Originality Counts or does it?

[Jantrix]

I figured we would run the gambit on opinions here. Good stuff guys.

[Fat Brian]

I build more for myself, I don't compete so it doesn't really matter if someone has done something I want to do already, if I want it on my shelf or want the challenge of doing a particular thing I do it. That doesn't mean I won't chop stuff up and make my own thing, I have about twenty kit bashed/scratch built monster truck projects and a few more 4x4s in the basement now. Some are completely original and others are replicas of real trucks. The way I look at it we are all given the same starting points, the kits themselves, so some similarity is unavoidable, you just have to build what suits you. I even build things for pc games when I can't get a styrene fix, here is the last thing I did. Its over 30,000 vertices and about 50,000 faces, most enter by hand in an old 3d editor.

[Gluhead]

I'm pretty eccentric by nature. A lot of what I like is either an underdog in the "car scene" or completely off the wall, and a lot of the things that are really popular I consider uninteresting or even passe'. I suppose that translates directly to what I pick for building subjects. I don't give any more thought than that.

[Chuck Most]

There might be a confusion between originality and absolute uniquity.

If 2 or more Builders finish projects that look similar then absolute uniquity might be compromised, if that matters to someone.

But,

Who would ever know which Builder had their idea first, if that defines originality.

If each Builder A, B or C had the idea then it certainly originated with each of them.

If perchance those Models from Builders A B, or C were judged in the same contest then who is to say which one is original.

Good point.

Original and unique can go hand in hand, though, although there are times when they clearly do not. For instance, if you were to build something like a '61 Plymouth Fury in any style (even stock) it would clearly be unique, although not original.

But to me, building what somebody else has already done just doesn't appeal to me for the most part. I try not to pay too much attention, but when I'm working on a project and catch wind of something similar to what I'm doing, it almost invariably leads to that project never getting finished.

[Junkman]

If you build a lot of replica stock models, like me, originality is out of the window on a general principle.

[Jantrix]

I'm pretty eccentric by nature.

I think that would apply to a surprisingly (or unsurprisingly) large number of us here.

I try not to pay too much attention, but when I'm working on a project and catch wind of something similar to what I'm doing, it almost invariably leads to that project never getting finished.

Boy that's me in a nut shell.

[greymack]

As me here I'm more into building models based on real vehicles its way more of a challenge to get all the detail correct.That is my point of view.

[zenrat]

Orginality is the first thing I look for in other builds and strive for in my own work.

I really, really appreciate a crazy detailed, double whammy, throw down, blinding shiny model, but it someone shows me something I have never seen before that is thoughfully designed- I'm hooked.

In fact, it I have an idea that I see done before I get to it, I am a little bummed, but still pleased to see it done.

Scott

Ditto that.

If a subject doesn't move me I find it hard to build box stock or factory stock. I sonetimes find myself cutting stuff just for the sake of it and then sitting back & thinking hmmmmmm, why did I do that?

And sometimes a screw up can force me in a different direction. I'm just stuffed the paint on what was an OOB Hairy Olds. As I don't want to strip it for a second time (it came started from evil-bay and needed a bath) i'm turning the blistered paint into a feature.

And then sometimes even when I do all the research and planning I get halfway into a replica build and think "nah, i'll do it my way instead - it'll look better".

Now, what was the question? Oh yeah, originality, should it count?

Yes it should, but i'm not sure how you objectify it if you want it as a point scorer in contests.

Of course, in my ideal world all contests use NNL type judging and the question is then irrelevent. When allocating my vote I will always give it to the wierd and the wacky rather than to the box stock.

[charlie8575]

Sometimes, as someone who builds with an eye to replica stock (sometimes, more of a "day two" model- small additions/modifications,) that in and of itself, depending on the subject, may seem to be quite original- '32 Fords for example, in which 99% of them get built as hot rods or some type of custom. My little rep-stock Model B, seen here, sticks out like a sore thumb in that sea of "sameness!"

So, perhaps not "original" in the strictest sense of the word, perhaps doing something that's a change from the norm is, in and of itself, being original.

Even doing simple things like a slightly different color scheme, like my WIP '62 Buick, in Desert Sand (Chevy Adobe Beige) with a red interior, is original in that it's different. Again, not 100% totally, absolutely original, but just different.

Perhaps, even if the same, "different" is original?

What is most important, though, is you express yourself, and do so happily.

Charlie Larkin