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scratchbuilt - ?


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And while we're at it ...

One that drags my nails across the chalkboard is the improper use of the term 'kit' or 'kits' when referring to completed models.

If it is a package of unassembled parts, it is a kit.

Once it is assembled, it is no longer a kit, it has become a model.

Drives me nuts to hear someone refers to completed models as 'kits.'

This past weekend we conducted a large model contest and show. A couple of overheard comments were, "Wow! Those are great looking kits." There were no kits anywhere in sight, but we did have a lot of great looking models on display.

B)

Its ... it's ... your ... you're ... kit ... model.

This brings up the problem with our english speaking breathern on the right hand side of the pond, the English. To them kit is a uniform. One can have a nice piece of kit but they rarely build a kit. We play with this variance on a daily basis. Inspite of the fact that we have a common language and standardized rules of grammer, we still have regional dialects on a world wide basis. If you wish to communicate with others, you need to adjust your language for your audience. After all communication has three parts. The transmission, reception and translation. If any part is defective commuication fails.

I would agree that there are very few scratchbuilt model out there, but it is cumbersome to use language such as "mostly or sustantively" scratchbuild rat rod. Techinically, I have never seen a scratchbuild model. That would imply that we went out to the world and created from raw material all of the materials we used to make the model. I doubt that anyone here is capable of making plastic from oil or brass from ore as part of their building process and I know that there is no one here willing to go through the process to do that on such a small scale. I think we can agree that scratch building is the process of taking essentially basic material such as metal or plastic and changing the form into parts that resemble a miniture version of a real vehicle. If we call a model scratchbuilt, it should be made from mostly parts created from materials that do not resemble the original materials. If it is anything else then we should refer to is as having scratchbuilt parts.

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Techinically, I have never seen a scratchbuild model. That would imply that we went out to the world and created from raw material all of the materials we used to make the model. I doubt that anyone here is capable of making plastic from oil or brass from ore as part of their building process and I know that there is no one here willing to go through the process to do that on such a small scale.

Scratchbuilding doesn't mean creating the material. It means taking the material and using it to create a model.

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Scratchbuilding doesn't mean creating the material. It means taking the material and using it to create a model.

Made From Scratch

By Jane Moore

My mother never let me help much in the kitchen. As a result, my cooking ability was practically non-existent when I got married. But, I did remember mother mentioning that she did make cakes, pies and other things from scratch. So my first trip to the supermarket was to buy some scratch. I found the isle that read baking items and spent a good 15 minutes looking at everything from vegetable oil, sugar, flour and chocolate without seeing a sign of scratch. I was sure it wouldn't be with the pickles or the meat. I asked the clerk if they carried scratch. He looked at me funny and finally said, "You'll have to go to the store on the corner."

When I got there it turned out to be a feed store. I thought it rather strange, but I decided cakes were food. "Do you have scratch?" I asked the clerk. He asked me how much I wanted. I suggested a pound or two. His reply was, "How many chickens do you have? It only comes in 20 lb bags." I really didn't understand why he mentioned chickens, but I had heard mom say she made chicken casserole from scratch. So I bought 20 lbs and hurried home.

My next problem was to find a recipe calling for scratch. I went through every page of my lovely "Better Homes and Gardens" cook book - wedding gift. I looked and looked for a recipe using scratch. There I was 20 lbs of scratch,and no recipe. When I opened the scratch, I had doubts that a beautiful, fluffy cake would ever result from such a hard looking ingredient. I hoped that the addition of liquids and heat the result would be successful. I had no need to mention my problem to my new husband. He had mentioned early in our marriage that he loved to cook and would gladly take over anytime. One day he made a pie and when I told him how good it was, he said he had made is from scratch. That assured me that it could be done.

Being a new bride is scary and when I found out he made pies, cakes and even lemon pudding from scratch...well, if he made all those things from scratch, I was sure he had bought a 20 lb bag of scratch also. But I couldn't find where he stored it, and I checked my supply. It was still full! At this point I was ready to give up because all the people knew about scratch except me. I decided to try a different approach.

One day, when my husband was not doing anything I said, "Honey, I wish you'd bake a cake." He got out the flour, sugar, shortening, eggs and milk, but not a sign of scratch. I watched him blend it together, put it into a pan, and slide it into the over to bake. An hour later, as we were eating the cake, I looked at him and smiled and said, "Honey, why don't we raise a few chickens?"

