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.  

It's all about the Scale and nothing but the Scale

The topic this month for The Sprue Cutters Union is all about scale. Which scale do you prefer and which do you avoid like the plague? For me as a mostly armor modeler, it would have to be 1/35^th scale. I know that 1/35^th  while popular in AFVs and with some lines of helicopters is an odd scale given that there are other scales out that make more sense given their railroading origin, like 1/48^th  and 1/72^nd .  And I have heard the stories that the scale was started by Tamiya to fit their motorization parts they used to include in their kits, and the remnants of this are still found in some of their newer kits such as the M1A2 Tusk II kit (Really you couldn’t retool this for a $80 kit!). But the more I build, the more I like the 1/35^th scale. Most kits scale out to a nice size that make them manageable to build, detail and fit in the spray booth without the need to break them into a lot of subsections. Also, most of the finished kits will fit nicely on the display table or shelf and for the most part the kits in this scale are reasonably priced for what you get now from the modern kit makers. Also with the increase of larger military subjects such as ICBM launchers or Patriot Missile System coming out to the market place 1/35^th scale is really coming into its own as the scale for AFVs. These larger kits used to be only in 1/72^nd due to price, size or manufacturer ability. Advances in molding and equipment now make these larger scale kits a reality. A reality with a higher price point but with the details to match that make them a must buy for me.

Now that doesn’t mean 1/35^th is the only scale I build. I have tried 1/48^th armor and I thought it would be the way to go but the limited modern subjects and the lack of the larger manufacturers getting on board with this scale has caused me to not like as much as I thought I would. However, I have a new scale I like for armor, 1/72^nd. Yes, I tried 1/72^nd a while back and the kits looked a lot like toys to me as well; but recent improvements and an increase of subjects lead me to give it another try.  I have not been disappointed. I am currently building a Model Collect T-90, and while as not as detailed as the 1/35 from Meng or Trumpeter, it is a really nice kit with an enough details to make it look like a replica of a military vehicle and not a toy. The newer kits out are really good. Model Collect has some great kits out on some crazy subjects that will never be in 1/35^th scale or not in 1/35^th any time soon. So while 1/48^th was a letdown, I have learned to love 1/72^nd. Yes the newer kits are a bit more expensive than the $10 Revell or Airfix 1/72^nd kits but they are still cheaper than a full 1/35^th kit. A lot of the newer 1/72 kits also include PE or metal parts which you didn’t see in the older kits. While not as cheap as the older 1/72^nd kits, the price is still good for those that want to try out a new subject or genre. Also, 1/72^nd gives people the right scale to try those larger subjects such as the ICBM launchers without breaking the bank or the shelves.

There is one area where I don’t care what scale something comes in as long as it is a standard scale – Sci Fi Kits. Sci Fi has to be my second favorite to AFV/Military Vehicles (I am a closet Rotor Head, even though I have yet to finish one). The thing about Sci Fi is that you are trying to make the kits manageable and affordable. Yes we would all like a 5 foot Star Destroyer but really where would you put it and could you afford it?  So I don’t mind the smaller scale in Sci Fi like the 1/1200 or 1/500 but what I really dislike are the kits that don’t give their scale and are so called “Box Scale”. I’m looking at you Revell!  I mean is it so hard now a day with computers and all the technology we have to try to make things standard scale. Box scale doesn’t make any sense to me. You are developing a product; you should be able to spec a box out after you decide on the scale not after. Not knowing what scale a kit is because it is box scale is a huge pain and there is no reason for it. It detracts from the overall collection of a kit. It would be nice to keep all the same scale so that you have a sense of scale when looking at the finished product. I mean you look at a Fine Molds Falcon kit in 1/72 and you know when you compare it to another 1/72 product that the Falcon is a large spaceship. Yes in the other kits you know it is big but knowing the scale gives you a better comparison.

In conclusion, my preferred scale is 1/35 with 1/72 a close second. I also have to “Just Say No to Box Scale”

Model On!

 

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.