Biggest pet peeves on builds.

[sfhess]

Bare metal foil over unpolished paint.  Looks like chromed stucco.

[Snake45]

38 minutes ago, sfhess said:

Bare metal foil over unpolished paint.  Looks like chromed stucco.

Oh yeah. I've also likened it to stuck-on chewing gum wrapper. 

[stitchdup]

They dont magically grow to 1/1 scale so i can get in and drive them

[StevenGuthmiller]

53 minutes ago, Snake45 said:

We didn't have computers in the '50s-'60s. We had bikes and models. 

I was pretty much exclusively an airplane modeler till I was almost 12. Then I got interested in cars (1966). 

Precisely.

When I was between the ages of 5 and 14 or so, there was nothing else to do in the small town that I lived in except ride our bikes to the swimming pool, play with Match Box cars in the back yard, or build models.

 

 

Steve

[Dann Tier]

4 hours ago, CabDriver said:

That one seems oddly specific ?

Apparently its hit a bunch of exposed nerves, lol. Dang, i was just giving my own pet peeve, and all of a sudden i get attacked. I'd love to say that i started building models when i was 5, but i didnt...i started at the age of 7. There is ALWAYS an exception for everything, but the number of people who say they started to build at the age of five, is still a LOAD. So lets use a little humor to make it seem more believable; "I got glue all over"....."it looked terrible"    "I couldnt read, but......"   How hard is it to really tell the truth?.....its not like you're any less of a modeler if you didnt start at the "Good ol Boys" age. Thats the other thing....."I couldnt read..."   funny how people can distinctly remember building at 5, but cant remember that  MOST directions were in WRITTEN form, with horrible pictures to show locations that were just as difficult to find.....Hmmmm.  I call; myth busted. 

   Maybe the definition of "Started to build models at 5" is the problem here. We have weathermen here that says its snowing, yet wen you look outside, you can BARELY see it, and it melts before it hits the ground. To me, thats NOT snowing. An adult doing most of the work doesnt mean you started building models....MOST five year olds dont have the attention span....

[Dann Tier]

4 hours ago, Tom Geiger said:

Or the five year old kid who wins the Junior Class at a show with a perfectly built,  air brushed -- clear coated -- polished model!   Which matches his father's building skills?  ?

YES!!!!!....this is my point EXACTLY!!!!!

[Dann Tier]

2 hours ago, 89AKurt said:

My biggest pet peeve, not everyone builds the same subjects I like, and not to the same extremely perfect high standards that I so easily and perfectly execute, what's everybody's problem?  ?

Seriously, this is such a subjective topic, fun to read what we have to deal with, much like life.  Without getting into bashing certain types of ..... uh ..... vehicles, what fun is that?  When I tell someone that I build models, they say "oh I built some when I was a kid" which implies something like I haven't grown up? ?

LOL!!!!

[Daddyfink]

Plug wires that are even way too big to be heater hoses! And then there is the Angry Spider look! When the wires just form a huge arch over the engine from the distributor to the spark plug area. 

 

[Snake45]

7 minutes ago, Daddyfink said:

 And then there is the Angry Spider look! When the wires just form a huge arch over the engine from the distributor to the spark plug area. 

Don't forget the Parted Hair Look, where all the wires on the left side of the engine come (in order) from the left side of the distributor and vice versa! (Yes I realize there are aftermarket distributor caps now that will actually do this.) 

Repeat after me: 1-8-4-3-6-5-7-2! It really ain't that hard to do! 

[tbill]

Poor paint on an otherwise cleanly built model. I know painting is a learning curve, but I have seen some well built models at shows with super detail in the engine compartment and interior,  but the body looks like they used 1:1 undercoat as primer ........

[Tom Geiger]

When I was 5-6-7 I was a big fan of Matchbox cars and probably had never seen a model. Then we moved to Izmir, Turkey where I can guarantee you there were no models for sale. My earliest recollection of a model car was in1967 when I was 9. My father had a model of a Studebaker Avanti that he pulled out to use as a template to build my Pinewood Derby car as an Avanti. And I don’t recall what happened to the model. 

We returned to the USA for a year in 1968 and that’s when I got into model cars at age 10.

[StevenGuthmiller]

I guess that I should clarify that these are not so much "pet peeves" about anyone else's builds, but more so things that I can't abide on my own.

I see fantastic builds all of the time that I may have done a few things differently on, even some of my own, but there are certain items that are just prerequisites at this point in my modeling career.

 

Another one that I can't do any more is not eliminating the front screw posts on annual style kits with screw on chassis.

Nothing kills a beautifully detailed engine compartment like a couple of enormous round pegs stuck to the radiator brace!

 

 

Steve

 

[LL3 Model Worx]

3 hours ago, StevenGuthmiller said:

I'm not certain what you mean by "subjective" in this case.

