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What's your favorite part of model making?


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34 minutes ago, otterblue32 said:

(Aside from the finished product.)

 

Mine is airbrushing wings and fuselage.

 

Same here.  I like airbrushing the big parts because it's like a canvas to try out 'art'.  Also, I like doing the research before building the kit (eg the history of the particular aircraft, the online reviews, the tips & tricks to make corrections, etc)

 

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There are several favorite parts.

Sometimes varying with genre. 

 

On airplanes I really like building and painting cockpits and crew.

 

On trains I like adding extra detail parts, and the crew, and doing a spot of weathering.

 

On tanks I like adding extra stowage, and the crew, and doing a spot of weathering.

 

On spacecraft I like doing the rocket nozzles, and the cockpit/cabin & crew if any.

 

On ships and boats I haven't built any for so long I don't know what to say.

 

On all of them I enjoy doing the decals and watching the finished appearance come together.

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I like buying kits, letting them collect dust and complaining about the industry on model forums. I can't understand why my quest for popularity is not going well.

 

Dale

 

Actually, I like gluing and improving fit and shapes. I only build aircraft.

Edited by Nachtwulf
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Airbrushing. The best part is trying to capture that balance between, art, believability and references of the real thing.

 

I am currently building a 1/48 F-105G, the underside has (imho) a fantastically painted finish. It's dirty, but not uniformly so. There are no symmetrical lines, no lines of prominent rivets just grime and general wear. The question is though, do I want to put a wash through the panel lines? On the plus side it would add another dimension to the finish, but on the downside it could take away from the realism of the subject. That conundrum is one of my favorite parts of modelling too.

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Well, when the process is going well and working for me, airbrushing is very enjoyable and gratifying.  Up until a few years ago, before I finally determined what I'd been doing wrong and making airbrushing a dreaded part of modeling, I didn't like painting.  But now that I've learned the secret to successful airbrushing (thin paint, duh...who knew?), I actually look forward to masking and seeing camo patterns magically appear from out of the tip of an airbrush! 

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 As far as the build itself is concerned, unmasking. The big reveal. Overall, throwing the empty box away 👍 And I threw away two this week...

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For me, it's getting the decals on...

 

...going from something like this:

1087213651_o.jpg

 

To this:

1087730759_o.jpg

 

And then this:

1087213656_o.jpg

 

Is when the model comes 'alive' (despite still actually being an inanimate object!)...

Edited by andyf117
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For the actual building process, it is the decals. For me that is when the kit starts becoming real. Overall I think I think it is the process of researching the kit subject to determine the specific aircraft and it’s appropriate markings although ironically I’m not a stickler for 100% paint pattern accuracy.

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I like getting one one my many stacks of kits out (that I've had for years), opening the boxes, going through the contents, wondering which I'll work on next (of course,  not working on one of the many that I already have started) and the next week grabbing another stack and going through the same process.  I do occasionally actually work on and sometimes finish one.  

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I really like building small scratchbuilt details and the filling and sanding stage. I like that far, far more than painting. I have dozens of kits built to the primary paint stage and they have been sitting like that for years (some for tens of years) waiting for me to build up the desire to mask and paint them.

 

I don't finish many kits that way, but I do what I love.

 

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3 hours ago, spejic said:

I don't finish many kits that way, but I do what I love.

 

Agreed.  My mom doesn't understand why I work on a model for so long and then discard it while still enjoying the process and not being frustrated by the "failure".  I've even managed to finish and keep a few that I like.

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On 7/12/2021 at 9:46 AM, fasteagle12 said:

I like getting one one my many stacks of kits out (that I've had for years), opening the boxes, going through the contents, wondering which I'll work on next (of course,  not working on one of the many that I already have started) and the next week grabbing another stack and going through the same process.  I do occasionally actually work on and sometimes finish one.  

Yeah ... me too.  I really enjoy the research part also ... which version, which options, ordinance load, decals, etc.

Edited by Rusty_M
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Scratchbuilding, closely followed by research... I hate painting since I suck at it. At this point I mainly build ships/submarines and the occasional aircraft.

 

Dave

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On 7/12/2021 at 3:17 PM, spejic said:

I really like building small scratchbuilt details and the filling and sanding stage. I like that far, far more than painting. I have dozens of kits built to the primary paint stage and they have been sitting like that for years (some for tens of years) waiting for me to build up the desire to mask and paint them.

 

I don't finish many kits that way, but I do what I love.

 

I'm with you.   I enjoy the scratchbuilding and doing conversions of a basic kit.   I probably have one each of every type of RC-135 they made in 1/44 all waiting for paint and decals. Way back I could do natural metal finishes pretty well but today not so much.   My basement is full of half-builts.

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Painting definitely... once I realized that paying in sweat and time with masking meant big smiles later with great paint, I started to like masking...

 

(I'm in therapy, and under great supervision, so you need not worry about me.)

 

12951470344_7346fdeaab_b.jpg

 

One of the big things I learned in life is if you learn to enjoy the process, rather than the payoff, you get more payoffs. 

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Cutting the parts from their trees, cleaning them up and at the same time enjoying the parts intricacy that soon will build up into a complete model. That`s high quality therapy for me right there...every time 😉

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