are we responsible for taking the fun out ourselves ??

[tornado64]

as we mature and advance in the hobby we get ever more expectations of a kit

sometimes i feel to the detriment of our enjoyment

my case in point when we were younger we were delighted whatever kit we got and however bad quality it was

we just happily built it and was delighted it looked something like what it was meant to

when i restarted the hobby a few years back i would aggonise over details build quality for ease of assembly etc etc

then i was in the good fortune to come accross a deceased modellers old stash

whilst large and there is also quite a lot of resin and photo etch in there

i now find myself in heaven building the bog basic vintage kits

it is so much fun now i will sellect these before the all singing and dancing resin and etched brass equiped super detail kits

my modelling has never been so much fun again

i'm not going to run out any time soon , but when i do ebay is a never ending source !!

[Patrick_Nevin]

i'm not going to run out any time soon , but when i do ebay is a never ending source !!

Know what you mean sir, spent the morning happily knee-deep in a state-of-the art model, great fun but also deeply anticipating an ancient 1/144th Emily arriving from eBay. Which will get updated decals, and that's about it :wacko:

[tornado64]

i'm currently building a roden ww1 albatross , but i feel a simple frog or airfix meteor with nothing added could be next out of the stash!!

[Bobski]

It depends on what people want to get out of their hobby. I often think that many people take our hobby too seriously and forget sometimes that it is a hobby. Perfect example, I've got the Idolmaster F-2A and fully intend to build it out of the box, yet when I tell people that's what I'm going to do they either refuse to believe me or scoff with incredulity at me.

[dahut]

You've answered your own question, the answer to which is, 'yes.'

Enjoyment is personal and wholly individual. If you find that things you do or your reaction to what others do is robbing the joy from your activities, then it is up to you to change that.

Some people love only the latest, greatest, high tech, penultimate of anything and everything. Nothing less will suffice, no amount of sub-standard result will be tolerated. Those others who do not subscribe to that may even be viewed as subordinate. That is their joy, one might add.

For others, simple is better - and often something to come back to. The pleasure in small and basic things, "smelling the roses" in other words, suits them.

I myself have always struck for a balance of effort. When I find myself losing interest and my Joy Factor waning, I change course.

Put simply, do what makes you happy - its a hobby, after all.

[thegoodsgt]

I find that I enjoy myself less when I build something out of the box. I get more satisfaction out of the hobby when I add even a small amount of extra detail to a kit.

I've always said, this hobby is big enough for everyone with all of our diverse interests.

[Phantom ordie]

I finished two in a row complex and very hard to build kits. So I grabbed an old Revell kit and without regard to authenticity or attention to detail it turned out to be a fabulous model that I am really proud of and relieved the stress from the two past builds.

[Mark M.]

You have some good points... However most of us that feel this way don't really feel any less enthusiastic about the hobby.

The way I see it, when I was a younger kid I would love any model because it was a chance to learn more... A chance to get my hands on something like a todler and explore the nooks and crannies, etc...

Now, looking back at those older kits, I can realize (now, with hindsight) how bad they were, the inaccuracies, etc... It's like growing up and reading something in grade school, enjoying learning it the first time, but then 15 years later reading newer, or just "better" things that tell you what you cherished as a kid was just wrong, inaccurate, false, whatever.

It's more that sour taste that I get looking back, than it is the actual models themselves. "If only I'd known!" that sort of thing.

So, now that we know many of those older kits are not accurate, etc, we start second guessing newer kits, expecting with modern resources and efforts that something should be near-perfect... It's not the fit so much as the content IMO. We've been burned before and are skeptical. Don't take that to mean we enjoy the hobby any less, we just don't want to be disappointed in the future.

If a kit is generally accurate regardless of the details, I have a much easier time enjoying it still today. Airfix kits from the 60s and 70s still give me plenty of fun today. Airfix put a lot of effort into getting the right shapes, measurements, dimensions, etc.

With that in mind, I do look for better kits these days, and expect a new-tooling of an F/A-18C to fit pretty well and be accurate. However, that doesn't mean that I don't build Matchbox kits, Airfix kits, and the like. It just means I'm trying to look out for my own intellectual well-being, to prevent a future scar when I read in 10 years "You know that Kit in 2010 you loved, you learned so much with? Everything you know was a lie, this is how it should have been" -- and that's the real killer for me.

[vince14]

Back when I was a lad I built models over a weekend - now it can take me months to build a simple kit! I recently found an old 1/72 Airfix Spitfire I had made many years ago - in fact, it might have been the first model I'd ever built all on my own, I'd have been around 8 years old I think. So I've gone out and bought the same Spitfire and I intend to build it as I would have done back then, just glue it together, brush-paint it and not worry about anything I wouldn't have done as a kid. No seatbelts? No problem, just glue the pilot in there. Use whatever paints I have to hand, build it with the undercart up and then fly it around the house!!