Edited by Hollywood Jim
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However, scratchmaking means your making material. Scratch material.

No, it doesn't. Scratchbuilding means you're making a model from raw material... sheet brass, sheet styrene or rod, aluminum... it doesn't mean you're making the sheet brass or styrene or aluminum!

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No, it doesn't. Scratchbuilding means you're making a model from raw material... sheet brass, sheet styrene or rod, aluminum... it doesn't mean you're making the sheet brass or styrene or aluminum!

Scratchbuilding means making a model ??. from raw material.... or is scratchbuilding a part from raw material = for a model ?? :huh:
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When we apply "from scratch" to cooking it means combining ingredients to make a finished food item. To make a cake from scratch we combine flour, sugar, baking power, eggs, oil, and whatever flavoring you desire to make the batter instead of using a box of cake mix, which is kind of like a cake "kit". In cooking I have never understood "from scratch" to mean growing the wheat and milling the flour and growing the sugar cane and processing it into sugar and raising the hens that lay the eggs and so forth so "scratchbuilt" to me would mean using readily available materials to create a thing instead of a prearranged group of components.

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I think we can agree that scratch building is the process of taking essentially basic material such as metal or plastic and changing the form into parts that resemble a miniture version of a real vehicle. If we call a model scratchbuilt, it should be made from mostly parts created from materials that do not resemble the original materials. If it is anything else then we should refer to is as having scratchbuilt parts.

Scratchbuilding doesn't mean creating the material. It means taking the material and using it to create a model.

Harry- I think that is what I said.

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When we apply "from scratch" to cooking it means combining ingredients to make a finished food item. To make a cake from scratch we combine flour, sugar, baking power, eggs, oil, and whatever flavoring you desire to make the batter instead of using a box of cake mix, which is kind of like a cake "kit". In cooking I have never understood "from scratch" to mean growing the wheat and milling the flour and growing the sugar cane and processing it into sugar and raising the hens that lay the eggs and so forth so "scratchbuilt" to me would mean using readily available materials to create a thing instead of a prearranged group of components.

As we as a civilization progress, we get further from scratch. I was raised on a farm and my Grandmothers scratch meals ment something differant from when my mother did the same thing and again it is differant from when I do it. To make a cake from scratch, my grandmother milked the cow which she raised, she ground the flour from the wheat my grandfather grew, and used eggs that she gathered from the chickens she raised. She did buy vanilla, sugar and salt from the store. My mother changed it by purchasing the flour but we still milked cow and raised chickens. When I make a cake I buy all the ingredients. So I ask you, who made cake from scratch?

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I don't get it. but I'm fairly new to model building. I don't buy "kits" to build. I draw plans of the car I want; buy some sheets of styrene and aluminum, plus some styrene tubing and glue. Then I build what I draw and try to make it look as close as I can to the real thing. I have been calling it "scratch building" but now I'm not sure what it is, other than fun to do. When you can build most anything you can think of, that's fun stuff, to me. It's not that difficult, with practice. There's several other guys here that do the same thing I use to build buildings and stadiums and custom homes. They didn't come in a kit form. Was that scratch building. It's not much different than making one of these models except more pieces and more money. Here's one I'm "scratch building" now.101_2892.jpg What should I call this kind of building.

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If you are not using kit-based parts, and you are making parts from styrene shapes, sheet, metal tubing and other raw stock materials you are scratchbuilding.

It's pretty clear. No dangling modifiers to muddy the waters. Sorry about the mixed metaphor.

PS. How many scratchbuilders can dance on the head of a pin?

Edited by Ace-Garageguy
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To see scratchbuilding at its best, there are many examples at scalemotorcars.com, where several builders fabricate everything from a variety of materials, includingmaking their own tires. Google the Duesenberg SJ of Louis Chenot for one example (with a working 1/6 engine).

http://theoldmotor.com/?p=36336

Here are others in progress at scalemotorcars.com...

http://www.scalemoto...ld-journal.html

http://www.scalemoto...rcedes-ssk.html

http://www.scalemoto...al-mark-ii.html

http://www.scalemoto...-lago-t26c.html

And, of course Gerald Wingrove is likely the most famous scratchbuilder of all.

www.geraldwingrove.com

Edited by sjordan2
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