Panels Open or Everything Buttoned Up

[thegoodsgt]

If a model offers the option of open panels, I'll open them up, if only for the visual interest. Otherwise, closed up is fine, too.

[f5guy]

20 hours ago, Joe Hegedus said:

Yep.  Life’s too short, and there are too many subjects I want to build.  I’m generally happy with a nice, clean build of whatever.

 

Joe nailed it right there for me! I've got nearly 1000 kits in my stash. With any luck I'll finish about another 200 of them before I croak. All that these overly complicated kits do is slow me down with unwanted detail. I tend to concentrate more on solid building techniques and a good finish. I can usually finish about 15 to 18 72nd kits in a year, although I've only gotten 2 this year thus far. WAY too many subjects on my hit list to goof around with open panels and extra detail. A resin/3D seat, or specific weapons, or maybe a cockpit set is usually all that I'll add. Fred K.

 

[habu2]

I normally build with everything closed. IMO the more panels you open the closer you are to building a diorama.  

[phantom]

Depends, normally closed. However if I have built the kit before I might change it up. Seeing as I have built certain models dozens of times, and Phantoms 100s of times I like a little variety. Sometimes, I might build them crashed, in a bone yard, in flight, parked.......whatever.

[Spook498]

It depends on the kit. If it comes with the ability to open something, like the 1/48 Hasegawa A-7E, then I will build one of each, open and closed. But I wont buy aftermarket bits to purposely open something. And since I build for display in my home, and not contests, I dont do aftermarket cockpits, 3D cockpit details, etc. Pretty much straight from the box, aftermarket decals most times. I might pick up aftermarket weps and so forth, but thats really about as far as it goes.

[Charlie D.]

Buttoned up, including canopies. I like the clean aerodynamic look of the airframe. In most cases I’ll often leave off ordinance for this reason as well. 

[Thadeus]

What I'd love to do would be to build them in the air, preferably hung up at eye level (in a cabinet, much safer that way). Or just make them float or fly around 😉

 

What I'm doing most of the time is building the model just before the pilot gets in, to do a first sortie of the day. Canopy open, no RBF's, armament on, preferably with deployable ladder if possible. Sort of like an invitation to fly. Ocasionally I'll do one on a stick or with canopy closed.

 

I find landing gear to spoil the look of the aircraft - so does the opened canopy, folded wings or stuff like that. Opened radar would simply destroy it. Besides, You need skill to pull of something like that nicelly. For me it's a tradeoff - I can't build all of them with pilots inside in flight on a stick - and taking my figure painting skills I probably shouldn't - and the opened canopy gives me better look inside the cockpit. They look better cramped next to another one when they're built gear down. 

 

But opening inspection panels, showing radar? Nope. That's too much. I might build one in a few dozen. Currently I have 102 completed models none of which have opened up panels. And only four are in flight, and perhaps another 15 have closed canopies (with some just being broken off).

[ElectroSoldier]

I used to build jets and other such aircraft as though it was just about to go on some kind of "live" missions, but these days I much prefer to have some panels opened up, with control surfaces on show, wings folded etc etc.
Showing as much of its workings as possible, be that accurate in any particular situation or not.

[ALF18]

I like aircraft as if they were signed out by me, ready to fly, parked on the ramp. I'm currently building the Tamiya 1/32 Spitfire Mk XVIe, and wow does it ever have lots of options for displaying interior detail of the engine, dropping flaps, etc. 

Turns out Spits only have flaps down when on approach, and during part of the ground roll - otherwise they were closed up. Seems like Tamiya added complexity and cost to the kit for nothing, since anyone who wants to pose flaps down could spring for an AM conversion kit.

The engine - hugely complicated. I built it almost completely out of curiosity, but will glue the panels closed and not use the magnets to have them removable. Painting and detailing all of that would take me way more time than I have, since my stash of over 100 kits will not permit me to dally on any one kit. I aspire to be as prolific a builder as Phantom... if that's possible! 

The installed engine is from the Mk IX I built just before the current one - I left a lot of detail off that one, because to me the engine was mostly there to hold the prop in place. 🙂

I do feel somewhat guilty, though, for hiding all that wonderful detail. Then I get over it.

ALF

[Drifterdon]

1 hour ago, ALF18 said:

I aspire to be as prolific a builder as Phantom... if that's possible! 

 

 

I don't think any of us could be as prolific a builder as Phantom.   

I think he is like Santa Claus and has a bunch of elves in his workshop slaving away on his kits.