build research

[CrazyGirl]

I am curious about how much research you all do on an auto before you start your builds,, like do you research every part as much as you can and then have Huge ideas of how crazy detailed you want to get and then come back to earth and use artistic freedom ,,, like today while at work I was thinking about this 67 vette dashboard and in my mind I knew what I wanted to do then I get home and look at it again and remember how tiny it really is, like I don't think I will get the radio to play lol

[Harry P.]

It all depends on how crazy you want to get. Everyone has different standards, everyone has different ideas as to how far to take it. It's an individual decision, no "one size fits all" answer.

I always start off every new project with a thorough google search, and collect as many pics as I can find, but that's because I build my models to be as accurate and true to the subject as possible. To me, research is always step 1. But depending on your own personal style, you may do a lot of research before you start, or none at all.

[MikeyB08]

I'm a "None At All" type of guy. Accuracy does not play a big role in my model building. I build to suit me and how I want to build. I thinking of transposing the front end of a 2010 Mustang to the body and rear end of a Camaro. Why? Because I can!! MUHAHAHAHAHAHA!!

But seriously, I'll sometimes check out images just to get any idea of my colors or maybe I'm not sure how the interior colors lay down. Other than that, I always freestyle.

[Art Anderson]

It all depends on how crazy you want to get. Everyone has different standards, everyone has different ideas as to how far to take it. It's an individual decision, no "one size fits all" answer.

I always start off every new project with a thorough google search, and collect as many pics as I can find, but that's because I build my models to be as accurate and true to the subject as possible. To me, research is always step 1. But depending on your own personal style, you may do a lot of research before you start, or none at all.

While I too tend to do most of my research before delving into a project, I view research as an ongoing thing--I'll constantly keep looking for more information all along the way.

Art

[jaymcminn]

Recently, I've been building exotics and classic sports cars. Before starting a build, I'll spend a lot of time online deciding exactly how I want to build it... often there will be a specific car I decide I want to replicate. For current model cars, there are even online configurators where you can play with different colors and options. Good research is often the first step in building a great model.

[Harry P.]

Good research is often the first step in building a great model.

I'd say that good research is always the first step in building a great model.

That is, if your model is intended to be an accurate replica of the original. If you're doing a custom or a phantom or a "what if," then the sky is the limit.

[imarriedawitch]

I try to limit research to ten minutes or less, afterall it's just cutting into building time. I do however like to look for images of 1:1 cars online or in magazines to see what people have done. This is more to get general ideas for future builds, not actually researching anything specific.

[martinfan5]

It all depends on the build and how much work I feel doing , or care for the subject I am building, some more then others.

[charlie8575]

I'm always looking for information on my subjects. Where do things go? What colors could I get on a car? What if I don't like the color choices, what can I do with it? How is something wired or plumbed? Although I very rarely add much of anything in that arena, it's nice to know in case I need the information in the future.

One of the drawbacks of being an academic nerd like me is that while this might cut into actual assembly time, like any project, research is critical to success, and I'll tend to overdo it sometimes, but I get the satisfaction of being able to say I have at least some idea of what I'm doing.

I've found getting good interior shots the most challenging item, and then matching the colors, or at least getting them in the ballpark.

Charlie Larkin

[Custom Hearse]

A lot of times I don't really research the car with the exception of maybe underhood and interior pics. I usually build one-offs, but want detail to be correct. For instance:

I wire and plumb the engine with as much detail as possible

But you will never find reference material for the car itself

[Hollywood Jim]

As others have said, it depends on what your building. And what level of detail you want to replicate.

When I built this I downloaded hundreds of photos.

Here is a picture of a real car that I downloaded for reference.

.

[Guest]

If you are building custome, street rods, etc, unless you are replicating a particular car, you really do not need to do much, but if you build factory stock, like I do, it requires alot, I probably spend half my time doing research, or if you are replicating a particular vehicle you need to do it as well. Research is actually quite fun.

[southpier]

does common sense enter into the research column?

if a scale driver couldn't, something is not right.

[Guest]

If a scale driver couldn't what?

[Ramfins59]

I always do Google research and download reference pictures on a car I'm building. I try to get as many details right as I can, especially in the engine and interior compartments. I also get ideas for color schemes from internet searches.

[crazyjim]

I used to research the wiring of the engines, but I found drawings for the different manufacturers somewhere and printed them, so now I use them as a reference guide.

[Dr. Cranky]

A lot of times it begins in the old noggin' and goes from there. I am a big believer in constantly looking at books, magazines, other mothers. FEEDING YOUR HEAD, finding a delicate balance between your ideas and the ideas you see out there. That's half of the fun of model building the other half is basically building, painting, finishing, and photographing. Playing with your model is part of the fun.

[Mercman]

When I was doing cars I would go to the library and photocopy pages from the repair manuals for different engines for firing orders. I put these into a folder, along with other articles I thought that would come in handy.

Now that I do mainly diorama buildings it depends on how detailed I want to do the interior of a building. Most dont come with any interior, just the basic bilding outside, so depends, on how much I want to go.

For instance here is the building I started with.

%5BIMG%5Dhttp://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a2/mercman51/HO buildings/Goodfellows Hall/Goodfellows.jpg

And the interior I made for it. Most everything inside is scratch built.

