What influences your choice when picking a model to build ?

[Camaro lover]

When I first started building it was always the box art. As a kid AMT always drew me in with their box art. These days I still have a love of those old kits, but I go by subject matter and quality of molding and detail. Aside from some nostalgia kits I go for cars that I’ve owned or ones that I would have liked to own.

[stitchdup]

it really depends o the mood i'm in. for example my last build was a very simple one with very little detail because i wanted to play with some weathering stuff and i just started another very simple build to try out some other stuff. My next build will be more involved though, it will be the ford saphire cosworth with a uscp escort engine kit and alternative decals. I picked it because it fits the theme for my clubs monthly build and a community build i entered on here. I might do a quick build on one or the revell snapper tractors too because they are nice and simple and dont look like a snapper when finished and i have some stuff printed out for them that i want to use. But i usually have a number of ongoing builds so i tend to bounce between them though recently i've managed to stick to 4 or 5 at a time. oh and i have a delahaye truck to work on too thats been ongoing for 4 years so far

[Daddyfink]

A model club monthly theme or I am excited for a new kit. 

Edited January 29, 2024 by Daddyfink

[StevenGuthmiller]

Nothing matters except subject matter.

There’s no possibility that a subject that doesn’t interest me is going to hold my interest long enough to make it through a months long project, so therefore, it makes no difference to me whatsoever what’s on the box, or for that matter, what’s in the box.

After being in this game for over 50 years, I believe that I’ve become accomplished enough to where the engineering of the kit itself is of very little consequence .

There’s very little chance that I’m building it OOB anyway.

 

 

 

Steve

[Ace-Garageguy]

Whatever squirrel happens to run through the yard...

[iamsuperdan]

The Process:

 

1. Go sit in front of the stash

2. Scan the stash, looking at the box art, and think about what would be cool to start building.

3. After 30 minutes, go back in the house, make a pot of tea. If summer, grab a cold drink of some kind.

4. Go back to stash, continue looking.

5. Grab a box, open it up, look at the contents, then put back on shelf.

6. Repeat step 5 minimum of 4 times.

7. Grab one of the Porsche kits or truck kits, and go inside.

8. It's now either time for dinner, or close to bedtime, so don't start anything. 

9. Next day, start the new project by reading instructions, removing parts and sanding, glueing a few things. 

10. Realize I'm just not feeling it.

11. return to step 1.

 

 

 

 

[Oldriginal86]

Definitely subject. I like pickup trucks and Jeeps. Last, almost completed build was the Moebius Nova SS because I wanted to try my hand at a red interior. Two trucks in process now but stalled. Working on a Dumas wooden boat kit now. Yes I have a bit of the squirrel thing going on.

[kelson]

For me it's always the subject matter,and for the years i've been in the hobby kits i wouldn"t have been interested in 10-20 years ago i kinda look at differently now.

[StevenGuthmiller]

3 hours ago, kelson said:

For me it's always the subject matter,and for the years i've been in the hobby kits i wouldn"t have been interested in 10-20 years ago i kinda look at differently now.

If I’m reading you correctly, I think I know what you mean.

When I was younger, it was all about the “cool” cars!

You know, stuff that I almost never saw growing up in a small Midwest town.

Corvettes, Camaros, Mustangs, etc.

As I got a little older, I began to realize that to me, the really interesting stuff is the stuff that you don’t see so much anymore.

I can knock on a dozen neighbor’s doors before I find a ‘67-‘69 Camaro.

I could knock on 10,000 doors before I find a 1961 Buick Invicta.

 

 

 

Steve

[Ace-Garageguy]

16 minutes ago, StevenGuthmiller said:

...I could knock on 10,000 doors before I find a 1961 Buick Invicta.

You must really like '61 Invictas to put out that much effort to find one.

[kelson]

19 minutes ago, StevenGuthmiller said:

If I’m reading you correctly, I think I know what you mean.

When I was younger, it was all about the “cool” cars!

You know, stuff that I almost never saw growing up in a small Midwest town.

Corvettes, Camaros, Mustangs, etc.

As I got a little older, I began to realize that to me, the really interesting stuff is the stuff that you don’t see so much anymore.

I can knock on a dozen neighbor’s doors before I find a ‘67-‘69 Camaro.

I could knock on 10,000 doors before I find a 1961 Buick Invicta.

 

 

 

Steve

Exactly what i was thinking.?

[StevenGuthmiller]

32 minutes ago, Ace-Garageguy said:

You must really like '61 Invictas to put out that much effort to find one.

Nope, just an example.

I know a ton of guys with Camaros and corvettes, and you can’t swing a dead cat without hitting a Mustang.

Those “boring old” full sized cars from the 50s and 60s are getting tougher to find all of the time.

