I just read the FSM article on building a tank in a weekend. I went and made the purchases it described in the article with the intent of doing the same. I’m not contemplating a weekend effort, but I thought it might rewarding to start a relatively easy project with a reasonable time line to gratification. Then it occured to me. It might do my mental health a world of good to mix in these ‘quickies’ in between the larger projects, to help my sense of closure, so to speak. I pose this question…
Do you have any other quick projects that you’d recommend?
It might be nice to have a catalogue of these to go to from time to time.
I make some 1/72 kits in 1/2 hour…LOL…Including paint dry time…
There are a few kits that can be reasonably built in a weekend.
I’d recommend any of the older Tamiya kits. Their T34’s, Panzers II / III, Shermans, Lee / Grant, or Stuart can all be done quickly. Some of these may not be the most accurate representations on the market, but their engineering is still fairly decent.
Things to avoid … indy tracks, and complex camo schemes … they’ll slow you up for sure.
Tamiya’s KV I or II is even easier, since it doen’t have rubber tires to paint. Might be hard to find though.
“It is well that war is so terrible, lest we grow too fond of it.”-R.E.Lee
I find most Revell Germany kits I’ve built go together fairly smoothly straight from the box, there are exceptions, but generally their stuff is good for the quicker builds.
Stay away from Italeri if you’re looking for the short build, lots of their stuff can be made into beautiful models, but I find their kit engineering is usually more complex than it needs to be and does increase the time required to get a satisfying model out of it.
I don’t know a thing about tanks other than that my wife needs to be driving one, but when I saw the topic title I thought certain I had stumbled into one of those more “exotic” forums…darn.
I generally build planes. Actually I’m still a newbie to the hobby. But I’d like to mix it up a bit and thought if there were some other quick builds even in others genres, I’d give 'em a shot.
Tamiya’s 1/35 T-642A is a decent little kit, as well as Academy’s older M1025. As for aircraft, any of Tamiya’s 1/72 kits would do nicely. Hasegawa’s 1/48 series also has some nice A/C, such as the Mustang or the A4.
Happy building!
demono69
Thank you Merlin, your post had me RONFLMAO. I needed that.
“It is well that war is so terrible, lest we grow too fond of it.”-R.E.Lee
Panda’s 1/48 scale F-35 is a quick build. A little imagination and some decales from the spare parts box could make for an interesting build too.
v/r, bw
Inspired by that same article I picked up Italeri’s 1/72 OH-13S (Bell uh-47). I did that in a couple of nights and had a blast. It won’t win any contests, but it looks good on the shelf. I now have moved on to Tamiya’s Acura NSX that I’ve had in the closet for 10 years. It’s been a nice distraction from the usual aircraft.
Darren
I don’t know if you have any Sci-Fi interest or not. But the new Polar Lights original series USS Enterprise is a great little kit. It’s 1/1000 scale, about 11 inches overall. Only about $10 (depending on where you get it). And was designed as a snap kit, but glues together Very Well.
I’m doing one now and was so impressed with it I am giving one to my 18 yr old Autistic son (for his 19th B-day). He LOVES to watch me put models together, tries to help, and LOVES Star Trek. Not to bad for a kid with the mental level of a 5 yr old.
My son is 5 and was diagnosed earlier this year as mildly autistic. For some reason he also likes to watch me build kits, to the point that I’m going to have to bring in the Shinano I’m building for CBP#4 for his show-and-tell. He was talking about the thing at school and his teachers thought “Shinano” was just some nonsense word he made up!
The joke I made years ago may be coming true: I used to tell my wife that our son’s classmates will either see us as being the “cool” or “wierd” parents due to our unusual interests in sci-fi, etc. We’ll see when they get an eyeful of a grownup’s model kit!
Back on topic, I’d say the Tamiya waterline kits are actually pretty good short-term projects. Though my experience is somewhat limited, they have no flash and the parts fit well enough that you can get away with no sanding or filling. Use acrylic paints for the quick drying time and you could easily get one done in a weekend or two of concentrated effort.
As a kid I used to get my pocket money on a Friday afternoon, so would go straight down to the model shop round the corner to my parents house and buy a kit, usually Matchbox, as they only cost 75p, leaving me 25p to buy a tube of glue, or a pot of paint.
Build time including paint:- 1 hour.
Alright they weren’t great, but with Hasegawa’s 1/72 FW190, you should be able to produce a neat model in a weekend no problems.
The quickies are break from the larger projects, especially when all not progressing well, and at least allow you to see something complete and sitting on your shef in short order.
To me, a car model is something I can knock out in a weekend. With aircraft, there’s too much detail and paint work to do…
I do much like thyamis. When I complete a 1/48 A/C I build a 1/72 scale A/C, and I usually limit myself to an hour or two, or limit myself to one night to finish it. No airbrush, no putty. Just something to clear my mind. It is sometime almost sad to see that some of them turn out nearly as well as the kits I spend months on.
the 1/72 Academy aircraft kits are quick builds. Not the most accurate kits, but for the most part, they wind up looking right