Ideas vrs. talent

[Roadrunner]

I too have lofty goals that exceed my abilities. I try anyway, because I figure I just lose if I don't try.

[Jon Haigwood]

One thing I keep in mind when I see other builds that are sooooo much better than mine is what someone said to me when I first started learning guitar. "Guys like Eric Clapton are not born with the talent they practice it until they get it the way they want it.

[chunkypeanutbutter]

I always admire people who do ignition wires. I tried it once and felt it was alright, but I've not used the skill since. I don't really think it has a massive effect on the engine bay look... anyways, I guess what I'm getting at is just try the little "complicated" things: you may be surprised.

[Aaronw]

There's an old joke that I fall back on when I come across something that I think I might not be able to handle...... and it's pretty apropos to this situation.

"So how do you get to Carnegie Hall?"

"Practice, son. Practice."

When I got back into the hobby (when I built my '84 Toyota Supra, don't remember how far back exactly...), I looked at...

1: Bare Metal Foil

2: Photo-Etch

3: Decal handling

4: Clean, even layers of spray paint

5: Scratch-building

6: Customization

And thought "There is no HUMAN WAY I'm ever going to figure out how to use that stuff!"....

And now I try to work a little bit of everything into each new build. It's all about learning what others are doing here and trying it out... by practicing.

I'm no expert, and many of my builds aren't award winners, but I'm pretty satisfied with how the majority of them turned out. And there's still more to learn.

I'm still waiting for the "modelling fairy" to come visit me and delicately tap me on the back of my head with her glitter-covered ball-peen hammer and grant me the ancient wisdom of airbrushing.

Yep, I've got a ton of projects that I tried and just wasn't there yet so they languish on the shelf of shame. Those also taught me a lot and I have completed models that exist because of those earlier failed attempts.

[Pete J.]

I am going to start this off with a takeoff on the old Carnegie hall joke but this one happens to be true. A friend of my dad's during WWII was a metal of honor winner and happened to loose the metal when he was transferred from Florida to Washington DC. He decided that it would be a good thing to get a replacement but didn't know how. As it happens he worked on far from the War Department so one day on his lunch break he walked in and asked the receptionist how he could go about getting a metal of honor. The dumfounded receptionist blinked a couple of time and when she recovered sufficiently said, "Well you could start by bailing out over Tokyo!"

The point of this story is that when it comes to modeling you have to "bail out over Tokyo" before anything will happened. Pick up a model and lop off anything that doesn't look like what you want it to look like and start adding stuff until it does. Your going to make mistakes, but correct them, don't start over. You will learn how to prevent mistakes that way. Get a 5 gallon bucket of Super Clean and grab your airbrush and start painting. If it don't look right, into the Super Clean and try again until it does look right. Bare metal foil looks like you threw a roll of Reynolds wrap at it? A little scraping and some alcohol and ....... well, you get the picture. Persistence is the name of this game. Keep doing it. If you quit every time you get frustrated, you will wind up with a box full of incomplete models. Stay after it until you are happy with the out come. Never give up, never surrender!

[disabled modeler]

Ray... count me in the group too...I have a lot of cool ideas for builds but too often I lack ether the parts or experience to do some major modifications Id like to try...like converting some cars into late 60s or early 70s station wagons,opening doors with realistic looking hinges that work right...then there is always Murphy's luck or curse...

[Harry P.]

I too have lofty goals that exceed my abilities...

Better to have goals that exceed your ability than ability that exceeds your goals.

[1972coronet]

As a visual artist , the single most humbling experience I've encountered was when I was admiring the works of Robert Williams ! For those among us whom aren't familiar with his name , think of the Guns and Roses "Appetite for Destruction" gatefold art (which I won't share here due to its controversial content ). The artwork itself is beyond astounding , then viewing it in person is another thing all together ; the actual piece is positively huge !! And it's all oil paint (the most painstaking paint to work with ; non-catalysed , slow curing paint ).

After leaving the exhibit , I said to my friend and fellow artist , "Well , I give up ! I can't go any where near Williams' work !"

A truly humbling --and inspirational-- experience !

My point being that trying to hold a candle to the impressive and impressionable works of others is an exercise in futility . I realise that the scope of my skills isn't as far reaching as I'd like for them to be . Surely , practise makes perfect and all that , but in the end I'm too lazy to dedicate that much effort to one piece.

You can't teach any one how to draw , you can only hone their natural skills.