The goal in model building is to achieve an end result that is as realistic as possible.

Just as a seam in a radiator is not realistic, neither is paint with metallic in it that would be the size of dimes if brought up to 1:1 scale, and it is the absolute first thing that you see when viewing a build.

Unless you're trying to build a gasser with a crazy metal flake paint job, paint, like ever other aspect of the model, should be as close to the real thing as possible.

 

 

Steve

I agree with you in the context of building a realistic replica of a factory vehicle for sure.

But as for the customs/and Gassers like you mentioned the wild flakes may be desirable... that context wasn't offered before, so that is why I said ite subjective.

[1930fordpickup]

1 hour ago, Snake45 said:

Don't forget the Parted Hair Look, where all the wires on the left side of the engine come (in order) from the left side of the distributor and vice versa! (Yes I realize there are aftermarket distributor caps now that will actually do this.) 

Repeat after me: 1-8-4-3-6-5-7-2! It really ain't that hard to do! 

I understand your point but those caps have been out for decades, back to the 80's. 

[LL3 Model Worx]

1 hour ago, Snake45 said:

Don't forget the Parted Hair Look, where all the wires on the left side of the engine come (in order) from the left side of the distributor and vice versa! (Yes I realize there are aftermarket distributor caps now that will actually do this.) 

Repeat after me: 1-8-4-3-6-5-7-2! It really ain't that hard to do! 

I've been guilty or "garden hose" plug wires...3 times to be exact... no more.

But that rule of firing order doesn't always stand true... lots of different orders out there.... most fords are different.

But I get your point lol.

 

[CabDriver]

3 hours ago, Dann Tier said:

Apparently its hit a bunch of exposed nerves, lol. Dang, i was just giving my own pet peeve, and all of a sudden i get attacked. I'd love to say that i started building models when i was 5, but i didnt...i started at the age of 7. There is ALWAYS an exception for everything, but the number of people who say they started to build at the age of five, is still a LOAD. So lets use a little humor to make it seem more believable; "I got glue all over"....."it looked terrible"    "I couldnt read, but......"   How hard is it to really tell the truth?.....its not like you're any less of a modeler if you didnt start at the "Good ol Boys" age. Thats the other thing....."I couldnt read..."   funny how people can distinctly remember building at 5, but cant remember that  MOST directions were in WRITTEN form, with horrible pictures to show locations that were just as difficult to find.....Hmmmm.  I call; myth busted. 

   Maybe the definition of "Started to build models at 5" is the problem here. We have weathermen here that says its snowing, yet wen you look outside, you can BARELY see it, and it melts before it hits the ground. To me, thats NOT snowing. An adult doing most of the work doesnt mean you started building models....MOST five year olds dont have the attention span....

I didn’t mean for you to get attacked, and I didn’t know who or what you were referencing - it just sounded oddly specific like I said!  
 

I don’t remember what I was doing when I was five ?‍♂️?

[StevenGuthmiller]

2 hours ago, LL3 Model Worx said:

I agree with you in the context of building a realistic replica of a factory vehicle for sure.

But as for the customs/and Gassers like you mentioned the wild flakes may be desirable... that context wasn't offered before, so that is why I said ite subjective.

Point taken and accepted.

 

I guess I was mainly thinking in the context that the vast majority of builds that I see are trying to depict stock or at least "stockish" vehicles.

Even the overwhelming majority of custom vehicles have paint that does not have extraordinarily large flakes in the finish.

On the contrary, a large portion of customs today are finished in pearl paints, and the like, where metal flakes are nearly imperceptible, even on the 1:1 vehicles.

 

 

Steve

[alan barton]

There's one big one for me and it is very specific to my fullscale interests as well as my modelling interests.

Vertical windshields on 1928 to 1936 roadsters, roadster pickups and phaetons, irrespective of manufacture.

Guys, please, check your Google images.  Pretty much all manufacturers of soft tops by 1928 were gently laying their windshields back.  It is an important part of the beginning of streamlined design.  Go through any contest annual and there seems to be oodles of roadsters with windshields that look like farm gates.

One of my favourite models, the AMT 29 roadster, is one of the biggest victims here, probably because of the way AMT moulded the windshield to the cowl trim.  It only takes a little effort however, to just lean it back a couple of degrees.

You're welcome!

Cheers

Alan

[Dann Tier]

1 hour ago, CabDriver said:

I didn’t mean for you to get attacked, and I didn’t know who or what you were referencing - it just sounded oddly specific like I said!  
 

I don’t remember what I was doing when I was five ?‍♂️?

I know, bud...it woulda happened anyway, lol.....theres a few people who love to cause issues.....they arent important.

