About my building.

[John Goschke]

Good discussion here, guys, and thanks to Helipilot for starting it.

I build for myself in the sense that I build what I want to build the way I want to build it. But what I build is often influenced and inspired by what other modelers build (as well as what 1/1 car builders have done). I enjoy showing my work, and seeing what others have built on the various forums, at club meetings and contests and talking about cars and models and trading ideas and techniques. The community of fellow modelers keeps me passionate about the hobby and makes me want to build. I’m not sure I’d still be building if these venues did not exist and I was an isolated hobbyist just putting my models on a shelf, never sharing them or the hobby with anyone else.

I guess I’d have to answer the question, “Am I satisfied with my work,†with a “yes†and a “no.†“Yes,†because I’ve been able to build some new models in the “Traditional Rod & Custom†style I’ve always loved but never tackled, using techniques I never thought I’d be able to master, reigniting my passion for the hobby. “No,†because as I age and as a neurological condition called “essential tremor†gets worse, causing my left, dominant hand to shake, delicate detail work on engines, etc. has become increasingly difficult and frustrating and I can imagine a time in the not-too-distant future when I won’t be able to build. That will be a sad day, indeed.

[Bernard Kron]

Awesome topic. Very real and revealing. Some great expositions of the various dimensions of the question.

What I get out of it is that it’s impossible not to build for oneself, even if this is for the blood-lust of cut-throat competition. And, judging from the comments made so far, the competitive aspect is, in fact, much overstated. I particularly enjoyed Bob Black’s expression of his view on things – great logical structure. It came early in the thread and triggered some super responses. Pete J’s discussion of how building for others fits in (in his case for money), and later on about the IPMS, provide some good insights. The notion of historic modeling is an important concept to keep in mind. His IMPMS comments were in response to Farmer Wilding’s tale of his experiences at contest modeling and together they provide a pretty good picture of how car modeling can become a fairly solitary hobby. In this respect the internet, digital photography and message boards constitute a very beneficial revolution.

Speaking of historic modeling, until the advent of “fantasy†modeling and the whole Star Trek thing, was car modeling the only form which featured a heavy component of interpretive variations or outright new creations in its tradition? Clearly it remains a very important dimension of what we do, and in this thread it’s often how car modelers distinguish themselves from other modelers.

For myself, I'm now about 15 months into returning to car modeling after several decades away. I do it very specifically because it permits me to express ideas I have about cars I would like to build. I seem to be constitutionally incapable of building out of the box. And yet I would like to achieve very high levels of detail and realism. I am stunned and delighted by the great detail and historic builders who show their work here. But I get equal pleasure from the show rod, pure custom, rat rod, and pure fantasy builders. For me the buzz that comes from the self expression that the build embodies. Models that succeed in showing that are my favorites.

Of course I “build for myselfâ€. How could I not? But I do care what others think. I welcome the frame of reference it provides. And I deeply appreciate the advice and feedback I get. Every build I do comes up short of what I envision, but each one moves me along towards the goal of an accurate and complete expression of what I “see†in my mind’s eye. I dream of the day I have the technique and vocabulary to do that. But, if my experience in other expressive forms is any indication, it will never actually come because it is an ideal and cannot be attained, only aspired to.

This Spring I plan to go to my first NNL. I am excited to see what can be done at every level in an environment which is supportive of my enthusiasm for this great hobby.

Edited January 14, 2009 by gbk1