.S. show.
I was as happy as any “Eclectic” ship/boat builder could be. I got good stuff for sure. BUT in the Assembly of these things I found that I came close to biting off more than I wanted to chew! Both the Catamaran “Playstation” and the River Steamer “Goethe” are just a few steps away from the “Shelf of Doom”.
Yes, they were bought used, in the box, not started and in one case(The “Playstation”) all decals and parts were present. In the case of the “Goethe” All parts were accounted for except the Decals, which is a big appearance factor on this model.
Ease of Assembly? can you say No Blinken way! The “Cat’s” Plastic at connection points just melted away even with very small judicious amounts of Glue. Now it was a sealed and unopened box! The “Goethe” on the other hand had been opened and The price was so good I never thought about something as crucial as decals!
The “Cat” so far has me looking at just minimal construction because of disgust.The River Steamer “Goethe” is coming in a close second. Ill fitting parts. Plastic brittleness and warpage. Well all in all a small group of “OYE” !!, Why did I buy these. I Will build them and they Will look nice or, The extra parts box is where they will go!
Many times in this and other forums folks comment on how easy or hard it was to build a model, many times chalking up some ill fitting part to their fault or lack of attention. Or bad instructions as well. Well let me tell you a story, a short one
Back in the old, turn of the century days of USENET’s rec.scale.models, the elitest used to equate a “good” kit as one that was accurate, whether or not it was horrible or easy to assemble. Proper shape trumped ease of assembly.
Heck, there was one such modeler who called the masses “kit assemblers” since they just assembled kits and did not scratchbuild their models. (His name was David Merriman, although he was derisively called “Merri-moron”).
As I age, ease of assembly leads to a more pleasant build and I enjoy my limited modeling time assembling kit pieces.
If I struggle to assemble something because of poor engineering or a lack of quality, I often chuck the kit back into the box and move on to a more enjoyable model kit.
I tend to be the same way. Polishing turds has no appeal to me, and if the model I’m building resembles the subject it’s supposed to represent, I really don’t get too hung up on proper shape. Any scratch-building I do is usually going to be to update an aircraft to a newer version, such as scratch-building an MTU for the JHMCS, or the BLOS antenna on a Block 50 F-16. Also scratch-build to fix minor inadequacies in a kit, such as the silly pegs that Tamiya has for “throttles” in their 1/32 F-15E. An otherwise excellent kit, just needed a little help with that one thing, which is very noticeable in that scale. One thing that has always cracked me up about the elitists is that they spend an inordinate amount of time correcting things like dihedral and wing droop…only to take the whole thing to a fuzz-encrusted paint booth to give it a paintjob that looks like it was done in a sandstorm. Nobody is going to notice proper shape if the overall finish looks awful.
I’ve gotta say that the new 1/32 Zoukei-Mura Fw190 that I’m currently working on, so far, has such great engineering and detail (with a few minor engineering flaws) that it’s definitely an enjoyable build. Loving Revell’s 71 Boss 351 Mustang so far as well. Did a tiny bit of scratch-building on that just to add some eye candy under the hood (90 degree plug wire boots on the distributor, plug wires, straight silicone plug wire boots at the engine, and adding some PE wire looms to the valve covers), but none required to simply build the thing…it’s great quality, right out of the box, and builds like a dream.
Well, I have revisited vintage models that I built in my youth or bought a more recent reissue. Sometimes, polishing the turd to see how it would look like today with my current skill set is fun.
I’ve also built a few old reissues straight out of box as a throwback to a simpler time.
After having several ship kits build under my belt, I am becoming more experienced in this art, so I started to daydream about the possibility of building the models from scratch, but, I also realized that this may be an impossible dream due several factors.
Yes, I am more experienced, but not to the level of being able to make the ship from pieces of wood, also, I do not posses and do not have the money to purchased the required machinery to cut the parts and/or the software to drive those fancy laser cutters.
So it looks like that I will continue building those ship from kits, but, I will make sure to make them as accurate as possible within the limits of my knowledge experience and money.
Basically, I built these ship because I enjoy doing them and keep me busy and out of trouble.
Joe, I agree with you wholeheartedly! In R/C flying, they had a section called “Stand Off Scale”. When you look at a model from 5’ to 10’ away it had to look “Good” not “Perfect”. Basicly that is what I build. I take models to shows but they are not perfect by any means. If the judges think so, I say thank you very much, if not then I had fun building the model and having people at the show ask me about it.
This is the first time in a while anyone mentioned 'Outa da box Merriman" I scratch built because if I threw the model out in disgust my Relatives that lived with us would dig it out and put it on the bench.“That was Dear” Don’t waste It" Was what I heard.
What did you do? Just fall off the “turnip truck”? You already have the skills. Do you do ANY D.I.Y. projects around your house? Well, if you do, you already have the tools to scratch build!
List of tools. X-Acto or X-Acto type tools, Sanding Block, Scissors, Ruler(Preferably metal) And a fine toothed hacksaw! That’s how I started. Then find something Simple to build. Say a modified or stock Boat, or car(Pickups work great for this) Then chop it up and make it something you really like.
When you modify something there’s a word called Customizing(That seems to apply to cars and trucks) It applies to anything you change to suit your imagined or real taste. Cutting, and fitting the parts to change it is akin to scratch building
So sit back a decide if you want to go this way. Some folks would rather not. Just let your models reflect what you are comfortable with! T.B. P.S. I still build out of kits too, For the sheer pleasure of it!
You hit the nail on the head. I used to build ships to shoot and be shot at! There was a specific way to build That I followed, with details sometimes I went overboard. But that’s how I liked my ships. They were good looking standoff and closer but not more than five feet please (The paint had curdled on a deck,LOL.). Looked good out in the lake, and even shot up and taking Water, with waterpumps throwing streams of water up like a fireboat trying NOT to sink. Standoff for sure!
I mostly oob it’s my hobby I relax and enjoy, but I can be found adding copper to engines for aesthetics no idea where wires go except for the obvious. I blame the bad influences in this forum leading me to have ventured into aftermarket items purely for aesthetic you understand. I persevere with difficult kits that test the patience of not quite a saint.
Joe
ps I shudder at the thought of the max zoom in. Reminds me of a story Dad told me about when he was painting the rose in the ceiling and Mum was complaining about a miniscule over paint, he said to her come down off the ladder and show me.
I have started to make minor changes to the ships I build, for example, I may redo the doors or stairs and other deck furniture that I believe that I can improve or make then more realistic.
As to start a full project from starch whith out plans and guidelines, I may not be there yet, but, I am running out of kit ships to build, as you may know, there are not many of them available at a reasonable price.
I do have several woodworking tools in the garage, including a band saw, table saw and other power tools, I also have a good inventory of hand tools. I went ahead and attempted to find a web location were I could find plans suitable to be followed to build model tall ships, what I found were plans that they appear to be to complicated for me to follow and did not have the level of detail I need to duplicate the different parts of the ship and its deck furniture. Looks like that if I want plans for a specific tall ship, I may have to make them myself and I do not think I have the knowledge to able able to produce such plans. After all, my knowledge of tall ship parts and construction is almost none.
Does any one would know were such plans, ready to be copy and used to cut all the parts, be available? I would not have a problem with purchasing those plans as long as the prices are reasonable.
leading me to have ventured into aftermarket items purely for aesthetic you understand. I persevere with difficult kits that test the patience of not quite a saint.