Vince

[Wayne S]

"You know that Kit in 2010 you loved, you learned so much with? Everything you know was a lie, this is how it should have been" -- and that's the real killer for me.

That does not bother me so much, I look at it the same way as driving and owning an old 66 mustang and a newer Mustang, depending on how one feels would depend on what car they drove if they had both. Now If that person was me, I would not expect the 66 to parallel park like the newer model or corner like it. Yet if I am out for the enjoyment of being behind the wheel of a 66 Mustang, Why should I let the above bad traits bother me?

[Oroka]

I get the most satisfaction when I build oob, but scratch build as much as I can. I love getting cockpits that have no detail, and adding lots of detail. Is it 100% accurate? No, but it is also only 3cm long and 99% of people will not know the difference.

[tornado64]

Back when I was a lad I built models over a weekend - now it can take me months to build a simple kit! I recently found an old 1/72 Airfix Spitfire I had made many years ago - in fact, it might have been the first model I'd ever built all on my own, I'd have been around 8 years old I think. So I've gone out and bought the same Spitfire and I intend to build it as I would have done back then, just glue it together, brush-paint it and not worry about anything I wouldn't have done as a kid. No seatbelts? No problem, just glue the pilot in there. Use whatever paints I have to hand, build it with the undercart up and then fly it around the house!!

Vince

that's the spirit !!

[tornado64]

what i'm getting at is , if i had carried on buying kits myself i have to confess i used to foresake most for best quality , best fit , resin , etched brass aftermarket decals , etc etc

whilst there is nothing wrong with that per se !

i feel i was missing out on the wonderful , cheap , cheerful and easy builds !! that are relaxing , not too taxing , non teeth grinding , finnished in a relaxing weekend jobs whilst still having time to do other things inbetween !!

[Jay Chladek]

It does indeed come down to how we enjoy the hobby. In my own case, I have rediscovered the joy of the low priced Airfix kit as well. I blame this one on James May and his 1/1 Airfix Spitfire as it got me into the shop buying the "current" issue of the kit from the 1970s vintage molds (which have been replaced in the UK now, but will likely still remain in the US distributor pipeline for some time). I have one of the 2003 Airfix "vintage" blue spit bagged kits somewhere in my stash, but I can't find it. Except for the gray sprue and the different decals, the kit I got was identical though and at least I didn't have to crack open that little memory of my first trip to the UK, as much as I wanted to.

I set out to build it and have fun. While I couldn't bring myself to brush paint the exterior since my airbrushing skills are so good and I enjoy using it, I did paint up the pilot figure and stuck him in the plane. I didn't even use aftermarket decals on the bird, partly because I didn't have any 1/72 BoB sheets with early Spitfire stencils, but also because that wasn't the point of this build. When done, I ended up with a model I was just as proud of as my last SF creation. Plus, I got it done in less then a month, which for me is a small miracle. Only drawback is it got me on an Airfix 1/72 buying binge as I now have two Spit IXs, two Spit PR XIXs, a Lysander and two of the new tool Airfix Spits coming from Hannants.

For me, what kind of sucks the life out of this hobby isn't so much wanting better details from a kit, it is rather the price of the hobby. I can understand for having to pay for better details and fit with a new tool kit. But when somebody has to use resin to correct research flaws and pay for that ON TOP of having to drop three bills for the plastic alone, that gets old. As such, the older toolings are more appealing to me these days as they are less expensive and not as complicated. And if I want to stick stuff in them, that is my option. My fear is that these high prices will drive more people out of the hobby.

I feel I am responsible for sometimes sucking the enjoyment out of my own hobby though by taking on "world beating" projects. I keep telling myself I don't build for contests, but every year when Wonderfest rolls around, I try to finish something new, different and eye catching rather then just getting some smaller projects done and going from there. When things start to get too complicated in the planning or the execution, then it becomes a grind. As such, frequent breaks from such projects become a necessity. Sometimes it can be tough to overcome the burnout though to come back to the modeling table, even if what I am working on is something simple.

But, if I feel bad I will just self prescribe a 1/72 Airfix (or other kit) a month and maybe call the doctor in the morning. :)

Edited October 22, 2010 by Jay Chladek

[Mark M.]

Academy has a line of very cheap and easy-to-build 1/72 planes. Some are really good quality, some are just "okay" -- but are the perfect thing if you can't find those old Airfix kits.

Things like the Bf109E, the Fw190A, the F-86, etc...

Some of their more recent kits are getting more complex and detailed (and pricey) so things like the F-8J, the F/A-18C, I would exclude from this category.

They have some nice ones that you would have fun with if you ignore all the errors in details!

[Old Blind Dog]

I've noticed that the models from which I derive the most pleasure are the ones that need a bit of up-grading. I like the challenge of taking a toy and turning into a replica (or something close); I enjoy scratchbuilding basic details for less-than-state-of-the-art kits. Gives me a nice tingly sense of satisfaction.

Not that I don't appreciate a nice OOB Tamiya build every once in a while.

cheers

Old Blind Dog