Lessons in modeling

[TaiidanTomcat]

I've been back into modelling about 13 years now. I have probably finished about 3 dozen models in that time. Started many more some are closer to finishing than others.

I know a lot of people have done hundreds even thousands of models and have decades under thier belt.

But even 36ish models in I still feel very "new" at this. It's crazy what a long journey it is to get to the level that some people achieve. I aspire to those high levels myself but I feel like I am just scrapping the surface at this point. A lot of disciplines to master from measuring and cutting to casting to airbrushing.

If I could do it again I would do more OOB stuff just to get more experience under my belt. I took the long road to 36ish kits. I feel like I am getting into the groove and getting better at knowing what I like so thr decision process is quicker.

Anyway, dear diary. So where are you on your journey?

[rightwinger26]

I don't think anyone is ever at the top, no matter what the subject might be. No matter how good you are, you have to be humble enough to realize there is always more to learn, more practice at, and more to be improved on. Just accept mistakes and never stop learning. No one is perfect, but if you always strive to be perfect, the results usually turn out being pretty good.

[falcon20driver]

I still feel like a newbie. Every build I'm learning something new and just trying to get better. Seeing the builds here reminds me how far I have to go.

[DarkKnight]

forums are great for learning, contests are great for seeing the skills of others, seeing flaws can teach you so much. I never stopped modeling, I just haven't completed anything for decades it seems, I think a desire to seek perfection takes the fun away, as we age I believe many people collect more kits than they can build, these people are too far gone when they begin to call themselves "kit collectors" like thats legit? I thik model kits are like food, only useful when used properly eaten/built

[phantom]

I have reached my personal best and have started the slippery slope to not being as good as I thought I once was.

Yep, built hundreds. Of Phantoms. Hundreds of others too.

[ElectroSoldier]

You never get there, modelling is about the journey, the next one will always be built on lessons learnt from the last one.

[Crazy Snap Captain]

I find that certain skills seem to improve yet others revert to "newbie" level randomly. I've yet to get that "perfect build" and that may be a dream that never materialises, but it's fun trying. My biggest flaw is patience and pacing myself.

Edited May 23, 2016 by Crazy Snap Captain

[nspreitler]

I've been back into modelling about 13 years now. I have probably finished about 3 dozen models in that time. Started many more some are closer to finishing than others.

I know a lot of people have done hundreds even thousands of models and have decades under thier belt.

But even 36ish models in I still feel very "new" at this. It's crazy what a long journey it is to get to the level that some people achieve. I aspire to those high levels myself but I feel like I am just scrapping the surface at this point. A lot of disciplines to master from measuring and cutting to casting to airbrushing.

If I could do it again I would do more OOB stuff just to get more experience under my belt. I took the long road to 36ish kits. I feel like I am getting into the groove and getting better at knowing what I like so thr decision process is quicker.

Anyway, dear diary. So where are you on your journey?

I was never out of it for long. I built models as a kid, the first one I remember was B-1 back in the early 1980s, and I continued through high school with some of my more memorable kits being the aircraft from Topgun that I got for Christmas in 1986. I did take stop for awhile after high school and the first few years I was in the military but started up again about 17 years ago.

I've probably built close to 100 kits in that time, in some years I build a lot and others nothing. The last few years have been productive, I've finished 8 so far this year alone. I tend to have a few started at once, but I have a tendency to start a complex build and take breaks from it for smaller projects. Right now my big project is a Pe-2, but the last couple weeks I put it to the side to build an XP-77 which is nearly complete now. I think this keeps me from getting bored or being overwhelmed with a project.

I add aftermarket but try not to go overboard, some photoetch details and sometimes resin wheels are usually as far as I go. I have a B-17 with about $150 in aftermarket but I think knowing how big an effort that is keeps me from starting it.

Lately I also have broadened what I build, I've done a couple 1/48 armor kits this year. I just bought an Revell USS Dallas fom the Hunt for Red October and I really like the Bandai Star Wars kits. Other kits on my short list to be built are the Meng technical, Academy M1151, and some modern jets which is very different since nearly everything finished on my shelf is are WWII planes.

[thegoodsgt]

I can summarize my place in my journey as “fairly confident.” I can build most any model to meet the image I have in my head when I begin a project, but I still find myself challenged at times with basic construction, such as alignment.

You’re right. Building as many kits as you can OOB is a smart idea. You don’t have to master the basics (unless you want to win awards at contests — and few modelers are motivated by the gold), but doing so certainly grounds you for more challenging skills and techniques.

It is a journey....

Steven Brown

Scale Model Soup

http://www.scalemodelsoup.com

[toadwbg]

You never get there, modelling is about the journey, the next one will always be built on lessons learnt from the last one.

Came here to post this. It is the journey and not the destination. That journey is supposed to be relaxing too, when modeling becomes too serious or stressful it's time to do something else.

[mlicari]

I returned to the hobby in full force in 2003. I keep a journal to document each build, jotting notes about things I learned, and how successful certain techniques, paint, glue, decals, etc. were.

I get tremendously relaxed at the workbench, no matter what I'm building or how much effort I'm interested in putting into the particular kit. Not all my builds get the "maximum" detailing and weathering. I mostly build 1/72 US Navy and Marines aircraft, which I do out of the box with minimal, if any weathering. My other builds, though, I'll really do it up. Either way relaxes me!

