Planning: A needed key to modeling success

The monthly topic over at the Sprue Cutter’s Union is all about planning your builds or not. Specifically, “Do you plan and prepare for every step of your build’s process, or do you wing it as you go?”

I would like to think I plan out my builds but not to the level that I really should to avoid future problems. For most builds, I will read the directions, look at the sprues, see if there was a build review or photos of a build on the web, see if anyone I know might have built the kit and pick their brain or sometimes I just go for it. Especially if I think the build will be out of the box.

However this is not the best way to do things given my love of After Market Parts and all things brass and resin. You really need to plan out what you are going to do in order to increase you chance at success. Yes it is a model kit and odds are you might be able to fix the problem you created. But wouldn’t be better if the problem never existed in the first place to need fixing? This is why I need to do a better job planning not just before the build but during it as well. In some builds, I have taken the time to highlight where AM or PE parts will go and reviewed what I needed to do to prep the kits. Other times, I don’t and I end up looking at the kit and wondering why I have some much brass left only to realize I didn’t replace half the things I could have or should have. Of course this normally happens after paint so there is no chance I am breaking off parts to get the PE in place. 

Planning is not only needed for working with AM parts or conversions of kits, it really is needed throughout the whole process. I, for one, still have a hard time building things out of sequence. I figure the manufacturers did it this way for a reason. However, I have learned that sometimes you shouldn’t glue item X on the kit even though the instruction say to do it. I have also learned that you need to think of all the other stages of kit assembly not just the one you are working on at the moment. In my most recent build, I glued the lower and upper hull together on a 1/72 T-90 thinking I would have enough room to add the running gear later.  Wrong!  I had a hell of a time getting the tracks in place and it involved a lot of repainting and frustration. Had I taken the time to plan to keep the parts together for painting but not in a permanent way, I could have done a better job on the running gear and tracks. It just is really hard sometimes to go out of order. Not sure if it is OCD or some lack of confidence in my skills but it is a challenge for me. Now, what I plan to do in the future is to include notes on the sheets so I know and remind myself about future pitfalls. My hope is that my kits will be better and I will not spend as much time reworking things.

So while I think I plan, I really don’t.  But I am not really winging it either; I mean I am not building a Tamiya kit where I can just add glue and shake; “ducks from the oncoming comments.”  So Plan People! Your builds will be better and you might find you enjoy the hobby more.

Patience - A Building Essential

This month’s Sprue Cutters Union asks “what do you think are the essential aspects you cannot afford to cut corners on during a build? What are your imperatives?”  For me, there is one thing I have learned that I can’t do without – Patience.

I know this sounds clique and I can already hear the “Well of course you need patience, you are building a kit and that takes time.”  But when I talk about Patience I am not talking about the time it takes to put all the parts together or sand the sprue nubs off a delicate part. When I talk about Patience, I am talking about the overall process of being okay with the fact that something might not get done right away or when you want it done. Or the fact that a part broke and now I have to figure out how to make it work and I might not get it done in time for a contest or club meeting and that is okay.  

In the past I have tried to rush to get kits completed to either take to my local meeting on contest night or to take a local show. Several times something has happened that was less than ideal. In some cases it was something simple like an antennae broke off or a wheel wasn’t properly aligned. In other cases, I tried to weather something too soon and the process damaged the paint because the sealer coat was not totally dried/cured.  All items that could be fixed, just not in the time I had left to meet my self-imposed deadline.

Now I have a cut off for meeting a deadline. If I can’t get it done a day before needing it, I don’t try to rush it or stay up all night with a hair dryer hoping to finish off the kit. This “rule” applies to local meetings and shows. And to be honest, it has worked out great. I am not longer up all night and tired at the show and it allows me to ensure the product I am producing is up to my standards. The “rule” is a little more flexible for events that I may not go to again for several years such as AMPS and IPMS national events. But even in those cases, I still try to plan a little time out to make sure I am not rushing.  Nothing good has happened when I get impatient and rush to finish a kit. Several times I have stopped myself and called it a night and tackled the problem the next time at the bench. And in most cases, just stepping away has cleared my thoughts and I am able to either thinking of a solution to the problem, the problem has fixed itself such as with paint curing,  or a fresh set of eyes found the part taken by the carpet monster.

Taking that time away from the bench was also important because it kept me from making more mistakes trying to fix the initial mistake. This is an overlooked feature of practicing patience. It keeps you from making more mistakes that could lead to even worse consequence. Prior to getting back into modeling a few years ago, I quit because I hated painting. I thought I was horrible at it and I would never be any good at it.  I was always trying to fix my painting mistakes right away and this lead to more mistakes that caused me to not enjoy the hobby.  And what is a hobby if you don’t enjoy it…I would call it work.  However, either due to maturity or experience or just straight up exhaustion from working and raising a family and having to take a day or five off from working on a kit, I realized that I needed to be patient if I wanted to get a good finish or to get the results I wanted.  I started to take my time and the results started to speak for themselves. My builds were getting better, I was enjoying what I was doing and I liked the results.

