do you consider model cars art?

[conor1148]

ive never really thought of this before but do you guys (and gals i guess ) consider making model cars, dioramas, and so on to be an artform?

i guess it could be one, what do you guys think?

something to think about

[Paul Payne]

YES!!!!!

[Harry P.]

I'd say yes...it's an art form. Why not?

[evilone]

heck yha

its the only thing that can give me a migrane in 5 min (everyone knows that when the parts don't line up no matter what you do it gives you a headach or a pain in your fist and a hole in the wall)

[Nick F40]

Well yeah, it's an artform. You express what you are feeling, creativity, and your personality in art and this is one too. Some of the pure craftsmanship put in and detail is pure art, I mean look at all the paint possibilities and the amount of aftermarket parts, it's like real cars and they are considered art too. It's a substitute or different kind of that fancy stuff.

[scubadiver411]

I would have to say "YES"... ART is in the eye of the beholder... If 10 people pick up the same model kit, you can get 10 different looking models, each one looking good in their own right We are painting with brushes, rattle cans, and air brushes, its just that our "canvas" is already made for us, we are just finishing it up to look better.

People take "junk" and weld them together and call that ART....

STEVE ALLEN

[samdiego]

Yes, except mine are more like fridge art. Gerald Wingrove's, absolutely

[CAL]

Technically it would be classified as a craft, while there may be some artistry involved, it is still taking the same basic materials with the same basic end results. You don't start with a Revell 69 Nova kit and end up with a Johan Mercedes 500k no matter how good you are or bad you want it to be.

Unlike a pencil and paper it is open ended and infinite - modeling is close ended and finite.

Sorry guys it's just not an art, it's a craft. Having said that, however, it doesn't make it less special, impressive, valuable, creative, or interesting.

[Harold]

You betcha- when you can take a disparate bunch of kits and throw them together into a cohesive whole, that's art. Look at some of the customs and street rods on this board.

[m408]

Although I have seen some builds here that are truly unique and creative, I have to agree with Cal, at least in my case. Nothing that I do to or add to a model is an original thought. That being said, it still doesn't take anything away from the pleasure that I enjoy from this hobby.

[Jairus]

Yes, to a point.

Street rods, Customs and some Street Machines can be considered with-in the realm of artistic expression. With-in normal boundaries of safety, roadwortheness and local legalities.

Replica Stock is more like the subject of military modeling, relegated to studying charts and "rivet counting" to make sure that the model correctly represents a scale model of the real thing. That is not artistic in the truest sense, unless it is withing the confines of the builders mind.

Art usually springs from the creative conscience and therefore limited to very few boundaries. Which is why we have nut cases dumping trash on the floor and calling it "ART", when it is actually just trash dumped on the floor to most of the public.

[george 53]

Well guys, I kinda hafta agree with Cal to a point.It surely falls into a craft catagory,as you do have to assemble a kit to get a final result.Some fellas can just assemble the sh8t outa some kits! and some are content to build outhebox.But then once ina while you come across fellas like Gramps xrds,who can take basic materials and CREATE a subject that actually takes the veiwer to another place in time,if only in their mind.This in my opinion IS ART! Then theres guys like Treehugger Dave, Who create their models from scratch! there is no kit to the Hollywood Tourer,but HE has one.To me THAT is Art.Gerald Windgrove is in the same league. I personally see no difference in their abilities,they both create something from nothing.Guys like Mr.Biggs,Raul,and Minidreams,are the fellows I personally would LOVE to build like.They can take a kit and add their own twist to it and BAM! they got a show stopper!That is what I'd like to do.Not that I sure wouldn't mind bein like Gramps an Treehugger,But to ME, they are masters of their craft and deserve that title.It took them years to perfect their skills and deserve that respect.Don't get me wrong now, Its not like Mr.Biggs,Raul, and Minidreams started yesterday either,Its just that their creations come from a different seam in the lode.To me THEY are the most obtainable goals I could set for myself,and are more reasonable,considering the talents I don't have! BUT,I can learn to master their skills.Maybe not to their abilities, but well enough to suit myself.Treehugger an Gramps are in a league of their own an I won't even TRY to go there.I don't have that kind of ambition.But in a way, I guess we are all artists, why would they sell models at an Arts&Crafts store if we weren't?