<a href="http://s8.photobucket.com/user/mercman51/media/HO%20buildings/Lous%20Drunken%20Leprechan/Bar015-1.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a2/mercman51/HO%20buildings/Lous%20Drunken%20Leprechan/Bar015-1.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo Bar015-1.jpg"/></a>

I did a Google search for some of the items, others like the pool table, and dart board I measured the real item, and scaled them down.

Edited April 14, 2013 by Mercman

[slusher]

i research every build and model kit l have. l have hundreds of research pictures saved in a file.

[Ace-Garageguy]

It really depends on the build. I'm doing a rework of the Revell Mickey Thompson Challenger into the early, unblown version, and the research so far has taken much more time than the building itself. Some folks on the forum have kindly forwarded me pix I had no access to, for which I'm grateful, as there's not a lot of material available on the early iteration of the vehicle. Also, during another research session for a period dry-lakes car, I was lucky enough to be offered private material from a modeler who had extensive photos he's taken of Riley 4-port head conversions for the Ford Model A/B/C engines.

On the other hand, many of my builds are custom pieces that never existed, or generic period-style builds. In those cases I'll often just build from 40+ years experience doing the full-scale work, but I'll still occasionally double check to make sure my modeled engineering is period and technically correct, in keeping with the technology available at the time the build represents.

I find doing the research one of the more enjoyable parts of the process, as I often learn new things along the way.

But...I've been collecting and preparing to do a series of road-racing cars that are particularly significant to me, and I'm debating whether to make each example reflect one particular, historically-correct car, or just to do a generic but period-correct version of each that COULD have been built during the period. To avoid endless detail research, I'll probably go with the latter.

Edited April 14, 2013 by Ace-Garageguy

[IMSANUT]

For me, the research has become as satisfying as the actual build. The more I learn about the specific car I am planning, the more accurate I can make it. To me, this is a similar attitude towards the subject matter the armor and airplane crowd has. As many of you are aware, I build primarily road racing subjects. Like many racing series, the cars can change not only from event to event, but sometimes from practice to race day. Having had the pleasure of seeing some of my subjects in 1:1 races at specific tracks, it has become a passion for me to try to replicate what it was I actually saw. Thus, research helps a great deal. The internet has made this part of the hobby very easy for me to take advantage of. I've amassed a great deal of photographic evidence to help me with my builds.

Now for the down side. With so much data and so many books, magazines and photos available, it certainly cuts into building time.....!

"Balance is everything."

[Deathgoblin]

Depends on the build. Sometimes I've got a clear picture of what I want to do with a kit. Once in a while I need something to jog my creativity or if I'm not clear how something goes together. I did a lot of research on the dash for my 1971 Charger R/T to convert it to a base model.

[Tom Geiger]

The good news is that research has never been easier with the Internet. I remember in the old days, pouring over old magazines, trying to find a 1:1 to look at or asking model buddies for advise. It was long, tedious and I often finished models with incorrect details.

Depending on the subject, eBay Motors can be your best friend. Nearly any kind of vehicle in existence gets offered for sale there. Many times with 25-50 or more good photos you can save to your computer. The good part is that if you don't find what you're looking for, check back in a few days. The entire show changes every week. Also, if you are looking for a foreign vehicle, check out the eBay international sites. And you can find vehicles in every condition, so I've saved lots of photos of beaters and junkers, some for nothing more than my rust and dent file.

Now here's taking research a bit deeper, if you don't find the info in photos of cars for sale, try parts for sale. Here's a few examples of photos I used for detailing. Today there is no excuse to not get it right. It's that easy.

In doing the Mopar flathead six in my '34 Ford rat sedan, I gathered over 25 photos of the engine. I have some in cars, and some that were out of cars and available for sale. In this photo, I got the distributor angle,dip stick location and oil filter line locations. Notice the wire loom next to the oil filter...

So I searched for it by itself. You can't get better reference on this item than the three photos I have of this!

Obscure? Here's one of many photos of a 1928 Citroen engine that I used to build the Heller Bordens Truck.

Transmission linkage detail from a trans for sale on eBay...

which allowed me to build this!

[Hollywood Jim]

The good news is that research has never been easier with the Internet. I remember in the old days, pouring over old magazines, trying to find a 1:1 to look at or asking model buddies for advise. It was long, tedious and I often finished models with incorrect details.

Depending on the subject, eBay Motors can be your best friend. Nearly any kind of vehicle in existence gets offered for sale there. Many times with 25-50 or more good photos you can save to your computer. The good part is that if you don't find what you're looking for, check back in a few days. The entire show changes every week. Also, if you are looking for a foreign vehicle, check out the eBay international sites. And you can find vehicles in every condition, so I've saved lots of photos of beaters and junkers, some for nothing more than my rust and dent file.

Now here's taking research a bit deeper, if you don't find the info in photos of cars for sale, try parts for sale. Here's a few examples of photos I used for detailing. Today there is no excuse to not get it right. It's that easy.

In doing the Mopar flathead six in my '34 Ford rat sedan, I gathered over 25 photos of the engine. I have some in cars, and some that were out of cars and available for sale. In this photo, I got the distributor angle,dip stick location and oil filter line locations. Notice the wire loom next to the oil filter...

Right On !! My computer is full of reference photos.

.

[Jantrix]

Yes. I do quite a lot. I search the web to see what has been done in 1:1. Engines especially too.