[JBucci]

I would like to build contest level cars some day but I know it won't happen over night. With each build I'll a new technique, new paint, try adding new details, ect. Then one day I know I'll end up with a contest level model.

[Art Anderson]

One thing I keep in mind when I see other builds that are sooooo much better than mine is what someone said to me when I first started learning guitar. "Guys like Eric Clapton are not born with the talent they practice it until they get it the way they want it.

Don't we sometimes confuse "talent" with "skills"? I wonder about that. It seems to me that often we confuse the two, for it seems to me that talent is something most humans are gifted with, in all manner of areas, while skills are certainly something which can be learned, and generally are. In short, I think it's "skill" that is necessary to translate one's talent into something either visual, or audio in order for whatever creative project to be experienced by others.

This is what I meant, above, with my short comment about "What the mind of man can conceive, man can achieve". Most all of us can conceive, at least in our mind's eye, how we would like a certain model car project to look, but it takes work to make that happen--and that's where the work, the skills necessarily come into play. Along with that, I do believe it takes at least some courage though:

Think about that for a moment if you will: Not very many of us like the idea of starting on a model project, only to have it fail at some point--of course not. So, it takes at least a mind-set to risk those failures, and developed skills to both avoid such disappointments, and further, to correct a mistake, a "failure" if you will, and overcome the disappointment that can be a part of this or any other creative hobby or pursuit. This is particularly true if such miscues, the "blind alleys" which can happen with any model car project, happen at all publicly--which is why (or so it seems to me) that a huge proportion of scale modeling projects, cars included, seem to happen in private, almost never shown to anyone (consider that in any venue where model car kits are sold--there likely are far more model builders who walk that same aisle in a hobby shop or online, whom none of us seem to ever see, let alone see their finished projects.

To carry this further, consider that even in today's smaller market for any new model car kit, it still takes a minimum of a couple hundred thousand units for any new kit to be financially successful--can you imagine even seeing HALF of the sales volume of any model car kit at say, an NNL? There's not a venue around, nor the volunteer staff to even run a show that big. I chalk this one up to the "courage" factor, if you will, the willingness of perhaps a majority of model car kit buyers to "risk" showing off their work, lest they be found "wanting" in the talent or skills part of things.

To sum up, I see "talent" as something we all have, in some area of endeavor, a latent ability; "skills" as something which generally are learned either by rote, or by being taught (most all of us have achieved a blend of both BTW)--put in the blender of our minds, and mixed with a generous seasoning of "courage"--the willingness to risk that a model project may well fail, to an extent anywhere from minor flaws to a total disaster.

Art

[Kit Basher]

Well put, Art. I agree individuals have talent that allow them to excel in some area, like art, science, music, language, etc. Those individuals still have to learn and practice skills to fully develop that talent. Those, like me, who do not have a talent for model building, have to make up for it with extra effort, and perhaps lower expectations. I know I will never reach the level of some of the builders I see on here, and I'm OK with that. For me, I'm satisfied if I did my best, whatever the outcome might be.

[cartpix]

My big problem is finding bench time. If I'm lucky, I might get an hour or 2 a night, during the week, & 5 or 6 hours, on the weekend. Some days / weeks, I get no bench time. I have been working on a 240Z street racer (think Discovery Channel's Street Outlaws), since March. It's a full detail build with most parts heavily modified or scratch built. It's the kind of project, that would have been shelved several times, by now, but I'm not giving up.

I scratch built a 25.3 roll cage & have rebuilt it 5 or 6 times. I've blown through a couple packages of Evergreen 1/16" plastic rod, in the process. It's not perfect but I'm satisfied with it, enough to move on. I'm using techniques, that I have successfully used, in the past, some I have tried & fail, in the past, & ones that I have never tried before, like vacuforming. I just keep plugging away until I get it right, raising my own bar.

The ironic part is, this is a shelf model & may never see a contest table. Few will know what went into building it. Even fewer will appreciate it, like I will. But I will. I'm really pushing myself, on this one & learning new skills, on the way. Maybe when it's done, I'll pull some of my other projects, off the shelf & finish them, too.

[Harry P.]

...it seems to me that talent is something most humans are gifted with, in all manner of areas, while skills are certainly something which can be learned, and generally are.

I agree.

Talent is innate; you can't teach or learn talent. Some people are born with artistic talent, or musical talent. They weren't taught it, it's "in" them. But you can teach and/or learn a skill.

