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Modeling for fun.....again!


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9 hours ago, JJ Deuce said:

this topic really resonates.  I only recently completed a build for the first time in years.  I've got probably 30 kits in my stash that I want to complete.  I recently started wearing glasses, but even with them, I still don't see the detail as well as I used to.  I've decided I'm not wiring engines or adding alternator brackets, etc.  anymore.  going to focus on clean builds with smooth paint jobs, maybe some weathering here and there.  Time to get some stuff on the shelf!  

I've been doing all modeling under an Opti-Visor for more than a decade now. Literally couldn't get along without it. 

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2 hours ago, StevenGuthmiller said:

Do you use a lighted magnifier?

If not, get one!

It makes a gigantic difference!

 

 

Steve

 

50 minutes ago, Snake45 said:

I've been doing all modeling under an Opti-Visor for more than a decade now. Literally couldn't get along without it. 

 

i've had a magnifying visor for several years now, but I use it all the time now.   

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>> I realize that there are a lot of model car builders who enjoy the freedom of building customs and straight track subjects, but I personally really enjoy the rigidity of building factory stock.

However, building a replica of either, is no different than  building factory stock, other than the pieces that comprise the car. There is more freedom when building a model that is inspired by an actual racer, but, modelers are still bound by what equipment was available at a given time, or, by using the correct speed equipment decals, or font types, when designing graphics for a "non-replica". I can only speak for myself, here, of course, but, those are important things, to me.

I do have trouble grasping the concept that creating small details or scratchbuilding something isn't fun. Then again, that's me, too. That's where I find my zen. Boy, I'm really a weirdo! ?

Edited by Straightliner59
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On 8/17/2019 at 3:12 PM, StevenGuthmiller said:

I realize that there are a lot of model car builders who enjoy the freedom of building customs and straight track subjects, but I personally really enjoy the rigidity of building factory stock.

I love researching everything from available body colors to interior and engine options and all of the other little nuances.

And along the way, I learn a lot about the actual cars themselves! :)

I don't always get them 100% correct, (and don't necessarily feel that I need to) but I love trying!

To me, a factory stock, (or nearly stock) vehicle, captures the true flavor of the era in which it was created.

 

 

Steve

That's been my way of building for almost forever! :D

I like to do the cars that were in my sight when I first knew what a car was...............lot of fins and chrome. Later, muscle cars would have been the thing as there were a few in our family. I'll do a new(er) car every now and then, and as time goes on I'll be getting into the mid '70's stuff........and era that's all but forgotten by the model manufacturers as the GM Colonnade cars come to mind.

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6 hours ago, Straightliner59 said:

...I do have trouble grasping the concept that creating small details or scratchbuilding something isn't fun. Then again, that's me, too. That's where I find my zen. Boy, I'm really a weirdo! ?

Me too.

And that's what always bothers me about this kind of thread: the subtle but very real implication (by some respondents) that those of us who sweat the details aren't having "fun" and are somehow detrimental to the hobby, that what we do is "work" and therefore not "relaxing", etc. It's a veiled criticism of those modelers who strive for excellence by putting in the extra effort it takes to approach excellence.

Modelers who are content to produce strings of "shelf" models, with minimal effort or skill development, aren't criticized in this way.

As long as a modeler is enjoying how he approaches the hobby, no matter how intricate and detailed the work, or even if he only assembles snappers and paints them with a dirty pine-cone, there's no need for one side to denigrate the other. We don't need fun-police.

EDIT: Of course, I also consider my real "work" to be fun (most of the time). I wouldn't do it if I hated it. B)

 

Edited by Ace-Garageguy
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11 hours ago, Snake45 said:

I've been doing all modeling under an Opti-Visor for more than a decade now. Literally couldn't get along without it. 

I wear glasses normally.   Progressive lenses.  NUT I have a set of magnifiers - in my profile pic.  Interchangeable lenses from like 2 x to 5 x.   Also has an LED on it.  HOWEVER, I'm near sighted so I can see up close really sharp.  Most of hte time, I just take my glasses off and do my close up and tight detail work by getting really close to it.  Works best for me.  Magnifiers make me feel disconnected in most cases for some reason.  I've used magnifying glass lamps, readers over my glasses and these great magnifiers I'm wearing in my profile pic.  But no glasses and just working close to my eyes works best for me.  it's troublesome to have to go on and off with the glasses, but works best for me.

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48 minutes ago, Ace-Garageguy said:

Me too.