[CAL]

Well guys, I kinda hafta agree with Cal to a point.It surely falls into a craft catagory,as you do have to assemble a kit to get a final result.Some fellas can just assemble the sh8t outa some kits! and some are content to build outhebox.But then once ina while you come across fellas like Gramps xrds,who can take basic materials and CREATE a subject that actually takes the veiwer to another place in time,if only in their mind.This in my opinion IS ART! Then theres guys like Treehugger Dave, Who create their models from scratch! there is no kit to the Hollywood Tourer,but HE has one.To me THAT is Art.Gerald Windgrove is in the same league. I personally see no difference in their abilities,they both create something from nothing.Guys like Mr.Biggs,Raul,and Minidreams,are the fellows I personally would LOVE to build like.They can take a kit and add their own twist to it and BAM! they got a show stopper!That is what I'd like to do.Not that I sure wouldn't mind bein like Gramps an Treehugger,But to ME, they are masters of their craft and deserve that title.It took them years to perfect their skills and deserve that respect.Don't get me wrong now, Its not like Mr.Biggs,Raul, and Minidreams started yesterday either,Its just that their creations come from a different seam in the lode.To me THEY are the most obtainable goals I could set for myself,and are more reasonable,considering the talents I don't have! BUT,I can learn to master their skills.Maybe not to their abilities, but well enough to suit myself.Treehugger an Gramps are in a league of their own an I won't even TRY to go there.I don't have that kind of ambition.But in a way, I guess we are all artists, why would they sell models at an Arts&Crafts store if we weren't?

I'd agree with that. Their are a few modelers out there that have rasied to higher ranks, and that I would consider true artists and the models they build could be considered works of art. However, by and large we are craftsmen and what we do is a craft of skill, talent, and creativity.

[Scalefinishes]

Yes, none of the models I build mind you, modeling is most certainly taken to an art form by a few modelers. The detail and execution of the subject matter is way beyond a simple hobby/craft.

[Raul_Perez]

...Guys like Mr.Biggs,Raul,and Minidreams,are the fellows I personally would LOVE to build like.They can take a kit and add their own twist to it and BAM! they got a show stopper!That is what I'd like to do...

Thanks, George!! But like I've said many times, I've just learned how to take good pictures and crop them well. And, that's not an art or a craft, that's a skill, or maybe just dumb luck.

On a serious note, yes, some people's builds are truly examples of fine art, some are displays of excellent craftsmanship, some are displays of acquired skills and workmanship while some are a collection of all of the above. Much of it has to do with the modeler, the subject that they choose to build, the materials they use and the approach they take on any given build.

So, call it an art, a craft, a skill or whatever you feel it means to you. The important thing is that we all keep doing it, learning from each other and providing constructive support as we go.

Later,

[Guest Davkin]

I'd agree that the only models that technically qualify as art are the models that are 100% (or nearly so) scratchbuilt, that would put them in the category of sculpture.

You could look at kit building as a corroborative artistic effort however. Artistry was performed to design and make the molds that produced the styrene parts we hold in our hands, so in conjunction with the kit designer you could say the model kit builder is producing a piece of art, the kit designer started it, we finish it.

Most any built model kit certainly has an element of art to it, some more than others. A box stock kit can even be artistic in the paint colors chosen. For example, a few years ago I built a Shelby Series 1 box stock, however I made custom decals and painted it colors I thought would look much better than the real factory colors. In spite of being box stock it really does stand out due to my "artistic" color choices.

However, regardless of how the "fine art" crowd classifies our hobby we should just enjoy it for whatever it personally means to each one of us. Let's face it, none of us are going to get our models displayed in the Guggenhiem.

David

[sdrodder]

of course because no 2 cars are alike. Each is a peice of art.

[Mr. Can Am Garage]

I didn't till three or four years ago when I had a long eye opening conversation with the owner of a local hobby shop.

He didn't (and still doesn't) build plastic models but he sure had an eye for details.

[Modelmartin]

Art and craft are somewhat intertwined, at least until the advent of conceptual art and performance art. I think models run the entire gamut from nearly pure art like Winston's customs in Model Cars a while back to examples of pure technical skill like Clay Kemp. Some can combine both very well and some can produce arty looking models that technically are not too well built. Some folks just assemble and collect and make no pretenses to artiness. It's all in the mix!