I've built 284 kits since 2003 (just finished my Hasegawa SP-5 Marlin earlier tonight!)

Mike

[Rex]

I don't have a count of the finished models over the years since 1965.

But, I don't consider my modeling to be a journey. I consider it to be a craft that I have learned to do. (sort of like a guy that builds birdhouses that just builds them, he doesn't have to learn anything to do it, he just does it)

I only learn when one of my favorite things goes OOP on me, or like just a few years ago, when I had to switch to water based Acrylics.

The rest of the time I just build, paint, decal, repeat.

I spend my "learning" time with the study of 1/1 aircraft and details, not the plastic models themselves.

[TaiidanTomcat]

I returned to the hobby in full force in 2003. I keep a journal to document each build, jotting notes about things I learned, and how successful certain techniques, paint, glue, decals, etc. were.

Do you feel like that helps? 284 kits in the same time frame as me is incredible

[Thommo]

I returned to the hobby in about 2000, so back into it for 15yrs. Have probably built 40-50 kits in that time.

I'm not really aiming at some of the incredible precise & detailed builds I see on here, just doing neat builds with pretty basic kits and mostly trying to improve my finishing skills (airbrushing and decals).

For me it is more about getting lost in a kit for 5 or so hours a week and taking my mind off other things.

I must say though, 3 recent things have significantly improved my finishing skills:

1. Switching from Aztek to Iwata airbrush = much finer control & can now do freehand camo & touchups. I still have hiccups with the Iwata (e.g. blockages, spitting, overspray) but find it easier to correct, and I can clean the whole thing properly. Still learning its quirks though.

2. Getting a cheap Optivisor - though the downside is I can now see minute details/errors I could not before and have a habit of wanting to try and sort them out.

3. Using the Tiarius method of getting decals to bed down better with Future.

[Old Blind Dog]

I've been building model kits for about 50 years . . .

While I'm demonstrably better at it than I was when I was 8, I still pretty much suck at it.

Still, you know what? It's been fun, and that's all that matters.

cheers

Old Blind Dog

[Don]

35+ years in the hobby, more kits built and gone then I can count and I have come to the cold hard realization that I am a freakin' S-L-O-W learner...nuff said ;)

[mlicari]

Do you feel like that helps? 284 kits in the same time frame as me is incredible :jaw-dropping:/>

I do. I build mostly OOB, so having notes on how different brands of decals works really helps avoid problems. Same with paint.

I've also built several kits more than once (or variants, like an S-3A and an ES-3A), so having notes on previous builds really helps. I moved last year, and gave away about 150 built kits; I've built a few of those again to have them back on the shelf.

That, and I spend at least 2 hours every day at the bench. Well, night, really. I'm in the zone from 10pm to midnight!

:)

[WymanV]

As someone with decades and hundreds under the belt, I see "The Journey" as a path that started narrow and widened as I went, with more and more to see.

I have recently scratchbuilt my first cockpit using leftover kit parts and sheet styrene. I'm satisfied enough with the results to do it again, if need be.

The same build also saw the first time I riveted an entire kit. Shaky start but I'm sure to get better as I pursue it.

I started building WW I kits in earnest a couple years ago and as I proceed, I get better & better at rigging.

After some 20 years of painting with a Badger 150, I just upgraded to an Iwata CM-C+. I'm looking forward to diving into some of those more intricate Luftwaffe schemes.

And there are vacuform kits in the stash that are getting closer to the bench as I grow.

Ken

Edited May 24, 2016 by WymanV

[Fighting Eighty-Four]

That, and I spend at least 2 hours every day at the bench. Well, night, really. I'm in the zone from 10pm to midnight!

Haha, that is funny... those are the same hours I usually am at the workbench each night, and for roughly two hours a night as well.

For me, I build a couple Tomcats as a kid, but never painted them. I would almost always start and finish a model the same day, and then would play with them. LOL

Now, probably 25-30 years later, I got back into modelling after getting out of modding and racing cars. Needed a new, cheaper hobby. Believe it or not, model building is much cheaper than building race cars (but I am finding out it is not completely cheap though). LOL

So in late 2014 I started buying kits, acquiring tools, and researching and checking out the fine works and advice on this site. I have now completed 9 models, and I feel my skills and overall mindset is improving with each one. I still have a little of the "good enough for me" mindset, but I do find with each build I spend a little more time making things such as gaps and other imperfections just right. But as for inaccuracies with a kit, I really am not too concerned with correcting it unless it is something that really takes away from the look of the model in my opinion, such as Academy or MiniHobby Flanker nose.

So far I have built mostly OOB except decals, and I think I will continue to do so for most projects.

Another thing I do that I think makes me odd is I always only work on one model at a time, start to finish. I also keep a spreadsheet with all the kits, decals, and aftermarket I have, as well as ones that I want to buy at some point. I also have a build order set up on a spreadsheet, for all 120 or so kits I have. This allows me to plan markings, etc for each upcoming build to make sure I have all the paints, decals, etc ready to go for builds that are nearing before I even start them.

My modelling journey has really only just begun. I have learned so much so far, but I really have so much more to learn and do. I look forward to those challenges.

Anyway, enough about me. I am really enjoying reading about what everyone has to say about their journey and current state of modelling. Keep them coming!

Edited May 24, 2016 by Fighting Eighty-Four