And that's what always bothers me about this kind of thread: the subtle but very real implication (by some respondents) that those of us who sweat the details aren't having "fun" and are somehow detrimental to the hobby, that what we do is "work" and therefore not "relaxing", etc. It's a veiled criticism of those modelers who strive for excellence by putting in the extra effort it takes to approach excellence.

Modelers who are content to produce strings of "shelf" models, with minimal effort or skill development, aren't criticized in this way.

As long as a modeler is enjoying how he approaches the hobby, no matter how intricate and detailed the work, or even if he only assembles snappers and paints them with a dirty pine-cone, there's no need for one side to denigrate the other. We don't need fun-police.

EDIT: Of course, I also consider my real "work" to be fun (most of the time). I wouldn't do it if I hated it. B)

 

Good point you raise there.   I tried superdetailing and realized it was not fun for me.   BUT I do admire the work you guys can do.  I do like detailing what I build as much as possible.  That includes the hours of sanding, scraping, filing glue seams, etc.   That is tedious to many I know.  But it has to be done.  A transmission and oil pan do NOT have a visible seam.  That's part of the fun to me.  No one should be maligned for having fun with this hobby.    

I too like my job but it sure gets heated and stressful more often than I'd like.   So I bust a few miunutes on here during the day to let things get back to normal.   And come November/December, it will all slow down.  (Convenience store renovation project manager) - [ Be kind to the guys working on the canopy, pumps, and signs at a convenience store - give them safe distances, please]

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2 hours ago, Ace-Garageguy said:

Me too.

And that's what always bothers me about this kind of thread: the subtle but very real implication (by some respondents) that those of us who sweat the details aren't having "fun" and are somehow detrimental to the hobby, that what we do is "work" and therefore not "relaxing", etc. It's a veiled criticism of those modelers who strive for excellence by putting in the extra effort it takes to approach excellence.

Modelers who are content to produce strings of "shelf" models, with minimal effort or skill development, aren't criticized in this way.

As long as a modeler is enjoying how he approaches the hobby, no matter how intricate and detailed the work, or even if he only assembles snappers and paints them with a dirty pine-cone, there's no need for one side to denigrate the other. We don't need fun-police.

EDIT: Of course, I also consider my real "work" to be fun (most of the time). I wouldn't do it if I hated it. B)

 

I certainly didn't mean to imply that.  I've never done the really superdetailed stuff, but I do appreciate the amount of work that goes into it.   I enjoy seeing some of the wild stuff y'all are building in here, especially when it looks like it would actually function in full scale.  

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There are lots of ways to do this hobby. All of them are good. When I was a kid, my first couple of models were unpainted. They were fun to build. Did they look good? Not really, but still, they were fun to build. I've progressed a bit since then.

One of the things I like about model cars versus armor and aircraft is the freedom to freelance the kind of car I might build for myself. That creative element is a lot of fun for me. Super detailing is interesting. It's hard for me to do, but I'm getting better at it. Done well, it adds a lot to a model. But, sometimes, I'm more interested in the design concept, so the detailing isn't so important. I've gotten much better at discerning these situations and building accordingly. That's a lot more fun.

My skills are also evolving so something that used to be hard is now fun. I have to be conscious of not adding too many hard things to a build at once. This has gotten me frustrated and stalled on more than one occasion. I boxed up the model, only to come back to it later when my skills were a better match for my ambitions and have fun with it. 

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9 hours ago, Straightliner59 said:

I do have trouble grasping the concept that creating small details or scratchbuilding something isn't fun. Then again, that's me, too. That's where I find my zen. Boy, I'm really a weirdo! ?

Not to pile on poor Daniel here, but each and every one of us have our interests.  Same with people who collect things like butterflies, that would bore most of us silly!

For me, I will scratch build stuff and it's more of a "do I think I can..."  thing.  I'm not super detailing it, just creating things and finding satisfaction when I discover that indeed I can!

MVC-007F

Here's an example... I was working on a model using the custom engine /  trans from the Beverly Hills truck. I was putting it into the old Monogram Green Hornet which has no floor. The transmission had no linkage detail and it would be very visible.  So I grabbed a few photos from the Internet and made this. It may look impressive but it's just three pieces of bent wire, two pieces of scrap plastic and four Grandtline bolt heads.  It took me an evening of trial and error but I was really stoked when I finished!  Will I do this again?  Probably not, especially on vehicles where the trans is stuffed up in a tunnel.  I just wanted to see if I could do it!