 

 

 

Steve

[JollySipper]

It probably has a lot to do with what I just finished building..... I like to mix it up some, do a sports car, then maybe a custom, just to keep my interest up!

[THarrison351]

Well, currently my choice is limited to models I started the last thirty plus years and failed to finish or the gifted models I've received over the years. Started at about fifty plus. I have thirty some odd left. I alternate each build. I've been sort of scan and whatever lights my fire each time. That's my method.

[Bills72sj]

Subject definitely. As a Day-two Muscle car fan. I am fortunate to have a whole lot of choices available. I look in my display cabinet and check my Ford, GM, Mopar balance and then pick 3-4 kits to bring the lowest count closer in balance to the others. I do batch builds so that I can be slightly more efficient with my time and can learn and correct issues on all of them at the same time. I also mix in a Semi (or two) for change of pace. I have a few kits I really want to come out spectacular but I am waiting for my skillset and techniques to improve before I tackle those.

[Pierre Rivard]

  Subject matter is at the core of my pick. For me it is road/endurance racing (Le mans, Mille Miglia, Sebring etc) of mainly but not exclusively the fifties and sixties. I love the look of these cars and each one is different from the other. I like every build to be unique and a bit of a head scratcher.

  After that it's all about finding the right kit, aftermarket parts & decals etc. I actually enjoy vintage kits that will require a lot of scratch building and upgrades to reflect the subject matter as closely as I am capable of. Lots of up-front research about the specific car before I start the build.

[Bugatti Fan]

Subject matter is whatever floats my boat at any given time and a bit of a challenge. Resorted to scratch building the Nieuport Astra Hispano Suiza with the wooden planked and brass riveted bodywork as no chance of a kit ever being done, likewise the Brooklands Napier Railton with polished aluminium body, and a Bugatti Type 59.  Then for something completely different I got the Revell 356C Cabrio  that with some minor detailing built a model of the late Janis Joplin's car where the challenge was mainly the psychedelic paint job. Present project, using an old Bandai Bugatti Royale kit where the bodywork was badly damaged, and using the very basic and inaccurate in places chassis to build a chassis only model like Bugatti would have supplied to a coach builder using the late Gerald Wingrove's T41 plans.

[Keef]

I normally will sit at my bench and start opening random kits and start looking through them . I’ll think to myself “what wheels would look good with this?” Or “what color would this look good in?” Next thing I know I have a kit lightly mocked up and that’s the one I build.

[Big John]

Definitely subject and scale.  In my youth it was a broader spectrum but I've always been an Indy fan so I have a large stock of 1/24-5 kits dating back to the 60s.  However, more recently I am into Speed Record cars, again in that scale. Thank you FPP! I can pretty much work with anything if it is close to accurate.

[Rocking Rodney Rat]

Hot rods (defined as American made cars built before 1949 modified with more modern engine, driveline, interior etc.) and nostalgia drag cars... I usually get inspiration from a 1:1 vehicle and then do a take-off from that, not a copy per se, but inspired by, within the constraints of what's available in 1/25th scale parts and pieces.... -RRR

[BlackSheep214]

No influences by me. If I see something I like, I buy it.

I don't build strictly auto kits. Too boring...  I need a wide variety of subjects to build - land, air, and sea.

This keeps my mojo going....

[atomicholiday]

The reason I will build a specific kit varies all over the place.  Subject matter is important, but not the only reason for me.  Lately it’s been more about skill building than anything else.  I might pick a kit because there’s a feature I want to learn how to handle.

I also get bored building the same genre, so one build might be a muscle car.  The next might be an exotic, then maybe an F1 car, then an airplane, then another muscle car, etc.  Sometimes I’ll build one because it was a gift and I want to show appreciation.  Sometimes it will be for nostalgia sake.

And sometimes a kit will just grab my attention for no particular reason.

 I can never really tell, so I just go with it.

 Of course, I’m talking like I actually finish projects.  Bigger problem for me is attention span.  Too damn many squirrels…

[Repstock]

On 1/29/2024 at 9:26 AM, StevenGuthmiller said:

Nothing matters except subject matter.

There’s no possibility that a subject that doesn’t interest me is going to hold my interest long enough to make it through a months long project, so therefore, it makes no difference to me whatsoever what’s on the box, or for that matter, what’s in the box.

After being in this game for over 50 years, I believe that I’ve become accomplished enough to where the engineering of the kit itself is of very little consequence .

There’s very little chance that I’m building it OOB anyway.

 

 

 

Steve

What he said.

[fairlane1320]

Ford or Mercury.?

[StevenGuthmiller]

On 2/7/2024 at 11:16 AM, fairlane1320 said:

Ford or Mercury.?

What’s wrong with Lincoln and Edsel? ?

 

 

 

Steve