[Can-Con]

19 hours ago, CabDriver said:

I’d really like it if hot rod pickups were allowed in the section with the other hot rods rather than in the forum with minivans and off road stuff and SUVs and whatever else 

X2 !! ?

[LL3 Model Worx]

33 minutes ago, StevenGuthmiller said:

Point taken and accepted.

 

I guess I was mainly thinking in the context that the vast majority of builds that I see are trying to depict stock or at least "stockish" vehicles.

Even the overwhelming majority of custom vehicles have paint that does not have extraordinarily large flakes in the finish.

On the contrary, a large portion of customs today are finished in pearl paints, and the like, where metal flakes are nearly imperceptible, even on the 1:1 vehicles.

 

 

Steve

No doubt.

During my years in the body shop we only had maybe 2 or 3 vehicles we did the big flakes on... where we literally used the same stuff used on boats.

I recall one was a Chevy G30 conversion van and another a motorcycle. I think we did one that was a old fiberglass dunes buggy.

But yea, not at all common and a PAIN to do!

Modern urethane paints are both great and not so great depending on how you look at it...

Look at the majority of new cars and they are orange peeled like crazy... because of urethane and the fact it is extremely durable, manufacturers can apply it so thin and so quick that imperfections (orange peel) often occur and you cant buff it out because the clear is so thin it's pretty unbelievable.

Unlike the days of lacquer (even when catalyzed) where you had to apply more to have the same level of durability, coverage and longevity, so it would also usually have less obvious imperfections due to a wetter slower process.

So modern urethane is a good product that allows manufacturers to be lazy/cheap painters...equals bad looking tough finishes.

However, did you know all white new Toyota trucks are actually single stage!! They revived a 70yr old paint system for one color!!  I think they just found a good deal on it though.

Sorry for rambling ..

[Casey]

 

Same topic, same old complaints. Nice to see a random asinine comment thrown in this time, with the accompanying plate of crow being served in return, along with a slice of humble pie for good measure.

IBTL. ?

[StevenGuthmiller]

11 minutes ago, Casey said:

 

Same topic, same old complaints. Nice to see a random asinine comment thrown in this time, with the accompanying plate of crow being served in return, along with a slice of humble pie for good measure.

IBTL. ?

I missed the humble pie, but I did see a recent example of the pot calling the kettle black.

 

 

 

Steve

[tbill]

3....2.....1.....

[highway]

21 hours ago, Snake45 said:

And, conversely, roadster pickups and other clearly ROD early trucks that get moved here down to the Truck section (which I never look at). 

 

19 hours ago, CabDriver said:

I’d really like it if hot rod pickups were allowed in the section with the other hot rods rather than in the forum with minivans and off road stuff and SUVs and whatever else 

Those complaints fall on deaf ears here because ever since any non commercial 4 wheeled trucks got moved to the truck section, those of us that are interested in the commercial aspect of modeling such as big rigs, emergency, and service vehicles have been complaining about the stock, off road, and hot rod styles of trucks and vans being in the truck section. It used to be exclusively commercial use vehicles and that is how it should have stayed and it has hurt that part of the forum for the ones that are exclusively into that type of modeling and been one of the pet peeves of many there since the change was made and is one of mine as well. I do build quite a bit of heavy commercial vehicles since I spent 18 years of my life driving one before medical problems ended my career, and before the change I went there for information on the latest and greatest on the newest news for that segment of the hobby, and while I do have interest in pickups also the section I used to go to for my main interest in the hobby is now flooded with nothing but pickups and things that hold less interest for me. 

 

I have to agree with some of the other pet peeves I've read here, and sometimes they aren't as much pet peeves as much as just things that leave me shaking my head like the beautiful paint jobs with mold lines spoiling them or tons of aftermarket photoetch and parts then like the example of the mold line on the radiator. I've judged quite a few shows when I was a member of a model club on my area before it lost membership and was no more, and there were many times that there were models that could have easily been an award winning model if the builder had spent just a little more time on the basics of building instead of pouring their time and money into putting on the flashy bling thinking that was what won awards. 

I do have to say not only one of my biggest things that not only leaves me shaking my head so hard but is also the biggest pet peeve I have when I see it applies to my favorite segment of big rig models, and that is the seam around the fuel tanks on trucks. I don't how many builds I have seen that go from average to some that are absolutely mindblowing, but then my eye goes straight to that huge seam in the middle of the fuel tank where the tank halves go together! I don't know if it just because the builder insists on chrome fuel tanks and doesn't have an airbrush to use Alclad or doesn't want to take the extra time to strip the chrome and sand the seam then use BMF if airbrushing isn't an option, but it ruins the entire build! Sure, there are correct seams on the real things, but only one where the aluminium would be rolled into the tank shape and that is usually hidden from view, and on each end where the end caps are welded on to the ends and one where the filler neck is welded on, but not one completely through the middle of the tank!