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Put the references away, hide the aftermarket and build!


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Gentlemen,

 

  In the last couple of weeks, I have been able to finish 5 Kinetic Prowlers (with the help of a friend due to time constraints) and currently have 3 Hasegawa F/A-18's, 2 Hasegawa AV-8B's and another 7 Kinetic Prowlers days away from being completed. 

 

  Grab a kit, your tools and favorite paints....put away your reference material, pull out any and all aftermarket and just build the kit! Are my kits going to contest winners? Hell no! However, the Marines receiving them are going to absolutely love them! Will your kits be contest winners? Probably not. But you know what? You're going to have fun again!

 

  Who woulda thunk we were supposed to use the paint we have and build the kits in the stash!? I'm having a blast!

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16 hours ago, Dave Roof said:

Gentlemen,

 

  In the last couple of weeks, I have been able to finish 5 Kinetic Prowlers (with the help of a friend due to time constraints) and currently have 3 Hasegawa F/A-18's, 2 Hasegawa AV-8B's and another 7 Kinetic Prowlers days away from being completed. 

 

  Grab a kit, your tools and favorite paints....put away your reference material, pull out any and all aftermarket and just build the kit! Are my kits going to contest winners? Hell no! However, the Marines receiving them are going to absolutely love them! Will your kits be contest winners? Probably not. But you know what? You're going to have fun again!

 

  Who woulda thunk we were supposed to use the paint we have and build the kits in the stash!? I'm having a blast!

Word. 

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I agree, I have usually built OOB, until the production started. I wanted to try it at least once at the scratch build level with multimedia. But now... I have already planned my next couple kits OOB.

Edited by AlienFrogModeller
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I build oob mostly, but for me part of the "fun" is researching. I build largely factory stock cars, and trying to replicate correct as I can get with what I have is the fun. For me it's not about how many I get done, it's about the journey there. In fact sometimes when finishing a build I feel kinda let down until I do the next one.

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40 minutes ago, midnightprowler said:

I build oob mostly, but for me part of the "fun" is researching. I build largely factory stock cars, and trying to replicate correct as I can get with what I have is the fun. For me it's not about how many I get done, it's about the journey there. In fact sometimes when finishing a build I feel kinda let down until I do the next one.

 

Before this turns into a debate, let me clarify one thing. I will continue to go all out on a handful of kits in the stash.....complete with aftermarket resin, photo-etch, decals, etc. Researching our subjects is second nature to most of us and that is just as much fun as building. However, it felt good to actually finish models! In the last 10 years I've been able to finish three models, three! Of course they were all for someone else, but they were finished. 

 

I currently have a 1/32 F/A-18D that will be fully detailed with everything I can put into it. The rest of my kits? With few exceptions, they'll probably get the one week build treatment.

 

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3 hours ago, midnightprowler said:

I build oob mostly, but for me part of the "fun" is researching. I build largely factory stock cars, and trying to replicate correct as I can get with what I have is the fun. For me it's not about how many I get done, it's about the journey there. In fact sometimes when finishing a build I feel kinda let down until I do the next one.

 

One thing I like to do if I'm building more casually (OOB or what-if) is just spend more time reading stories on the subject. 

 

 Building aircraft for example, read pilot's memoirs or even fiction (such as The Bridges at Toko-Ri, etc) instead of the Squadron Signal walkarounds and the deep dive technical publications.

 

 When building cars, you can focus on the peiple and history of race cars, sports cars or muscle cars. Lots of good books out there on these subjects. For example study Duntov, Mitchell or Shelby when building a Vette or Cobra.  

 

 

Edited by dmk0210
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8 hours ago, bashace said:

I have really enjoyed the old Monogram kits again, no need for all the crazy AMSing! I buy them all the time on evilbay with crushed boxes or just bagged kits cheap.

 

If you look at my modest stash (about 30 kits), I'd say about 27 of them are Monogram for this very reason.  Many years ago, I tried building a couple of kits with some aftermarket "goodies" and quickly came to the realization that it was for the birds (no pun intnded).  I started building models back when I was 7 years old.  Remember being seven?...back when you only knew how to have fun and the world of responsibilities wasn't even something we thought about?  THAT'S what I return to each and every time I break out a simple Monogram kit to work on.  No photo etch metal to anneal, bend, superglue.  No resin to cut from the stub.  No AMS at all.  Just give me a fun. simple build and I'm transported back to being a 7 year old again!

 

Eric

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Mr. Roof, I appreciate your sentiment.

I used to tell my former drinking buddies I got as much as 100 hours of fun building for my fifteen bucks for a kit compared to a few hours and 15 bucks worth at a binge.

Cheap generally wins over photoetch and boutique paints.

I take my time and building is such fun for me.

Chip

Edited by DrGlueblob
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That was exactly what I needed to read to get my E/F-18G going again.  Felt like i had lost my modeling mojo there for a while.  I realized i was bogging down in the details.  Sometimes I need to remind myself i build for me, not to impress someone else.  I'm not entering competitions ever again, so why obsess?

 

Good on ya Dave.

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