A person with musical talent can maximize that talent by practicing... by learning skills to make themselves a better musician. But a person with absolutely no musical talent whatsoever can still learn to play a piano, for example, by learning skills. He will never be a concert pianist, but he can learn to pound out a song or two.

Talent is what we're born with, skill is how we can improve on that talent.

[Tom Geiger]

Those, like me, who do not have a talent for model building, have to make up for it with extra effort, and perhaps lower expectations. I know I will never reach the level of some of the builders I see on here, and I'm OK with that. For me, I'm satisfied if I did my best, whatever the outcome might be.

That's pretty much it. Most of us will not model to a level to win the GSL. That's called the cutting edge of the hobby. It's fun to watch and admire, and it does show what can be accomplished. For me, if I can create a reasonable simulation of the model that's in my head, I'm a happy camper.

[Ace-Garageguy]

Don't we sometimes confuse "talent" with "skills"?

Frequently.

[Ron Hamilton]

As Dirty Harry once said..."Every man has got to know his limitations."

I know mine, and with the onset of arthritis, and declining vision, My best work is behind me. I do the best I can, and build the best models I can do within my limitations.

Fortunately, I know a few short cuts, and I have a few tools and supplies which aid in my building. I build for myself, and I am happy to share my work with others. And I am not too proud to take constructive criticism and suggestions on how to improve my builds.

[Pete J.]

Talent is something we accuse others of having when we don't understand and are not willing to go to the great lengths and long hours they have gone to, to hone their skills to execute what little talent they actually have!

[martinfan5]

I have more ideas than my talent can back up.

[DeeCee]

I usually get an idea in my head, then remove what i need to remove from the subject, THEN i work out what i need to do to make it all happen.

If you hesitate too long, and try work out every detail, you probably will never do it, but once you make that cut, you gotta fix it, it's only plastic, it will go back together

one way or another, so it might as well be the way you were thinking of.

This is how I go about it anyway..

[cartpix]

Sometimes, I have the talent but not the ideas. When I see someone build something, out of the ordinary, I wonder, why didn't (couldn't) think of that?

[Scott Colmer]

I don't have the talent to pull down the big awards at contests, but through trial and a good amount of error I can usually create the vision I have in my head. It helps me to draw it out. I am not a great artist either.

That is where you see the talent come in. I have a few friends who are professional automotive artists. If you have ever seen a true artist draw it is an amazing show. Every once in a while a professional artist get the urge to build a model. I can usually spot it. There was one doing upgraded Deals Wheels on another site. Very nice stuff.

[Dave Ambrose]

Don't we sometimes confuse "talent" with "skills"?

You know, I'd settle for either one.

[b-body fan]

My last 2 builds I just envisioned what I wanted and started cutting. They may not turn out right, but I'm having a blast! They're on the works in progress thread. Chop top 34 ford and 55 el cami-no. Enjoy it. The more you try the better you'll get.

[charlie8575]

I'd rather see a model described as a "Great idea, marginal execution" than no model at all. If you have an idea, why not just give it a shot? It's certainly worth the $20-50 in plastic to have that model, and you'll gain skills in the process. And with the miracle of the Internet, you can get advise through the entire process.

There will be those times when we do bite off more than we can chew. I've packed those back in their boxes for another day. There's a few models that I later found I had since gained that skill, and finished it.

And for those really grandiose ideas, I've found procrastination to work well. If I wait long enough someone will come out with a kit or resin.

Very true, especially that last sentence it seems.

Building models is not a God given talent.

It's not one of those things that you either "have" or not.

It all takes time & practice.

I've been building models for over 40 years & have never really learned the "art" of custom building & never will, because it doesn't interest me.

I've learned other aspects of the hobby that I take interest in & have tried to hone those skills over the years.

You can never be all things.

So just because you can't build customs or whatever other genre, doesn't mean you have no talent.

I don't necessarily consider an excellent carpenter "talented".

He's just become very good at "what he does" over time.

Same applies to any hobby.

Steve

Also very true.

I'd love to do a total scratchbuild and a nice diorama. With getting a small model railroad back up and running, I'm hoping to work on the diorama stuff, and the HO scale witll transfer to 1/25 scale.

Knowing your limits is important, but like Harry said, knowing when to stretch them is even more important.

Charlie Larkin

[Pete J.]

I think a simple analogy applies here. You don't get stronger by going to a gym and watching others. You may gain inspiration, learn technique and form, but to get stronger you actually have to grab ahold of the weights and pump the iron!. This web site is the gym but the real workout happens at the work bench!