In all those cases, patience was the key and it has been my most essential tool when working on a build.  

Details, Details, Details.

To detail or not to detail that is the question, Tis it better to suffer the slings and arrows of rivet counters or build as you see fit. Detail inclusion or exclusion while building is the topic of this month’s Sprue Cutter Union. More specifically do you add details that won’t be seen in the final model or do you skip them and add them when they will be noticed. For me, the answer is it depends.

It depends because I am still really getting back into the hobby even though I have been back for about three and half years. Prior to this I did build kits but I had such fear when it came to painting that nothing ever was completed. My recent incursion has seen me get over my fear of screwing something up when painting and my apprehension of cutting off a fender or part to replace it with PE or wire. But my fear of screwing up the whole kit is still strong to the point that I don’t skip any of the steps. My thought process is the step is there for a reason and if I skip it, it might screw up something later like an alignment or cause a gap somewhere unexpected. However, that doesn’t mean I don’t see the advantage of adding extra details to a kit to make it more accurate. It just means that I do add the interior to a kit if it comes with it even if I have no plans to show it off. I just don’t super detail it with PE, resin or scratch built parts because no one is going to see it.

I also find the process of adding interiors that may not be seen or other details as good practice. By this I mean they are good opportunities to try a new wash out or a new technique such as paint chipping. The process is also good practice at building or figuring out instruction especially if it is new kit manufacturer you have not built before. Or use it to practice basic skills like sanding, scribing or gap filling, because if you screw up, who cares, no one will see it.

However, if the interior will be seen, I think the amount of detail depends on what will be seen versus the final build. If all the hatches on an AFV will be closed except for the one for the commander, I won’t add a new interior to the vehicle but I might make sure the open hatch has some detail to it. Or if it is wheeled vehicle, such as the recent MRAPS is the subject of my build, I may add a few details to it to flush it out if the plan is to keep it buttoned up. But if the plan is to open it up, I think you have to be prepared to add some detail to make it at least looking decent. I am not sure I am to the level of some modelers that add all the various wires and other items along every surface but I do feel items such as seat belts, some wires from the various electronics, and tie downs seem like a must to make open interiors at least realistic if not presentable.

In conclusion, I do build the detail if it is included in the kit because I am not at the point in my return to the hobby to not include it for fear of it screwing something up later. Also I find it an opportunity to try something new out and a chance to practice some basic skills. However, if the interior will be seen, I do say you need to add at least a little detail to upgrade the basic interior to make the kit presentable.

Thanks for reading. I hope to have a post about my first trip to IPMS Nationals later this month. Until then, model on.

Anti slip - the next step in progression?

I was wondering the other day if adding antiskid or antislip to a kit is the next level of a modeler's progression in building better kits or an new thing we all feel we need to add just to make our kits presentable. 

Some may argue that photoetch is the next step to make better models. And while I agree, PE is awesome and a great add to any kits it comes at a prices both literally and figuratively. PE sets can cost $15 to $20  for an average set up to $60 plus for some of the more detailed Voyager and Lion Roar kits. Also, it can be a bit overwhelming to some at first to have to grind, cut or remove parts of a kit they just purchased for $65 and then try to bend and place a small piece of metal and hope it works and doesn't pop off to feed the carpet monster. This is why I think adding antislip is a better "first" modification to modelers.

The reason for this is simple. Antislip is for the most part easy to apply, can be done in a variety of ways and it can be removed if needed without to much effort depending on the method. It also adds an instant upgrade that is low cost and has high visual impact that is noticeable to the modeler and the viewer. Antislip can be done with purchased specialty products from Mig or Tamiya, it can be done with various pastes and medium you get at your local craft store, it can be done with glue and sand, and it can be done with special cans of spray paint if you mask carefully that you can get at almost any hardware store. The variety of techniques you can use to produce the results makes it good place to start adding more detail to your kits. The variety allows you to pick which method you like and works best for your skill level and budget. Some may say you need to worry about the scale of the antislip but while I agree that different nations have different sizes and ways of applying antislip, I contend that any decent job that is within scale to what you are building will add to any model regardless of how it is "supposed" to look. Also, I know that antislip is a more modern addition to AFVs, I think same logic could apply to zimmerit on German armor from WWII or even adding cast texture to Allied armor. All these techniques add to the kit are easy for people to add without breaking the bank or their nerves.

Here are some links to applying antislip.

For your M1 Abrams fans using the texture paint. Includes a template: http://www.armorama.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=SquawkBox&file=index&req=viewtopic&topic_id=50656#424251

More methods: http://www.armorama.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=SquawkBox&file=index&req=viewtopic&topic_id=193219&page=1

Or a nice YouTube Video using Gesso medium: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mR1PZGFCqfw

Thank you for reading and see you around the sprue.

Jeff