Why Can't I build box stock?

[Darin Bastedo]

... Why is it that no matter what I'm building I have to change it? I'm building a Revell Plymouth Prowler, A pretty decent kit that builds up just fine out of the box. i'm doing a weekend build just for fun, but I simply can't build it box stock. I shaved the door handles, removed the bumpers and am contemplaing other slight mods. I must be crazy!

[LDO]

I don't know what you've got, but I have the same thing. I decided to quit detailing/converting/customizing and start finishing. That lasted 3 models. I'm back to my old ways of chopping up perfectly good kits. I just ordered a Heller Citroen 15CV because the rear of the body resembles a Delage town car. Heller's Delahaye can give up its front fenders to use as rears. I'm not sure where I'll get front fenders.

[DaveInTheHat]

I think the only thing I ever built box stock was a Flintstone car and Speed Racer's Mach 5. I guess I like changing stuff. I don't even build model buildings box stock.

[Marc @ MPC Motorsports]

It's an illness with no known cause and no known cure. Enjoy it!!!

[ismaelg]

Long time ago I was diagnosed and I'm a certified case of "overcomplicaditis"

In my case I have this particular obsession with super-ultra detailing stuff that is not seen....

Enjoy the madness!!!

Thanks,

[Steve H.]

Same here... Even what I call box stock had to have a wheel swap! I've been pondering box stock and the only model I can think of that might end up BS is a Revell 1/16 T/F... no parts to swap... no mods to a purpose built car... Bet I can still find a way! :shock:

Its a sickness... Revel in it! 8)

[Daniel Peterson]

Well, Mr. Bastido. Recognizing the problem is the biggest step in solving it. Normally.

You have what we like to call an STD. Styrene Transformation Disease. (Some of the forum members here have Stage III symptoms. MJ Styro leaps to mind.) It's similar to HERPES, or Hobbyists Expectations Revised Prior to Execution Syndrome.

In both cases, what you purchase in that blessed little kit box at the mega retailer, LHS or auction site presents you with an initial expectation of the overall result. It often starts out innocently enough, with parts strewn across a work bench. A brief scan of the instructions follows; perhaps the wheels and tires are twisted off their trees and test fitted.

As the process evolves, uncontrollably random thoughts rattle in the hobbyists mind like a bunch of BBs in an otherwise empty coffee can. "Hey, the beltine moulding on the Fargo GT350 was 3/16" scale inches lower on the one I owned...and what's with the funky proportions on that tulip panel?! " This is often how some IPMS and super detail guys often ricochet afield of any chance of building something box stock. Other common misdirections come from observations like "Did the rear of the car really sit that low with a full tank of fuel?" or "Gadzooks! That upholstery pattern is all wrong for 1964 model year Option Package 113-A!!

The symptoms are most evident in builds that are scheduled to take more than just a couple hours, but even the quick build projects, such as snap kits, often breed their own brand of non compus modelus. "Neat snap kit. But wouldn't one of my kid's DUB City die-cast's wheels look absolutely smokin' on this? It'll only take a minute!!"

Sadly, there is no known cure.

However, there is treatment that can help control the symptoms.

To ease the frustration of those afflicted with these incidious conditions, some simple rationalization and wordplay is all the therapy you need. Start by asking people "How do YOU know what was actually in the box, huh?" (This usually works best with AMT kits from the late 90s and early 2Ks. Nobody ever challenges you.) Or spin it like this, "The kit IS all box stock; it's just not all from the same box."

Some have it worse than others, and all are at risk. Folks like yourself are not only infected, but also a carrier. When people see what someone has done with a box of parts, they find it difficult to refrain from shaving this, filling that or adding a few of those on their own version. Not to match or exceed what you've done, but because now the Styrene Sirens call their names, tempting them to do just a little more than assemble all those parts...whispering in deafeningly soft and sultry tones "Build it like you want...you know you want to...what does a $50 per month injection molding plant laborer somewhere across the oceans know about this car, really? Go ahead, pancake that hood..."

Your prognosis is not good. You will not get better. Make the best of your 4 or 5 remaining decades by just doing what you've been doing.

[gowjobs]

I feel your pain! Not only do I have no interest in building a box-stock build, but the only way that I've managed to do so lately was to be PAID to do so! I think with me, it's a perceptual problem. I open a model box and don't see a kit, but a mass of cool parts and ideas for projects either already in progress or all the concept seds germinating inside my skull.

I doubt there's any help for either of us.

[Abell82]

:shock: I think I caught something from hanging out here!!

I didn't know you're all contagious!! :?

What am I going to tell my wife??!!

[Guest zebm1]

Whot I call it...is...I can mold a better representation of reality than those who originally designed those cars. It's in my jeans, that which makes me be what I am.........an Artist. Be tha medium styrene, canvas, sculpture or even wallpapers(thinking of starting a new hobby), or just redesigning tha structures I live in....I am driven by my humanity to excell, to make a difference with that which is me ....in this life, and perhaps in tha life that beckons from tha beyond, tha next dimension that we will trod.

Life is what we make of it - Socrates paraphrased

echoed by Epicuras.....

:twisted: Zeb

[LDO]

It's in my jeans, that which makes me...an Artist. Zeb

I hope my girfriend isn't reading this. :shock:

[Darin Bastedo]

I hope my girfriend isn't reading this. :shock:

I'm hoping he meant "GENES" if not I don't wanna know. :shock:

[bobss396]

I did one for a club in-house contest, a '49 Ford coupe.

I was happy with the way it came out, even won a trophy at a judged show with it. But did the final assembly with hidden bits of masking tape and Elmers glue in case I ever want to take it apart for some reason.

Bob

[Guest zebm1]

I think the only thing I ever built box stock was a Flintstone car and Speed Racer's Mach 5. I guess I like changing stuff. I don't even build model buildings box stock.

Flintstone car? Tha one that's powered by yu and yur passengers? Oooooh tha blisters. :mrgreen:

Zeb