IMG 2673

The interior in this camper is mostly scratch built.  I had admired the work of folks like Ken Hamilton for years and wanted to see what I could do.  This wasn't all that difficult to do, it's mostly basswood and straight angles.  If you can use an exacto knife and Elmer's wood glue you could make this. 

The one thing in this photo that was the most fun was making the coffee maker!  That was made from Evergreen sheet.  I measured off my real coffee maker and then cut plastic to make the small pieces.   Not a big deal.  But I'm very pleased with the achievement of this interior! I set a goal and was able to achieve it.  That was the fun of it.

 

image.png.57757c469e336f8dcf6bd5cc848e7d67.png

Here's my current project, that I'm hoping to finish soon.  I scratch built the entire back end of the truck.  It's not all that complicated when you break it down to shapes, something that Joe Cavorley taught me.  The rear steps had me stumped for a while and one evening I just started cutting Evergreen sheet into the shapes.  The side piece mimics the riser on my deck outside.  The roof is nothing more than a few pieces of basswood cut into the shape of a roof.  Same basswood cut into small pieces form the shingles. Basic cutting and gluing.

I love seeing all these things come together.  That's what's fun in the hobby for me.  If I was to just build things purely out of the box, well that's like assembling a puzzle to me.  Not that it's wrong for others... just whatever floats your boat.

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1 hour ago, Dave Ambrose said:

...My skills are also evolving so something that used to be hard is now fun. I have to be conscious of not adding too many hard things to a build at once. This has gotten me frustrated and stalled on more than one occasion. I boxed up the model, only to come back to it later when my skills were a better match for my ambitions and have fun with it. 

I'm glad you said that. I find myself in exactly the same position. I'm often surprised that I can breeze through some things now that I would have struggled with a while back, and that caused builds to get shelved.

I'm also very aware that I have a long way to go before I'm satisfied with most of what I do with models (and I'm constantly inspired by builders here).

There are loosely two ways to approach doing anything new (as skills don't just appear naturally without conscious development) :

   1) Embrace the challenge, accept that frustration is an almost unavoidable part of growth, and keep on keepin' on until the difficult does indeed become "fun" (and to me, nothing is as much "fun" as seeing something I've made that finally equals my vision, and that I simply couldn't have done at some earlier time).

   2) Lighten up because it's "too hard" to chase excellence, and be content to work at whatever level takes the least effort and is seen as more "fun".

Either approach is equally valid for the individual doing it.

Edited by Ace-Garageguy
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I sort of go in-between on detailing. Some is fun to do, too much and my kits end up on the Shelf Of Shame. 

On this Porsche tractor, the toy-like front suspension annoyed me. So I added MENG nuts and bolts to it. I managed to lose part of the exhaust system. So I built a vertical exhaust stack, using a 1/35 scale tank muffler, an HO scale locomotive exhaust pipe, and a piece of perforated brass for the heat shield.  And if I put a tool box on a model, darn it, it's going to have tools in it!  Other than that and a few other minor tweaks, this one was straight out of the box and an absolute blast to build.

Dsc_0064.jpg

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4 hours ago, Ace-Garageguy said:

Me too.

And that's what always bothers me about this kind of thread: the subtle but very real implication (by some respondents) that those of us who sweat the details aren't having "fun" and are somehow detrimental to the hobby, that what we do is "work" and therefore not "relaxing", etc. It's a veiled criticism of those modelers who strive for excellence by putting in the extra effort it takes to approach excellence.

Modelers who are content to produce strings of "shelf" models, with minimal effort or skill development, aren't criticized in this way.

As long as a modeler is enjoying how he approaches the hobby, no matter how intricate and detailed the work, or even if he only assembles snappers and paints them with a dirty pine-cone, there's no need for one side to denigrate the other. We don't need fun-police.

EDIT: Of course, I also consider my real "work" to be fun (most of the time). I wouldn't do it if I hated it. B)

 

Some of you may have been following Roger Zimmerman's amazing Continantal build.  It is equal parts inspiring and humbling, yet at the same time, I can see how some people might want to finish more than three builds in their lifetime.

Life is too short to spend it worrying about how other people build their models.

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Everyone has their own line where detailing/super-detailing becomes more trouble than it's worth; same for "good enough" vs. "I know it's there".  The older I get and the more my eyesight deteriorates, the closer I get to thinking "good enough" is good enough.   Getting bogged down with detailing and struggling to see what I'm doing kind of takes the fun out of it.