Andy

[Bernard Kron]

Great thread! It's what makes this board what it is.

Art is all about expressiveness. Some box builds transcend the kit and take the observer to another place, connecting him with the vision of the builder. In those cases it's "all in the details", but some of the details, like surface textures, stance, and colors are not so obvious. Sometimes it takes extraordinary craftsmanship to take the observer to "another place". and sometimes super-detailing or completely original scratch building can be extraordinarily stale or senselessly busy and misdirected.

But what is being discussed here is the difference between “good†(i.e. successful in attaining expressiveness) and “bad†art. But in the end it’s probably all about wrestling with the problem of artistic expression. Some people maybe don’t “get it†at all – maybe thinking that it’s purely about assembly of a kit or a slapdash and cursory creation of a cliche (I’m reminded of the “donks†discussions on this board and the battle to determine if a great “donk†build can even exist, which of course it can and does, like anything else) – so in the extreme the potential always exists for bad art. But mostly people strive towards some form of self expression on their own terms.

Gerald Wingrove’s name pops up a lot on this thread. While I think he is a great, great artist among automobile modelers it has little to do with the fact that he is a scratch builder and everything to do with his ability to convey the essence of his subject as he sees it. A giant among craftsmen Wingrove certainly is, and for this alone he should be admired. But his sense of subject, line, proportion, color, texture and detail take you to “another place†and you come away feeling you have partaken, if only a little, of what he sees. Is Juha Aiirio any less of an artist because he scratch builds a far lower percentage of his model? Does he fail in some way to convey the essence of his subject where Wingrove succeeds. I think most will agree that the answer is no and that Aiirio is every bit the artist that Wingrove is.

Here we are talking about practitioners of the “realist†school. (In passing I should mention that we would be gravely remiss in not acknowledging the great “realist†modelers who inhabit the NASCARS, Drag Racing Models and Model Trucks threads on this board). So what are we to say about the Treehugger whose builds have no counterpart in “real life� Or Mr. Biggs’ consistently “fantastic†creations? Or Steve Boutte and Bill Stillwagon, both of whom work in the 50’s custom idiom but whose models really aren’t accurate replicas of those customs at all. Rather, they all succeed as spectacular evocations of each of these “artists†personal vision. Yes, craftsmen all, but that is only a part of what we admire in their builds.

The examples could go on endlessly. The point is that we all build as a form of self expression, some with greater craftsmanship than others, some with “more to say†than others. Many of us are probably dreadful artists with little to “say†and we fail miserably every time we try. But we try. And in this we share something with those who succeed on a level we don’t even dream about.

So yes, car modeling is an art. And I think we all know it.

B.

[Darrell Gwinn]

I think it is both an art and a craft, because it all starts in your head and from there some people can put it down on paper or some people can make it into a 3d model, or they can even go all out and bring it to life with a 1:1. OR some can do all three! I think the whole automotive world is a section in art all its own, you can't compare it to anything else other than itself really.

[Darrell Gwinn]

To back it up: Art - the quality, production, expression, or realm, according to aesthetic principles, of what is beautiful, appealing, or of more than ordinary significance. Yep, I think that describes models perfectly!

[studebot]

Yes Of Course! To all the Naysayers Yes. Look around you, you know what though run away when the teacher starts waxing poetically! From the book!

[RodBurNeR]

"if you have a free mind, you will see more than just a model"

I agree with much that all of you said.

There is a difference between being a rivet counter and "letting yourself go". If you fall into the model and it becomes what is inside of you.....it's expression. If you take it out of the box and follow the instructions and research to find that each color and part is correct, you are building a "peice of history"...archival degree.

If the planet is ever in ruins, thank goodness we will have some relics to show us what a Chevrolet Corvette looked like ...maybe we can build another one if we copy the model? hehe

Then again......i would rather find that our human existence had "passion".....i could live without seeing another Corvette. (oops..freedom of expression...no harm meant )

2cents spent

[larrygre]

YES - ABSOLUTELY!!!!!

Scale modelling is every bit an art form as painting, jewelry making, crafting, sculpting, macrame, etc. etc. etc. It is a CRAFT to be certain.

Outside of the United States of America, most countries have regarded scale modelling as a craft for many years and still do, for that matter. It is only here in the good old USA that scale modelling is almost always equated with "toys".