Edited by dodgefever
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It only matters to yourself and what you want to make of the hobby. I admire everyones builds we are all different. If we all built exactly the same. Then it wouldn't be any fun. Right color for a particular make of car. If the color you choose is the one you like. Then that's the color it should be. Sparkplug wires. Door hinges and latches. Might be fine for some and not others. But I do enjoy looking at them thinking "maybe one day". It should only please yourself.

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As the OP of this thread I hope we can stay on track and not let my thread turn into some argument.

It just isn't there, no criticism, "veiled" or otherwise of anyone or anything. I just was speaking for myself saying I want to try to not be SELF DEFEATING in my builds.

Let's not manufacture conflict just for the sake of conflict. That makes no sense.

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7 hours ago, Ace-Garageguy said:

Me too.

And that's what always bothers me about this kind of thread: the subtle but very real implication (by some respondents) that those of us who sweat the details aren't having "fun" and are somehow detrimental to the hobby, that what we do is "work" and therefore not "relaxing", etc. It's a veiled criticism of those modelers who strive for excellence by putting in the extra effort it takes to approach excellence.

Modelers who are content to produce strings of "shelf" models, with minimal effort or skill development, aren't criticized in this way.

As long as a modeler is enjoying how he approaches the hobby, no matter how intricate and detailed the work, or even if he only assembles snappers and paints them with a dirty pine-cone, there's no need for one side to denigrate the other. We don't need fun-police.

EDIT: Of course, I also consider my real "work" to be fun (most of the time). I wouldn't do it if I hated it. B)

 

Could not have saidit better, myself!

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1 hour ago, GaryR said:

As the OP of this thread I hope we can stay on track and not let my thread turn into some argument.

It just isn't there, no criticism, "veiled" or otherwise of anyone or anything. I just was speaking for myself saying I want to try to not be SELF DEFEATING in my builds.

Let's not manufacture conflict just for the sake of conflict. That makes no sense.

I'm certainly not trying to create conflict or animosity where there isn't any, and I held off saying anything at all just for that reason.

But when the term "rivet counting" gets tossed out (3rd post), essentially a jab at those who indulge in -perhaps- obsessive attention to detail or overall quality or technical and historical correctness, my hackles go up.

"Rivet counter" has always been a derogatory term, pure and simple.

Denigrating builders who are essentially incompetent and don't care, who are content with grainy paint, fingerprints all over everything, wobbly brush strokes, poor masking, abysmal fit and finish in general...well, it's not tolerated here. And if they're having fun, enjoying the time they spend glueing things together, why should it be? Different strokes.

But those of us who enjoy taking things a little farther should be allowed just as much consideration.

Far as the "fun" thing and the notion of "self defeating" go, if anybody isn't enjoying the way they're approaching the hobby, feeling it's too stressful, not relaxing, or that they're putting too much intensity into what is in fact recreation and not a job, they're certainly entirely free to drop back and find a comfort level at any time...where it gets to be "fun" again.

But the notion that striving for excellence and "having fun" are somehow always mutually exclusive is incorrect.

Again...my intent wasn't to start an argument. It was primarily a reaction to the term "rivet counting".

Edited by Ace-Garageguy
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Some people fine rivet counting fun, some find it tedious and pointless.

Some people find slapping a kit together quickly and as per instructions fun, others find it haphazard and careless.

At the end of the day, you are building for you. And if you find your methods are fun and they give you the satisfaction that you need, then you have my support, even if I would never build something that way.

 

 

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48 minutes ago, iamsuperdan said:

Some people fine rivet counting fun, some find it tedious and pointless.

Some people find slapping a kit together quickly and as per instructions fun, others find it haphazard and careless.

At the end of the day, you are building for you. And if you find your methods are fun and they give you the satisfaction that you need, then you have my support, even if I would never build something that way.

 

 

thats what makes this forum so great! This has to be the best bunch of guys ive seen yet. i build for myself and if im happy with it then thats all that matters. i have seen things on here i didn't necessarily agree with but im not gonna bash or trash anyone, if it makes them happy then no need in trying to take that away from someone. 

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The initial post is an interesting view. I participate in my hobbies for fun.  Whether I am building a super-detailed or a box-stock model car, model train, or some electronic circuit, I find it pleasurable.  If I didn't have fun, I wouldn't be doing it - period!  So to me the notion that super-detailing a model car is not fun, and that building a simple box-stock (or a snapper) model would give me more pleasure (or less frustration) seems odd.

Maybe if I was building models strictly to win model contest, that would be frustrating, but I don't - I build whatever subject I fins appealing. If I enter a model contest with it and win - great. If not - no big deal.  Hobbies are meant to be fun (not frustrating work).

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